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?"