Home Organizing | Take Control Organizing

5 Minute Time Out – To Get Organized!

Posted on July 30, 2010 by Nikki in Getting Started, Home Organizing, Time Management

Cleaning out your garage can seem daunting!

It’s a big space with a lot of stuff!

In the podcast this week, we briefly talk about starting small, and taking the garage piece by piece! Here are some quick things you can do in 5 minutes to at least get started in the organizing process! Who knows maybe after you see the progress only 5 minutes can make, you will take an extra 5 minutes, just for fun!

1) Clean up the entrance area / door leading into your home. Not the whole wall area, just the main space around the door. If you have stairs leading up to the door, make sure the stairs are clear!

2) When you are done clearing the area – take a broom and briefly sweep the area around the door. It’s amazing what a little clean up can do!

3) Take 5 minutes and walk around with a trash bag and get out all of the trash. This is a big one, especially if you have kids. You are sure to find wrappers that do not belong.

4) Gather one category of like items, for example; camping gear or sporting equipment and place it all in one area.

5) For the next 5 minutes you have, sort one category that you placed together. Use this time for the quick and easy decisions, like the Roller Blades that are too small, or the skis that are broken.

Take a time out today! Taking just 5 minutes a day… will eventually get your project done!

Doing a little is better than doing none!

Happy Organizing!

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words!

Posted on July 28, 2010 by Nikki in Home Organizing, Staying Organized

In Monday’s Podcast we talked about Garage Organizing. For many of us the garage becomes the place where unwanted items tend to accumulate. Maybe you no longer want the item in your home or maybe your intention is to donate the items but you just haven’t found the time to do so. In a recent blog post, A New Perspective, we talked about how we can become numb to our surroundings. The same idea goes with our garages and other storage areas. You become so used to seeing it, you actually stop seeing it and go on with your normal day to day business. You avoid making the decision that needs to be made.

In working with clients who are downsizing, I have seen a lot of items left from their children. These kids are now adults and many have children of their own. It could be an old dresser, an old rocking chair, old toys or a toy chest. These items are hard to let go of because they hold a certain memory or time in their lives they do not want to part with. Logically you know the item is not being used nor will it probably ever be used, but you just are not sure what to do with it. Does this sound familiar? It may not be your exact story but it might be close to what you are going through.

I have a couple of suggestions. First, if the item belonged to an adult child, ask them if they want it… Give them a timeline of when they need to pick it up by, if they don’t want it or do not pick it up within the reasonable amount of time then go on to my next suggestion…

Take a picture of the item and then let it go. This is a great solution to those who scrapbook, you can take a picture and journal in your scrapbook what the piece means to you, your memories of it, etc. If you don’t scrapbook, you can still take a picture and go back to it later and recapture the memory. The picture is your reminder!

You actually can use this strategy with a lot of different items in your home, which hold some kind of memory. For example; take a picture of your child with his favorite toy or a favorite outfit, then when they outgrow the toy or the outfit, give yourself permission to let go of the item.

You do not need to keep the item, to keep the memory!

Happy Organizing!

A New Perspective!

Posted on July 7, 2010 by Nikki in Home Organizing, Office Organizing, Productivity

When I was a teenager, I remember rearranging my bedroom furniture. I worked all day long until I found the right arrangement I was happy with. I got this great idea from my father, every once in while we would come home from school and the living room furniture would be in different places. What can I say, we liked change! It gave each of the rooms a different perspective. They were fun to be in, because they were now just a little bit different than before.

The other day, I was working with a client and we were talking about what to do with all of the decorations and little mementos around his office. The idea was to rotate them from season to season. This is not a new concept, in fact I have talked about this before. But I think it is always good to remind us of the simple changes we can make in our homes, and the big rewards that are paid off in doing so.

When we don’t make these slight changes, our surroundings can become numb to us. We become so used to seeing something, that you actually stop seeing it. It can lose it’s value to us because we are not fully paying attention, we may even stop caring about the item without even knowing it. I have heard Oprah say this before on her show, you are actually living unconsciously. You are not aware of what’s around you, it becomes blended in the walls.

Think about the last time you ran into something you haven’t seen in a long time and it brought back good memories. Did it put it a smile on your face, did you walk down memory lane or maybe tell someone what you just found. Maybe it prompted you call an old friend or a family member.

When we live unconsciously, we are not fully appreciating our surroundings or the choices we have made about our homes.

Pay particular attention to those areas in your home where you live in the most. What simple rotation or changes could you make to add just a little new perspective? It could be simply changing your photos on the wall, or taking a few of your collected items into storage and only displaying a handful, or add fresh cut flowers as a centerpiece. Whatever it looks like in your home, I challenge you to start making those changes and to start living consciously.

Be aware, enjoy, and love what you have!

Happy Organizing!

What You Need to Know Before Your Next Garage Sale!

Posted on June 9, 2010 by Nikki in Home Organizing

If you followed the Spring Cleaning Checklist from TCO, than more likely than not, you have purged and decided to get rid of some things! Now that we are going into Summer, many of you may decide you have enough “stuff” to hold a garage sale!

On the podcast this week, we talked about garage sales! We talked about why you may want to do one and the work involved in preparing, especially a successful one! You want your hard work to pay off! Literally!

Typically I would not write a blog post about what we just talked about on the podcast, but I felt in this circumstance it may be a good check off list to go by and you would find it helpful when getting ready….

Enjoy and please share with us your excellent tips and ideas on how to pull off the best garage sale… We would love to hear from you!

Tips on making your Garage Sale a success!

To get more traffic to your garage sale, do a neighborhood sale or at least a 2 family sale, share in the advertising costs.

Sort items into Categories- set up your driveway or garage almost like a department store. Categories could include; Baby Items, Toys, Children Clothes, Electronics, Household Items, Clothing, Furniture.

Have clear signs on what the departments are. This way your customers know what is available.

Hang up adult clothes, outerwear etc. They will sell better if they are hung up and washed.

Make sure everything is clean and in the best shape as possible.

Make sure everything is priced – do not make your customers guess. If are not sure what to price an item, check on e-bay or craigslist to get an idea of what similar items are going for. You could also visit a couple of garage sales the weekend prior to yours to get a better idea.

Borrow as many tables and hanging racks as you can, the better displayed, the more you sell!

Have plenty of change available. Keep it safe and not in a money box. You could wear an apron or a tool belt, keeping the money on you. As you are collecting money, put it safely inside.

Fun for the kids:

Have your children set up a lemonade or popsicle stand. They get a chance to earn a little extra money and have a lot of fun at the same time. People love it and you’ll be surprised how much extra money they can make!

If your children are having a hard letting a toy go, let them know they get to keep the proceeds. Sometimes just that incentive alone can make a difference.

After it all said and done, the last thing you will want to do is cook dinner! So treat yourself and your family out to dinner and celebrate your success! Order dessert if you feel like it, you earned it!

Happy Organizing!

Getting Ready For Summer!

Posted on May 28, 2010 by Nikki in Holiday Organizing

For the last couple of weeks we have focused on planning your summer vacation, packing and travel tips and coming soon is the new TCO packing tip and checklist! I love the change of seasons. It gives us a perfect opportunity to evaluate our homes, our lifestyles and adjust to the upcoming schedule changes.

This weekend is Memorial Day, and I plan on getting my home organized for the summer. We have a little under 3 weeks until both children are out of school. I am using this weekend as a jump start to getting our home organized!

Below are the items I hope to achieve over the weekend. My hope is you will be inspired by my list and find ideas where you can start your own list.

The more prepared and organized you are, the more in control you will feel!

The summer should be about making memories and having fun!

My list to do this weekend:

Go through kids closets and figure out what clothing fits and what needs to be donated. Make a list of items they need for the summer and how many. I like to be practical when shopping and buy only what they need.

Go through kids toys. Pack up toys that are not being played with but would like to keep. Donate toys the kids have outgrown. Deep clean and organize both bedrooms.

Go through outside toys, wash, and figure out what’s still good and what is not.

Go through art / craft supplies, get rid of anything old. Take inventory of what we have and make a list of items we need. Ask kids what kind of craft projects they would like to do this summer.

Research the web on different craft / art activities for the kiddos. My son loves word find puzzles and mazes, etc. There are several websites out there, where you can print these off for free. It’s a great thing to do during quiet time!

Confirm babysitting schedule for the summer

Review Camp Schedule for the summer and budget

Make a list of subjects my kids are interested in researching at the library this summer

On a side note, I also plan on going to the nursery and planting flowers in the front yard and doing some yard work. Oh yes, getting ready for the summer does mean there is work to do! However, once this stuff is done, the prize is having a great summer.

Recently, my heart has felt a little heavy that my kids are growing up so fast. I really want to take the summer months to just live in the moment. These summers go by so fast, our children grow up so fast. We can’t get these moments back, so I want to be sure we live them the best we can…

What do you to prepare for the summer? Please share your ideas and your to do list!

Happy Organizing!