To the extent possible, I love storing things vertically, rather than horizontally. Think about how files are stored in a file cabinet—it’s much easier to access folders in a file cabinet than in a stack.
Tagged with: organizing, organizing principles, organizing solutions, organizing systems, storage, worth repeating
My advice isn’t necessarily spicy, but it is about spices! I was interviewed recently by a writer for Consumer Reports’ website for an article on spice storage and organization.
Tagged with: organizing products, press, spice storage, storage
Decluttering should be embraced, not skipped, because when you let go of those items that don’t serve you, it is so much easier to organize what remains.
Tagged with: decluttering, disorder, minimalism, storage, worth repeating
I originally wrote this post in 2019 and I’m still embracing vertical storage. So I thought I’d share this simple principle again.
To the extent possible, I love storing things vertically, rather than horizontally. Think about how files are stored in a file cabinet—it’s much easier to access them than a stack of file folders.
Tagged with: organizing, organizing principles, organizing solutions, organizing systems, storage, worth repeating
Consumer Reports recently published a story on its website called 10 Organization Pros on the Storage Items They Can’t Live Without. The writer contacted ten professional organizers and asked a simple question: “What is the one storage item you can’t live without?”
Tagged with: organizing products, press, storage
Decluttering should be embraced, not skipped, because when you let go of those items that don’t serve you, it is so much easier to organize what remains.
Tagged with: decluttering, disorder, minimalism, storage, worth repeating
To the extent possible I love storing things vertically, rather than horizontally. Think about how files are stored in a file cabinet—it’s much easier to access them than a stack of file folders.
But vertical storage isn’t just for files. I love using the principle all around my house (and with clients).
Tagged with: organizing, organizing principles, organizing solutions, organizing systems, storage
I’ve noticed in my clients’ homes that it’s hard for some people to let go of greeting cards they’ve been given. The trouble with saving them, of course, is that they can accumulate over the years and become a storage problem.
Four years ago, I wrote this post about how much I love the little dip bowls from West Elm. My love for them has not diminished over time. And, amazingly, West Elm is still selling these little beauties, so I thought I’d repeat this post. The one thing I now use them for that I didn’t use to is dip! They really are good for that. But I like them for all sorts of things, including looking pretty.
Tagged with: aby garvey, organizing products, organizing solutions, repurposing, storage, style, west elm
Eight years ago, I organized my yarn into a bank of Elfa drawers. (Incidentally, Elfa is on sale right now for 25 percent off!) Four years ago, I blogged about how wonderful it is to have an organized stash. Today, I am repeating that post because is as true now as it was then. And, of course, it’s also true for fabric, beads or any other kind of craft supplies you might have.
Tagged with: elfa, knitting, knitting needles, storage, yarn
Four years ago I wrote this blog post about storing the cards I acquire to send to others. I still use this method and find it so helpful when I need a card on the fly.
Tagged with: cards, storage, worth repeating
I met with a client recently who explained all the storage solutions she and her husband had attempted in an effort to create order. They have three kids and a small house and it felt to them like their home was bursting at the seams. Yet their storage solutions hadn’t solved the problem.
Tagged with: decluttering, disorder, minimalism, storage
In 2011, I wrote a blog post in praise of Target’s Itso bin. I was inspired to do so because of a great post by my friend and colleague Aby Garvey on the Simplify 101 blog.
Tagged with: aby garvey, organizing products, storage
While on a trip, I wandered into a “West Elm”: store and was immediately entranced by these beautiful little Textured Dip Bowls. I don’t serve a lot of dip, but I immediately saw the potential for using them to store little stuff. (My friend Aby Garvey is rubbing off on me after all these years.)
Tagged with: aby garvey, organizing products, organizing solutions, repurposing, storage, style, west elm
Just over a year ago, I wrote a blog post about one of the most important (and common sensical) organizing axioms: store items near where you use them. I think it’s such an important message, I’m posting it here again.
Tagged with: organizing principles, pets, storage, worth repeating
My underwear drawer was out of control. The problem was all my tights, which had crowded out my bras. It made it hard to put away my bras and result was there were tights and bras on top of my dresser too often. (I hope that’s not TMI!)
I’m a knitter, and like most knitters, I have quite a bit of yarn. I don’t go out and buy yarn for the sake of buying it. Typically, I purchase yarn for specific projects. But sometimes those projects don’t pan out and I unravel them. And lots of times, I have yarn left over after finishing a project. Multi-color projects, in particular, can lend themselves to a lot of leftover yarn.
Tagged with: elfa, knitting, knitting needles, storage, yarn
One of the most fun parts of helping clients declutter is finding great stuff. My favorite thing to hear is, “I’ve been looking for that!” I also love finding money, which happens with surprising frequency.
Tagged with: aby garvey, decluttering, knitting, storage, wips, yarn
In the past, I have belonged to Sam’s Club and Costco, the giant discount warehouse stores. About five years ago, we let our Costco membership lapse because we realized we were throwing away so much. For our family of two, bulk shopping just doesn’t make sense.
If you’re like me and like to pick up greeting cards when they’re on sale or when you find one you really like (or, if you like to reuse cards like I do), sometimes storing them can get tricky.
One thing I always tell my clients—and I mention it when I give talks—is that it makes life a lot easier if you store items near where you use them. If you select a distant place to store stuff, it gets that much more difficult to put things away when you’re through with them.
Tagged with: organizing principles, pets, storage
My friend Aby Garvey of Simplify 101 is such a smart organizer. Not only does she organize well and come up with innovative solutions, she also makes things beautiful. She helped me organize my pantry two years ago and I’m still in love with it.
Tagged with: aby garvey, organizing products, storage
At the NAPO conference last week in Columbus, the good folks at Rubbermaid had a video camera set up and they asked professional organizers to share their favorite tips.
Tagged with: pantry, rubbermaid, storage, video
I’d been lusting over the Total Knitting Tote that I’d seen in the Knitpicks catalog
Tagged with: crafts, knitpicks, organizing products, scrapbooking, shopping, storage
That stressful trip to IKEA was all about purchasing storage furniture for my new adjunct home office. I had an extra room in my house, adjacent to my home office, and I decided to create a second office out of it.
Tagged with: elfa, home office, ikea, storage, workspace, yarn
Yesterday I posted about my new Elfa drawer system which now stores my yarn and knitting needles. Here are the specs: I purchased three 10-runner drawer frames (41 inches high) and platinum mesh baskets with platinum tops over the whole thing. I have three sets of drawers—two medium and two wide. The way I configured my set, I have 16 drawers to work with, 3 one-runner (shallow), 12 two-runner (medium) and one three-runner (deep).
Tagged with: circular needles, elfa, knitting needles, learn to knit afghan, storage, wips, yarn
On Friday I blogged about how I hoped to focus on decluttering in the coming weekend and that I was experiencing the rare and delightful confluence of having time for this kind of work and feeling motivated to do it.
I have to say, it went well. In Friday’s post, I listed the projects I hoped to accomplish:
Tagged with: accountability, decluttering, disorder, storage
If you’ve ever worked with a professional organizer, you know that one of the things we bring to the table is focus. When you make the financial and time commitment to have a professional help you get organized, you tend to stay focused on the job during your session. And if your attention strays, the organizer draws it back to the project at hand.
Tagged with: accountability, decluttering, disorder, storage
I’m an avid knitter. I’m certainly not an expert knitter, but I knit every day. Or at least probably 350 days a year. One thing that every knitter knows is that you can acquire a lot of stuff with this hobby.
Tagged with: circular needles, learn to knit afghan, storage, wips, yarn