Shelf Dividers

I LOVE shelf dividers! You can order them from The Container Store for about $7.00 a pair. They really do their job - which is to keep your shelves orderly! I also LOVE before and after pictures and have included some from a recent client's armoire. We used shelf dividers to keep her beautiful sweaters organized!

2010 - Paper or Electronic?

I am now "officially" a writer and have been published in The Great Calendar Debate!! This is a must read for the month of December - the end of 2009 - as we embark on a new year.

Twenty-one experts weigh-in with Stephanie Calahan, of Calahan Solutions, on which is better: paper or electronic...How to choose the right system for YOU for 2010! Valuable information, a fairly quick read plus recommendations, pros and cons and links to each preferred product. Don't miss it!! Leave a comment below on what you use or what you are going to use for 2010!

Jewelry Perfection!

Ever wonder what to do with all of your jewelry?? Before deciding, think through this question: Do you have more drawer space, closet hanging space or more wall/over-the-door space? Once you figure this out there are three types of products I would recommend...

If you have more drawer space I would suggest velvet, stackable jewelry organizers that can be found at Bed, Bath and Beyond or other similar stores. They have a wide variety for rings, bracelets and necklaces.

If you have more room in your closet hanging from a rod try this Hanging Pocket Jewelry Organizer. There are a several places to find these with a lot of variety as well.

If you have room behind your closet door or wall space in the closet, or close by, try this Over-the-Door Organizer with the option to mount it on the wall. It has a LOT of room for all types of jewelry! Here is a picture where I used it with one of my clients.

Whatever your unique jewelry situation think through which option would be best for you and have fun organizing, and possibly discovering, all of your jewelry!

Easy, Remarkable Solutions

I have three simple additions to any child's (or adults!) room to help bring order and simplicity! Plus, some real life before and after pictures where I used these products. They will magically ADD space, give amazing visual transformations and provide the structure that will help you stay organized.

First, are the Drawer Dividers. They are spring loaded and you insert them in your drawers to separate your clothes. They come in a wood look also. My girls and I love them. Try them in your sock and undergarment drawer!


Second, if you have a small closet rod OR lots of clothes try adding an additional Double Hang Clothes Rod below your current one! Especially with kids clothing this product works great and even allows a younger child to reach their own clothes!

The third product is the Over-the-Door Shoe Hanger! Behind the door is a space that is often forgotten. In the after picture below we used it for hats and other miscellaneous things in addition to the shoes!

Also, notice the shirts folded once and stacked on the closet shelf. If there is not enough closet space to hang all the little shirts try folding them and stacking them on a shelf. This way you can see each shirt AND you only have to fold them once - in half!! In a drawer you can only see the top shirt! So, here are three product ideas with the links to where I found them. Now you are ready to start organizing your bedrooms! Be inspired!

Book Review Time

Okay, this book doesn't have too much to do with organizing but I am on a health kick and this book is awesome!!! You must read it if...

• You want some new recipe ideas
• You want to learn about some new healthy foods
• You want to change your way of eating
• You want quick, simple steps to help your family be healthier
• You want to be inspired and motivated to eat "clean"

The books are called The Eat-Clean Diet and The Eat-Clean Diet for Family & Kids by Tosca Reno. My friend, Alicia, was changing the way she eats and told me about them. They are colorful, easy and fun to read AND Tosca uses such wonderful adjectives to describe clean foods through the entire book that whenever I read it my mouth was watering!

I am now drinking 3L of water every day and eating foods like freshly ground (in my coffee grinder!!) flax seed, homemade hummus, whole grains, sprouted Ezekiel bread, ground bison, yogurt cheese and much more. I am sweetening things with agave nectar not the 'poisonous' white sugar!

Okay, okay, you are right, I tend to go a little extreme...at least my kids think so! But, I am feeling great and enjoying the taste of yummy, healthy, pure foods. I shopped at Whole Foods for the first time - a tiny store in midtown Kansas City at 43rd and Main. I love small grocery stores! We do not have one up north or I would go more often. Now, I am making a recipe book on TASTE BOOK (check out their website) of all my favorite recipes for clean eating!

Let me know what you think of the book and how it inspires you! It does take some basic organizing and planning to eat right! Cheers!

Office Revamp

Traveling a lot, not having systems in place that work, waiting until clutter builds up and being overwhelmed with where to start can turn your home office into a place you would rather not go! That is how my client felt and that is why she asked for help. Following the basic organizing steps we transformed her home office into a place where she can get projects completed and even enjoy spending time there! Have fun looking at these before and after photos!

Organizing Girl's Hair Pretties

One of my friends calls hair accessories "hair pretties" so that is how I titled the post!

A recent client has three daughters. They have LOTS of hair pretties. They had tried to find a way to organize the cabinet where they kept these things but nothing ever worked and the cabinet would always end up a mess with all the hair pretties piled in!


Here is what we did with just two three drawer organizers that you can find at Target for $9.99 each and some Velcro and ribbon! Her daughters LOVE it and they LOVE to keep it CLEAN!

We sorted through all the hair things which was probably the most time consuming. Then we labeled the drawers for each type: ponies, head bands, ponies with decorations, clipies, etc. We attached ribbon to a piece of Velcro at the top and bottom and then attached it to the inside of the cabinet door. The Velcro has adhesive on both sides so we didn't even need glue. Then we clipped all the bows to the ribbon.

Simple. Cute. Organized.

My New Favorite Motivational Quote

I was listening to Dave Ramsey for about 3 minutes in the car today and the one thing I heard him say was,

"Adults devise a plan and follow it. Children do what feels good."

I love that. You could apply that to work, your eating/working out goals, your spiritual life, your home, raising children, your marriage, etc. I even think it should be,

"Mature people devises a plan and follow it. Immature people just do what feels good at the moment."

That is so true. I ask myself, "Tracy, do you want to be mature or immature? Do you want to stay in bed and listen to your feelings or get up and work out? Do you want to stay connected with the Lord? So, follow your plan and meet with Him. Don't let your child (immature) self take over and get what it wants. Do I want my room to be a mess or should I follow the plan like a mature adult and hang up the clothes I decided not to wear? Should I eat the rest of the bag of M&M's or say I am done with my sweets for the day? Should I spend money that I don't have? Do I want a great marriage?" Oh, the list could go on!!

FOLLOWING THE PLAN TAKES WORK!!

Maturity takes work. Immaturity is the easy was out. What will you do today to choose maturity? To follow your plan?

Project Garage

Across America there is a common phenomena...Garage Overload! Maybe you can relate to that overwhelming feeling you get when you open the door to your garage. "How can I ever fix this??" you ask. So, what happens? You close the door and go on with life leaving 'project garage' for another time. The weight of knowing something needs to be done is heavy on your brain now causing emotional clutter as well as physical clutter!

Here are some pictures from the real life garage of the Russell family. They are an active family that enjoy camping, hunting, fishing, BBQing and boating plus they have all the supplies to go with their hobbies. They also have grown children and are storing some of their transitional things temporarily. After 30 years in the same house the garage had become...full, to say the least.

Here are the before, middle and after pictures of their 'project garage'. Along with one other hard-working, family friend with lots of muscles, Maggie Russell and I tackled the project!! Her brother Jim helped whenever he could, too. We worked almost six hours one day and only two and a half hours the next and after 30 years Maggie can now open the garage door with pride AND park there, too!!!

Three before pictures:

This was in the middle of the project. We had taken everything out of the garage. As we did we sorted it all into categories. Can you tell?

Can you believe this is the same garage? They remembered it looking like this 30 years ago when they moved in.

These are the finished photos! There is still one group of transitional tubs and a few pieces of furniture that they need to go through and move to a permanent location. All the gardening, automotive and paint supplies are on these shelves, in tubs and labeled: All camping, fishing, boating and hunting supplies are on these shelves:Be inspired!

Inspiring Quote

"Believe, when you are most unhappy, that there is something for you to do in the world. So long as you sweeten another's pain, life is not in vain."

~ Helen Keller

This quote got me thinking! Life is always better when we focus on being a blessing to others. It is all in the perspective! Lets ask ourself, "Who's life can I sweeten today?"

FAQ: What Happens When You Contact Simply Squared Away?

When you contact Simply Squared Away by phone, email or the contact form on our website there will be one thing that happens: We will respond and answer your questions! There is no pressure or sales tactics used to make you take the next step. We love answering your questions and will try to be as thorough as possible. If we miss answering something just keep asking until you know what you need.

The next step is to set up an assessment. An assessment is where we come to you. We tour your space(s) and ask a lot of questions in order to learn about you and your situation...your frustrations, what is working, your dreams and goals, etc. The assessment usually takes 30 - 90 minutes. At the end of the assessment we give you an estimate of the number of hours we think it will take to complete the project.

If you are ready to get started we schedule our first "hands-on" organizing session. This is where we come in and get the work done! Scheduling and completing these sessions are the stepping stones you need in order to reach the goals and life changes that you desire!

There are unique situations and this process will vary slightly depending on those situations. But, remember, if you have questions please contact us so we can get the answers to you!

The Cycle Problem

Do you ever wonder how your space becomes a mess? Peter Walsh explains that it is a cycle problem.

We are all familiar with laundry...after it is worn it gets put into the hamper (hopefully!), from your hamper it gets put into the washer, once clean you transfer it to the dryer, when dry it is folded or hung up and finally it gets put away. The worst thing you could do would be to stop this cycle by leaving a load in the washer after it has been washed. What would you get? A mound of smelly laundry. Why? You didn't complete the cycle!

Papers that come into our homes have a cycle (process) that needs to be completed, too. Paper comes into our homes from the mailbox or our kid's backpacks, we look through it and make decisions: act on it, file it or throw it away...a cycle completed. If we don't complete the cycle it becomes a pile of stinky paper cluttering up our surfaces.

If you want a glass of milk and then stop the cycle half way through by not putting the carton back in the refrigerator you have sour milk. If you change your clothes three times in the morning but don't hang them back up you have broken a cycle and end up with a messy bedroom.

Walsh says, "We have a choice: to be mindful and complete the cycle, or to end up with a stinky load of washing in the metaphorical machine. Inside we're all 8-year-olds expecting someone to pick up after us. Those days are gone."

Make a plan, a cycle, for those frustrating areas where things seem to accumulate and then choose to finish the "cycle."

Read more of Peter Walsh's interview in the March 2009 issue of O Magazine by clicking here.

Cereal Containers

As I do my regular shopping I am on the look out for useful, inexpensive, attractive organizing products. Sometimes I find things I love that do not fit one or two of those criteria. For example, I might love the look but it is over priced or it is useful but I don't love the color, etc.

Recently I was looking for cereal containers that fit those 3 criteria. I looked at every local shop it seemed and couldn't find anything! That week I had a session with my "container-finding" client and of course she had found the perfect cereal containers, Store 'n Pour Dry Food Dispensers, at The Container Store! Click here to go to their website to view these containers. Here is the picture of her cabinet where she keeps her cereal:

Isn't it beautiful! I love that it doesn't have color that will go out of style. I love the indention for your hand to grip. The top has a snap lid that you just push down and it seals shut. All this for only $9.99!

If you have found a cereal container you like please comment and let us all know!

What is a professional organizer?

Have you ever asked yourself, "What does a professional organizer do?" "Why would I need one?" "How can they help me?"

NAPO (the National Association of Professional Organizer) defines a professional organizer as one who "enhances the lives of clients by designing systems and processes using organizing principles and by transferring organizing skills. A professional organizer also educates the public on organizing solutions and the resulting benefits."

People need professional organizers for various reasons. Here are some of them...

• They are wanting or needing to downsize
• They are overwhelmed with their "stuff" and don't know how or where to begin
• They are frustrated that they waste so much TIME looking for things and straightening "the piles"
• They are busy and don't have the time to devote to organizing
• They are not gifted in that area and want someone experienced and trained to help them
• A situation (new baby, move, growth of business, death of loved ones) has caused them to become disorganized and they need guidance
• They are ready to live a simpler life
• They want to become more productive

An organizer can help you in many ways. I have found that first of all it helps that they schedule time to devote to this task. Second, you have an experienced professional that listens to how you think and what you need to be more efficient and plans out how to make that happen. Third, they motivate you, give you hope and even have fun in the process. They also transfer skills - teaching you the steps to organize. And, they are your support team and your resource for products and ideas to keep you organized and living a simpler life!

Professional Organizers are more needed and more valuable as people get more stuff and more busy!

What does being "organized" mean?

Barbara Hemphill, CPO® (Certified Professional Organizer), “America’s Favorite Organizer”and owner of The Paper Tiger Productivity Institute, defines organization by asking the following 4 questions:

1. Does it work?
2. Do you like it?
3. Does it work for other people?
4. Can you recover quickly from inevitable disorganization? (Life happens, we are busy, things get messy...but can you recover quickly?)

Isn't that great!? Ask yourselves those questions in regard to your home...or your office...or your business.

Here is a picture of Barabara (who has been organizing for 30 years!!) and I at the 2009 National Association of Professional Organizer's conference in Orlando, Florida.

Inspiration and information!

Office Transformation

I love amazing transformations!! They motivate. They bring life into a dead space. They help someone (or many people) become more productive. There is order. It is beautiful to see the treasures on display. You can find things. It is a gift. Oh, the list goes on... It is why I LOVE to organize!

I could not wait to show these astonishing before and after pictures of a client's home office. Now remember, all of this was done using the basic organizing steps - sort, go through each pile, find a home, contain & label, keep it simple...and then plan to maintain. Following these steps will lead you to organizing just about anything!

We moved the lighter shelf to the other side of the office to go with it's match. Are these black shelves not sooo cute?? My client is talented at decorating...and you can see the treasures!

Notice the shelves have a home for everything and it is all labeled! Off to organize...have an amazing day!

Recent Conversations

I had the privilege of giving an Organizing Presentation to the Greater Kansas City Mother of Twins Chapter last night. There were over 40 moms present. I presented on Why We Need To Organize and The Basic Organizing Steps. Then we looked at before and after pictures and walked through the steps of organizing each photo. We learned how to set up an "Action File" to conquer the overwhelming amount of paper in our homes. After some question/answer discussion we had a drawing for a beautiful bouquet of Gerber daisies and lime (my favorite color) mini mums AND for two free hours of organizing services. Congratulations to the winners!!!

I wanted to post some links below that will answer some of questions that we discussed last night!

1. How long should we keep bills, taxes, receipts, etc?

First, always speak directly to your accountant regarding your specific issues but these links have some great guidelines:

• http://www.groco.com/tools/taxretentionguide.aspx
• http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/mtg/20000518h.asp
• http://www.irs.gov/publications/p552/ar02.html#en_US_publink10008614

2. My favorite website for product searches and ideas:

• http://www.containerstore.com/index.jhtml
• http://www.organizedliving.com/
• http://www.organize.com/
• http://www.organizeit.com/index.asp
• http://www.stacksandstacks.com/

3. Here is some garage organization information:

• contact Wayne Zetzman at wzetzman@completegarage.com. He will come out and give you an estimate and one-on-one attention. Check out his website at http://www.completegarage.com/. Of course, tell him I referred you. :)
• Home Depot has the Rubbermaid FastTrack System for you do-it-yourself people
• Here is a link in Kansas City where you can buy Slatwall http://www.kc-store-fixtures.com/slatwall_panels.php. Also, here is a link with tons of pictures for ideas: http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=slatwall+garage&gbv=2&aq=f&oq=

I hope this information was helpful! Thanks again ladies for a wonderful evening!

Monday's Product Review

Each Monday I will try to post a picture of a product that I have used or a client has used that I "approve of!" This week it is the shelf divider:

Shelf dividers are easy to use AND inexpensive (2 for $6.99 at the Container Store). I love putting kids clothes on shelves or in visible places rather than drawers, if possible. This allows them to "see" what they have plus the drawer doesn't get so jumbled with messy, and now wrinkled, clothes. Here is an after picture of a closet where we used shelf dividers...

Kids can easily put their folded clothes away and pick out what they want to wear. If your closet doesn't have shelves try using a hanging clothes organizer like the one below from Target for only $19.99.

I put folded t-shirts, shorts, sweaters and other clothing items on each shelf.

Now you can go and organize a couple shelves and hopefully the shelf divider will complete the project. Have fun organizing!

Fabric

I wanted to post the finished fabric pictures from the quilting studio I had blogged about previously.

Megen wanted to be able to see her beautiful fabrics. She purchased shelving at an estate sale and after sorting through all of her fabric, purging what she no longer wanted, separating it into hues and folding it uniformly she was finished.

These are the before pictures...















This is the new fabric zone...No more digging through the cabinets and forgetting what she had hidden in the back. She can see every piece of fabric, be inspired and enjoy them daily!

Ideas for Trophies and Ribbons

Receiving ribbons and trophies are a huge confidence booster for children.

But what do you do with them all???

Here is an idea for displaying your child's plaques, ribbons, medals and trophies!!

Remove your curtain and tie a string or wire across the window. Get it as tight as you can. Here we tied it in between the shelf supports but you could use a screw or nail on each end of the window. Then loop all the ribbons through their own strings around the wire. We hung medals on the ends of the shelf, hung plaques on the wall and put trophies on the shelf to make a complete "Award Display."

Another idea is to center the display around a bulletin board or shelving.

Have fun with it. Be creative. Let your kids give you their ideas. Send me pictures of your creative displays.

The Guest Room/Office Transformation

I love what I do...helping people accomplish a task...transform a space... organize...provide peace of mind...transfer skills... whatever you call it, I LOVE it!

My clients are very capable, smart and talented people! They could do what I help them to do but many have said that this scheduled time, the extra set of hands, a focused perspective and experienced ideas are what gets the projects done!

A recent client who has three children and a full life had gotten overwhelmed and wanted help with her spare bedroom/office. She wanted her guests to have a clean, welcoming place to stay and for herself to have a place to do her work that was inviting. Some of the things that were being stored in the room were her children's memorabilia, family photos, paperwork, family history memorabilia and some things that she knew she could get rid of but just hadn't had the time to get through - a couple old file cabinets, pictures she wanted to sell on eBay, etc.

Here are the stunning before and after photos:

We went through the organizing steps: sort, purge/go through each pile, decide on where to store things, contain them, and finally enjoy the finished product!!

Obviously everything in the room didn't just disappear. The things that she kept - children's memorabilia that is now organized by year - and family history and photos are stored in clear, labeled plastic bins. There was a closet that was being used to store blankets and pillows that now houses these bins under a couple of the blankets!


The rest of the items had a home already elsewhere in the house or were donated, returned to someone else or placed in the trash.

Ahhhh, let the guests come visiting! And, let the goals get accomplished in an office like that!

A Stuffed T-shirt Drawer?

This file drawer reminds me of my husband's old T-shirt drawer. His drawer was so stuffed full that I never wanted to put fresh, clean, well-folded shirts into it because I'd have to smash them in and crush down the piles just to get the drawer closed!!

Just like a stuffed full t-shirt drawer these files were stuffed full and rarely used. Nothing could fit in them and they were visually unattractive...which makes filing unappealing!

THE PROBLEM:

That's why I was called...to solve the problem: setting up a paper system...a flow for paper when it comes in the office and to create the file drawers. Where do you put things? Which files should go in which drawers? What do you do with reading material? Where should my briefcase go? Do I need to keep this?

THE PROCESS:

To solve the problem requires understanding it. My client and I talked through the papers, categories, job requirements, frustrations, factors involved in the position (competitors, partners, reference/historical papers to keep, reports, etc). We looked at the space available. I made a plan for each area using some general rules: keep action files closest to the desk, store historical data farthest from your work area, have a "home" for each item.

Then came the organizing process. We sorted all the paper in the office and cleaned out and sorted through all the drawers. I used post-its and made notes on the papers as we pulled them out so we knew what they were. This helped file faster at the end. A LOT of papers went in the trash.

Then, I wrote all the files in their categories and subcategories on the dry erase board. This way we could move things around and the client had a visual picture of what his files would look like - a road map.

Next, we made the files tabs. Smead Viewables (from Office Depot) are what I used for the main category tabs. These are tall, can be read from the front, side and back and are colorful and easy to make. For the subcategories I designed a template that had colors to match the Viewables. I read them off the board as my client typed them in the computer. After diligent fine motor skills the files were finished.

THE RESULT:

Here is one of his four file drawers.

You may notice that there are limited manila folders. I know for some things, especially those things that you pull in and out a lot, you might need a couple. Visually, I love the clean look with out them.

A fresh perspective, the right tools, a plan and hands-on help took these files from the "stuffed t-shirt drawer" look to a "glass front kitchen cabinet" look (you know the ones on Martha Stewart with all white matching dishes spaced evenly - crisp and clean)!! I think I would want to leave the drawer open just to see how awesome it looks. Filing in them would be a highlight of the day, don't you think? Read my client's testimony on my website's home page.

I am always so inspired by my clients that I went home and redid one of my own file drawers!

Be inspired yourself!!