Start Your Spring Organizing with Dollar Store Organizing Products

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Organizing products can be durable, effective and inexpensive. 

At a recent trip to several dollar stores in our area, here is what I found.  Some of these same items are available at Target, WalMart and the Container Store, but cost only a $1 here!

  • Set of 3 small white cubes. Use these in your vanity for makeup or hair products or in your desk for clips and post-it notes.
  • Sterilite DVD or CD holder. Use these for media containment, one for each type of media.
  • CD notebook for your car.  Or at home and eliminate case chaos.
  • Set of 3 toiletry bottles for travel.  Get your travel bag together and keep it organized with these bottles.
  • Cord or holiday light holder to wind your cords around.  Nothing worse what cords tangled and in a knot.
  • Plate holder for your dishes. Double stack and add extra storage in your kitchen.
  • Ice cube trays for jewelry or office supplies.  Easy way to get access to accessories.
  • Cupcake carrier.  And you know, I am bonkers for cupcakes!

Visit your local dollar store and share what did you find!

Reflections of a Chief Junker

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I am thrilled to have my friend Tiffany Eckhardt share some reflections as owner of Flown the Coop.  What you think of her perspective on her stuff?

Everything in my home has a price tag.  Seriously, there is a tag on just about everything.  

 I once asked my Flown The Coop Facebook friends if keeping inventory tags on treasures at home was normal.  I was feeling a bit awkward when visitors came to my home until friends in the industry confirmed that I was not alone.

 As chief junker at Flown The Coop, I have the privilege of buying and selling unique pieces of furniture, reclaimed industrial pieces for home use and kitschy vintage items.   

I love acquiring and enjoying my treasures for a time, then setting them free to be enjoyed by another family.  For example, I recently decided to let go of a huge letter E that served as a unique focal point in our living room.  The letter came from a discarded Office Depot sign and sat behind our couch on a table as a conversation piece.  Honestly, as much as I loved it, I took just as much pleasure in knowing the gentleman who bought the E was thrilled with his new treasure.  

I try not to get attached to my treasures, except priceless family heirlooms or treasures that I bought traveling with my husband.  I’ve learned that I can eventually find replacements for pieces that I let go.  For that reason, I rarely take my Flown The Coop inventory tags off pieces I use in my home.  Eventually the piece will return to inventory and be replaced by another equally unique treasure.  

 I imagine keeping the tags on furniture or pieces of art would be embarrassing for most people.  I don’t encourage it.  What I am proposing is to keep an open mind about items that create clutter.  Letting go of items in your home that no longer serve a purpose can be freeing and can make room for a new decor.  I guarantee someone will consider your junk as treasure.  

 Enjoy your treasures, but when it’s time feel free to let them go!  

Tiffany Eckhardt and her family recently moved from Ohio to their new home in the Houston Heights.  She is chief junker at Flown The Coop, a business that reclaims and repurpose furniture, industrial pieces and kitschy vintage items.  You can find Flown The Coop at Chippendale Eastlake Antiques and at Urban Market Houston, Warrenton Antique Week and the Dallas Market.  Follow her flight pattern on her Facebook page.  Learn more about Tiffany at http://www.chippendaleon19th.com/  and http://2flownthecoop.com/

Organizing Solutions for Your Struggling Student

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Check out my blog post at Organize to Revitalize ~

http://dallisonlee.com/blog/2013/03/04/3-simple-organizing-solutions-for-your-struggling-student/

Organize to Revitalize Blog: Yours, Mine and Ours: Tips to Communicate with Your Blended Family and Stay Organized

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Connecting, collaborating and consolidating with a blended family can be a challenge! Check out my guest blog post on Organize to Revitalize

Yours, Mine, and Ours: Tips on How to Communicate With Your Blended Family and Stay Organized

http://dallisonlee.com/blog/2013/02/05/yours-mine-and-ours-tips-on-how-to-communicate-with-your-blended-family-and-stay-organized/

Organize Your Closet

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closet organizing

 

Our closets are our best friends and our worst enemies. We all would agree we never have enough storage in our homes. What exactly is in that tiny area? So many different items – shoes, clothes, keepsakes, small gifts, and even more. Use these tips to organize your closet ad personally design your best use for this space!

Hangers, hangers everywhere
The first step to a more visually appealing closet is to use multipurpose hangers for your wardrobe. Available inexpensively, choose slim line hangers . You will find these hangers add uniformity and a visual sense of order. And remember, when you remove an item from the hanger, take the hanger off the shelf, and store it nearby for the garment to return!

Evaluate then donate
A major source of closet problems is clutter. By honestly evaluating the need and use of the items in your closet, you will find space galore! Place a sturdy handle bag in your closet to place clothes or items that are too old, too small or large, or just “not you” to donate to a worthy cause. Each time you take a blouse off a hanger and it does not work, place it in the bag! If you have professional wardrobe items, you can donate these to Dress for Success!

Use your space most effectively
Do you see white wall above, below or around the items in your closet? If so, there are many options to maximize the space in your closet. Double rods double your space! Use a shoe organizer to convert the back of your closet door to hidden extra space. It can be used for scarves, jewelry or other items.

Time to containerize
Looking for a certain pair of shoes? Are your scarves wadded up in a drawer, hard to find? Clear containers with labels are the way to go! Different shapes and sizes can be used to maximize your space.

Daily routine
This is the Organized You – your evening routine to help you keep organized! Everyone needs a daily organization time, time to put away items and to get items prepared for the next day. When you put off organizing daily, it becomes a major chore. Unfortunately, your mother was right about this!

 

Struggling with organizing? Join my monthly newsletter and get a burst of organizing and productivity ideas.

Organizing Tools: Your Calendar/Planner

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There is nothing more important for organizing our time than a great calendar/planner.   You can use this tool to incorporate planning as well.  The strategy of not only recording dates can be the key to making your life more organized and less stressful. 

  • Choose a calendar/planner that works for you.  It’s a calendar/planner that makes it easy to record dates at any time.  It also helps you view time the way you think about time, at a month at a time, throughout  a week, or just in a long string.   Your calendar can be as simple as a yellow pad, very exact like Franklin Covey planners, or with technology on your smart phone.
  • Create a habit of recording dates as soon as possible.  There are always lots of dates swirling n your head for you and your family. By entering these on your calendar/planner  asap, you won’t have to remember them, there will be fewer conflicts of dates and activities, and you will start to grasp a greater sense of due dates and upcoming events. 
  • Refer to your calendar/planner diligently. How often? At least in the morning and evening, but also throughout the day to keep you on track with appointments and projects.
  • Use your calendar as planner for big and little tasks. Breaking down big projects with your own time line, creating accountability dates to complete a project, and adding in baby steps makes your planner a strategy to get things done.
  • Post a family calendar for your kids and partner to add dates.  Keeping everyone in the loop and keeping everyone communicating keeps your family organized. 
  • Have a weekly review to get ahead of the game. Once a week, make a date with your calendar to look ahead, see what is coming, prioritize and get in gear.

 Using a calendar/planner eliminates the mental clutter of remembering dates and times and helps you focus on completion of a project.  The more you use your calendar/planner, the more indispensible it will be!

Image courtesy of The Container Store www.containerstore.com

Setting Your Goals One Step at a Time

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Is making changes in your home or office are at the top of your list for the new year you are on target.  Getting organized is one of the top three new year’s resolutions every year.  Like any change, taking small steps get you to where you want to go. 

Be sure to set positive, specific, measurable, date driven steps to accomplish your goals.  Write it down, exactly how you will go about the change and the deadline you have.  A measureable goal helps you see what you have accomplished and making yourself accountable to a date makes your success assured. 

Here are some ideas to help your organizing and productivity this year.

If your goal is to declutter your home and get organized

  • I will declutter one junk drawer in the kitchen or other small space in my home in 2 weeks.
  • I will keep 10 pairs of pants and eliminate the rest by next Sunday.
  • I will spend 10 minutes every day going through my mail and eliminating paper.
  • My family will have a nightly 10 minute pick up time to get toys and clothes back to their homes.

If your goal is to work smarter and be more productive

  • I will add one hour first thing in the morning to work toward a project that is of primary importance.
  • I will add 10 contacts to my data base this week to grow my business.
  • I will have a 5 minute meeting daily with my assistant to set my plan in motion for the day.
  • I will spend 15 minutes at the end of the day writing my list for tomorrow, putting paper back into folders, and filing emails to get ready for the next day. 

If your goal is to be more organized about money, save money and improve finances

  • I will save $10 a week by automatically withdrawing to a savings account.
  • I will write down every expense for one month by category to determine where I can spend less. 
  • I schedule one hour every week for administrative time to pay bills and work with paper.

 If your goal is to improve your health

  • I will walk 30 minutes a day, five days a week.
  • I will drink 2 glasses of water each morning before I leave the house and 1 glass with each meal during the day.
  • I will be in bed by 10:30 every other evening.

Whatever your goal, whatever your steps, remember to establish these firmly in a spot during the day.  I like to do my baby steps first thing, early in the day, or otherwise the day gets away from me. If you miss a day, just get right back to it the next day.  We can’t do every goal and be successful.  Aim for one big area this year and see what you accomplish.  Tackle your goals in small bites and see the difference for yourself!

3 Simple Gift Giving Tips

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Giving meaningfully is part of the holiday season.  Follow your inner guide to give meaningfully.

A Guide to Giving Gift From Erin Carlyle

Homemade gifts from texascottage.blogspot.com

Gifts of Random Kindness from littlelucylu.com

 For more ideas for simple gift giving, visit my pinterest page www.pinterest.com/EllenDelap  Happy Holidays board!

Wishing you a season of meaningful sharing and gifting!

Organize to Revitalize: Enlist the Elves!

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I love sharing my thoughts on Organize to Revitalize too!

Holiday Organizing: Enlist the Elves is posted there at http://dallisonlee.com/blog/2012/12/03/holiday-organizing-enlist-the-elves/.

Who are your elves?

Deck the (Decluttered) Halls

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Holiday time is almost here! November begins our holiday celebrations with Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chanukah and New Year’s Eve.  Our holidays bring amazing joy and lots to do at our homes.  Doing just a little decluttering makes it easier to decorate your home and helps you feel prepared.  Spend on hour on one of these four areas to help you get prepared for your most memorable holiday. 

•Declutter last year’s holiday cards. It is a powerful way to prepare for this year’s cards by collecting addresses and eliminating extra paper clutter. You will be prepared knowing the number of cards to order too!   Just a little less paper means a lot less stress. 

• Declutter the toys in your home.  There is no better way to prepare than by sharing your blessings with other’s less fortunate!  Your kids can be a part of the process in choosing what is donated.  They can choose 3 toys to donate and bless others.  If you have unopened toys or crafts from previous years, it is a great experience for you and your children to bring these to local philanthropies for gift giving. 

 • Declutter your decor as you decorate.  While you are decorating for the holidays, create an awareness of what has lost meaning or value to you in your home.  Whether it is a knick-knack or books, you can declutter while you decorate to create space for the holiday decorations and create a space for new decor after the holidays.  Thrift stores and consignment shops appreciate these items for upcoming holiday shoppers.

•Declutter your holiday decorations.  Keepsake decorations can be stored and marked to honor wonderful memories and preserve these items to share with your family.  Decorations that are in good condition are an excellent donation to local philanthropies and a special way to share the joy of the holiday. 

 Decluttering before decorating makes our holiday less stressful and more joyful.  Put on holiday music and get started on one of these small projects.  If you struggle with getting started or following through with your decluttering, give me a call to assist.