Living more simply is one reason you may have decided to downsize your home and your life.  Perhaps you have become an empty-nester after your children have flown the coop, or perhaps you are exchanging one large home for two smaller ones.  You may even be relocating to start that dream job to retiring and re-allocating your disposable income. With a few creative and innovative ideas your smaller space can be one of the best moves you ever make.  Creative organization is in fact the key to small home living.

Here are 8 space saving ideas to show you how downsizing can be a creative experience.

Stairway creativity

Perhaps you front entry no longer has a closet, or the one that exists is just not sufficient.  Here’s a great way to use the hidden and unused space under your stairway to create a place to hangs coats and other belongings.

Pallet boxes for your garden?

Is gardening a passion of yours?  Are you afraid that in your smaller space you won’t be able to enjoy putting your hands in the dirt?  Here is a wonderfully creative and environmentally friendly way to get your hands dirty and recycle at the same time. 

Find yourself a wooden pallet box, staple some black garden cloth to the bottom and fill it with dirt and your favorite plants.  You have a wonderful mini garden that easy to maintain and will grow to your heart’s delight.

Decorative compost pail does the trick

Do you enjoy composting but fear that your kitchen space will no longer be able to hold a compost pail?  A great solution is to find yourself one of these nifty guys and place it on your counter.  It’s not only functional but decorative as well.

Use the inside of a closet door

A big problem in a smaller space is where to store your wrapping paper and all the accessories that go along with gift wrapping. 

This solution uses something everyone has in their home.  The inside of a closet door!  Simply attach a couple of towel holders, some rings and clips and you have efficient and accessible storage for all your gift wrapping materials.

Find a small corner for your desk

Where oh where to set up your office in your downsized space.  There is no need to dedicate an entire room.  You can find yourself a small corner in your new space, set up a small yet functional desk space like this one and away you go!

Hidden storage spaces

Looking for a space to hide away those cables or other items you wish to conceal from the eyes?

This great idea using the spines of books and a simple box is a great way to store away and hide items from sight without going to a lot of expense.

Stairs risers equal more storage

If you are looking for that extra storage somewhere to store either shoes, off season clothing or anything else for which you need extra space, this stair riser storage is a great idea to make use of dead space in your stairs.

Creative under stair storage

Another way to use the dead space under your stairs is by creating this type of storage in the hidden space underneath your stairs.  This is a great place to store games, craft room materials and even tools.

Wake up your smaller space with these creative organizing solutions and you will be well on your way in your goal to downsize and live simply.

Did you know that the average time it takes to find a particular piece of paper is 10 minutes?  And that 3% of all papers are in fact misfiled?

Paper does not file itself.  There is no magical paper fairy that comes into your office at night to file everything in its appropriate place. Nor is there an invisible helper that creates and actually sets up a filing system for you if you don’t have one.

Piles of paper are distracting.  They are a constant reminder of work to be done in some manner.  Paper piles decrease your efficiency and undermine your ability to do what you need to do.

However, with a little bit of time and patience and a helpful dose of office know how, that pile of paper that seems to get higher and higher in your office can in fact be conquered. That doesn’t mean moving the pile from one horizontal surface to another either.

So how do you begin to set up a filing system and office work space that functions well?

The basic structural elements

The first step is to invest in a desk that, at the very least, has a drawer so that you have a place to store pens, pencils, fasteners and other office necessities.  I personally am not a fan of roll top desks or large armoires as items are then easily lost.  I prefer a functional desk space that is streamlined and clutter free. A comfortable chair is also a must have, as well as a filing cabinet.  And don’t forget the importance of proper lighting.

Desk accessories

Next is to have a place for your papers to go as soon as they arrive into your office.  This could be an “in box” where you place your mail until you have set a time to open and deal with it.

You also need to create an “action” centre on your desk.  The type of action depends largely on the work that you do in your office.  However a good rule of thumb is to have action folders labelled “File”, “Pay”, “Read”, “Add to Contacts”,  “Contact” etc.  These action folders should be contained in a vertical desk top file organizer within easy reach and within eye contact as a visual clue to the actions that need to be completed.  I suggest avoiding any general action files that say “critical” or “urgent”.

File folders for paper containment

Next comes the filing system.  No office is complete without one, whether it be electronic or paper based.  For paper based systems, some people work well with colour coded files.  The benefits of colour coding include:

• Improved retrieval times
• Reduced risk of lost files
• Eliminated misfiles
• Increased efficiency and productivity

You may perhaps keep all your financial files, such as banking and investment papers, in green folders; your critical records such as employment, education, insurance and health in blue files; your reference files, such as school information, special articles of interest, bus schedules, travel ideas in yellow files and perhaps all your utility bills in orange files.  Whatever colour you choose should reflect how you think about a particular category of files.

Basic office supplies

No office is complete without some basic supplies.  These would include pens, pencils, highlighters or markers, stapler, staples, paper clips, note paper, tape, rubber bands and binder clips.  You’re also going to need printer paper.

This is not a comprehensive list of all the things that one might have in an office but can certainly be used as a guideline to begin your office set up.  Think about what actually happens in your office and the activities that take place there.  Once you determine the tasks that actually belong in your office you will be able to create a system that works for you.

If you need further advice or information on how to make your office work for you, contact me and I would be pleased to help.

When you come home and open your front door do you feel happy? Are you comfortable entertaining in your home? Are you looking for more storage space?

Whenever I meet with clients and ask them why they called me, I get a variety of reasons for why they need assistance.

 

Ten reasons you may need a professional

Here are ten reasons why you may need a professional organizer in your life:

1. You want to be more productive
2. You value your time
3. You want to end procrastination
4. You want to reduce your level of stress
5. You want to get the most out of your space
6. You need someone to ask the right questions and understand you
7. You have more stuff than storage
8. You are moving to a smaller home and need to downsize
9. You don’t have the physical ability to handle an overwhelming organizational task
10. You have difficulty staying focused and motivated

Do you need to invest thousands?

Hiring a professional organizer doesn’t necessarily mean you have to spend thousands of dollars.  You can invest a small amount of a large amount, depending on your needs and what you specifically want to accomplish.

Ask yourself what is it worth to you to live a life that has less stress, frustration and chaos?

What is it worth to you to get as much out of your day as possible?

Does “organized” mean “neat and tidy”?

Having unwanted, unneeded or unused items don’t mean they’re organized. Neat and tidy is not the same as organized.  If things are organized, you can find items quickly with minimal fuss when you want and need them.

Also remember that organizing is a continuous process.  It’s kind of like owning a car.  You don’t just have routine maintenance performed once and then never do it again.  Your home is one of the biggest investments in your life.  It’s worth making it one you enjoy coming home to.

 

 

 

 

Sometimes we find ourselves in the humbling position of caregiver to a loved one.  It could be your spouse, family friend, brother or sister.  Often times we find it necessary to bring that loved one into our own home to provide adequate care and emotional connection.  It doesn’t matter if you’re going from a palatial residence to a smaller space, the issues are the same.

It can be a very difficult and stressful time for my clients, especially when faced with the overwhelming task of going through someone elses home contents, furniture and belongings to determine what can fit into the new place of residence, what documents are vital, what can be donated and what can be sold.

I recently received a call from a gentleman in just this position.  He holds power of attorney for property and personal care and is caregiver to a 90-year-old woman who was moving into his home from her condominium which had been sold.  He explained feeling overwhelmed, anxious and stressed with a moving deadline in 2 weeks’ time.  First thing I assured him was that we could handle this project within the timelines presented without issue. Immediately his anxiety decreased.

Then we proceeded with three of many very important steps in the downsizing process.

Identify and categorize furniture

The first step was for my client to identify the furniture and household items that were moving from the condo to his own place of residence.  This was easily accomplished using a piece of green painters’ tape to attach to each piece of furniture or household item that was going with them.

Sort through vital papers

The second step was to sort through the paperwork in the condominium to ascertain what records were vital, such as passport, insurance documents, etc.  We also sorted and collected old photos, jewellery and other valuables and placed these in a separate box that would not be moved by the movers but would personally be transported by our client.

Identify items for donation

The third step was to identify the furniture and other household contents that could be donated.  This resulted in a couple of different zones as some furniture could be donated to the Furniture Bank whereas others were suitable for other charitable organizations. There are a lot of logistics to work through and consider in this type of downsizing project, especially when dealing with a condominium corporation, elevator reservations and restrictions regarding common areas.

There will always be some items we find that cannot be donated and would ultimately be disposed of.  For example, we found a lot of expired food items, broken dishware, damaged and badly stained furniture items and extremely out dated kitchen appliances that were no longer functional.

Sometimes we find items of value.  Most notably, our client had asked us to empty and donate everything that was in the dining room hutch.  As we proceeded to clear items out we came across some highly valuable dishware.  I was certain the client was not aware of the value of these items and brought them to his attention.   He was thankful and appreciative of us alerting him to these items.  Whenever you are not sure of an item’s value it is always best practice to have the items appraised.

One thing to remember is that everything cannot be donated.  Many donation centres no longer take beds or even bedding because of the fear of bed bugs, fleas or other infestations that could potentially be disastrous for a centre.

When in doubt, speak to a professional in the industry that can guide you in the right direction and provide unbiased recommendations to smooth the transition. Good luck with your next downsizing project!