Rubbermaid - Adventures in Organization

Hall Closet Help for Abby?

Yesterday, I received an inquiry from our friend Abby at Steals and Deals who wrote asking if we could help her with her hall closet.  She is having trouble organizing the closet due to an overwhelming amount of mittens, gloves & scarves and lack of an organization system that actually works for her space.  

   

Jim and I, along with our closet product manager, Betty, are planning on sending some recommendations for Abby to help.   Does anyone have any additional ideas for Abby? If so, please post below.

Consumer Video Review of Produce Saver

Yesterday @rubbermaid forwarded me some links from ExpoTV and I thought I'd share one of them with you.

“jar7519” does a great job explaining why he loves Produce Saver and how it works.  He is able to eat more fruits and vegetables because they stay fresh and crisp longer when stored in these helpful containers.  Produce Saver also helps him to save money since he doesn’t have to throw out bad produce.

This video was found on ExpoTV.  It was not created by Rubbermaid.  We would like to thank jar7519 for his endorsement of Produce Saver! 

See all Storage & Organization reviews at Expotv

Rubbermaid Canisters and Compost Waste

After a brief and inexcusable absence…your Canadian Rubbermaid Blogger from Toronto is back.

Recently, my wife and I befriended an American couple who had moved to our fair city from Chicago. When I asked them to name the things they found the “strangest” they, without hesitation listed two: the rigorous rules on sorting trash/recycling and the bagged milk (a topic too vast to be properly dealt with in a 500-word blog).

 

As for the recycling….Canadians have always been and are becoming more and more conscious of protecting the environment. As a result of that cities and municipalities are working to have people sort their trash at home so that it can be easily recycled downstream thereby diverting the amount of waste sent to landfills. Even within recycling we are asked to divide our “wet garbage” (organic refuse…like food scraps) and our “dry recycling” (of the normal paper/plastic variety).

The city of Toronto then arms us with a green recycling bin (picture 1) for the curb as well as a small kitchen container to throw the wet waste in at the source and on the fly (picture 2). A normal operating procedure would have residents fill up their trusty kitchen container until it fills and then loading it into the green container that’s collected once a week. Local stores even sell bio-degradable plastic bags so that the whole package is recyclable. It all sounds like a flawless little operation.

 

Except one thing….. by definition wet garbage stinks. And while the kitchen container has a small clasp, it’s not air tight and after a few weeks of use, fails to work at all (i.e. smelly kitchens). To correct this I recently purchased two Rubbermaid Flex & Seal Canisters. I’ve gotten rid of the Government Issue kitchen container and placed one Rubbermaid Canister under my sink (picture 3) and another in overhead cupboard on stand by (picture 4).

 

The containers can hold about a week’s worth of wet waste (at my home anyway) and the famous flex & seal air tight lid locks in all of the odours. With the two canisters I can easily dump the waste and then throw it into the dishwasher with my clean canister ready to go. A friend of mine has three….if I had a house full of kids I would probably employ an army of at least six.

This little tip is perfect for Torontonians, people who live in other jurisdictions that collect organic waste and even those that compost on their own. If you want to know where to buy one of these canisters…just go to the product link and hit the “find a store” option. You’re then just a postal code (or zip code) away from locating a store near you that sells the product.

Being environmentally conscious often necessitates some habit changes but it should never require a smelly kitchen.

Hopefully I’ve helped my American friends see the light……is this useful to anyone else?

Pantry Organization - Label It & Stay Organized

A while back I decided to organize my pantry. One of the things I didn't do when I originally completed the project was to label my containers. Just last weekend I finished labeling all of the containers in my pantry.

It only took five minutes but it will save me a ton of grief. Look at the photo above. If those canisters weren't labeled how would I know what was in them? White flour doesn't really look different from bread flour.

Anyway, label, label, label. You'll be glad you did.

Get Organized Garage Makeover

If you remember, back in January we held the Get Organized contest.  There have been multiple posts (see links below) and many people have commented on the great results.

While we were doing the garage makeover we brought in a film crew to document the process (I guess my Flip video camera wasn't considered high enough quality).  Just this morning I received the final video file.  I hope you enjoy.



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Here are links to the previous posts
- The winning entry
- Planning for the makeover
- The garage makeover project
- One Week after
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Banana Cake Recipe - A family tradition

On Twitter yesterday there were a couple tweets about recipes for bananas. I spoke up so I could mention my most favorite recipe for bananas, Banana Cake. Which, just so happened, was being made for my sons birthday, March 17th.

This is no ordinary banana cake.  I've had this banana cake every year for my birthday since I was a young kid (so did my brothers). When I lived in Colorado, and my mom lived in Pittsburgh, she would bake the cake and FedEx it to me.  One year while in Charlotte, NC she flew down from Pittsburgh with cake in hand.

In addition to having this cake every year for my birthday my mom and her brothers and sister also had this same cake.  My wife is now in charge of carrying on the tradition.  Both my son and I get this banana cake every year and I'm sure it will carry on far into the future.

Anyway, here's the recipe along with some photos. Oh... just so it fits into the Rubbermaid blog, we do store it in a Rubbermaid cake keeper :)

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BANANA CAKE with BAKERS ICING
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Things You'll Need

• Three tiered cake tins: 13", 10" and 8"
• Good mixer
• Cake keeper (although the cake will be gone quickly

Banana Cake Instructions

• STEP 1
• Preheat Oven to 375°
• Butter cake pans and dust with flour

• STEP 2
• Cream and set aside
• Cut up 5 bananas (ripe or over ripe) and place in a small mixer bowl

• STEP 3
• Sift together – set aside
• 3 cup flour
• ¾ t baking powder
• 1 ¼ t baking soda
• ½ t salt

• STEP 4a
• In large mixing bowl cream together
• ¾ c shortening
• 2 ¼ c white sugar
• STEP 4b
• Then add
• 3 eggs
• ½ t vanilla

•  STEP 5
• Then alternate creamed bananas, flour mixture and ½ c sour milk (sour milk can be made by adding 1T vinegar to whole milk)
• Pour in pans and cook for 35 minutes at 375 (do toothpick test)

Bakers Icing Instructions
(Hint: Doubling this guarantees enough to cover the tower of cake!)

• STEP 1
• Heat on stove top on lowest setting – add ingredients together slowly, heat until thickened.
• Do not heat too fast!
• 4 T flour
• 1c milk
• 1 t vanilla
• Set aside to cool COMPLETELY.

• STEP 2
• While above is cooling, mix on cream setting until doubled
• ¼ lb (1 stick) margarine
• ½ c shortening
• ¾ cup of white sugar
• Once doubled, slowly add cooled mixture into sugar mixture and ice the cake

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Notice all the icing. This was a double batch. It's sooooo good!

Q&A with a Professional Organizer - Allison Carter

Allison Carter, CPO® - Atlanta, GA - www.TheProfessionalOrganizer.com

1. How long have you been a professional organizer?
6 years and still loving it!

2. What inspired you to become a professional organizer?
Honestly, it's a mixture of skills I was born with, desire to teach, desire to be in  helping /service profession, and the flexibility of having my own business. Like many organizers, I was not super neat (and I'm still not) but love to do the organization and set-up of systems.

3. What is the most common organizing project you’re hired to do?
The most common issue clients have is home paper management and setting up a working, functional file system. They are unclear on rules of organization, tricks for setting up files, how long to store paper, and what to keep. Even very organized people are often tripped up by the massive quantity of paper there is to deal with every day.

4. What is the most common organizing challenge people have?
My clients are usually challenged by the overwhelming amount of things they have and all the choices that need to be made to get rid of their stuff. I spend the majority of time with clients in the purging process. I tend to attract creative people who like to do projects and they don't want to get rid of things because they see how it can be used again.

5. If you had to pick ‘your’ biggest organizing challenge, what would it be?
My personal challenge is the maintenance. I am a great builder of systems and a terrible tracker and horrible at putting things away. I have to force myself to put things away regularly - from client files to clothing. I treat myself like my own kids - I have to put things away before I'm allowed to take something else out.

6. What one tips would you give to people who are trying to get organized?
There are an infinite number of ways to organize. Don't let anyone tell you there is a right way and a wrong way. Any way that works for you is the right way.

7. How does someone become a professional organizer?
So far, there are no traditional schools that teach this profession. But you can find classes taught by veteran professional organizers. I offer mentoring and training classes for people who want to start off on the right foot. Those classes can be found on my website as well: http://www.organizeru.com

8. What are your favorite containers for organizing homes?
It's so simple, but the single item I use most is the clear plastic bin. I use large ones on basement, garages and attics. I use smaller ones for toys and shoes. And under the bed boxes are great for artwork, wrapping paper, sweaters and much more.

Clear is important for many people because they feel better being able to see into them, and they know what is inside immediately, even if they don't see a label.

9. How can potential clients get in touch with you?
Email: organizer@theprofessionalorganizer.com or by phone: 770-579-9866.  You can also follow me on Twitter at: twitter.com/OrganizeAtlanta or visit my website at: www.TheProfessionalOrganizer.com

DVD Organization

I just wanted to share an experience with Walgreens & organization that I was thrilled about…

My mom has had a tote full of our family videos in her basement for a long time.  I have continually had it on my to-do list to convert them to DVD to make sure they were preserved properly.  I have not owned a VHS player for about 5 years so I haven’t been in a rush.  However, after seeing the state of her basement (perhaps another blog post later), I decided to rescue all the tapes and take them to Walgreens to get them converted to DVD.

I was pleasantly surprised when I picked them up at all the features and wanted to share how great my Walgreens experience was:

1 - The cover displays thumbnails so you can quickly find a scene of interest

2 - It comes with software so you can turn any scene into a Windows Media file (.wmv) as well as a .jpg to share

Luckily, I had a Rubbermaid Photo & Media Storage box to keep them safe.

One DVD cost $20 at the Walgreens in Charlotte – well worth it.   It is the best money I have ever spent to get all of my memories safely archived.

Home Organization - Tips on how to get organized around the house.

Planning on moving soon? Do you have rooms of your home needing clutter to be cleared? Listen to Lauren Spahr and I give advice and tips, along with the help of professional organizer Allison Carter, to Monica Brady of Mommy Brain Reports on how to get organized around the house.

The ripple effects of the Get Organized Garage Makeover

Just today I received an email from Aimee, the Rubbermaid Get Organized Contest Winner. Here's what she had to say.

Jim,

The Rubbermaid garage make over has made a big difference all over my house. I've sent some pictures to demonstrate. The first is me standing in my walk in closet.  Before there were two totes of gifts I've been collecting for birthday parties, baby showers, etc that took up precious space in our master bedroom closet.  Now with the amazing garage makeover there was room for the gifts in the garage.

 

The second picture is of my craft closet.  I went crazy with the label maker you gave me.  And the little Rubbermaid stool fits perfectly inside the closet to help me reach the kids crafts that are up high.  All my friends agree that a label maker is the perfect gift for me.



As you can see from the third picture my laundry room is free and clear of shoes.  I can open my front loading washer without an avalanche of shoes falling off our old shoe rack.  Now our shoes (and the dirt that comes with them) stay in the great Rubbermaid cubbies in my "mudroom" section of the garage. 



The final picture is of my van which fits with room to spare in the garage.  In fact earlier this week when it snowed my husband fit his car in the garage too.  That hasn't happened for about 3 years and 2 kids ago. 



We can't thank you all enough.

Aimee

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Here are links to the previous posts
- The winning entry
- Planning for the makeover
- The garage makeover project
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