By UniqueSpacesOrganizing,on January 26,2012 January is National Get Organized Month or GO Month. It is the perfect time to get your home in order. Purge unwanted items, sort like items together and just make some space so that everything you need and/or value has a home. This month and for the rest of 2012 remember to return items to the place or home you assigned to them. When there is a place for everything and everything is in its place, clutter will disappear and an organized home will be easier to maintain. To celebrate GO Month I am offering a 10% discount on a three hour organizing session. Just mention you saw this discount on my blog. Use it any time between now and March 15, 2012.  Click on image to enlarge By UniqueSpacesOrganizing,on June 20,2011 
One of the gals in my organizing class told a story about an old,worn-out blanket with holes in it that kept showing up whenever the family had company. She said she had the best of intentions to get rid of the blanket. Then she started thinking that even though the blanket had a few holes,maybe she better keep it for the family dogs on cold winter nights. So she stuck it away. Winter came and went. The dogs never did see the blanket. The family had company again. The blanket in all its ratty glory showed up in her living room wrapped around her child. Embarrassment flowed and she vowed to really get rid of that blanket this time. She put the blanket in a pile to donate,but thought “I think we can use it here on the ranch …for something.” So out of the donation pile it came. The next time the ratty old blanket appeared…you guessed it,her kids were dragging it around in front of company again. Morals Of The Story
* Ratty old blankets and kids just seem to find each other,especially when you have company.
* Sometimes it is just better to let things go than to wait for your next embarrassing moment! By UniqueSpacesOrganizing,on March 26,2011 Spring is finally here! Yeah!! After a long winter,I had high hopes for sunny skies and warm temperatures. But sad to say,it is cold and very windy here. It snowed twice this week and most days were overcast. Since I can’t get outside to garden without a heavy winter coat,I have been cruising blogs just to see how the masses are coping with this crazy Spring weather. One recurring theme has been the Spring Fling. I was all jazzed and thought I was going to learn about some new,great places that were warm and sunny. You know the story…beautiful art,gourmet food and lazy days in the sun with the ocean lapping at my feet. WRONG!! This Spring everyone is talking about doing the Spring Fling and they really mean they are flinging things. The more I thought about it the better I liked this idea. You start at the top of your house and work down getting rid of things you no longer use,want or need. Fling broken,worn out and useless things into the trash. Fling unwanted items into boxes to be donated or recycled. Fling other peoples things into bags and return them to their owners. Start at the top of your home and begin the flinging process. If you live in a two story home,start with the rooms upstairs or even the attic. If your home is a single level choose a room to work on. Pick a closet and empty it. As you empty the closet, sort things into piles of like items. (Clothing together,shoes together,keepsakes together,etc.) Set boxes and bags of trash and unwanted items outside the room you are working on. That way you have room to sort and you can start enjoying the space you have created. Once you have emptied the closet and determined what you will keep,start putting items back into the closet. Remember,like items belong with like items. Complete the closet and move into the room. Walk through the room and pickup obvious trash or things you know you need to discard. Next start attacking the piles. Pick one pile at a time and sort it into like items,donations and trash. Once that pile is finished go to the next pile and do the same thing. If you have any items that belong with like items from other piles,put them there. Finish all the piles and areas in the room. If you have furniture in the room with drawers or shelves,do the flinging process again. Remember if an item is too small,broken,unusable,or disliked it is time to fling it out of this space. Once the room has been sorted and purged it is time to put it back together. You need to find a home for everything you want to keep. If there isn’t a home for all the things in the room …that means you have too many things for the available space. It is time to purge a few more items. As you Spring Fling the rest of your home,remember that if you Spring Fling only one room of your home per week by June you will have organized your entire living space. Spring Fling now,enjoy Summer when it gets here! By UniqueSpacesOrganizing,on March 10,2011 Every magazine has glossy photos of all kinds of containers. Every retail store and even the local grocery store has an assortment of containers. There are containers of canvas, wicker or plastic;sizes ranging from gargantuan to itty-bitty and color choices galore. With all the available selections, you just want to buy. Those containers are calling you by name. You tell yourself you could probably find a good use for that cute one with the lime green lid. Maybe you should get two or three so you will have matching containers when you need them. STOP !!!! Take a deep breath . . . move away from the containers,far away. When the urge to impulse buy has calmed and you can think a bit more clearly,ask yourself a few very important questions.
 New Best Friend - Where will I use these new containers?
- What style do I need? Plastic,canvas or some other material. Locking lids or no lids.
- What are the measurements of the space where I want to put the containers?
- What are the measurements of the containers and will they fit in the chosen space?
- How many containers do I need?
Once you have answered all these questions,you can invest in the perfect containers for your specific needs. Best of all, you can still be a “Container Junkie” but with a plan. No more stacks of great un-used containers that don’t fit anywhere. Remember,measure first then shop for containers. Save money,time and sanity.  Organized closet ... perfect bins! By UniqueSpacesOrganizing,on January 11,2011 Here it is January 2011 already! I have no idea where the Fall of 2010 went. They (the wise people) say,“Time flies when you are having fun”. My Fall flew by so fast I am not really sure if I did have fun. Needless to say,I gladly welcomed 2011. It is a great time to look forward with hope. It is also time to face challenges, learn new things and just enjoy each and every day. January is a really big month for the Professional Organizing industry. It is GET ORGANIZED Month or GO Month. Across the nation and in many other countries like Australia and Canada, professional organizers are offering special workshops,organizing contests with great prizes and discounts for organizing services. Google professional organizers in your area and find out about the GO activities available. If you live in the Elko or northeastern Nevada area checkout my class on residential organizing at Great Basin College. I am extending GO month into February for this class. If you want to learn proven organizing techniques,create a calmness in your home and take control of your life join me on February 16,2011. The class will cover what and how to purge items you no longer need, how to create order out of chaos and how to maintain that order as life changes and new challenges appear. 
* * * * * * Join me for an evening of fun and motivating organizing ideas. * * * * * * By UniqueSpacesOrganizing,on October 2,2010 Here in the High Desert Fall always seems to come before the official date (September 22). We had several hard freezes in September and my garden is ready to be put to bed for the winter.  Before I begin that process,I still need to dig five rows of Yukon Gold and Red Pontiac potatoes. So far one row of plants has yielded 27 pounds of delicious potatoes. If my potato success continues I should have about 135 pounds of “Spuds”to share with my family and friends. Potatoes store well and provide that touch of summer goodness during the cold winter months. Once the potatoes are dug and the garden is put to bed, I like to organize and care for the garden tools so I don’t have to waste time in the Spring. Try my tips for keeping your garden tools in good shape. - Gather all your tools including shovels,rakes,spading forks,hoes, pruning sheers, hand tools and anything else you used with soil or plants.
- Wash each tool with a 10% solution of bleach water. Wipe them dry. This prevents bacteria from being transferred to healthy plants. It also removes caked-on dirt and grime.
- Repair or replace damaged handles.
- Sharpen shovels,spades,hoes, sheers and hand tools.
- Clean any visible rust off of all tools and then apply a light coating of oil to all metal surfaces.
- Store all garden tools together in a dry spot,preferably on hooks or in a rack,never on a dirt surface. Dirt absorbs moisture which can rust your gardening tools.
A little organizing now makes Spring gardening a breeze! By UniqueSpacesOrganizing,on August 11,2010 A couple of months ago I told you about organizing a kitchen and then being able to use that same kitchen for several days. It was a load of fun to see if what I planned really worked. . . at least for me. What I neglected to tell you was that the clients went on vacation and I organized their kitchen (brave people) while they were gone. Since I know the clients quite well,it was tempting to do some very creative organizing and then wait for their frantic calls. I had visions of giving them clues and them enjoying one big scavenger hunt. Then reality hit and it became very apparent that the clients might not think that a scavenger hunt was a great idea,especially when they were hungry/in a hurry. I realized that this creative plan might lead to no more vacation organizing and worse yet,Christmas and birthday presents might be in jeopardy. I quickly came to my senses and developed a plan for an organized kitchen I hoped they would love. After emptying all the cabinets and drawers,sorting like items together and taking interior cabinet measurements,I headed off to the local big box home center. The clients had a budget they wanted to stay within and I had some specific products I hoped to use. I needed some pull-out shelving units for frying pans and other cookware. I also wanted drawer dividers, something to hold snacks for the kids and various sizes of bins for all the miscellaneous items. I was pleased to find that this store carried Rev-A-Shelf products and I found exactly what I was looking for.  
These pullout shelves were easy to install and put an end to the struggle with stacked pans and lids in low cabinets. Storing cookware vertically makes it much easier to access what you need and to return it to the rack when you are done. Elated by the success with pans &lids,I moved on to the challenge of 10 frying pans stacked in a cabinet under the range. (I know what you are thinking: “Why would anyone have that many frying pans?” My client is an accomplished and innovative chef. He uses each and every frying pan with delicious results.) I had to be a bit more creative with the frying pan racks. The door openings on the cabinet were narrow and large frying pans with long handles presented a huge problem. I chose two different styles of pullout shelves. 
The large frying pans were placed vertically with the handles down to one side in a wire pullout multi-use drawer. This worked well and even allowed enough space to store a large stock pot &lid there too. Next I installed the lid portion of the Pan &Lid pullout shelves. The lid rack was positioned low in the cabinet and each frying pan had a space. These frying pans had shorter handles and more narrow diameters so I was able to place them vertically in the rack with the handles up. This rack is one of my favorites for frying pans. I plan to install a similar pullout shelf in my kitchen. Rev-A-Shelf products are sturdy,well made and easy to install. These pullout shelves help maintain kitchen organization and make it a pleasure for the clients to cook. No more digging through the cabinets looking for that specific pot,lid or frying pan. With pullout shelving,cookware is at your finger tips. By UniqueSpacesOrganizing,on July 17,2010  Too Hot To Do Anything About mid July the fun of summer has worn off. The weather is hot,the days are long and it gets harder and harder to keep the kids entertained without spending $$. What’s a frazzled Mom to do? Lucky Lunch Day –Pick a day each week and let the kids make their own lunch. This project is especially fun for 3 to 7 year olds. Provide several sandwich ingredients such as tortillas,rolls,bread,lunch meat,peanut butter,jelly,tuna and condiments. Let them be creative. Who knows what culinary treat your little chefs might make! The only rule is they must eat what they make. Organize The Toys - Organize toys by category and then place them in bins. Bins can be placed on shelves in the closet or play area. Make sure the bins are labeled. Use digital photos and/or labels for each bin. Let the kids take their own photos and make their own labels by hand,on the computer or with a label maker. Its great fun. Use colored bins with a specific color for each child in the family. Della gets orange,Carson gets white and Chase gets green. Color coded, labeled bins make toy cleanup easy and quick. Thirsty Thursdays –each Thursday pick a new drink recipe to make at home. Lemonade and root beer floats are sure to be a hit. Smoothies,slushies, milkshakes and even chocolate milk are delicious treats. Check out the Rachel Ray Yum-o website to learn more about childhood nutrition,try out recipes and even play games. Accountable Kids –This is a great little program to teach your children how to be accountable and responsible. It also teaches your kids time management and organization of themselves and their possessions. I met Traci Heaton,the Brain behind this program,at the NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers) conference three years ago. I was so impressed with the program &Traci, I promptly bought a kit and gave it to a relative with small children. I was amazed at how quickly it brought a calmness to the home and how much the kids loved doing the activities. If you are looking for a way to help your kids get organized this summer,check out Accountable Kids. I hope some of these ideas will energize your “Dog Days Of Summer”! By UniqueSpacesOrganizing,on July 4,2010 Happy 4th of July! In honor of our nation’s Independence Day, plan to complete 4 organizing projects in the next 7 days. The projects can be big or small. They need to be something that will improve your space, add some free time to your day or just make you feel better. Your challenge for the each project is to organize things or a space that are red,white or blue. Everything in the project doesn’t have to be one of these colors but must include at least 4-7 items that are. Here is an example of one of my projects.  - Cobalt Blue Glass on Window Sill
I love cobalt blue glass and usually have several pieces on my kitchen window sill. Kitchen sills tend to collect dust and grime. (Yuck!!!) I took everything off the sill and washed it all in hot,soapy water. The sill and glass are clean,shiny and even more enjoyable to see. The best part of this project is that it took less than 10 minutes. Project #1 completed and only three more to go. When you finish your projects post what you did here. The deadline for submitting posts is Sunday July 11,2010. I will draw a winner from all the posts. The prize is a copy of “The Persimmon Hill Farm Berry Cookbook“. This cookbook is full of delicious recipes for blueberries,strawberries,blackberries and raspberries. If you want tempting new recipes for summer enjoyment,this is the contest to enter. What a way to celebrate the 4th of July,Summer and a bit more organization in your life! By UniqueSpacesOrganizing,on June 17,2010 I took a brief vacation with family and it extended itself for about a month. Any way, I’m back and ready for organizing and blogging. My time away was filled with some great adventures. I organized a kitchen with several new Rev-a-Shelf products and then was able to cook in the kitchen for a week and fine tune the setup. (An organizer’s dream) I will be blogging about the products I used.  A Trunk-load Of Donations You may remember that in April and May I held four successful Kitchen Organizing Workshops. As part of the workshops the participants purged their kitchens and brought the excess kitchen items to me. I was so impressed and proud of these ladies. We were able to donate 224 pounds of excess kitchen utensils,accessories and small appliances to the local women’s shelter,Harbor House (Committee Against Domestic Violence -CADV) . The number of pounds donated equates to the weight of one woman and two children. What a great feeling to realize we are helping other women in need and losing weight at the same time (even if it is weight loss from purging our kitchens –weight loss is weight loss).  The Backseat Is Full,Too! Kudos to all of you who are bravely organizing your homes or small businesses . . . one drawer and one day at a time! | |
