4 easy steps to an organised wardrobe
23 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in Declutter Your Life, Home, Organising Tips, storage Tags: closet, clothing, how to organise, wardrobe
A rainbow of colour may not work for you...
Yesterday I was with a client who despaired at ever finding something to wear – and it all came down to the fact her wardrobe was organised in a way that didn’t work with her organising style. The secret is you don’t have to have your clothes organised in colours and looking pretty – it is all about organising for your individual dressing system, whatever that is.
Kathryn Weber wrote an article recently in her column Living Space for Tribune Media Services which outlines exactly what I am talking about:
If you’ve ever wandered into the closet and couldn’t find something to wear, the problem might not be your wardrobe. When your closet is disorganized, it’s easy to lose clothes or have difficulty finding items that work together. Investing just a small amount of time in re-ordering your clothes and accessories will pay off every morning!
1. LIKE WITH LIKE
Tempting as it may be to organize by color, grouping like items by style and use is more efficient. While it might seem logical to hang all pants together, it’s best to group the pants you wear most, and move those you wear least to another part of the closet. Grouping clothing by the way its worn, such as casual or work, can also help you get dressed faster in the morning. This technique also makes putting clothes away faster. It’s especially useful for seasonal clothing; stashing all your big chunky sweaters together means the one you’re looking for won’t get pushed back out of sight.
2. SHELVE IT
Closet shelves are seldom used for clothing, but if you wear jeans and T-shirts a lot, why not take advantage of shelves to stack both in plain view? This will help you find a pair of jeans faster and put them away more easily, too. And if items of clothing keep getting lost in your dresser drawers, turn your closet shelves mini-drawers. Line them with baskets or clear bins so you can see everything easily. Another option is to install shallow drawers on closet shelves that pull all the way out.
Read the next 2 steps here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/realestate/sns-201202140000–tms–livspacectnls-a20120214feb14,0,2792121.story
How to part with a cherished item that has been broken
23 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Ask Organise Me, Declutter Your Life Tags: clutter, letting go, sentimental
A reader recently submitted the following at Unclutterer.com and as this is such a common question I get from many of my clients I thought I would share it too:
Make a memory box...
“I have something that I love that recently broke by accident. It has sentimental value (passed to me from an aunt), it is aesthetically my style, it was useful, and it made me smile whenever I saw it. It is still all those things, except that it can no longer be safely used (nor repurposed). It’s also not reparable, and I don’t know where I could get another one to replace it. How do I get rid of it? Any other object like this would go in the trash, but I love it so much. There’s really nothing that can be done with it even if I did save it—it would be clutter. How do I walk myself through this process of getting rid of it? Seems silly to be grieving such a simple object, but I am.”
Response: When accidents happen to objects we used faithfully and loved, it can be difficult to let them go. It’s certainly not easy for me. The objects feel like trusted friends who were there for you when you needed them.
I think the first thing you need to do is thank the object for its service. You could literally say something aloud to it, or you could just spend a minute or two thinking about all the good times you shared. It seems a little silly, but it helps to have the formal goodbye.
Once you’ve acknowledged its service, you can decide how to proceed. Obviously, you can just dispose of the object and be done with it. However, you might need a little more than this to help ease the pain.
You can make a visual tribute to it. Get a shadow box and decorate it with pictures of you and your aunt using the item and maybe a piece of the actual item that broke. Hang the tribute on the wall as long as you need to until your time of grieving has past.
If you’re a journal keeper, you could also glue a picture of it in your journal and then write down the things you thought about it in your formal goodbye.
Since you don’t say exactly what the item is, it’s hard for me to know if you sincerely can’t repurpose it. My guess is that you could break off a chunk of it, drill a hole into it, and make a small piece of it into a bauble on your key ring. If it’s soft, you might be able to sew a piece of it onto a quilt or something else that you use in your home.
Read the original article and readers comments here: http://unclutterer.com/2012/01/20/ask-unclutterer-parting-with-a-cherished-item-that-has-been-broken/
Clearing Your Life for a New Year
19 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Declutter Your Life, Goals, Simplify Your Life Tags: clutter, goals, New Year
Isn’t it funny that someone just happens to write something just at the time you need it? Leo Babauta from Zen Habits has done it again. Check out this post about clearing your life for the New Year:
Every January, people rush out and get a gym membership, set a list of goals or resolutions, and get ready to take on a new year of frenetic activity.
Unfortunately, we don’t often clear space to make room for all this new stuff.
The beginning of the year is a great time for renewal of energy and taking on the things we’ve always wanted to tackle — clutter, fitness, work we’re passionate about, debt, and so on. But it’s also a great time to clear out your life, starting out the year on a blank page that’s ready to be filled.
While everyone’s life is different, I’ll share some of what I do to clear out my life.
- Review the year to think about what I learned, what mistakes I made, what I accomplished.
- Clear my schedule as much as possible. That often means saying no to people.
- Wrap up old projects, end commitments to people, so that my work plate is clearer than normal.
- Toss out old fitness and eating plans, to make room for new experiments.
- Clear my email inbox. If I haven’t answered the email recently, it’s probably not important, so I archive it. Act on or answer other emails, so that my inbox is emptied.
- Clear out other inboxes. That might be an inbox on a social network, or a list of things I wanted to do or read, or any kind of list really. File them away under someday, or delete or archive. Anything that’s taking some mental energy because I know I need to get to it, gets cleared.
- Clear my computer files. Usually this means deleting a bunch of files I don’t need, but I also just consolidate files into one folder or put them in an online archive (like in Dropbox).
- Clear paperwork. I rarely have any papers these days — I’ve slowly turned everything digital. But I still get things in the mail sometimes, so if I have any lying around, I dispose of them to clear out any remaining paperwork.
- Clear clutter. If there are areas that have become cluttered, I clear them out. Often it just means taking a box or bag of things that I’ve been meaning to donate to Goodwill.
- Clear my errands. I’ll make a list of all the errands I’ve been putting off, and do them in one afternoon.
- Clear my finances. I’ll take a few minutes to review my checking and savings accounts, Paypal, investments, etc. and make sure everything is in order. If there are little things that need taking care of, I do them so that my mind is cleared.
- Clear pantry and refrigerator of junk. Old crap that’s been lying around. Junk food if there’s any there (I don’t usually have any anymore, but I used to). Left with just good whole ingredients for healthy foods.
This might take a couple days, working off and on in little bits. For some, it might take longer. But when you’re done, it’s amazing. Your mind is clear and refreshed. You feel like you’re ready to take on anything. To be honest, I do these things regularly throughout the year, and it’s great to keep a clean slate most of the time. But the new year is always a perfect opportunity to clear everything at once.
Hear Hear Leo!
Read the original post from Zen Habits here: http://zenhabits.net/clear/
Chinese New Year Fundraiser for the Bears!
18 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Declutter Your Life Tags: Animals Asia, chinese new year, Moon Bears
Please help to set me free!
The Chinese New Year starts next Monday 23rd January and no doubt there will be celebrations across the world to ring it in.
Some Chinese residents will not be joining them however – they are kept in cages no bigger than themselves and milked daily for their bile. They are Moon Bears.
To help Animals Asia eradicate this horrendous practice and to set them free, I am raising money by having a Chinese New Year High Tea and Yum Cha event in Brisbane on Sat 11 Feb 2-4pm called Moon Cakes and Moon Bears.
Indulge in Chinese delights!
7 Steps to Declutter for the New Year
16 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Declutter Your Life, Goals, Organising Tips Tags: declutter, New Year, organising
Bit by bit your garage can be seen again!
Here are 7 quick steps to get you started to a new organised year for 2012
o “Keep” obviously means that you plan to continue to store and/or use the item.
o “Purge” can mean that you intend to throw, shred, recycle, or donate the item to charity.
o “Other” is for objects that need to be repaired, relocated, returned to a friend or family member, or some other special action needs to be taken.
2. Once all of the objects from the space have been sorted, the garbage and recycling items need to go, donate the objects that can be donated, return items to friends, and drop off objects that need to be repaired at the repair shop.
So – what is left in your keep pile?
3. Do you need to do another round of uncluttering? If you’re feeling more courageous about purging items, now is the time to do it. When you are satisfied with your keep pile, sort the objects into new piles of like items — pencils with pencils, envelopes with envelopes, jeans with jeans etc.
- Do you like to see things on display, or would your rather items are out of sight behind closed doors?
- Do you like the eclectic look or the minimalist?
- Do you like labels, or need opaque containers so you can see what’s inside?
10 Days to a New Year’s Transformation
11 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Be prepared, Cleaning, Declutter Your Life, Feng Shui Tags: chinese new year, clean, declutter, home, wardrobe
Hmm...is blue really my colour?
10 days is all it takes to a new you! Be sure you are ready to face the Chinese Year of the Dragon by doing some clearing out (dragons love a good clear out!)
DAY 2 Keys: symbolically unlock your hidden potential and open the doors to new opportunities. Ensure all of your keys are facing the same direction and are on the key ring from largest to smallest. Remove any unused keys from your key ring and add a positive symbol which can enhance the energy of your keys.
DAY 3 Car: wash your car, clean and vacuum the interior. Ensure that your car is safe and is in good mechanical order. Your car is an extension of yourself and represents your direction in life. Same applies for other modes of transport – bicycles, motorbikes and most importantly your feet! These are your primary mode of transport so ook after them!
DAY 4 Wardrobe: it’s time to go through your clothing and shoes and let go of all that does not represent who you are today. Items which have painful memories or associations must go. Give them away, donate them, or sell them. Items which no longer fit must go. Letting go of the old allows new energy to enter your life. It is now time to create a new image of who you are today.
DAY 5 Windows: clean the windows and glass doors of your home to provide clarity. The windows are like the eyes of your home and clean windows will heighten your insight and clarity.
Prepare Your Home For The New Year With Feng Shui
06 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Be prepared, Declutter Your Life, Feng Shui Tags: chinese new year, clean, declutter, New Year
The Chinese New Year starts February 23 this year – will you be ready? If you missed the January 1st New Year deadline, don’t worry: the Chinese New Year isn’t until the 23rd of January so you’ve still got time! To greet the New Year, set aside a couple of hours to give your house a head start with my suggestions below.1. De-clutter: Grab a box, set a timer for five minutes and take it with you from room to room. Throw out old newspapers, magazines, empty bottles of shampoo, old clothes you know you’ll never wear again.
2. Vacuum: Get the old energy out by making the floors clean.
3. Do the laundry: Don’t have dirty clothes hanging around; throw on a load or two while you declutter but be sure to fold and put the clean clothes away.
4. Clean the bathroom: Make it sparkle.
5. Empty all garbages: You don’t want last years’ garbage hanging around, do you?
6. Clean out the refrigerator: Throw out half-empty jars of who knows what. You don’t want to go into the New Year with old or mouldy food lurking in the fridge.
7. Clear out visual clutter: Clear off the kitchen and bathroom counters, your desk, wherever there is a flat surface. Make as much space as possible. You cannot bring in new things if there is no room for them.
8. Garden: Make sure the lawn is mown, the edges down and the paths are swept.
9. Change the sheets and towels: Put clean sheets on all the beds on New Year’s Eve and clean towels in the bathroom and kitchen. New sheets are even better.
10. Clean the car: both inside and out.
Why I don’t make New Year’s resolutions!
02 Jan 2012 3 Comments
in Declutter Your Life, Downsizing Tags: clutter, decluttering, New Year's resolutions, selling clutter
I'll get you my pretty...
Did anyone see the “selling your clutter online” story on A Current Affair tonight? It’s so bizarre: just today hubby and I were clearing out the garage (yes, even professional organisers have declutter sessions!) and I came across my bike covered in about an inch of dust. I haven’t ridden it in about three years since moving from Canberra (too many hills around my house and too much bother to put the bike rack on the car).
So why do I still have it?
I could sell it on eBay or Gumtree and make money for Kerri’s China Moon Bear Rescue Challenge! But no, for some reason getting rid of my bike is not an option so I have made a New Year’s resolution – I am going to ride it! Starting this weekend hubby and I are going to ride to our local shops at Bulimba for coffee each Sat. Yay! And no excuses.
OK maybe not this Saturday, I have a Feng Shui client… So starting next Saturday!
Oops no wait I have a roller blading lesson next Saturday (I have to learn how to stop).
How about the Saturday after that then (darn, no heading down to Sydney that weekend).
OK sooo…anyone want to buy a bike?
The “Organise Me” Blog stats for 2011…
01 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Organising Tips Tags: 2011, blog, review, stats, Word press
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 24,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 9 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
Is getting organised one of your New Year resolutions?
31 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Be prepared, Declutter Your Life, Organising Tips Tags: goals, New Year resolutions, organise, organize, plan
It’s that time of year folks – crack open the bubbly, count down the minutes and make those New Year’s resolutions you know you won’t keep post January 31! Hey we do it every year, so why change now? Well, when it comes to decluttering and getting organised, if you can stick with it, it can really change your life for the better – 365 days of the year!
Unclutterer.com had an interesting post today about making (and more importantly keeping) your New Year’s resolutions – especially when it comes to becoming organised:
According to the National Association of Professional Organizers in theUS, the phrase “get organized” is one of the top 10 resolutions people make every year. If you add uncluttering into the “get organized” category, it’s likely a top 5 resolution.
If you fall into the group of resolution makers who wants to be better organized in 2012, the first thing to do is specifically identify why you want to be organized. Being organized isn’t usually a goal. Being organized is merely a path to achieving another goal.
For instance, you might want to be better organized with your time after work so you finally get your business idea off the ground. You might want to be more organized with meal planning so you have less stress surrounding mealtimes with your family.
Knowing why you want to be organized will help you with the remaining steps of the resolution-making process and with ultimately achieving your goals.
After you have identified why you want to be more organized and have a rough idea of the resolutions you wish to achieve, your next step is to create a detailed plan of action.
Read the entire article here: http://unclutterer.com/2011/12/29/making-resolutions-and-creating-a-2012-resolution-action-plan/
