paula’s spaces – getting you organized

Leaving a paper trail

2010-05-17T18:04:00.000-07:00

A lot of us get overwhelmed with amount of paper we collect in our homes.

Paper that we receive on daily basis, like credit card receipts, mail, magazines ... can easily be organized in just few minutes at a time. Designate one spot in your home where you drop these papers off during the week as you rush through your daily routine. At the end of the week - give yourself 5 to 10 minutes to go through the pile you collected over a week. Sort out your pile by putting together like items, like bills, credit card receipts etc. You will find that this weekly exercise will keep your home clean of paper trail, and your bills, statements and mail more organized. The more frequently you do your quick run through your papers, the quicker it will be to sort it out.

Double duty furniture pieces

2010-05-02T14:22:00.000-07:00

Lots of furniture pieces these days can easily be used for more than one function. Many coffee tables come with built in shelves or drawers for extra storage, beds are high enough to allow storage under them etc.

As seen in this picture, a trunk can be placed in a sun room and used as a bench, while at the same time - providing tons of storage space to keep plenty of things that you don't need lying around your home at all times. By storing your items in the trunk, they become conveniently accessible and you can retrieve them easily at any time. It's a great solution for storing toys in the kids bedroom, or linens in the living room ...

welcome spring into your home

2010-04-27T20:04:00.000-07:00

Spring is here, and your home is ready for a little bit of a spring makeover. Decorating and organizing your home is a great way to welcome spring into your home.

Replace candles with fresh cut flowers or planted flower pots.

De-clutter your living room and let more light into your home.

Bring out your new or more colorful linens out.

Move and store away blankets from your living room.

If you want to splurge, you gotta purge!

2010-04-25T17:05:00.000-07:00

We all like to buy new clothes and keep our wardrobe up to the latest fashion trends. One simple rule can allow you to still be able to add to your wardrobe and yet not let your closet get so crowded that you can't find anything in it anymore. The rules are simple - for every new item that you bring home, you have to replace at least two items of clothing that you already have. If you come home with a new sweatshirt, two sweatshirts gotta go! It's simple and it works. Also, by keeping this in the back of your mind, it makes you think twice when you are purchasing something - do I have couple of white sweatshirts at home already? Do I need another one? By thinking ahead of time, you will either make a purchase knowing that you will replace what you already have, or you will decide not to make a purchase because you like the shirts that you already have and would like to keep them. So shop smart and keep that closet neat and tidy!

6 month rule

2010-04-22T17:58:00.001-07:00

Getting rid of clothes that you no longer wear is for most - a very daunting task. We are either too attached to our clothing items or too lazy to even begin the process of elimination or simply feel like we don't have time to get organized. But if you ever went through this process you must have seen how nicer your closets looked like, how much easier it was to find exactly what you wanted to wear and finally how much more room you had for storage. 6 month rule for getting rid of clothes is simple - if you haven't worn something for 6 months - most likely you won't wear it in the next 6 months either, nor the 6 months after that ... If the whole winter has gone by and you have not once touched that red sweater in your last drawer of your closet, you definitely won't touch it over the summer, and mostly likely during the next winter season. So pack it up and bring it to your local Goodwill store. You will make room in your own home and help someone less fortunate in the process - it's a win-win situation.

$25 dollars off coupon!

2010-03-28T19:59:00.000-07:00

$25 dollars off coupon - from paula's spaces organizing services for your 2010 organizing projects!

Tax time again

2010-03-28T19:38:00.000-07:00

If this is you every year at this time of the year, you might need a little bit of help :)

Doing your taxes can be quick and easy if you plan for it throughout the year. If you haven't done so yet, take steps to keep organized for the tax time for next year. Need advice? Need help? Professional organizer can help you get started on the right track.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-26T11:22:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all a very happy, healthy and most of all stress-free and organized New Year!

Decorative boxes

2009-10-26T19:15:00.000-07:00

Decorative boxes can be used in any room in your home. They come in different shapes and sizes and many different designs that you can match accordingly with your home decor.

More importantly, you can use these for storing many different items - especially those items you don't want or need to display anywhere in your home. You can also label these to help you keep track of all the various items you are storing in them.

Sale alert at "Solutions"

2009-10-19T19:59:00.000-07:00

Solutions - your organized living store currently has a shelving and storage sale! For all of you thinking of your next organizing project or in the midst of one, this is a great place to get some storage ideas and purchase items that might help you achieve your organizing goals!

Plastic bags

2009-10-19T19:46:00.000-07:00

Storage idea for the day: plastic bags - we all collect them, use and reuse them - and most of the times, don't know what to do with them and where to keep them.

Here is a great way to store them, it's cute, decorative and easy to use - you can hang bag holders anywhere, inside your kitchen elements or outside. They come in different sizes and designs.

Back to Organizing

2009-09-29T18:32:00.000-07:00

Most of us usually take a break from organizing during the summer. We spend our time outdoors, vacationing, playing sports ... With start of the fall, and start of school, it's also time to start organizing again!
As we will be spending more time indoors, we will have time to work on our organizing projects, whether it is on our own or with the help of the professional organizer.

Garage Sales

2009-06-04T17:59:00.000-07:00

Garage sales are perfect de-cluttering activity. They are simple to organize, don't require a lot of resources and you even make some money doing it!

Anyone who has an opportunity to have a garage sale should plan to have one at least once a year.

You will be surprised how much stuff you will accumulate over a span of one year, and how much stuff you can easily get rid of at a garage sale.

Be prepared for the day of your sale ... Put the few posters up in your neighbourhood, the night before your garage sale. Get up early, set your tables, boxes; mark the prices on your items, have lots of change ready, maybe some grocery bags and paper to help your "clients" pack up the items they buy from you ... Most importantly, have fun! You will probably have a garage sale on a sunny summer day, you will spend time outdoors, meet new people, and most importantly, you will de-clutter your home and feel good about it.

Packing for a vacation

2009-05-30T17:55:00.000-07:00

I have just returned from a great trip to Europe and wanted to share with you some tips on packing and getting ready for your vacation.

Visual packing: place all your clothes that you want to take with you, on the bed, side by side. This will help you notice several things:

You probably have too many "like" items (4 white shirts for instance)
You have selected clothes that you simply won't be able to match with the rest of your wardrobe
You simply picked too much clothes to begin with

What you need to do:

Start taking the items off the bed and putting them back into the closet right away
Select items that match with everything, neutral colors, jeans ... think mix and match!
Think about what you will be doing on your trip and pack accordingly - look at the items on the bed and imagine your typical day on vacation and what you think you will need
Inform yourself of what the weather is like at your destination at the time of the year that you are travelling there and plan to be prepared accordingly (but keep in mind to keep the extra items of clothing to a minimum)
Cosmetics: almost everything these days comes in the small travel sizes, so pick a mini shampoo, toothpaste, body cream from your local drugstore and you can dispose of these by the time you come back from your trip

And now, with the light suitcase and all your favourite items of clothing packed and ready to go, have yourselves a great trip! Bon Voyage!

Organizing your tax documents

2009-04-20T19:55:00.000-07:00

Preparing your tax documents each year does not have to be a daunting task. Having everything ready and organized for when you sit down and do your tax returns, helps cut down on time needed to actually complete them, tremendously.

Get yourself in a good position to be perfectly prepared to complete your tax returns next year. If your taxes have been filed, place all your receipts and documents into an envelope or a folder, label it and store it away with the past 7 years worth of tax documents.

If you have received your notice of assessment, place that document in a new folder labeled and to be used for your next year's tax documents. This document contains a lot of information that you will be using on your next year's return so it's good to have it handy.

Label few envelopes where you will keep the documents as you receive them throughout the year: for instance you will have one for medical bills, charity donation receipts, metropasses etc.

Keep these all together in your "tax 2009" folder and next year going through your tax return will be a breeze!

Spring cleaning - organizing your clothes

2009-04-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

As the temperatures are rising (well everywhere else except Toronto) - it's a good time to start taking small steps towards changing from your winter to summer clothes. Here are some of the first few steps you can take towards smooth transition to summer season wardrobe:

- Select few items that you know you will no longer wear until next winter:

some of these items need to be dry cleaned before being stored away
some sweaters and pants just need to be washed
take a few of these per day and start preparing them for being stored away for the rest of the summer

- Once clean - start putting these items of clothing away: in storage, back of the closet, another room in your home, in the bins under your bed ...

- You can do the same for the shoes or accessories, simply pick a few that you will no longer be using and start finding them a new home - all while making room in your closet for the summer clothes to be displayed back from the storage

- Clearing your wardrobe:

Before storing that sweater for the rest of the summer, think about how many times you wore it this past winter? You will easily come across many of your clothing items or accessories or shoes that you haven't used all winter - this probably means that you won't use it next winter either. Therefore, instead of storing them, start putting a pile together that you can take to your local Goodwill store.
You might also notice while going through all your clothes that you have too many of the same items and can decide to give some of these away, either to charity or family members, friends etc.

Spring cleaning

2009-03-18T19:17:00.000-07:00

With warmer weather comes talk of spring cleaning. Many things should be done in your home this time of the year, perfect time to get yourself organized.

What are some of the things you could be organizing:

Your taxes and documents: it's time to file your taxes and put all the documents you have been collecting over the past year away to storage, make room for this year's papers to be filed
Your closets: switching wardrobe from "winter" to "summer", perhaps tossing out clothes you haven't worn all winter?
Getting your home ready for summer: perhaps moving stuff to storage or de-cluttering?

Over the next few blogs I will go through each of these items in more detail in hope to help you with your own spring cleaning! If you have any questions and organizing dilemmas in your own home feel free to email me or comment on my blog and I will be happy to help!

Home Show experience

2009-03-08T17:47:00.000-07:00

This was the first Home Show appearance for the Professional Organizers in Canada association and my own first experience at the Home Show as an exhibitor. I have been attending the Home Show for the past few years, and this was definitely a great opportunity to experience it in a different way and to promote the association and my personal organizing business.

We had many visitors to our booth and questions and comments like "are you the guys who come to the homes and do the organizing yourselves?", "do you buy the storage boxes and stuff that I would need to organize my home?", "you guys would have a party at my house!", "I just can't part with my stuff, how could you help me, what do I need to do?".

I hope that after this Home Show, a lot more people have learned about our profession and about many ways that professional organizers can help you.

Going to the Home Show!

2009-02-23T19:33:00.000-08:00

Professional Organizers in Canada are represented this year at the National Home Show at the
Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition in Toronto from Feb. 20 – March 1, 2009.

Come by and visit me on Thursday, February 26th, from 4pm to 9pm, or Sunday, March 1st, from 10am to 2pm.

Visit our booth and learn more about our profession and about the many ways that Professional Organizers can help bring calm and order to your home and office.

I will be offering great discounts for all of you visiting me during the National Home Show, including the chance to win a free three-hour organizing session in your home!

Organizing your collections

2009-02-10T17:26:00.000-08:00

Very often, clutter in your home is caused by displays of your collections. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when you decide to decorate your home with collectibles:

- Keep in mind that when placed in open space, these items often collect a lot of dust - therefore, choose your display space wisely

- Select only a few items from your collection to display

- Keep the rest of your collection stored away

- For an occasional quick change of decor, simply replace the displayed items with those from your storage

- In this picture - a collection of small perfume bottles fits perfectly into the wooden shelving unit and is a great addition to your bathroom decor

Baskets, baskets, baskets

2009-02-08T17:48:00.000-08:00

Baskets are a great organizing tool - they can fit and look great in so many places in your home while keeping you clutter-free.

If you have travel brochures and maps all over your home - why not put them all together in a decorative basket?

Next time you come home with a new brochure you will know where it needs to go instead of just leaving it on the kitchen counter or dining room table.

You can do this sort of simple organizing for so many household items and collectibles. Best of all, organizing items into baskets takes very little time and effort.

I can help you select baskets that are stylish and practical. I can look at your home, office or other space and recommend whether baskets can be quickly used to address some organizational issues.

One shelf, one drawer at a time

2009-01-28T19:56:00.000-08:00

Once you picked your first organizing project - you just need to break it down into smaller projects:

1. take out everything from that first drawer, shelf or box you are organizing

2. start grouping things:
- things you no longer need and can throw out right away
- things that should be stored somewhere else
- things that will be going back to the space that you are organizing

3. if needed, get space dividers like baskets or small boxes that may help you keep that space organized going forward

4. put back whatever you decided is staying

So you want to get organized - now what?

2009-01-18T17:05:00.000-08:00

The clutter around you has taken its toll, but this year will be different. You will get organized! You will clear out that guest bedroom that turned into a place to dump all your extra stuff. Did you decide you will keep your files and receipts in order so you won’t have to worry about sorting through them when you need them?

We all get very brave and ambitious at the beginning of every year - it's almost like we were given a chance to start things over, start fresh. Things will be so much better this time around.

So why aren't all people organized? Because getting organized can indeed be a very daunting task. I find myself sometimes standing in front of my closet - which, mind you, is very neatly organized - but just seeing how much stuff is in it makes me sigh. For a moment I feel overwhelmed and distressed. Luckily, I naturally have no problem starting organizing projects. For most people however, organizing is anything but natural, and even just an idea of what needs to be done is just too much to handle.

So what is one to do? Organizing is all about breaking your task in small pieces. Be fair to yourself and set reasonable expectations. Organizing a closet, for example, will likely take at least two hours. Why don't you start by giving yourself just ten minutes a day to do it? Then these 2 hours won't seem so bad.

I believe that the hardest part of organizing is just getting started. Knowing and understanding that the job is big and overwhelming will keep you from starting. But knowing that you don't have to do it all at once, will help you realize that maybe it's not so bad.

So don't be afraid. Start small. Organize one drawer of your wardrobe today. Pick one day to simply look through your phone bills. Go through just that one box of photos today.

You didn't finish it all in one day? Don't despair. Continue tomorrow. After a few days, when you see the bottom of your desk for the first time in years you will be the one smiling and you will realize just how much work you have done!

I can help set you on the right track by giving you professional advice that will help you tackle small and big organizing projects.

Welcome and Happy New 2009!

2009-01-03T11:05:00.001-08:00

I wanted to welcome you all to my blog and wish you a happy new year!

January being the month of new year's resolutions, it's also a perfect month to start many organizing projects to get your home and office in order. What are some of the things you could do in January? With a new year starting, get rid of many documents, files and receipts that you no longer need. For instance, you need to keep 7 years worth of tax related documents. Now that we are in 2009, and you will be filling your 2008 taxes, you no longer need to keep those tax documents for 2000 and below. Cable, phone, hydro bills? Keep account information, but not years worth of bill statements. Expired warranties, receipts for items you no longer own? These are all documents you no longer need to pile up all over your home. But be careful, in the world of identity theft, make sure you shred all documents that may contain any personal information.

Give yourself some time on a daily basis to go through different documents and receipts that you have been collecting over the years and start removing those you no longer need. To go a step further, start labeling and filing documents for the new year - preparing yourself for easier management of all your finances and daily tasks. This is something that a professional organizer can help you with. It would give you a great, clean and organized start to a new year!