Where Did I Go - Part III

Hello Friends,

This is the final installment of this Where Did I Go series. Promise. There is a lot more coming to this blog this year, but we had to get this out of the way.

We left off with me waiting for a rental to open up so I would be able to move before my house was sold.   I wrote down my criteria for joy:  2 bedrooms, located in my neighborhood and one more thing...

I prayed that I'd have a big enough bedroom to recreate the one I'd worked so hard to declutter and redecorate.  It was my happy place and I wanted to take it with me.

The one and only rental that became available was the first and only one that I saw.  I was in a foul mood that day and my friend, Mary, had to practically drag me over to the showing.

I believe in signs and wonders and this "owl" sitting on top of the garage flipped my bad attitude in a hurry.  I love owls and one translation of my married name means owl.  It felt meant to be from the start.  

I didn't mind the peeling paint, no garage, the coin-op laundry, the fact that college students were likely the other renters or that I couldn't move into my treetops apartment for 6 weeks.  I was delighted to find out the basement efficiency was available almost immediately.  I was grateful and excited!

As I'd mastered the art of asking for help,  I reached out to my church, and a big group of guys from the Men's Ministry, came over with trucks, my pastor rented a u-haul and they moved me in a span of just a few hours.  Some of my things went to the church's garage, very little went into the basement apartment and some into storage on the premises.  One man commented that it was the most organized move ever! 

Of course, I'm an organizer!                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

And, I said goodbye to my house.  My youngest son, home from college with me, walked through our house, remembering all the good times and funny stories contained in those walls.

Literally, he showed me a secret hole he used to hide things from his brother and there were items still in there!  

Then for a month I lived in the tiny basement apartment.  I will never ever forget waking up there the next morning and wondering what the heck had I done?  Hence no pictures. 

It was quite an adjustment and I was really glad it was sunny and warm outside and not the middle of winter.  Thankfully there was an egress window and another small one for the sun to shine through.

Then, before I knew it, it was time to move upstairs.  Again, my church, actually my pastor and his son, moved everything out of their garage into my new place and I called in more friends to help me move from the basement to the 2nd story.  

I believe I had every friend I've ever made, help me with some aspect of this transition.  From the sale to multiple moves, my friends gladly stepped in for me.  I will never forget how loved and supported I felt. I can't wait to help someone else!  I had enough help to last a lifetime.  

It took awhile to unpack and because it was 85% smaller than my previous house, I had to be really creative with storage.  I did not want to be surrounded by my "stuff".

My "Hoosier" became a food pantry.

I outfitted my tiny bedroom closet with a storage system for my clothes which eliminated the need for a dresser.

 And my prayer was answered!  All the elements of my old bedroom fit perfectly in my new space.

For the living area, I had to downsize my original ideas for furniture.  My old furniture was just way too big for the space.  Several trips to 

Ikea

 and just like in  

Goldilocks & the Three Bears

, it felt just right to me.

Scale is so important.  Color is too.  I'm not a

Minimalist 

in the truest sense, I'm more 

Hygge

 but with a 

KonMari

 approach. 

Which method resonates with you?

So what about the second bedroom?  Follow me...

Welcome to my art studio/office! 

and a place for the kids to crash when they visit. 

Whoever invented blow up air mattresses, bless them.  Who needs a guest room anyway?

Thanks for letting me show off this version of a tiny house.  It has been very freeing living with a lot less space and a lot less stuff.  And to top off this change in residence, I not only changed my address, I also changed my phone number, my email address and even my name.

So allow me to introduce myself, my name is Valerie Cady and this concludes the series on Where Did I Go?

Read 

Part I

Read 

Part II

Are you facing a move this year, find yourself unexpectedly in your own transition as I did, or are now on the other side of a big change?

 If you need assistance I can help.  

Whether it's getting ready for a garage sale, de-cluttering your home, or sorting through those boxes of memorabilia, I can help you figure out what to throw and more importantly, what to keep. Together we will turn your biggest headache into a place of joy.

It's not just from my own experience that I draw from, I've worked with nearly 50 clients since I started my business 3 years ago - and that was all while working another job.  Now I've committed to Winnow & Spruce Organizing full time!

Won't you help spread the word and tell your friends and family about my services? 

Find me on 

Facebook

@winnowandspruceorganizing and invite your friends to like and  follow

Refer a friend to my 

website

Subscribe to my 

Email List

 and receive a freebie!

Follow and share this 

blog

.

I am grateful for your support.

Where Did I Go? Part II

Hello Friends,

I left off of 

this story

 in December of 2016.  

One month later, my life was totally in God's hands and ah-mazing things were happening amidst all the pain I was experiencing from the divorce proceedings.  

I can explain it no other way than to say that Jesus had ahold of my right hand and was walking me through all the plans that had to be made to sell our house and guide me into a new future, much different than the one I had visualized.  I hung on to this scripture like a lifeline.

For I the Lord your God, hold your right hand:  It is I who say to you, "Fear not, I am the one who helps you."  Isaiah 41:13 ESV

Before the house even hit the market, a couple approached me at church inquiring if I'd be interested in selling it to them.  It was perfect for their family and as we moved towards closing, the real work began.

Fortunately, I had been sorting out items by category, using the Kon-Mari method for the past year but I still had a few categories to go such as my Memorabilia and Photos.

In one sitting, I sorted all these boxes of my memories down to two.  Sometimes a little pressure is a good thing.  I took lots of photos of paperwork and significant items so if I want to look at them, I still can, but it all went.

I decided it was time to let go of the yearbooks and photo albums from high school, college, dating and beyond.  I pulled out a few photos from these albums and tossed the rest. 

(Did I hear someone gasp?)

It felt good to let go of my past to make way for my future.

I knew that I was going to have to have a big sale in order to make some money and hopefully get rid of most everything I had.  

No way was I going to live in an apartment surrounded by clutter after experiencing all the clear space in my beautiful home.  At this point, I still had no idea where I was going, but I knew that small was going to be in my future and perhaps even tiny. 

Emptying out 4 stories of a house was a large scale version of these sorting boxes.  Except for my "Keep" box only held items that I absolutely loved and would hopefully fit in a tiny apartment.

I knew that having a sale in April likely meant it was going to have to be held inside which meant all the big furniture pieces had to go to make room for all the household items.  I may have worn out the 

Facebook Marketplace App

!  It seemed I was selling something every day and I met the most wonderful people!

I held a 

pop-up store

 for a woman who wanted to buy some garden and outdoor decor items.  Turns out she runs the outdoor flea market where I bought most of the items I was selling!  Even funnier was she bought almost all of it back!  

One of my besties bought my favorite swing so I could still come by and use it from time to time.

I sold a small area rug to a woman who confided in me that she'd just got off work at 6am and found out her kids had had the stomach flu all night.  She had just arrived from the laundromat, where she had to wash all of their bedding.  Just that morning I had emptied out the linen closet and wondered what to do with it all.  As soon as I heard her story, I rushed upstairs and grabbed the giant bag of sheets, blankets, comforters, and pillows.  She was so grateful as we both stuffed them into her small car filled with laundry baskets and clean clothes.  

I smiled for the rest of the day.

There was a metal workbench that I sold to a woman named Kim.  We hit it off immediately, wondered how it was that we had never met in our small town, and after loading the beast into her pick-up, have become friends ever since. 

(In fact, she offered to come help me pack all the discards up from the big sale the following day so the donation truck could grab them and she did!  She is my friend for life.)

It gave me a lot of joy during this difficult time to have some of my favorite things go to people so excited to own them.  

But did I mention the garage?  

So when my soon to be ex-had left town, he left an enormous mess in the garage.  Piles of things willy-nilly.  It was overwhelming.  No way could I do this on my own along with emptying the house, plus every time I walked in there, I felt angry that he hadn't taken care of this.  Fortunately, a friend offered to do it, I accepted.  Even organizers need help from time to time.  

It took 6 days.  I watched.

BEFORE

Man oh man there was so much stuff.  It was impassable.

AFTER

 READY FOR THE SALE

The sale was held.  It was a blur.  Many, many, many of my friends came to help with the display, pricing, and working the sale.  I remember it was very cold outside and I walked many times between the garage and my house to check on things, answer questions and talk to people.  It was exhausting.

I would take photos of things that weren't selling and post to 

Facebook Marketplace

and people would text me with the photo marked with red circles of what they were coming over to buy.  It was crazy!

Afterwards, it was really FUN to throw all the cash in the air! 

Haven't you wanted to do this too?

The house was completely emptied out, except for the things I was keeping.  

It was a bit like camping.  There was no couch to sit on, no bed even.  I slept on a mattress on the floor.

Meanwhile the house was closing in a month!   I waited on God to find out where I was headed next.

Go back and read 

Part I

Watch for Part III next.

Have you ever had to make a big move?

How did you decide what to keep?

Where Did I Go? Part 1

Hello You,

I’ve been gone from this blog for quite awhile, about a year actually.  Sure I managed a total of two posts in all of 2017, 

here

 and 

here

, but mentally, I took a break from everything so I could focus on me. This is what happened.

I'll pick up the story in the Spring of 2016.   My husband took a job in another state, in the hopes that we would eventually move there permanently. I stayed put to get our home ready for sale.

I had started my own version of a 

Tidying Festival

 back in 2015 which I blogged about in many posts since then.  By the summer of 2016, I had finished my

clothes

,

books

, 

paperwork

,

closets

 the 

basement

, had the entire inside of our home professionally 

painted

 and then I decided to 

decorate

 with staging for a house sale in mind, all while still working with clients and doing a million other things to get the house fixed up and cleaned up.

In late summer I had resigned myself to living alone and was enjoying my renewed home.  Houses really do like being taken care of.  Mine shone with the love and care I had given it and I relished all the space.  It had been worth all the hard work.

Then something happened that Fall that changed the course of my life.  

Unbeknownst to me, in that other state, my husband was making his own choices and these had led to him very suddenly losing his job.  The long and the short of it was that after 27 years of marriage I filed for divorce.  This started me on a path to a much different life than the one I had previously known.

By December 2016,  I had taken in a renter, found a part time job and was working with organizing clients in the evenings and on weekends, my college-age sons and myself were about to lose our health insurance, and I knew there was no way I could afford the payments on the mortgage to keep our family home.

Read 

Part II

to find out how this story continues and where my new life begins!

Car Clean-Out

The seasons are changing!  It's a good time to clean out the ol' car. 

I added these car magnets recently and have noticed people stopping and staring when I'm in traffic. I can't help but think they might be checking out the inside of my car when I park. Egads! 

Thanks to one of my clients, I discovered that one can actually pay to have their car cleaned out!  It's called 

car detailing

 and now I am a total fan.

Before...

gross!

                            Check out all that beach sand!  

                                                     So many park stickers and no easy way to remove them...I had tried.

Leaving the sun roof open for years deteriorates the stitching on leather seats, hence duct tape.

So it was very rewarding to have someone else vacuum, scrub and shine the interior of my car.

After....

joy!

 Only current park stickers, removal of beach sand and no more peeling duct tape, mystery stains and dust.

But then the real work began....decluttering.  

I pulled all of this

crap

out of the storage areas of my car.

Here is what I found

(from left to right): 

Maps for 3 states, car manual, expired registration!, insurance card, window markers

?

, sketch of fairy godmother, phone charger, parts and pieces that have broken off car interior, fuses, scissors, barrettes, extra sunglasses - 3 pairs!, eyeglass cleaner and cloth, hand sanitizer, bug spray, first aid kit, zipties, assorted pens/pencils, paperclips, money!

(we always find money)

2 flashlights, window scraper, park passes, GPS unit, bluetooth speaker, duct tape, batteries, signal mirror

(seriously?

), military shovel, workgloves, diesel additive, gardening gloves

(oh my!)

There was also some rags and assorted trash.

Some of what I found, stayed in the car and here is what I kept and where it is stored.

In one side trunk compartment, an air pump, handy for blowing up beach toys.

In other side trunk compartment:  A first aid kit.  I restocked it:  snake bite kit, bee sting antidote, needle -

for splinters

, water purification tablets, matches, firestarter - 

because Winter!

scissors, tweezers, q-tips, triangle bandages, gauze, adhesive tape, assorted band-aids.  Let the adventures begin!

In the trunk compartment:  An inverter - handy for plugging in that GPS when the battery charger breaks - 

it did! 

Extra lightbulbs and fuses, various tools to make car repairs, a handwarmer

because Winter!

Instructions for the car rack carrier, the signal mirror

for survival situations because Winter!,

jumper cables, diesel additive, work gloves, shovel, and a few rags.

On top of the trunk, I love using storage totes; one for my cloth shopping bags and wrangling watermelons and other bulky items after grocery shopping and another for my organizing supplies so that I'm always prepared to work with clients.  I got these at 

Ikea

 but not sure they are available any longer.  They were the totes that lined their Besta media center but they also fit perfectly in my trunk!

In the driver's side door storage:  Maps, park pass, mileage book, hand sanitizer and business cards -

because someone seriously flagged me down from the side of the street to book an appointment!

In the passenger side door storage:  An umbrella, bug spray and a cloth shopping bag -

for those impromptu 

Aldi

runs when I forget to put my cloth bag stash back in the car!

In the glove compartment:  GPS, flashlight, window scraper, tire gauge, scissors, flashlight, car manual/registration & insurance card.

Truth be told about that expired car registration. I ended up realizing that I'd thrown away my renewal by accident when I put the tabs on my license plates. So off to the DMV to get a copy.  It only cost me $8.00...phew! 

Even organizers sometimes are too organized for their own good.

In the center console: Extra eyeglasses, eyeglass cleaner & cloth, lip balm, sunscreen -

because Summer!

and tissues.

Lastly, I restocked my coin holder with quarters for the shopping carts at 

Aldi

 and the occasional parking meter.

I reattached my phone holder and my organization is complete.

After all that work, I'm ready for a road trip!  And with a GPS, a phone and maps, I am sure never to get lost.

Have you ever had your car detailed before?  I say treat yo'self!

What is the most unusual item you keep in your car?

Come on an Adventure to your Basement

This summer I had the pleasure of organizing a few basements.  It was a fine time to escape the heat and I was grateful for the work.

A basement packed full of unused clutter and boxes of dusty items can weigh down a house and its occupants.  Clients are hesitant to open the door and show me around.  They always say, “I hate coming down here.” as we walk down the steps into the mess.  I feel their pain.

Perhaps you feel this way about your own basement.  Maybe it has become a catch all for grown children’s discards, a memorial of boxes piled high to honor deceased parents or grandparents, a storage area for furniture that doesn’t fit in the rest of the house.  If you’re like most clients, you aren’t even sure what’s down there!

Often it’s the hold out in an otherwise organized home.  After all, it’s off the beaten path, and except maybe to do laundry or change out the furnace filter, it rarely has a visitor.  Without a steady stream of traffic, it is an easy place to neglect.

But, I tell you in all honesty, the day will come when you’ll have to face it.  For some it’s a crisis – such as a sudden divorce or death requiring the house to be cleaned up and sold.  For others it’s a child or relative moving back in and finding nowhere to store their things.  Most likely it is an unpleasant gnawing feeling in your gut that things are out of control and a growing realization that the time has come to handle it.

Isn’t it good to know you’re not alone?  Let’s go an adventure together and see what we find.

Unfortunately, we nearly always find evidence of mice.  They love hiding under and behind items stored on the floor.

 And always spiders too.  They hang out in dark corners and the ceiling.  Grab the vacuum!

So once we get things sorted and areas cleaned up, we designate zones for items that belong together and we try to move as much as we can off the floor.  It makes it so much easier to clean!  

Then label everything!  This step makes it easier to locate items when you need them.

Even your shelves can be labeled!

Oh and we always find money!  The little things can really add up!

When's the last time you took a good look around your basement?

What is the most unusual item you have stored down there?

Ding...Ding...Ding...We Have A Winner!

Hello Friends,

Last time you were

here

, there was a little 

contest

 going on.  There were many guesses but only one came close.  

Val Lundgren, you guessed it!  

The teacher I blogged about teaches Science; Earth Science to be exact.

Congratulations!  I'll make sure you get your Caribou drink card.

Thanks for entering everyone!  

Back to School for Teachers

Hello Teachers!

Can you relate to this?  Boxes upon boxes waiting to be unpacked into a new classroom?

My brave teacher friend asked for help from her tribe of girlfriends and we were only too happy to oblige.  Asking for help when faced with this much work is a good idea...Always.

I am so proud of my friend for asking...and receiving.

We got right to work.  School is starting in a few days people!

There were 2 rows of cabinets like these and unfortunately, partially filled with a lot of unorganized stuff that belonged to the school, including 6 cabinets filled with old textbooks.

Now, I found that ironic.  Many schools today have students using chromebooks and smartboards. Who uses textbooks anymore?  But I digress...we had to keep them.

There was some cleaning to be done; wiping out drawers and shelves.  We used old socks - BRILLIANT.

Discoveries were made, like this box full of goggles that aren't being used anymore.

Sorting rocks.  I.Kid.You.Not.  There were egg cartons like these, FILLED with hundreds of assorted rocks.

We all had jobs to do.

And problem-solving.  

There were posters.  A lot of posters!  They were in a very large laundry hamper, but that wasn't very attractive or appropriate for a classroom.

Since they were organized into plastic garbage bags by category, it made sense to keep them that way. There was one cabinet tall enough...and these 2 boxes just fit to hold most of them.

I have some nice clear bags I intend to gift her because...who wants their beautiful posters kept in trash bags?

The coat closet!  The rest fit on top in a large box.  Phew! 

It was like a treasure trove unpacking the boxes.  

The samples this teacher friend has for the students are marvelous!

I just wanted to touch everything!  

So I did!

And I got to label!  Eeek, my favorite!  

Hmmm...my labels aren't very straight.  

And what the heck is a psychrometer?  

Done is better than perfect in most organizing situations.

I love these metal label holders, they were on every cabinet door and drawer.  Get your own 

here

.  I am imagining that these students will be able to put things away as well as my teacher friend being able to locate things easily and quickly.

We were done a few hours later, this is all that was left!  A couple of boxes of binders to be placed on a shelf.

And at the end, we found homes for everything in the boxes and all the things that the school said she had to keep.  AND there was empty storage leftover.

When does that ever happen in a classroom?

The only thing left to do is to put away the socks when they're dry.

There is a tendency when moving into a new classroom, to just shove everything in drawers and cabinets and call it done in the hopes of getting organized someday.  Teachers will tell you from experience (there were 3 helping on this project), that someday never comes.

If you need help organizing your classroom,

get in touch with me

 to set up a consultation and get a plan.  I promise I'll stick your labels on straight.

Leave a comment and guess what subject my teacher friend teaches.  

The winner gets a drink gift card from Caribou Coffee!

Bathroom Tidy

Hello Friends,

Today we are focusing on what is for most people, the smallest room in the house.  Bathrooms can attract clutter like no other room because we humans love our personal care products.  We love trying out what's new and different often before we've used up what's old and not working.  This list includes:  shampoo, conditioner, soap, skin care products, make up, nail polish, manicure items, bath items, first aid supplies, and cleaning supplies (for the bathroom).  Add in a heap of bath towels, beach towels, hand towels and washcloths and times everything by the number of family members and there is a lot of storage happening here.

There are some rules to follow when organizing a bathroom.  

Rule #1 Everything off the floor.

So much easier to clean!

A laundry hamper would be handy here as well as hooks for towels to be hung up.  Follow your natural inclination. If you are continually dumping towels on the floor in a particular place, install a hook and see what happens!

This rule includes all the miscellaneous storage and items that are stored on the floor too!  

The wastebasket can stay.

The challenge was to create space in the existing cabinet for these items previously stored in the plastic storage drawers.

Drawer 1: Hair care items & make up 

Drawer 2:  Travel make up bags and assorted items 

Drawer 3:  Flat irons/curling irons

Here's what this bathroom had for existing storage.

A long cubby filled with items used everyday and these two cabinets that are stuffed full.

Rule #2  Decide what to keep.

 This means discarding old, stained towels, holey washcloths, expired skin care products, old make-up, hair care products that didn't work as expected and on and on.  

We all have this bathroom clutter.  Get out a trash bag and get to work!

Rule #3  Storage.  Everything kept has a home.

The long cubby was easy.  Toothcare on the top shelf, make up in the middle shelf and hair styling aids on the bottom shelf.  These are items that are used each day and need to be kept handy.

We used existing storage containers and decided to label the containers by category and also by name of the family member that the contents belong to.  

Some containers still look cluttered...why you might ask?  It's because...

Rule #4  Never organize someone else's stuff.  

Unless permission is granted.

T

owels on one shelf, pillowcases/sheets  along with tissue and toilet paper on another with cleaning supplies on the bottom.  Simple and easy for everyone in the family to find.

The after pictures look so clean and bright.  It's amazing how decluttering can make a space feel more open.  

We did throw out an entire black garbage bag and another box of items to donate too!

Everything off the floor and that's a plunger in that cute basket we found.

There is this full length mirror to contend with.  It needs to be hung up properly on the wall.

But when I went over to investigate, lo and behold there was a FIRE EXTINGUISHER hung up behind it!

So I wonder....do you think there are a lot of candles around that bathtub some nights?  Ooh la la.  You never know what you'll find when you organize!

What is the strangest item you keep in your bathroom?

Want to guess how long it took to declutter this room?

Got Powercords?

Hello Friends,

Recently we were looking for a powercord to a techy device in a client's home.  After a cursory search of a kitchen drawer or two, she yelled, "Be right back!" and disappeared into the black hole most of us commonly refer to as...the basement.

In a few minutes, she reappeared with this armful.

Luckily, the powercord we needed WAS IN THERE!  

Ah-mazing.  I love when things work out.

But, the real question is not "where is the powercord?"  It is how to keep powercords organized.

Get ready, it's really simple.  

Whenever a new techy device comes into your home such as a phone, a laptop, a camera, an ipod, a TV etc., simply label the powercords with the name of the device before you use it.  Make this a habit.

IT'S THAT EASY!

Now if you have a pile of cords and you're not sure what they go to, schedule a date night with your spouse and do your best to match them all up to the existing devices in your home.  What if you can't identify them all, you ask?  Then throw them all out and free up your brain and your space.

If you find in the future that you're missing a cord, it's 

Amazon

 to the rescue!  

Seriously everything you need can be found on the internet.

But back to labeling....

You can use masking tape or  

white address labels

, but my favorite way is by using a 

label maker

 such as this one.  

Be sure to buy the extra tape cartridges too!

There are many label makers on the market today, and clients often ask me to recommend one.  I say, simple is better, read the reviews, price out the tape cartridges and be sure to buy the label cartridges that have the split back.  

It can be quite frustrating not to mention time consuming to peel off the label backing from the end of the tape.  

Must have long fingernails!

 With split back label tape, you simply fold the label horizontally and the tape peels off from the center.  Easy peasy.

  Labeling can become addictive, so buy a few cartridges.

Labeling ideas for you:  

Labels come in different colored tape and print too!

  Yes, I know I'm a geek, but I have to label my cords with my name or a family member may abscond with one.

If you're frustrated by which side of your itty bitty metal phone charger goes into your phone, label it with

IN

so you'll easily always put it in right side up.  

Because who can see the little symbol when it's black on black?

After you're done labeling the cord, then wrap it in a coil and use a

binder clip

 to secure it.  These come in different colors and different sizes too!  Use the extra large size for the largest cords in your home.

Next on my list is to label this mess of stereo cords.  I want to be able to unhook my stereo and hook it back up without any help from my techy oldest.

 I'm thinking of using the alphabet so I can match up the corresponding letters on the cord and the back of the stereo components.  Hmmmm...

Where do you keep your powercords?

Have you ever thrown one out by mistake and regretted it?

I didn't think so.

Cleaning Up Arizona - Part II

Hello Friends,

Remember 

Part I

 from last year?  Let's begin where we left off.

I went back to Arizona in February to help my mom get "unstuck" as she put it.  

The huge storage trailer was still sitting on her land and while the contents had been sorted and stored in there, she was anxious to take the next steps to get rid of it all.

But first we worked on the inside of her house, by decluttering her living room.  She lives in a tiny house - 467 square feet!  To say space is at a premium is an understatement.

BEFORE

 AFTER

Little details made a BIG difference, like covering up the fuse box with a beloved print that we framed and using one of her drums for a table.  Everything in this space brings her JOY!

We had a lot of fun shopping to finish off the details of the space.  The shopping is always what clients want to do first, but it's actually the last step in the organizing process -

and the most fun!

Inside the wicker basket is all sorts of musical instruments that are brought out to a campfire gathering from time to time.  The instruments were stored in dusty grocery bags, shoved under furniture before.  Not anymore!  They are now in this cute and practical wicker basket with a lid.

We gathered a collection of small pottery bowls that were displayed in every room and put them on the windowsill.  Collections are sometimes best displayed together.  

The tiles were found stored in a shed on her property, leftover from a project.  They fit perfectly on the windowsill, end table and TV stand!  Shopping from your own home is the BEST!

Don't you love how clean it all looks?  

A lot of stuff went out to that storage trailer!

We also made some other little changes in how things were stored in other parts of the house.  These were in a heap behind the door on the floor.  So much easier to clean when the tools are easy to grab and go.

And we found this cute tiled tray to hang up on her house.  It looks so welcoming.

While we worked together we had many conversations about the other trailer on the property...the one we sorted out the last time I visited.

The conversations centered around having a yard sale/not having a yard sale, getting a dumpster/not getting a dumpster, giving everything away/selling everything, and having the trailer hauled away or dismantling it and hauling it to the dump.  There were a lot of decisions to make!

So I left to go back home with nothing decided,

but her living room sure looked great!

Then this happened!

I simply LOVE when my clients make a BIG life-changing decision and take ACTION!

It was a 3 day yard sale and she got rid of it all.  

Just.Like.That.

AND best of all, she had help!  I LOVE when clients ask for HELP!  

Her BFFs rallied with her and they had a really good time.

Then I held my breath...what about that trailer?  I can hear you asking, 

Yeah, what about it?

Next thing you know...

The tires had to be dug out of the desert.

The pop-outs couldn't be popped in, so they had to be dismantled.

There were some late nights

and there may have been a broken axle involved.

Teddy Roosevelt once said, 

“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty…"

But OH was this worthwhile!  Look at all that clear space!

I'm proud of you Mom, well done getting yourself

and your trailer,

unstuck!

What's big decision surrounding organizing that you've been putting off?

What needs to happen for you to get "unstuck"?

*I may be able to help, contact me to set up a free phone consultation.*

Dinner in a Dash!

Hello Friends,

This post has to do with organizing recipes.  I promise it won't make you hungry!  My son's girlfriend put out a cry for help on Facebook.  

"Looking for some yummy dinner suggestions that can be made within 30 minutes to an hour!  Any help is appreciated."

She and he have summer internships and I imagine there are many "hangry" moments when they arrive home from work without a plan for dinner.  This tens

e moment often leads to fast food or junk food rather than practicing good nutrition

as well as a relationship buzz kill.

Dols Apparel

Their friends responded by recommending a lot of Mexican food recipes that involved tacos, burritos etc.  She posted that she already had those types of recipes in her repertoire.

So, I got to thinking...I had been wanting to put together recipe books for my kids that contained all of our family favorites from all through their growing up years.  I cook so differently for myself now and in the midst of my

"Tidying Festival"

 I had conveniently skipped over sorting out my cookbook shelf because...honestly it's kind of a mess. 

That yellow binder has nothing in it and that pile of white papers are actually a large pile of recipes that never found a home.

I decided to carve out some time and create a recipe book for her and my sons.  As with most fun projects I dream up, it took on a life of it's own.  

I'll explain later.

First I went through all my favorite recipes!  Many of them are categorized in labeled binders such as Pork, Poultry, Desserts, Salads etc.  I had made these years ago to save my sanity cooking for our family on a nightly basis.  

I chose those that our family liked and only if they could be cooked in under 30 minutes.

  I guess I'll have to make another book of recipes for Lasagna, Beef Bourgignon etc.

Then I typed up all the recipes.  

I know, right?

 It took some time.  Turns out when I counted, there were over 50 recipes in 8 categories!  I was excited!

Then I decided to raid my office supply cabinet and found binders, tabbed dividers and clear plastic sleeves.  I love when I don't have to buy anything for a project.  Don't you?

Finally I labled the tabs with my handy, dandy label maker.  If you don't own one, 

get one!

  There is also this

nifty product

available now.  Who knew?  

Be sure to label the tabs on the front and back. This makes the book more useable.

Then I typed up a Tricks & Tips sheet.  These are things that I've learned the hard way that make dinner time a whole lot easier.  

For example:  On the weekend, pull out 3 dinner recipes.  

Remember you'll have leftovers!

and shop for those ingredients.  Then carve out a couple of hours and prep all the food; cook the chicken, rinse, chop all the vegetables, make the rice etc.  Store it all in plastic/glass containers in the frig with labels for each recipe.  Put a menu on the frig. 

Then when you come home from work, pick which recipe, pull out the prepped ingredients and voila, you'll have it ready in 20 to 30 minutes.  No thinking required.  

I know many of you are brain-dead when you come home from work.

I also added a clear plastic sleeve with a note to cover the recipe at hand with it to keep it protected from drips and spills.  

Messy cooks unite!

Finally, I created a clever cover page and inserted it in the clear sleeve on the front of the binder.

Then I was so proud of my work, I posted it on Facebook.  Then things got a little crazy!

My peeps wanted to buy my book!

So, not wanting to disappoint, I made a few more.  Who knew this idea would be so popular?

Evidently many people want to spend less time cooking and more time on other pursuits.

After thinking about this concept more, I'd like to offer this as a service.  I take your family recipes, type them up, bind them or make a digital book with photos and you get your family history preserved to be used by the generations.  

This gets them off the dusty shelf into the hands

and mouths

of your family!

Who's in?

What's your favorite family recipe?

How do you currently store them?

Feng Shui Shift

Hello Friends,

Recently a

Feng Shui

expert messaged me on my Facebook.  She happens to be a friend of mine,

Kim Julen

.  She had responded to a post I had created about redecorating a bedroom. 

She said very simply, "We have to talk."  

I thought, what is she talking about?  I love my bedroom makeover!  It's a little too "girly" for my husband, but when he's home from working in another state, I simply switch out the bedding to apease his tastes.

Pardon the

clothes piles

, but you get an idea of how dismal it looked before.  

However, I like learning and I am interested in everything related to organizing, so I booked a 20 minute complimentary Feng Shui phone virtual coffee chat with her. 

Here's the

link

if you want to book one for yourself! 

For those of you who don't know much about Feng Shui, Kim says, "Feng Shui is based on the principle that your environment reflects and affects your life.  It is an ancient Chinese art and science which works to arrange your home in a way that is harmonious and reflects what you intend to manifest.  The placement of items within your space affects the energy or how the space feels."

These were my takeaways from my chat with her:

1.  Bedrooms = relationships/partnerships AND bedrooms also affect health, mood and obviously sleep.

2.  Have to have 2 nightstands, same size and weight.  2 nightstands bring relationships into balance.  

I only had one nightstand!

3.  Solid headboards and footboards provide support in your life and relationships.  

My bed has an open headboard & footboard which "cuts" my energy according to Kim and could cause health issues (mental, physical, emotional).

4. Avoid having large mirrors.  They give off a lot of energy.  

Check out this king of all mirrors that I have in my bedroom!  It used to be at the foot of my bed, that was terrible as I'd wake up and immediately see myself.  I hated that, so I moved it.  At least when I walk in the room, I'm not in its view so while it's not optimal, Kim said it could work.  

This mirror brings me joy, so it's staying.

The other points I decided to work on.  After all, who couldn't use a little more support and balance in their primary relationships?  I can!

First was the nightstands.  For years, we'd used the end tables from the living room.  They were heavy and bulky and the wrong size.

Then I purchased a vintage phone table from the antique store and I loved it since I could sit on it and put on my shoes on in the morning, but I had to put it on the other side of the bed as it the bulkier end table wouldn't fit in this narrow space.

Sigh... 

So I started thinking about new nightstands; a matching pair.  

I started looking on 

Facebook

 sites that my town uses to sell things, I roamed the used furniture aisles at the thrift stores.  And then these beauties magically came into my life for FREE!

A local hotel was remodeling some rooms and put a large quantity of furniture out for the trash pick up.  It was my lucky day!  The universe delivered, God is good.

Kim says to clear used furniture with sage to "eliminate any negative energy they may have absorbed from their prior owners".  I didn't have sage, so I painted them and replaced the hardware.  This she states, "gives them fresh energy!"

I picked up some paint with the appropriate color named "Zen",

how perfect!

to match the leaves and stems of the peonies on my duvet cover. 

And I purchased some new hardware for the handles.  B

e sure to measure first!

They were transformed!

Next was the headboard. Kim said I could wrap fabric around the spindles or paint the wall behind it, or tack something up on the back of it.  Weren't all those pillows enough? 

"No", she said, it had to be solid.

I thought about this for a long time....like weeks.  Then it came to me.  I have a quilt that my great-grandmother made that I simply adore.  I have it on the bed sometimes, but because it's from the 1930s, I am really protective of it.  It was the perfect solution.

I swear I could feel the energy in the room shift, the moment I hung it and smoothed it on the rail. Wow!  Perhaps my great-grandmother is lending me some support?  I love this idea.

But there was still the footboard to cover....  I am currently crushing on

this beautiful hand-stitched, hand-appliqued coverlet

, but finances being what they are, I settled for a plain white sheet, doubled over,

for now.

The difference is amazing!  Since adding these minor changes to my bed, I am sleeping very well and enjoying the best frame of mind.  JOY

When speaking about Feng Shui, Kim says, "I've seen more people embracing it recently.  They can feel the energy in a space.  You go into a space, and you know it doesn't feel good, but you don't necessarily know why.  This [Feng Shui] explains why it feels good, or why it doesn't.  People are a lot more open to finding things that will help them feel better in their homes and offices."

I agree.  Those mismatched end tables & phone table always bugged me and it's weird, but I really do feel much safer and secure with my headboard and footboard covered and who knows?  Maybe I'll see a shift in my relationship too?

Have you applied any Feng Shui principles in your home?

And, did you experience a shift afterwards?  I'd love to hear about it.

Kim can be reached at Kim@FindingYour Fiji.com and be sure to check out her awesome website www.findingyourfiji.com

Look What An Hour Can Do?

Hello Friends,

Recently I had the pleasure of a client gifting her remaining organizing hours to a friend to use.  I have a policy on my packages that the hours paid for in advance have to be used within 6 months. Use them or lose them.  So this client decided to pay it forward.  

So sweet!

After looking at various spaces in the home and me sharing ideas.  We had one hour left to work and so we decided to tackle this closet in the front of the house.

There was a lot of stuff in this closet, as you can see!  We only had an hour so we quickly sorted everything by category.  First outerwear, then games, then miscellaneous.  It was amazing how quick it went!

We kept the video camera on the top rack.  Whittled down the coats/snowpants to what the client actually loved wearing.  Stacked the wooden shelves rather than having them side by side, and stuck all the off-season shoes in them.  Since the off-seasons coats are in this closet, it only made sense.

Then we added in plastic bins that the client already owned and put hats, gloves and scarves in them - after sorting out what would be kept.  Again, it's summer, so most everything in this closet is off-season.

There was still a little room on the floor so we were able to place the vacuum cleaner here.  This was exciting as it didn't have a home.  It was kept previously on the landing to the basement stairs!

Now it's a closet that makes good sense.  Everything for fall and winter is kept here, neat and tidy. Summer shoes and jackets are kept in a different closet near the door to the garage - the door they use the most.  In the fall, the client could easily switch out the closet contents.  This can be a good way to check for anything in need of repair or replacing.

What happened to all those games, you ask?  They were quickly sorted into donation piles and a pile for the kids to sort through downstairs.  Then they will be stored in a box to be kept with Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations.  With older grown children visiting, this is when they are most played, so it makes good sense to store them together, rather than taking up valuable space in the much used closet.

See what can be done in just an hour?  Ah-mazing.

What area of your home will you tackle with a free hour this week?

Burn Baby Burn

Hello Friends,

Today I share one idea for tackling the dearth of paperwork present in each and every one of our homes.

This is my "long term" storage.  I organize my tax records and relevant paperwork for the year in labeled file boxes. 

These

 are my favorite file boxes and hold up the best.  I label by year, last name or company name

(as we are an entreprenurial family).

In one box, the years are combined in one box to save on space.  The IRS recommends that we keep personal tax records for 7 years and business records for 10 - just in case of the dreaded audit.  Hence the 9 boxes with 1 combined = 10 and notice they fit nicely on this shelf unit...

well except for the one on top that is teetering a little.

A friend recently shared that they keep their tax records in folded-over, stapled paperbags.  This could be a clever storage idea - except they have 38 bags going back to 1978!  

When working with clients, I stress that we must create a system for them to be able to manage their paperwork.  The system has just a few rules to remember and as long as one works the system, all will be well.

My system is to take one box a year

(the box that is 11 years old)

to the annual free "shred day" at a local bank and hand it over to be shredded immediately and confidentially.  

True confession:  I used to try and shred all the paper in the box myself and instead, I had a broken shredder each year.  Don't do this.

This year I was on vacation during free "shred day" so it was time to get creative.

It is rather fun to build a big fire and burn it all!  I had to resist the urge to look through all the files though, and despite my best intentions, I did find a couple items to save...

My dog's pedigree.  

Never mind that he's 11 years old.  

When he passes away, I'll pitch it.

A spine scan for a family member.  I like keeping health records in a folder labeled by person.

I also found our home appraisal from 2007, before the bubble burst...

big sigh.

It took a few hours

and a large stirring stick,

I'm not going to lie.  But it was a pleasant evening and a glass of wine made the experience even more enjoyable.

My favorite thing I found?

There's even a few "coupons" in there that I haven't redeemed!  He's 21 now and one of the coupons says "get up in the morning".  I can't wait to use that one when he's home sleeping in!  

But this one is priceless.  Hmmmm...maybe I'll use it to have him burn next year's box!

When's the last time you accessed your tax records?

What's your system to keep them manageable.

Backyard Bonanza

Hello Friends,

It's spring and many of us are outside gardening in the sun.  Some of us have to organize our backyards a bit before the gardening can commence.

The first task was to pull all the junk out of a homeowner's backyard and get it ready for a ride to the dump. There was a lot of junk hiding in the overgrown landscaping. 

Some neighbors may have thought this was a free pile and taken some things, which was more than fine.

One man's junk, another man's treasure.

Next up was to sort out this cluttered tool shed.  Notice a lot of blank vertical space that could be utilized.

It's amazing how much unorganized stuff can fit into a small space!  

Labeling the tops of buckets makes it easy to determine the contents.

Old paint, as long as it's latex, can be left open to dry out and then tossed in the garbage.  

Although it may take awhile to dry out...

This is a clever solution to storing snow shovels.  They are plastic so no need to worry about rusting.

On the other hand, this storage solution doesn't work very well.

There was a pegboard on this wall, but it was easily moved to the opposite, more easily accessed wall.  Bring out the powertools!

Crocheting the powercords is the simplest way to store them.  Simply find the middle, double it up and make a loop and then pull a loop through that loop until it's all neatly crocheted into a chain to hang up.  When one goes to use it, simply pull the last loop out and it will all come undone without any tangles.  

Try it!

Here's the view with the reinstalled pegboard.  Hooks for pegboards can be obtained at any hardware store and there are a variety to choose from for every type of tool imaginable.  It felt good to get all the shovels and rakes out of the weather.

With the organizing done, the weeds were next.  

There was a sweet surprise awaiting!  Strawberry plants!

What might you uncover in your yard this Spring?

Organizing an Art Gallery Wall

Hello Friends,

This is a short but sweet post because it has to do with the "Spruce" aspect of my 

business

.  As you may remember, I am sprucing up my home, just in time for Spring.

Because I've had nearly every room in the house repainted, I've taken down all of the pictures. There is nothing quite like the feeling of fresh clean paint on the walls and I'm reluctant to fill the refreshed walls back up again with nail holes and the same old line up of tired photographs and boring prints.

And while I am creative, I also have next-to-zero decorating style as my best ideas come from other bloggers. In this case, I stole this idea of how to create an art gallery wall from a blog called, 

A Beautiful Mess

. 

An art gallery wall is a personal collection of items that speak JOY  to the owner.  They can be of any size and shape and can include, canvas prints, framed photos, baskets, decorative plates, objects d'art etc.  Anything that can be hung on a wall.

First I gathered all the items that I want to include on the wall, which will be in my bedroom.

These include:  a decorative art plate that we collected on our honeymoon, a mosaic mirror that my youngest made with the neighbor when he was 9, butterflies from Puerto Rico, a cross with bling gifted from a sweet friend and a plaque that says "Imagine the Possibilities".

 I imagine I'll love waking up and reminding myself of that everyday!

Then I made templates.

This my friend is absolute genius!

 I laid each piece on colored paper and traced then cut around it.  

Then I taped them up on the wall in various configurations.  This helps get the spacing just right, plus it was fun to play around with it for about week.  Each morning I'd move things around.

Once  I settled on which configuration I liked best, then it was time to measure.  It was easy to hang up an art piece that had the hook or hanger at the top of the frame, but most had a hook part way down which would mess up the spacing.  So measuring next.

Measure the top of the plate to the tip top of the hanger....

Then mark the template with the same measurement.  

Hammer the nail in and then tear off the template and it's sure to be in the exact right place when it's hung up.

 Genius!

So which template grouping did I choose?

      I love how it turned out!

This little organizing project was so easy and fun, I almost wish I had more to hang up!  For more inspiration, Google 

"Art Gallery Wall"

What are some of the items you'd include on your own Art Gallery Wall?

Who's going to give this project a try?  

I'd love to see your finish on Instagram #valeriesowa

What's Under the Bed?

Hello Friends,

Confession time.  I've

never

been able to adequately vacuum underneath my bed.  I say adequately, because I've always had to vacuum around the

storage space

dumping ground for boxes of stuff.  I say "stuff" because  I couldn't tell you exactly what was

stored

dumped there.

That is until today!  I was a bit scared to start, but I remembered that I am brave.  

I pulled everything out and here's what I discovered hiding under there.  

Only 10 boxes. 

 Not as bad as I thought.

Pulling everything out of a dark place into the light takes a lot of the fear away.  

But then...

 Dried cat barf...oh no!

And a few dust bunnies.

But then things got ugly.

To think I've been breathing this.  YUCK.

And this!  Oh the spiders that have enjoyed this space.  I nearly quit right here.

 Instead I took a break and got a cold drink.  

Have you tried this?

 Seriously delicious.

Then a lot of vacuuming and washing the floor.  Then I was able to go on.

Opening all the boxes was a bit of a treasure hunt...except no treasure *sigh*.

I spy with my little eye, a baseball bat.  

Can you?

Mountaineering boots!  In Wisconsin?

Empty boxes...or nearly empty.

A box lid...seriously folks you can't make this stuff up.

And then a real surprise!  Board books from when my boys were babies.  All their favorites.  Should I keep or should they go?  

What would you do?

Upon closer inspection, most were all taped together...in multiple layers.  And if they weren't taped, they should have been.  

I asked myself if there would be any joy in reading these frayed, worn out books to potential grandchildren?  

The fact is that I was reluctant to even

touch

these stained, gross books.  

So that was my answer.

After thinking about them and feeling what they meant to me, I laid them all out, took a photo and tossed them.  This way I have all the titles handy for potential grandchildren, taking up a fraction of the space on a flashdrive not in a lost box collecting dust and mouldering under the bed.

Next box.  Oh my! Items from my wedding day.

So many fond memories of that special day.  The headpiece, the shoes, the garter and even the hoopskirt.  Really....a hoopskirt?  

It all went.  

The wedding dress itself is boxed up elsewhere. I envision a future DIL trying it on and saying it's not her style and then I'll get on some reality wedding show where they make over my dress and she loves it. 

 A girl can dream right?

Memorabilia of my husband's.  These I combined and taped shut and placed with other boxes of his for him to sort out.  

Rule:  Never organize someone else's stuff without prior permission.

Photos!  Hundreds of photos.  At least they are sorted by event.  These were moved to the photo storage facility in our home AKA the attic.

Hmmm...another empty box.  I see a trend here.

Hats inside the hatbox!  I change these out seasonally, so good timing to get out all my straw hats for summer weather and store the winter hats.

The hat box I placed in my closet, although I would like to get it off the floor in the future, because you know...vacuuming. 

More treasures from the "Memories" box.

S

ome of these items held a special memory.  

This tie-scarf-thingy I wore to the interview for my first job. It went perfectly with my blue suit.  The interviewer (my boss) told me later that I looked like a flight attendant!  Somehow she hired me anyway.

And these!  I used to glue these to my boobies so I could wear glamorous strapless dresses.  Oh those were the days!

And who remembers these pop-up hats?

After sorting it all out.  This is what I kept from those 10 boxes:  A collection of handkerchiefs, 1 bandanna for hiking and a vintage purse.  All neatly put away in my closet.  

 The trash pile.

The donate pile.  I imagine someone will LOVE those white kid gloves.

Empty boxes come in handy for storage elsewhere in my home.

Now look under my bed!  Clean, clear space.  Ahhhhhh.

The only thing that remains is that baseball bat....just in case.

When's the last time you really cleaned under your bed?

What was the most interesting item you found?

The Besta Media Storage - Part II

Hello Friends,

Remember 

this?

I carved out some time and asked for help.

 I get by with a little help from my friends

...as the song goes.  No shame in admitting there are some things that are not in my wheelhouse and furniture construction is one of them...

or so I believed.

My friend, Suzette, to the rescue!

I made tea, she brought her cheaters and we got to work.

This  Besta media storage unit is from 

Ikea

.  I knew it was perfect for this and future houses because there are so many different configurations that can be added on to it.  I liked how narrow and sleek it looked in the store and since there are up to 6 shelves, I was assured that there would be space for our old school 1992 Technics stereo and all of it's components.  I chose the 3 drawer model to hold all of the CDs, DVDs and various cords  to the TV as well.

The first step was to unpack all the boxes.  

We marveled at how amazingly organized the contents were.  Then to lay everything out.  There were a lot of instructions!  It was a little intimidating.

But then we got going and it was surprisingly easy!  It only took us an hour to build the frame!

It's important to spend time looking very carefully at each picture.  All the hints are there.  And it's a very good idea to separate out all the little screws, plates, etc. before starting - it's easy to lose these little things in the carpet.  We ended up using plastic containers to sort everything

but didn't get a picture.

We moved the frame into position before adding the drawers and shelves.  

Building the drawers was easy.

I thought installing the sliding hardware for the drawers was going to be the most difficult, but as you can tell, it was a cinch!

Except when I installed the drawers into the frame, this happened.

The left drawer is 1 inch lower than the other 2 drawers!

We took a break for lunch (

thanks to 

Dish n' Spoon Cafe

 for quick delivery!

) and pondered what to do.  While we were thinking, I placed a vase of tulips on top.  Flowers just make things better.

Just at this moment, one of my engineering sons came in the door and suggested I swap out the left drawer with the center drawer.

Who knows why but EUREKA, it worked!  

Maybe it was the tulips?

When installing the shelves, it was important to measure and place the components as I went along.  I had to keep adjusting the shelf brackets to get them all to fit correctly.  This took the most time.

Then it was time to install these totes into their respective drawers.  They fit perfectly!  

BEFORE

AFTER

I'm not a fan of having a TV in the living room, but won't it look wonderful up on there?!

Truth be told, I have to purchase longer power and connection cords to hook up all the stereo components, but for now the radio works!  

I have to say, Ikea ROCKS!  I'm inspired to recommend their furniture to my clients and who knows? Maybe I'll even build it for them!

A big shout out to my intrepid friend, Suzette.  Thank you!

What's on your Ikea shopping list?

Have you ever put together a piece of furniture?  How did it go?

Basement Space Shuffle

Hello Friends,

It all started with this laundry basket at the foot of the stairs.  For years, we have been "

making

 missing baskets" with balled up towels, cloth napkins, dish towels etc.  A resulting pile of laundry inevitably followed that one either picked up or walked on/over.  

You can guess which.

There were other issues in this basement of ours.  Namely a weird floor plan and a lot of clutter.  Notice the internal vacuum hose hanging up?  The broom and mop are hidden just around that corner.  None of this cleaning equipment is easy to access.

This old kitchen cabinet is perfect for folding laundry and doing small projects, but the grey pegboard hanging above has been unusable space.

Add to this issue is the challenge of reaching the outlet for the internal vacuum!  You can guess how often I climbed on the cabinet to plug in the hose...

like never.

This view from where the counter sits, shows a hanging coat rack.

Notice all the empty hangers?  I was able to fit ALL of my coats in my revamped walk-in closet in the bedroom!   I kept the ones that brought me JOY and donated the rest.  These left are my husband's and I can't recall the last time he wore a coat, so they went in a box to be sorted.

 And what is that lurking under the coats?

A lot of dusty old shoes that were also inaccessible.  Who knew we had so many old shoes?

I wanted to create more space in the basement as well as put all the cleaning supplies in one area utilizing the pegboard.  I also wanted to better use this cubby in the stairwell.

First I removed all those ugly plastic shoe racks and sorted out the shoes.  I tried this first, but the shoe cubby didn't quite fit in the space.

Looking around the basement some more, I located the original shelves and luckily the shelf brackets were still in place (13 years later).  

Some would call this a miracle!

  I was able to make a quick trip to the hardware store to get a small package of shelf holders

and pegboard hooks 

and voila!

So much better.

Then I tackled moving the old kitchen cabinet to it's new location, underneath the coat rack bar.

The end of that cabinet needs some painting

The snowshoes could be hung a bit lower

These little details can make a big difference in the JOY factor. I'm looking forward to finishing up these small touches.

I did remove this equipment from another era.

Did we really have phones that hung on the wall?

Next up, tackling the pegboard wall.  First I removed this little white rack and donated it.  It came with the house and never worked very well.

 But evidently the last time I painted, I'd painted AROUND it...lazy, I guess?

Then it was trial and error until I found the right paint color.

 Geez, you'd think I'd have my paint colors a little more organized!

3 times the charm!

It was so satisfying to hang up all the cleaning equipment on this pegboard!  I moved the bucket and wastebasket here too.  Now everything is handily in one place.

And now with the little help from a step ladder, I can now easily reach the vacuum attachment.

Dustbunnies beware!

 The best part of this shuffle is that it only took a few hours, including the run to the hardware store and painting the pegboard error.

When the keeping and sorting is figured out first, the organization goes smoothly and the real fun begins.  Now to enjoy this new space.

Is there anything you'd love to change in your basement?

What's holding you back?

Personal Toolbox

Hello Friends,

What with all the spring cleaning going on, there are probably a few areas of your home that need fixing.  This is where a personal tool box can really come in handy.  

I labeled mine because when my boys were growing up they were likely to use and lose tools, so having my own toolbox saved my sanity.  There is nothing quite like the feeling of starting a project and having all the tools you need in one place.

For the box itself, there are many options.  I used a child size toolbox, leftover from when my boys were young.  I took out the removable tray as it took up a lot of room.  

One of my clients uses 

this tool bag

.  It's like a big purse for tools!  Lots of pockets to organize small items too and in the largest pocket, you can fit an electric drill and charger too!

Some tools you might like to include in your toolbox are:

Level - comes in handy for hanging pictures

Pencils - for marking

Sharpie - for labeling

Finish hammer - perfect for pounding in a nail

Wrench

Allen wrenches

Pliers

Needlenose pliers

Small pliers

Assorted nails & screws of all sizes

Wire 

Stud sensor 

Screwdriver - 

this one

 is on my wish list to replace the 7 that are pictured here

X-acto knife

Stick lubricant

 - gets all your sticky drawers to slide smoothly, among many other uses

*

Goo Gone

 - removes stickers and other adhesives off in a jiffy

Tape measure

All these tools fit perfectly inside.

You'll want to keep your toolbox handy.  My sole purpose in creating a toolbox for myself was to avoid going into our garage.  My organizing jurisdiction stops with the house.  The garage is my husband's territory. 

YIKES!  

Don't judge.

Keep your toolbox preferably somewhere on the main floor of your house.  My client with the nifty toolbox keeps it in the closet of her office.

 I keep mine in the basement, inside the drawer of old kitchen cabinets in my laundry room area.  Wherever you keep it, be sure it is easily accessed so you can grab and go!

If you have many in your household that like to borrow tools, you may want to hide it!

*If you want to make your own natural Goo Gone, you can!  

Mix equal parts baking soda and coconut oil. 

Make a paste.

Add 3 drops, more or less, of orange essential oil, if desired.

Thanks to my DIY friend, Brenda for sharing this recipe!

Where do you keep your toolbox?

What tools do you have that you couldn't live without?