Organize the Whole Shebang

The Organizer's House... featuring Janice Simon

A Sneak Peek into the home of Professional Organizer Janice Marie Simon of Houston, Texas and owner of The Clutter Princess. I don't have a cute pic of Janice and I together... in fact we haven't met in person. But she's WAY special to me... she's the in house organizer at MD Anderson Cancer Center and I think that's just about the coolest thing ever.

HER ORGANIZED SPACE: Salt and Pepper Collection See.... Organizer's are human, we collect things besides boxes and labels ;)

 

Her Organizing Tips:

1)  When you have a collection, make sure you only have items in your collection that you love. I don’t like every salt and pepper shaker set that I see, and I don’t buy just any pair. They have to speak to me, and I love salt and peppers shakers with personality and whimsy. 

 

2) Collections should have boundaries. I saw an interview with actor Dennis Franz who said he collected something until the shelf was full. Regularly purge your collection. Painful as it may be, you may need to ask friends and family not to buy you additional pieces as gifts.   

3) If space is an issue, divide your collection into four groups and rotate them seasonally. Then it’s like a “new’ collection every quarter.

 
 

*If you're a professional organizer + you'd like to be featured on "The Organizer's House"... drop me an email and let me know!

The Organizer's House.... featuring Aby Garvey

Have you ever looked at someone's website and decided you should be friends? Or found yourself incredibly envious because they are doing everything you dream of doing... You want to be arch enemies, but meet them and realize they are the nicest thing EVER! That's Aby. Promise me that once you visit her website you won't abandon me... #makenewfriendsbutkeeptheoldoneissilverandtheothergold:)

 The 2010 Los Angeles NAPO Organizing Awards... Aby was my roomie and winner of BEST ORGANIZING BLOG, we're pictured with my chica Deborah Shearer of Organize.com. Here's a post on the Organizing Awards  and another when Aby was a guest on The O Myth! And I almost forgot... Aby did a guest post a while back on Scrapbook Organizing. #loveher #toldyouso

Ok.Ok... I'll stop gushing over Aby and let you take a peek into her home office!

A Sneak Peek into the home of Professional Organizer Aby Garvey of Edwardsville, Illinois, owner of simplify 101.

HER ORGANIZED SPACE:  Home Office

HER ORGANIZING TIPS:

1)  The more you love how an organized space looks the more motivated you will be to keep it organized! Infuse your organized spaces with creative, personal touches. Use containers you love. Add elements that make your space look and feel like you. You’ll be happier and more productive.

 

2) Don’t spend time searching for the perfect organizing system. Instead, give a system a try and then tweak it until it works great for you.

 

3) Remember that being organized is a combination of organizing projects and organized habits.During the project phase you sort, declutter, select storage and set up your organizing systems. To stay organized, you need to develop the habits necessary to use your new system consistently and effectively.

HER ORGANIZING STYLE:  Creative and eclectic! And I have a thing metal buckets.

*If you're a professional organizer + you'd like to be featured on "The Organizer's House"... drop me an email and let me know!

The Organizer's House.... featuring Linda Samuels

I LOVE creative spaces... and it's even more fun to see how a professional organizer combines function with fabulous! Who says organizer's are all concrete-sequential? I'm also excited to check out her book... I'm a huge believer in 'People over Perfection' so I have a feeling Linda + I may just be organizing soulmates :)

A Sneak Peek into the home of Professional Organizer Linda Samuels CPO-CD, Croton on Hudson, NY and owner of Oh, So Organized! and author of: The Other Side of Organized.

HER ORGANIZED SPACE: Art and office supplies

 

HER ORGANIZING TIPS:

1) Mini Communities:Designate an area and sub-divide to group similar objects together. This 24-drawer dentist’s cabinet has been re-purposed to contain a large category (supplies) into smaller groups (scissors, post-its, watercolors.)

 

2) Eliminate Guesswork: Find your items quickly by using labels or pictures on the outside of the container. This cabinet went unlabeled for years until I used my Brother P-touch to add labels on the drawer fronts. What a difference that made. The guesswork in finding things instantly disappeared.

 

3) Dash of Chaos: The beauty of a closed drawer is that it hides what’s inside. This allows you to create the level of order that feels comfortable for you. That can range from things neatly lined up to objects tossed in randomly. There’s nothing wrong with some chaos within an area if that works for you. For example, my “Boxes/Containers” drawer is a jumble of objects, while other drawers in this cabinet like “Post-its” are more organized. For myself, I prefer mostly order with a dash of chaos. Choose the mix that works best for you.