April 2013
3 posts
Organized in 30 minutes →
NPN post about cleaning fast!
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http://simplystated.realsimple.com/2013/01/23/how-t... →
How to Wash Cashmere - Real Simple
March 2013
2 posts
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The Psychology of Clutter →
A very thoughtful piece about why we hold onto things we no longer really need and more.
Spring Cleaning and eBay
Well it’s almost that time of year to start clearing out closets and bookcases and more. Some things always go to storage, while others should be donated and others still can be sold.
Why am I suggesting this? I always find that there are some purchases that either no longer fit, or I haven’t used. You don’t want to give them away. You other choice is an online auction site...
January 2013
4 posts
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Handbag Insert: The easiest way to change bags
Hey Ladies! You have lots of bags and purses…Wouldn’t you like to be able to just pull out an insert and plop it in another bag?
In seconds you are ready to go out the door and hit the town running with another glamourous bag on your arm. Just put your essentials into the insert and then move it from purse to purse.
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Shop Your Closet Before You Shop at a Store
Happy New Year, Everyone!
One basic way to avoid clutter in your closets, is to take an honest inventory of your closet. Go through your clothes and get shopping. I’m sure there are things in your crowded closet that you have forgotten about entirely. There are gems and dunces in your inventory. Toss the dunces and keep the gems. Find your favorite charity and make their day!
May 2012
3 posts
How to Streamline Your Kitchen →
How to Make Life a Little Easier
I love flowers, but I don’t like the cost, the mess and the waste when they die, so I bought some fake peonies, which look beautiful. I put them in a pretty vase with some moss and voila, I have flowers year round!
This is just one way that I make my life easier. I have other ways in which I simplify my life.
I own a Swiffer, a Dustbuster and a mop with a flat washable cover that cleans...
Spring Cleaning
Some rights reserved by Viperalus
It’s that time of year again! Time to get things in order. Out with the old and in with the new! It’s time to declutter and get things in order.
It may seem like a daunting task, but you can do it if you do it in small blocks of time. Set a kitchen timer for 30 minutes and start in one corner of a room. Have some boxes or bags handy for trash,...
March 2012
3 posts
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Giving Away Gets Rid of the Clutter
What if clutter was ruling your life and you didn’t even want to go home to face it?
When I feel like I have too many things, I start to look around and decide what I can subtract from my life. I don’t have the time or energy to sell on Ebay or Craigslist, so I donate to my favorite charity. Once I give away the “stuff”, I feel like a load has been lifted.
So much of...
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Shop In Your Own Home to Declutter
Often, when I work with clients, and even sometimes in my own life, I buy something new, when I already own it. I’m talking about things as mundane as tape, Qtips, and lip gloss.
Before shopping at the store, take stock of what you have. The best way to do this is to take everything out of a cabinet and take stock. It could be in your pantry, your bathroom, or closet. Often, you will find...
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Organizing Your Refrigerator to Make Dinners... →
February 2012
4 posts
Children's Birthday Party Tips →
Valentine's Day isn't Just About Sweethearts
Valentine’s day is usually thought of as a day for couples in love. Well, I challenge that. It can also be about things you love, or are passionate about.
Here’s my list in no particular order:
1. Smashbooks
2. Dear Friends
3. Organizing
4. Michael’s and Target for art and organizing
5. cottontail bunnies
6. the almost end of winter
7. volunteering for literacy
8. My...
Saving Memories in a Scrapbook
Do you have a bunch of greeting cards, photos and ticket stubs that you don’t know what to do with?
A great way to put all of these memorabilia together in a fun way is to make a scrapbook. The latest trend is to put together a Smashbook. Here is a video of how it works:
I’ve done it and it’s loads of fun. You can make your own DIY Smashbook with a glue stick, some colorful...
Recent Challenge: Organizing Greeting Cards
Some of us still send greeting cards and it’s important to have a system, so you can find all of your cards for specific holidays, like Valentine’s Day.
The first thing to do is to sort your cards into piles for each holiday, like Christmas, Thanksgiving, Get Well, etc.
After you’ve finished making those piles, set up a filing system. Mark each folder with the name of the...
January 2012
1 post
A New Year and Some Resolutions
It’s the beginning of a new year and I’d like to say that everything is perfect chez moi, but I decided it was time to get rid of some old things: donate, and toss other stuff. I took everything off the shelves and regrouped.
BOOKS
Books I don’t read anymore are getting swapped on Bookins.com and also some were donated to a local charity in Chicago. One special book from my...
December 2011
4 posts
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Organize Your Desktop!
In order to organize your desktop, you need a few good tools to help you on your way. If you have a place for everything, it will make it less cluttered and easier to find things.
For starters, perhaps you have a lot of magazines, or journals that you need handy. The first step is to get rid of anything you haven’t read, and probably won’t read ever. Then get some pretty magazine...
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Happy Holidays & a Happy New Year!
I want to wish you and yours a very happy holiday season and a happy new year!
For me the holidays are about getting together with friends and family. I treasure those who are close to my heart this time of year. Let your to do lists take a break, enjoy those around you and count all of your blessings!
All the best,
Jessica
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Keep Up with Gift Giving without Breaking the Bank →
November 2011
3 posts
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A To Do List That Really Works
An Advanced To Do List
I use a free application called Remember the Milk. It also has an app for the iPhone. It’s incredibly useful. I can create customized lists for what I have to do. It allows me to set due dates and also the priority of the task at hand. It is much easier for me to just look at my phone to see what I have to do, than to carry around a tattered piece of paper.
I update...
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Errands Made Easier Through the Internet
Every week we have to do the same chores, but some of them can be made much, much easier. For example, in Chicago there is a service called Peapod that stores your shopping lists and delivers straight to your door, even if you live on the third floor, like me. In other cities, you have services like NetGrocer, mygofer, Schwans and many others.
With Peapod you can schedule regular deliveries so...
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A New Post at NPN about Photo Organizing →
Digital Overwhelm - We all take tons of pictures these days. With digital photography and iPhones, it’s possible to amass quite a collection of photos of your family and friends. It can be very overwhelming. Where to begin? PLUS, turn these amazing moments into great gifts and keepsakes for your whole family.
October 2011
6 posts
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Slow and Steady Wins the Race
We’ve all been there. You waited until there were piles of dishes in the sink and a zillion bills and piles of laundry to do.
What if, every day you did just enough to keep those piles manageable?
I find that when i pick up a little every day, my “major” cleaning days aren’t so bad. Try to carve out a little time for each task. For example, take 10 minutes to put away the...
Great Idea!
storagecom:
Have spare ice cube trays laying around? Why not repurpose them for storage of odds and ends? Great for arts and crafts supplies, office supplies and jewelry!
(via Home Made Simple)
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Fall...Winter: It's time to get warm and organized
Well, it’s getting cold and rainy out there in Chicago and that means it’s time to get out all of your winter gear and put away the summertime clothes and doodads. Don’t forget to toss out expired sunscreen and the like.
I put all of my scarves together in a bin, where I can get to them easily and the same with my mittens and hats. I have all of my sweaters together in a drawer...
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The Junk Drawer: Solutions
We’ve all got a drawer with miscellaneous stuff in it, that at some point got out of control. The only cure for this is to find a specific place for these little things that have accumulated. One very helpful solution is to put a drawer organizer in. It will give you compartments to put stamps, paper clips, pens and the like, so they aren’t just swimming around in a pile:
Axis Junk...
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When Things Get Messy, Start Subtracting
As an organizer, I am always trying to find new ways to help people make the most of the space that they have. Honestly, the best way to find your way out of clutter is to stop adding to it and then to subtract from it.
The Bathroom
A simple example is the bathroom. Do you really need 5 different shampoos lining the shower or a dozen different lotions and 5 mascaras? No, no you don’t. ...
September 2011
6 posts
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5 Ways to Make Mornings Easier →
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Clean up that Mac Computer Desktop & More
You’ve noticed that you can’t find anything on your computer. There are 50 loose documents and pictures on your desktop. It is high time that they were filed. It slows down your computer and your productivity to have so many files on your desktop.
The first step is to create file folders on your computer in your Documents folder (on a Mac), that make sense to you. Here are some...
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How to Get a Messy Purse Under Control
You’ve had it! You can’t find a darn thing in your purse because there is so much stuff in it: 3 lip glosses, 7 pens, wallet, a pound of change, old receipts, trash, lotion, sanitizer, random business cards, a book, another book and so on.
It’s time to reign all that junk in and be able to find things again.
1. Take it all out!
Remove everything from your purse and place it on...
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Tame Your Closets For Fall →
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Overhaul Your To Do List
The clutter we find in our homes is nothing compared to the clutter in our heads.
Long Lists
I often talk to people who have incredibly long to do lists. Some of the things are attainable: do the dishes, wash the car, take out the trash and pay bills. Nevertheless, people also seem to add such ambitious things to their general to do lists, that they get frustrated right out of the gate.
Learn...
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Action List VS. To Do List
Action Lists
We all make to do lists and often they languish and don’t get done. I’ve gotten into the habit of making “Action” lists. I only write down what I know can get done. They are my high priority items. The list in the image is mine and tomorrow, I am committed to getting all of the things on my list done. It’s not a long list for a reason. I want to make...
August 2011
22 posts
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Filing: It's a Science
First of all, it’s normal to accumulate a bunch of papers and look at your filing cabinet with dread. No one likes to file, but there are ways to avoid making it an awful task.
1. Shred
Go through your papers and shred like crazy. You don’t need to save last year’s electric bills, or a bunch of junk mail that’s accumulated.
2. Recycle
Recycle your old magazines, junk...
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/technology/a-gofe... →
A good article about hiring personal assistants.
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Messiness Can Lead to Creativity
“I believe in deeply ordered chaos.”
- Francis Bacon
When I am feeling creative, I take out all of my art supplies and the more messy it gets, the better. I find beauty in the chaos and my mind is freer to paint and draw. There is nothing wrong with making a mess now and again in the name of creativity. Life gets messy and then you clean it up.
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Watchehalcyon:
This is beautiful.
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