Your Life. Organized.

Video: Hand Blender Cage Match: Cuisinart vs Sencor

I'm all about finding ways to make life simpler, more organized and happier. Making life easier is NOT always about buying a new gadget or product but sometimes having the right product is key! It's helpful to thoughtfully consider products to see if they fit the bill and really do serve a valuable purpose, or whether they're just another gadget. (And y'all know I'm not about gadgets for the sake of having them.)

Because I love to cook and I have seen immersion blenders for a long time on television, I thought I'd see if I might like one for my own kitchen. So hey I bought two! Why not? Here is my side-by-side review of them.

One is a Cuisinart Smart Stick (model CSB75) and the other is a Sencor (model SHB3326.) I cooked up two pounds of carrots in chicken stock and I used them as my test medium because I LOOOOOVE carrot soup! If you like carrot soup too, I've shared my recipe below the video. What are your favorite ways to use an immersion blender? I'd love to get your best tips and ideas, so share in the comments section below!

 

 

Carrot Soup Recipe

Disclaimer: This is the style of carrot soup I like, which is on the sweeter side. Because carrot is a lot like pumpkin, I like to use classic baking spices in it. In the past, I've made a savory version with herbs such as sage, thyme, and basil but I prefer the sweet one. The great thing about it is that it can go in either direction, sweet or savory, according to whatever mood you're in!
 
1.5 to 2 pounds of carrots, cut into similar sized chunks
32 ounces of your favorite chicken stock
1 bay leaf
A few shakes of nutmeg
1 teaspoon of ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
A few shakes of nutmeg (not too  many - it can overpower)
Optional spices to shake in (carefully!): Chinese five-spice, clove, allspice

Combine chopped carrots and chicken stock in a large pot.

Add the bay leaf (ALWAYS keep bay leaf whole and remove it at the end of your cooking time)

Bring the stock to a low boil and then turn it down to simmer. 

Add your baking spices, cover and let it simmer for about a half-hour or until the carrots are cooked soft all the way through.

Extract the carrots from the stock using a slotted spoon and set aside. 

Remove bay leaf and discard. 

Add a enough stock back into the carrots to make it easy to puree them. 

Puree the carrots, adding back stock a little at a time until your soup is the thickness you like it.

Add sea salt to taste. 

Woot! Enjoy! 

 

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PPS: Links contained in the body of this post are affiliate links which means I'll make a few nickels if you decide to click through and make a purchase. 

Finally! One Of My Peeves SOLVED!

It's funny. As I get older I find I'm getting more fussy about some things and less fussy about other things. For example, if you're new at your job and trying hard, I'll be the first to cut you some slack and give you encouragement! But if you're NOT new at your job and you just don't give a crap, you're on my list.

I'm the same way with the physical things in my life. Some I care less about now, while some I care more about. In my younger days I was ALL about function over form. If something got the job done, that's all that mattered. I'm still that way in some areas today. But I notice that as I get older, my appreciation and desire for a higher aesthetic is showing itself. Take trash cans for example. I used to not care at all what a trash can looked like. As long as it worked and was the right size I was fine with it.

However, lately I purchased a Simple Human stainless steel butterfly can for my kitchen. Isn't it pretty?

 

Yes it cost a bit more than the last one I bought, but it has performed like a champ for over a year now! I'm okay with spending a little more because this can is way better than the cheaper stainless steel can I used to have, which rusted out in the same amount of time. Blergh.

Speaking of trash, one of my other peeves about trash cans is when you buy a cute trash can but then the white liner pokes out the top and comes partially down the outside of the can, obscuring the cuteness of the can! Plus all your trash is visible too. I mean, what's the point in getting an attractive can if all you can see is the liner and the trash?? Double blergh.

This morning I got an email from The Container Store announcing a new product and it solves my very first-world problem trash can pet peeve! 

Check out these fab rosewood trash cans! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just love its clever design! The outer rosewood "shell" covers an inner container, so your liner and your trash become invisible and you can actually SEE the beautiful wood grain on the can. (see photo below for how it works)

The design is lovely isn't it? And so smart! Now I can have bathroom and powder room trash cans that aren't ugly to look at. The rosewood version comes in both a round and rectangular shape and for those who prefer a more sleek and modern look, the rectangular can is also available in white. Are these cans more expensive than a regular open-top bathroom trash can? Absolutely. This may be one of those times when you really do get what you pay for, especially if you're an old curmudgeon like me with a trash can peeve. 

What are YOUR peeves and how have you solved them? I'd love to know in the comments section! 

 

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Can You SEE How This Makes a Difference?

Do you sometimes wonder what small and scary things might be lurking at the back of your cabinets where your eyes haven't been in years? Are some of your pantry shelves a mystery? How old ARE those canned beans anyway? It's easy to forget about items when you can't see them, which is why I'm sharing my favorite kitchen organizing tips to make the things in your cabinets visible again.




 

Visibility Tip #1: Containerize small, similar items. In the photo above, you can see I have all my tea (and a few coffee items) in three containers in an upper cabinet. The large container is a Container Store tall shoe box and the two smaller ones are both Container Store small accessory boxes. They are the perfect thing to keep all my boxes of tea, loose tea leaves, tea infusers, sweeteners, and other tea/coffee accoutrements together. The other important benefit is that because small items like these get pushed back and become invisible, keeping them in a container means they all move AS A FAMILY every time I pull down the container. Nothing can hide from me anymore. 

 

Visibility Tip #2: My pantry shelves are 16 inches deep, which on one hand is great because that means they hold a LOT of food. The downside to deep pantry shelves however,is that because they're so deep, it's hard to see what's at the back half of the shelves, so tons of food expires and goes to waste. Blergh. That's not good on the wallet either. The solution? Turntables and can risers!

Again, I got these products at The Container Store and they make me so happy! The 18-inch turntable is one of my favorite tools in the world -- everything that used to be invisible and unreachable is now not only visible and at the FRONT of the shelf with just a spin, but I can put my hands on it without using a ladder! Whaaaaat? Yep! 

The can risers improve visibility by a gozillion percent. This means I can find what I need quickly and I never buy something I already own, simply because I didn't know it was there. 

What are your favorite tips and products for keeping your home mystery-free and organized?  

 

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Here's To Compostable Holidays!

Bless all you lovely people who have the fortitude to go all out for the holidays. Not just THE holidays, but ANY holiday. You know who you are. 

You're my neighbor that I can count on to have an inflatable turkey, Santa, snowman, or gigantic live-action snow globe on your roof or lawn every winter. You don't shy away from covering your bushes with white spider-webby floss and filling the front yard with headstones and the formerly-dead rising from the earth at Halloween. The Easter bunny hops by your place every year hanging huge colored eggs on fishing line from every tree you own. Oh yes, I know you. 

You and your fabulous seasonal decorating put my house to shame every holiday, but that's okay because when I drive by your house I get a smile from the hard work you've done, but I can't help but smile twice because my lazy butt doesn't have any of that horror to put away later. 

My philosophy on holiday decorating, (and pretty much everything else in life except bacon and Bon Jovi), is LESS IS MORE. I have one box of Christmas decorations I pull out every year and once those are in place, I consider myself nearly done, except for the compostables. 

Yep, compostable decor is one of my secrets to simpler holidays.  

Because I'm the "just enough" holiday decorator, I do JUST ENOUGH so my house feels in season, but not so much that it's a pain to take down. But I can go crazy with compostables if I want to, because they don't have to be PUT away. They get THROWN away! Yahoo! Here are my favorite disposable decor ideas for the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. 

Greenery
I have a big evergreen tree in my back yard so I can just cut a handful of fresh greenery and lay it on the fireplace mantel or string it around my front door and POOF! It's Christmas! If you don't have your own evergreen tree, ask a friend or take a walk in the woods. If all else fails, nab some at your nearest Home Depot or Lowe's. 

Pumpkins and Gourds
I love the warm variety of colors and textures that pumpkins and gourds offer for fall and winter decorating. Use itty bitty ones as part of your Thanksgiving tablescape by using your fanciest penmanship to write guest's names on them with a Sharpie. Place larger ones outside your front door.

Holly 
I also happen to have a few holly trees in my yard, so holly branches with berries are plentiful and free. Left natural or sprayed gold, holly is sturdy and looks great combined with evergreen branches and ornaments. You can also use holly on your tablescape by tying a small holly branch to a rolled fabric napkin with a piece of velvet ribbon. 

Apples
Nothing says fall like a big vase or bowl of beautiful fresh apples. Spruce it up (ha! get it? spruce?) with fresh greenery or holly for contrast.

Mums
Oh how I love the many gorgeous colors mums come in! A ten dollar pot of these quintessential fall blooms outside your front door or strategically placed indoors definitely says "fall weather has arrived" in a super simple way.

Rosemary
One of my favorite herbs, I love rosemary for its incredible freshness and piney scent, but also because it's evergreen and grows right outside my door for me to use all year. Not only is it great for holiday cooking, it's pretty in arrangements or all on its own. I cut some fresh branches and put them in a vase on the wall of my powder room for guests to enjoy.

Persimmons
Like many of the items on my disposable decor list, persimmons grow in my yard. (I know it sounds as if I have a huge yard, but it's just a regular little suburban yard) These gorgeous bright orange fruit are about as big as a tomato and firm like an apple. A wooden bowl arrangement of persimmons, whole nuts and some greens or rosemary makes a simple and striking centerpiece for any table.

These ideas aren't edgy or glitzy but what I love about them is their simplicity, their affordability and their temporary nature. What are some of your favorite ways to decorate for the holidays using plants, fruits and other compostable items? 

 

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I Just Need A Bigger House!

I can't tell you how many times over the years I've heard a client complain that their organizing woes would be over if they just had a bigger house. Unfortunately a bigger home means more house expense and less disposable income for your day today living and retirement goals. Not only that, but the worst part is that it's almost NEVER the solution. Well drat! If a bigger house isn't the solution to your organizing challenges, then what is?

In my nearly 20 year career organizing homes and offices I've learned that maximizing your space using physical infrastructure, in conjunction with reducing the number of possessions you own is the only true long-term solution to an organizing challenge. This two-pronged approach ensures that you have ample, easy-access places to store things and with less to store, it's easier to find what you need. In our last home, my husband and I shared a small walk-in master closet that was 8 feet deep by 6 feet across.

An EIGHT foot by SIX foot rectangle. For BOTH of us. A few years into this silliness, I finally designed a new closet that doubled the storage capacity and saved our marriage. Whew!

Today I want to share with you some before and after photos. The befores are pictures of closets that didn't work and afters show the difference after quality infrastructure was added to the space.

The top row is a spare bedroom I helped my client turn into a gorgeous master closet! It's still one of my favorites of all time! 

The middle row of photos is a small shared master closet with pitched ceilings, which is always a challenge. We not only fit everything in but we had room to spare and when this couple sells their home, the new buyers will be ahead of the game in the master closet department!

The bottom row of photos is just one wall of a very large, but poorly designed master. When we were done, it not only held double the items, but it looked much better.

So before you even think about cracking open Zillow to go house hunting, consider that you could stay in your present home longer and save a ton of money simply by evaluating the space you have and using it in a whole new way!

 

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Taming The Shoe Monster

What's that old saying about "If the shoe fits?" 

The trouble with shoes is that once they're off your feet, they often DON'T fit easily into an organized environment. They're relatively small, so they get lost under and behind the cascade of hanging clothing in your master closet. If you're a "no shoes in the house" person, they can end up scattered all over the floor of your coat closet or your living area. Shoes, as much as they're important, can also be a little high maintenance. 

I'm on vacation in California and staying with a friend who lives in a really cool house in the hills around Los Angeles. As with many homes built in the 1940s and 50s, this house oozes charm, but doesn't offer a ton of closet space. When Christmas Boy and I were looking around for a spot to stash our bed linens in the morning, I noticed our friend is using one of my favorite spots to keep his house tidy -- the back of a closet door. 

In this case, our friend's house is a shoe-free zone, so he uses an over-door shoe rack in the coat closet to corral his shoes near the front door. It's an inexpensive and simple way to make an otherwise unused space useful and keep the house organized. My clever friend, realizing he didn't need to store more than a few pairs of shoes here, only installed the top section of the rack on the door, leaving the bottom of the door open for other things (or nothing at all). 

 

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5 Compelling Reasons To Organize Your Home Today

Evernote Tidbit #6: Keep Vital Info at Your Fingertips

In my work with clients to help them get their paperwork and information in order, we always create a hard copy folder called "Vital Documents." Inside this folder, we store physical originals or copies of important items such as birth certificates, drivers licenses, passports, Social Security cards, insurance policies and so on. This practice helps give my clients peace of mind that they can find this vital information if they ever need it. 

Holy moly we're six weeks into my Evernote Basics series already! We've covered the introduction, how to capture information within Evernote, how to annotate images and how to use Evernote to capture and share your favorite recipes. This week I want to share how easy it is to capture and store vital information and find it in an instant. 

Have you ever been on vacation and gotten a call that all was NOT well at home? Flood. Fire. Break-In. Emergency vet visit. Things can happen when you're away from home and although you may have hard copies of your vital documents and information in a fire safe in your house, they do you no good when you're away.

This is where Evernote saves the day.

Create a notebook called Vital Documents where you drop all the above-mentioned pieces of information, along with countless others that you'd want to have access to in a crisis. These could include hand written notes with bank account numbers and contact information, photos of your credit cards, scanned copies of powers of attorney, wills, trusts, business cards with doctors names and contact info, and your financial adviser's contact info just to name a few. If you have a spouse or kids, you can share the notebook (or only certain notes in it) with them too.

For additional security for your personal information, I recommend encrypting the text in these highly confidential notes as well as adding a passcode lock to your Evernote mobile app. Encrypting is EASY as pie too! On the desktop version of Evernote, simply highlight the text you wish to encrypt, right click it and select "Encrypt Selected Text." You'll be prompted to create a passphrase, and then type it a second time to confirm. NOTE: This is a special passphrase you'll use only for encrypting. This is not your Evernote password. If you ever forget your encryption passphrase, you're SOL, because Evernote CANNOT access it.

Having all your important information stored in Evernote will give you peace of mind that even if something should happen to your hard copies AND your computer hard drive, that you'll be able to access the information immediately via the web, your mobile app or your desktop client. 

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PPS: Links in the above post are affiliate links. I'll make a few cents if you click through and subscribe to a paid version of Evernote. There is a free option for everyone though!  :)

Evernote Tidbit #5: Create a Shared Task List

We're five weeks into my Evernote Basics series and you've learned a lot already! This week I want to tell you how you and your family, professional team or clients can use Evernote as a way to easily share and manage a common task or project list. 

Step One: Create a new note in Evernote by hitting the plus sign at the top of the page, and title the note Shared Task List. Or you could call it Stuff To Do. Heck you could call it Jimmy Stewart for all I care, but it needs a title.

Step Two: Begin typing a list of tasks, breaking up the tasks by person or by category, as in the example below.

 

Step Three: Highlight all the items on your list with your mouse or trackpad, as below.

 

Step Four: Click on the "Checklist" icon in the formatting toolbar at the top of the page. 

 

Step Five: POOF your text list becomes an interactive checklist!

Step Six: Share your note with other Evernote users using the "SHARE" button at the upper right. Now you will all be able to add things to the list and check things OFF the list as they get done.

Shared task lists are handy when you're collaborating with others on a project of any kind. What ways would creating shared notes be helpful to you and your personal or professional team? 

 

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PPS: Links in the above post are affiliate links. I'll make a few cents if you click through and subscribe to a paid version of Evernote. There is a free option for everyone though!  :)

Evernote Tidbit #4: Saving and Sharing Recipes

Who loves food, raise your hand! Wherever you may be, I bet you can see that I have both my hands in the air like I just don't care! For me, enjoying good food is truly one of life's greatest pleasures and cooking for others is a very close second. Whether you're a passionate foodie like I am, or a busy mom or dad who just wants to keep healthy, non-boring meals on your table every night, Evernote is one of your best resources! 

Remember how in Evernote Tidbit #2 I told you all the various ways to get information into Evernote? All the ways I listed are how you get your recipes into Evernote. 

"But wait!!" you exclaim. "Many of my recipes are just pages I've torn out of magazines!"

Oh yes grasshopper, I know. That's the beauty of Evernote. No matter what form your recipes start out in, you can drop them into Evernote and POOF they're digital and searchable! For realz, playah. 

Magazine clipping? Take a photo of the page with the app Evernote will make the text searchable.

Hand-written recipe? Take a photo of it with the app and if your writing is legible, Evernote will make it searchable.

Emailed recipe? Drag and drop the document into Evernote.

Epicurious or Food Network recipe online? Use the Evernote Web Clipper to nab the entire thing and save it to Evernote.

The contents of your recipes being searchable is the first great part about dropping them into Evernote. But the second great part is that you can share them with anyone who has an Evernote account! Whaaaat? Yep!

Let's say you and your closest group of friends all want to create a shared recipe collection. You just create a notebook called Recipes (clever name, I know) and share the notebook with your friends, who will get an invitation to join the notebook. They will be able to see your recipes and depending on the type of Evernote account they own, they may or may not be able to add recipes to the notebook but they'll certainly be able to view all the notes inside it.

As I've mentioned before, there are four tiers of Evernote to choose from. Evernote Basic is free and is of course the most limited in function. You can absolutely get by with it, but if you want to unleash the true power of Evernote, it pays to get one of the pay versions. I recommend starting at the PLUS version and then evaluating to see whether you need to upgrade to Premium. The good news is that it's crazy affordable, with Evernote Plus at just $35 a year in the United States.

If you'd like a one-on-one phone coaching session on how to use Evernote or you know someone who would, just give me a holler!

 

PS: Follow me on Twitter and Facebook and if you like this information, share it by clicking the social bookmarking links above and below the post. Thanks for sharing!

PPS: Links in the above post are affiliate links. I'll make a few cents if you click through and subscribe to a paid version of Evernote. There is a free option for everyone though!  :)

How's Your Poker Face?

 

Christmas Boy and I both play poker, but he's great at it and I struggle. It reminds me of when I work with clients and they have a hard time understanding why I'm good at organizing and they struggle with it. Organization is a bit like poker in that the concepts of poker are very simple, but mastery can be a real challenge.

To be great at poker, you need to possess specific skill sets and put in lots of practice. Getting organized and staying that way over time is similar. The concepts are simple but the actual implementation and maintenance can be a challenge.

The concepts include 

• Being mindful and aware of how much you have and your own behaviors
• Clearing excess from your life on a regular basis
• Grouping items into categories that make sense to you
• Creating a home for everything you own
• Completing the circle of use by putting things away after you use them

The most important item on the list is the only one that isn't a physical action. Being mindful and aware of what you own and what's occupying your physical and mental space is purely intangible, but without it, no action can happen and positive change is impossible. 

Once you're in the habit of mindful awareness of your space and your own habits, the physical aspects of organization are very simple but they require practice to become second-nature. Whether it's cleaning out your closet twice a year, or simply remembering to clean up after every meal, creating new habits is the best practice and the only way to change the chaos into organization. 

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I Finally Became a Grown-Up

What's the old adage, "The cobbler's children have no shoes" or something like that? Well for years at my house, the organizer's office had no shoes either. And by "shoes" I mean my office was a thrown-together mishmash of whatever furniture I had brought from the last house and pieces I picked up used or had given to me by someone else. Until recently, I really didn't care much about how my office looked, as long as it was organized and supported my needs. I guess I just favored function over form. But something unexpected happened recently. 

I grew up. 

Much like the year I turned forty, when I said to myself, "Self, you're a grown damn woman. You deserve to buy a decent set of kitchen knives!" which was just before I took myself to Cook's Warehouse and did just that. 

Several months ago I was chosen by The Container Store to become one of their Contained Home Consultants. Now, I don't know if it was the trip to Container Store Intergalactic Headquarters in Texas or the full day training at the new Alpharetta location in Georgia, but like Bruce Dickinson, I HAD A FEVAH! And the only prescription (along with more cowbell) was an office makeover.

The old bulky desk? Gone.
The old bookcase? Gone.
The wooden TV tray (yeah I said it) that was holding my NeatDesk? Gone
The black plastic letter trays and desk accessories? Gone.

My grown up self wanted an office that looked and felt intentionally planned and pretty. I made over my space using mostly products from The Container Store (elfa driftwood desktop on platinum legs, three elfa 7-runner drawer units, an orange & driftwood Vario modular shelving unit, an aqua C-Table, an aqua Poppin storage cube and some aqua Poppin desk accessories). Two white Crate and Barrel leaning shelves hold books, photos and personal memorabilia and my Roost laptop stand plus an external keyboard keeps me ergonomically in line. 

Now I LOVE being in my office, which is a welcome change and further validates my long-held belief that your surroundings do have an effect on your mood and productivity. What have you done lately to change your surroundings for the better?

  

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Less Resolution and More Revolution

Guest Post provided by Tina O'Keefe

 

One thing I always tell my clients when they are about to start working with me as an organizer is that it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets a lot better. They think I’m joking until we are about two hours into a session and there is a gigantic pile of belongings that used to reside inside a closet sitting in the middle of their bedroom floor. I am usually standing somewhere on the other side sorting and taking inventory of what needs to be done while the client is getting a good look at all their private “treasures” and feeling very anxious. 

 

I don’t set out to create anxiety but it is part of the process. The mess has always existed only now it exists on the bedroom floor instead of inside the closet. Facing the disorder, seeing the chaos, can be alarming.  But we need to be alarmed to take action sometimes. We need to really see the problem so that we can face it and, eventually, solve it. We need to make the mess in order to clean it up.

 

So in January of a new year, we make resolutions and we say that we will “get organized.” But it will take more than a resolution. It will mean a revolution because in order to truly get rid of clutter, we need to embrace change. It requires resolve, determination and of course, a plan:

 

1. Set your goal. Be specific. Give yourself a deadline. 

2. Don’t be afraid to make a mess. You need to know what you are facing in order to deal with it.

3. Stick with it. If it has to be a little every day or once a week, don’t get disheartened. 

4. Get support. Ask a friend to help you out. Encourage your family to get involved. Call a professional                 if you really get stuck. 

5. Maintain. Once the work is done and the area is cleaned out, don’t start filling it up again. Enjoy and embrace the space you’ve made. 

 

So let’s not just resolve to get organized this year - let’s promise ourselves something more. How about real change. Let’s promise ourselves a bit of freedom from the embarrassment of a cluttered home. Let’s promise ourselves a relaxing space to sit and read without clutter. Let’s promise ourselves a healthier home free of dust and allergens. We will not be victims to our possessions. We will fight back and win!  

 

Vive la révolution!

 

 

 

New House Organizing Tip #9!

We're almost into a brand new year and what better time to review your successes of the past and make plans to do things a bit differently going forward. For the past few months I've been showing you all the simple (and mostly inexpensive) organizing solutions I've been putting in place in our new home. So far we've ventured into the cabinets, the pantry, the coat closet, the fridge and under the sink.

In the last post, I showed you how I'm using the insides of cabinet doors beneath the kitchen sink. They hold a bunch of small stuff that would otherwise get lost in the cabinet or perhaps not fit into a drawer. Today I'll show you how I used the same idea in the master bathroom.

First of all, I don't believe in dragging cleaning products from downstairs to upstairs and back down again, plus I like to clean my bathroom sink and mirror every day or two just to keep it from getting really gross. This frequent spot-cleaning routine requires the items I need be close by and easy to access.

Secondly, I wash and dry my hair nearly every day and most days I'll touch it up with a curling iron or flat iron. In order for me to keep my bathroom neat and organized, my hair tools need to be close at hand and easy to get out and put away. 

Because I have cabinets under my bathroom sink, I used the same tactic as I did in the kitchen. I found three over-the-cabinet-door organizers that are designed for bathroom items and they're perfect for not only keeping the things I want close by, but I have extra space inside the cabinets now too. Easy, inexpensive and effective. 

  

 Hope you had a wonderful holiday season and are looking forward to a rockin' 2016!! 

 

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New Home Organizing Tip #8!

Before the holidays I started a series of posts sharing the various simple organizing solutions I've been implementing in our new home. It's surprising how long it takes to figure out just the right solution when you're faced with living in an entirely new space. Today's organizing tip might be the last one from the kitchen and it's one of my faves.

One of the most overlooked storage spots in homes and offices is the inside surface of a cabinet door. There are so many ways you can use this space to augment your storage capacity. I love these little bins that I attached on the inside of the left side cabinet below my kitchen sink. On the right, I opted for hooks for my strainer, wine glass cleaner and fly swatter. These easily accessible spaces are so handy for storing small items that might otherwise clutter the sink and for things I either don't want to keep in a drawer or that don't fit well in a drawer. 

  

You can see that even with all these items on the doors, I still have a little more available space if I decide to add more hooks or bins down the road. 

What are your favorite simple and inexpensive organizing tricks?

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New House Organizing Solution #7

If you've been following the blog for the past several weeks you know I've been sharing the organizing solutions I've implemented in our new home. It's amazing how much happier life is when the spaces you live and work are organized and make your life easier. 

Today I want to share with you why I love 3M Command products. The inside of cabinet doors is a wonderful spot to On the inside of my lower lazy susan cabinet I attached a 3M Command Medium Caddy, to hold my vast array of toothpicks. LOL. Not really an array, but I use multiple kinds of toothpicks and their containers are so small that it's easy for them to become lost in a cabinet. 

I just love how the caddy provides a perfect little spot for my toothpick containers, and because I affixed it toward the top of the door, there's still room below it for other small items. It's a four dollar solution that makes me happy every time I see it. This is a simple solution that I can see being helpful to corral other small items such as sauce mix packets, baker's yeast packets, food coloring, vitamins or medications. What might you use a caddy for on the inside of a cabinet door?

 If you'd like to nab the 3M Command Medium Caddy for yourself, click on the picture link below. And yes, if you click through to purchase I'll make enough money to buy a cup of coffee. Ok that'a lie. It's actually more like half a cup. ;-) 

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New House Organizing Solution #6

For the past several weeks I've been sharing the organizing solutions I've put in place at our new home and the series continues in the kitchen! Our new kitchen has a lower cabinet lazy susan which I love because you KNOW how much I LOVE the whole concept of lazy susans right? You don't??

 Here you go. And here. And here. And here. And here. Aaaaaand here. Whew! So yeah I'm pretty much in love with susan and the cabinet lazy susan is a welcome alternative to the deep, dark blind corner lower cabinet that's historically so difficult to access. So YAY for me, we have one! But I wanted to make that awesome cabinet even awesomer! How did I do it?

I ADDED LAZY SUSANS to it! Yes, a lazy susan on a lazy susan. It's like an Escher painting.

I added several 9-inch turntables to the top and bottom shelves of my cabinet turntable and now I can see and easily access every item in there. It makes my life easier and best of all it was simple and inexpensive. :-) 

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New House Organizing Solution #5

My husband and I moved into a new home in September and if you've moved in the past few years, I'm sure you remember how long it takes to customize your new home's spaces for your own lifestyle. If you were in your old home for a long time like we were, you may have forgotten about all the little things you did in your last house to help make life easier every day.

For the past several weeks I've been blogging about the various organizing solutions I've implemented in our new house that make our lives simpler and I'm sharing them with you in the hope that you can use some of them yourself! 

Today we're talking about the pantry. Our new pantry is more like a closet than a pantry. It's 36 inches wide and about as deep and it's dark because there's no light in there. This combination is risky when it comes to staying organized.

The first organizing challenge I needed to tackle was the deep shelves. The depth of the space means items in the back can easily become hidden, which leads to food waste. As you know from my last post, I installed large lazy susans on my pantry shelves. (see the photo below).   

I also put three can risers on the middle shelf, so now I can see and access all my canned goods easily. (see image below)

 

These simple and inexpensive organizing tools make all the items in my pantry easy to see and access which is most of the battle when it comes to staying organized.

My next challenge to tackle was the darkness. It's unthinkable to me that a builder would make a pantry so deep and not install a ceiling light fixture, but I guess that's how we roll in our neighborhood. I thought I'd have to hire an electrician to come and install a ceiling fixture, a potentially considerable expense I wasn't too excited about.

But I was lucky enough to find a all kinds of wireless battery-operated LED lighting options and WOW these things are game changers! First of all, they generate almost no heat. Second, they require very little energy so their batteries *should* last a really long time before they require changing. (I'll be keeping my eye on that!) Finally, most of the light options are super easy to install wherever you need them. 

I got a set that includes two light bars and a wall switch for around $46. I loaded the batteries, attached the included adhesive pads, stuck one light bar on either side of the pantry walls and the remote control switch on the door. BLAM! I now have light in the pantry with NO holes in the walls, no electrician fees and only about a ten minute investment of time. The pictures below show you how the pantry looked before the lights and then after. Is the lighting PERFECT? Nope. You can see that from the photos. But the fact that there's light at all is a 100% improvement in the function of the space and if I need to later, I can always add another light bar to fill in the areas where I might want more light. Easy! 

If you'd like to nab a two-pack wireless remote light bar of your own, here is a link, and yes indeed if you click through and buy it, I'll make a few cents to buy the cat some treats. She loves that. :-) 

 

PS: Follow me on Twitter and Facebook and if you like this information, share it by clicking the social bookmarking links above and below the post. Thanks for sharing!

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My husband and I moved in mid-September and along the journey of getting settled in, I've been taking photos of some of the solutions I've put in place to make our lives easier. That's what getting and staying organized is all about right? Making life easier on a day to day basis! 

Today I want to share with you a few more simple organizing solutions I'm LOVING in our new home. 

The first one is a total no-brainer that I'm sure you've already done in your home. I don't really want to use up valuable drawer space on oven mitts and hot pads so I stuck two trusty 3M Command Hooks to the inside of two cabinet doors and BLAM I have perfect storage without using a square inch of drawer space! 

 

My second organizing solution that I'm LOVING in our new home is my lid organizer. Used to be I'd keep the lids stacked on top of the pans, but eventually it always gets messy, disorganized, unwieldy and annoying. Not any more! This simple lid organizer from Bed, Bath and Beyond does the trick for very little money. I don't have my receipt any more but I think it was about ten bucks.

Finally to finish out today's post, we'll stay in the kitchen and I'll show you my latest lazy susan project. You know how I love lazy susans! My pantry is SO deep and I'm petite and that's a deadly combo when it comes to being able to see and access items you need. Thank goodness for the Copco 18" diameter lazy susan (I also got these at Bed, Bath and Beyond). I have three of them in place and now nothing is out of my sight or out of my reach, even on the top shelf because the turntable brings everything on it right up to the front edge of the shelf. 

What small organizing solutions make your life easier every day?

 

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New House Organizing Solution #3

Last time I posted, I shared some of my personal organizing tools that I've put in place at our new home. If you've moved recently you know it takes months to tweak your new spaces so they work just the way you want them to. In our new home, the tweaking trend continues!

Sometimes home builders confound me and unfortunately it's the rare builder who considers closets for more than a passing minute. Typically builders, or more precisely, it could be the architects, who seem to regard storage spaces as necessary evils, left the scraps of square footage when the blueprints are created. This is tragic because as anyone who has ever actually lived in a home can tell you, the storage spaces can make or break your happiness experience in the house for years.

Our new home has some very lovely finishing touches such as crown molding, picture molding, tray ceilings and the like, but if I'm being honest, John Weiland didn't really think about the hall closets too much. We have two of them. One is small and triangular. Ugh. The other is a standard reach-in closet except it's too shallow to actually hang coats on the bar. Double ugh. Plus, with the bar and shelf 66" off the floor, the coats hand JUST low enough that it's difficult to use the floor space. 

Being the problem-solver I am, I decided to remedy the situation using a tried and true solution I've relied on for years: elfa. I wanted to use the END wall of the closet to hang the coats, rather than the back wall. This change, combined with the awesome rack on the back of the door would make my closet a functional space for the first time!

Here is the BEFORE picture, showing the cheap builder grade closet bar and shelf installed on the back wall. Blecch.

First I tore out the original crap -- I mean components. Then I measured the empty closet and designed the space so it actually functions well and will serve our needs (and preserve our sanity) for years to come. Here's a step-by-step tutorial in pictures of the installation of my new closet and the finished result. 

Step One: Hang the elfa Easy Hang Top Track.

The entire elfa storage system hangs from a solid steel track that's mounted to the wall. It's genius. You just place the track on the wall at the height you want it, level it, mark the wall behind each pre-drilled hole in the track, then drill a tiny pilot hole in each spot to determine whether you will be installing into drywall or a wooden stud. If you hit a stud, you use a wood screw for that particular hole. On holes where your drill bit hits just drywall, you'll need to use one of the provided wall anchors. Sometimes you'll get lucky and hit studs for each hole, but I'm not usually that lucky. 


In the pilot holes where you've hit drywall, drill a ⅜ inch diameter hole in the wall and insert the provided drywall anchor tapping it with a rubber mallet until it's flush. Then line up the holes in the track over the anchor holes and insert screws. Re-level before you turn the screws tight. For the holes where you'll hit wooden studs, just screw in one of the wood screws and you're good to go. 

Step Two: Hang Your Standards

The entire kit and caboodle will ultimately hang on the elfa Easy Hang Standards, which is what makes the system so strong.This is where the all-important track notches come in. Just line up the top of your standard with the notches, slide it over and the standard will hang easily from your track. For safety and stability, the only way the standards can be removed from the track is by sliding them over to where the notches are. Another genius design element.

 

Step Three: Install Your Shelving Brackets

Now that your standards are up, it's time to install the shelving brackets. This could NOT be easier. Simply choose the height you want your shelves and attach the brackets using the notches on the back of each one. You can see that I designed to allow for double-hang of coats in this closet so I had two shelves, which requires four brackets. 

Step Four: Snap On Your Ventilated Shelves

This step is also a piece of cake. Just snap the custom cut ventilated shelves onto the brackets. 

 

Step Five: Add Closet Rod Holders

Next, snap your elfa Closet Rod Holders into the hole in the underside of each shelf bracket. 

Step Six: Add The Closet Rods

Finally, you'll cover the open ends of the closet rods with the provided end caps and snap the rods into the holders you just installed. 

Poof! Done! In this case, you can see I've changed the orientation of the closet, so now the coats hang on the short end wall of the closet, freeing up the other half for other things.

 

I now have ample space to easily roll the big vacuum cleaner in and out AND I have plenty of space to hang 3M Command Hooks for the broom and dustpan. And if I want to I can put more hooks on the empty short wall for umbrellas, hats, scarves or anything else I need as I'm coming in or leaving the house. 


Thanks to The Container Store's fantastic elfa product, we now have a wonderfully functional hall closet that doesn't make us wince every time we use it. 

 

 

PS: Follow me on Twitter and Facebook and if you like this information, share it by clicking the social bookmarking links above and below the post. Thanks for sharing!