Evaluate, Eliminate and Integrate: A Home Office

When the kids lived at home, this L-shaped desk area served its purpose. It was the perfect place for them to do homework and play computer games. But with them gone it became the catch-all corner. In this photo it is serving as a sorting area for an upcoming yard sale.

The yard sale prompted the owner to evaluate how the space was used. She eliminated the left desk and integrated the things she wanted to keep. With the desk removed - and when the neatly stacked items awaiting the yard sale are gone - this room will have a lot more floor space, perfect for when the adult kids come to visit.

Corner to Corner Craft Room Clean-up

A few days ago we finished the first corner of this room. The edge of the clean and neat bookshelf can be seen on the far right. Now we are moving around the room counter clockwise.

The next thing to tackle is this cute hutch. It sits in front of the window and blocks the light and, along with the printer table, takes up space that could be used for relaxing or for guest seating. The owner has decided that the best thing is to remove it altogether so we need to relocate or discard all it holds.

We did it! She consolidated the jewelry displays with others on the first bookcase, tossed a bunch of stuff and identified an entire stack of hardback craft and decorating books she can sell. Now the hutch is ready for sale, too. Someone is going to love it.

Next: remove the printer table.

We made space for the printer on the desk and wound up with more light from the unblocked window and room for a bench she already owned. It is great spot to TEMPORARILY stack items to take to classes and to read a book to her grandkids.

We have  conquered the northeast corner!  Total time: one hour.

Next up: the northwest corner desk. Stay tuned.

reThinking the Kitchen Cabinets

When the owners of this kitchen moved in, they put things in the cabinets where they thought - at the time - they should go. Food storage in an corner under-counter turntable...

... and the pots and pans next to the stove. 

This certainly seems logical but after months of frustration trying to find small cans in a crowded corner it was time to rethink this arrangement,

Simply swapping the two areas made life easier. The pans and small appliances were easy to the see in the corner cabinet...

...and there was much easier access to the the canned foods now that they are on the pull out shelf.

Digging Out the Paper Piles

If you are like most people I bet you have a least one stack of papers waiting to be dealt with. This client had several with sentimental family papers she gathered over the years.

She tackled a pile, sorted them and surprised relatives with a package of memories selected just for them.

rePURPOSING Things: Cards

Just in time for gift giving, here is a quick and satisfying rePurpose project that will save money and the environment and make you look very clever indeed.

These gift tags - formerly art announcement cards -  were made with a 2" hole punch. Use a standard hole punch for the ribbon and you are good to go. Personal and classy, the card stock possibilities are limitless: greeting cards, playing cards, old calendars, postcards.

Better yet, make a stack and give the gift cards as a gift themselves!

Photos Under Control

The picture below is pretty typical of most homes I visit. Memories are stashed away in boxes and bags and you can't lay your hands on the one photo your want for the upcoming wedding or memorial service. The photo collection has grown too large to even begin to try to organize it.

This is a case where technology can be your friend. If you scan your photos, when you import them into your computer the organizing possibilities are limitless. The same photo can go into multiple albums. A photo of Cousin Ryan at the Coliseum can go into albums for Summer Vacations, Italy, Family, Ryan, etc. And sharing them with friends is easy and free by posting them on-line or emailing them.

You may be tempted to balk at paying for scanning but ask yourself how much you spent developing all those pictures in the first place. It is wasted money if you can't find the photo you want. And scanning them on a home scanner would take a lifetime.

The service I like for photo scanning is scanmyphotos.com. They have a pre-paid box that holds about 2,000 photos. Just put them in size order and in no time at all the pile above will be reduced to a single CD.

For slides I had great results ScanCafe.

When you get your order back, hard as it may seem, toss the originals. And then enjoy your new free space.

Fall Garden De-cluttering

Although her tools were neatly organized, this avid gardener spent too much of her precious time roaming her yard looking for just the right pot for each plant. They were stashed under the eaves in random places around the house. Here they are mixed in with compost piles.

In less than an hour we gathered all the pots from around the yard and put like with like for an easier gardening experience. We stored the various bags of potting soil in a large garbage container and put it all next to the compost pile. Now everything is within easy reach for the next potting job.

Hello Fall!

Its time to put your warm weather clothes away and get out your winter ones. 

If you used the the hanger trick this is where it comes in handy. Remove the items on the backwards hangers. Then inspect your winter clothes for wear and fit. Those that don't make the cut can join your summer rejects for donation or re-sale.

To make the spring wardrobe switch easier, be sure to use the hanger trick on the clothes you keep. 

Here' s a testimonial from Lisa in Menlo Park:

Every time I opened my closet I was filled with dread. I couldn't make decisions about what to wear every morning, because nothing was organized and a lot of it didn't fit. I used to really love coordinating new outfits and felt good about how I looked when I left the house in the morning. But dressing became a chore, and my outlook and appearance was beginning to reflect it.

I had moved and downsized and had tough decisions to make about paring down my wardrobe. Indecisive and reluctant to face reality, I actually had a rack of clothes in my bedroom and was using part of my daughter's closet. I also had gained weight and was storing three or four sizes of clothes -- wishful thinking! It just added to the clutter. Normally a decisive person, I was having a difficult time parting with quality clothing that seemed in good shape. But I was no longer able to judge what looked good. Procrastination ruled and my closet was a mess for almost two years.

Enter Catherine, who was frank about outdated styles. (Shoulder pads? Gone. Ankle-length dresses? Gone. Clothes from the 80s and early 90s, out of there.) She also was not hesitant to tell me what looked good and didn't. And she was efficient -- tackling one closet section at a time, making huge progress in one hour increments.

We separated everything into piles: Toss, donate, consign, and to accommodate my real reluctance, store in the garage my favorite pieces until that day that a diet may actually get me back to a size 6.

I couldn't have done it without her firm guidance. Now, I can open my closet in the morning and have fewer decisions. I don't waste time digging through things that looked good long ago. I know what is there fits, looks good and I am starting to get creative again about outfits. It's a huge relief to look at a less cluttered, more organized space. The first step was admitting I needed some help!

Garage Miracle

You've seen them, people who have gads of organizing products from the Container Store and still can't find anything. Maybe you are one yourself. One reason I rarely advise clients to purchase organizing gear is that products do not make people organized. People make people organized. You can usually make sense of your stuff with what you have on hand.

Here is a big exception: Fast Track by Rubbermaid. Look at this garage! It is neat and things are up off the floor and easy to find.

This easy-to-install handing unit has tool-specific hooks you can add to it. This one is holding:
2 bistro chairs
1 beach chair
1 folding stool
1 long outdoor extension cord
1 weed trimmer
1 garden fork
1 shovel
2 leaf rakes
1 kneeling pad
1 hedge trimmer
1 stepladder
1 large framed camping backpack

And all in four feet of space!

Seasonal Closet Switch-out Part II

Here is some simple math. If you have 100 feet of hanging space in your closet you should have 100 feet - or less - of items to hang.

When she ran out of room in her closet, this client set up shop at the foot of her bed. Not only is this unsightly, but it invades her a space which should be serene.

We were able to move all this to her actual closet after discarding some outdated clothes.

Now her room no longer looks like a yard sale.

Seasonal Closet Switch-out

It is evident that this client really loves clothes. She has loads of them! Even with abundant closet space, she eventually ran of room and started hanging clothes on a portable rack in her bedroom.


The photo below is only about one-fifth of her closet space. 

The change of season seemed like a good time to review her wardrobe and discard what was out - worn out, out of style, out of her current size.


After removing SEVENTY-TWO POUNDS (!) of clothes to be consigned, donated or stored - and we're not done yet - this is the result: room to see what she has.

The goal is to have everything in her closet fit, both her and in the closet. The next post will show you where she hung the clothes that spilled over.

A dream job

How fun is this job? My clients moved into a home with a wine cooler.  My assignment: pick up their last five cases of wine stored at The WineBank, a climate controlled wine storage building, and organize it all in their new cooler.

As you can see, they underestimated what was in storage but my little Mini Cooper hauled all SIXTEEN (!) cases.

Then the fun began: unpacking those juicy gems and labeling them for their later enjoyment.

With the wine organized by type it is now easy for them to make their selection for dinner.

rePURPOSING Things: Metal Racks

Metal record racks and plant stands from the 50's come in handy keeping pots and saucers at the ready for gardening inspiration.

rePURPOSING Things: for Good!

I recently helped a client move from this spacious home.

They needed only a fraction of the furniture in this house for their new home - and you can imagine how much furniture a house like this can hold - so they did a very generous thing. They held a family and friends furniture sale and donated ALL the proceeds to the Parkinson's Foundation.

What an ideal way to dispose of unwanted items and do some good at the same time. Hats off to them!

rePURPOSING Things: Wrought Iron Dish Towel Rack

Moved from the kitchen to the dressing area, this towel rack has a new life as a cool sculpture holding jewelry.

The jewelry is visible and easy to select and the towel rack is destined to become a useful family heirloom.

His Side of the Closet

This closet does not look that bad but what the camera didn't capture are the open cardboard boxes sagging under unruly piles of computer cables.

A single plastic storage box with a hinged lid took the place of the two cardboard ones and created a solid space for stacking other storage. Then we could get more stuff up off the floor.  Now it is more inviting for him to choose his clothes, don't you think?

A Clean Chicago Coat Closet

This front hall coat closet had plenty of room but it felt messy and disorganized when you opened the door.  The floor was crowded...

...and things were cockamamy on the overhead shelves.

Getting stuff off the floor was the first step. We hung the beach towels for quick access, leaving easier retrieval of the heavy yoga pad on the floor.

Then we prioritized items and moved what is currently being used THIS SEASON to the lower shelf.

Twenty minutes tops was all it took to end closet chaos.

Tidying the Bookshelf

Back at the Maine vacation home, the bookshelves are bursting. Look at this one! Chaos! It's hard to even find a summer novel to read.

Without eliminating a single book the shelves now look better and are more functional. 30 minutes did the trick.

Showing Off Your Stuff

Unless you lived in a catalogue, you would not ordinarily think of displaying the contents of your linen closet. But the owner of this Maine cottage had a different idea.

Her tiny closet lacked doors, so she put her resources into colorful baskets that compliment her towels and - voila! - her closet is a work of art.

Vacation Home Straightening

This vacation home on the coast of Maine has hosted generations of the same family and has enough dinnerware to serve dozens. As you can see, the shelves are overflowing. There was no rhyme or reason to what each one held. Gorgeous blue and white china was scattered throughout all the shelves

Because the home is jointly owned by several family members, I was not allowed to toss anything so I simply follwed the  "like with like" rule to clean it up.  See how pleasing it looks with the blue and white china clustered into a focal point on the top shelf? Total straightening time: 40 minutes.