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!