Rubbermaid - Adventures in Organization

The Consumer Queen's Garage - The Professional Organizer's View

As I have mentioned before, professional organizer Melissa Smallwood of Organized Life by Design volunteered her services to help the Consumer Queen organize her garage. Now that the Consumer Queen's garage is decluttered, she was able to send Melissa her garage dimensions and a better idea of what needed to go in the space. Melissa was then able to start to put together  a detailed organizational plan for the garage. As she started this process, I was able to ask her a few questions to get a better idea of what professional organizers do and how they tackle a customer's organizational problem.

1. As a professional organizer, when you first talked to the Consumer Queen about organizing her garage, what information did you need to know?

I needed to know the scope of the problem (she was able to provide me with a video and pictures), I need to know how the clutter became an issue, what the client's goal is for the space and more practical things like the dimensions of the space, budget, time frame for project, etc.

2. What is an organizational plan that a professional organizer will give you?

This will vary according to the professional organizer. There are more and more of us offering virtual organizing services similar to the services I am offering the Consumer Queen. The plans I provide my clients include my insight into how the area became disorganized (or why organization is lacking in general), ways to improve organization generally and then specific steps for organizing based on the individual client's needs and preferences. I also provide a maintenance plan and follow up so that once someone has invested the time, money and energy in becoming more organized they don't turn around 3 months later to find the space a mess again. The plan will also include product recommendations within the budget guidelines the client has provided me with.

3. What were you thinking about when you were drawing up the Consumer Queen's garage plan?

Her husband's health issues and the fact that kids play in there means that safety needs to be in the forefront of the design. My biggest goal is getting room for the car in there :-)

4. What was the most challenging aspect of creating a design for the Consumer Queen's garage?

The many purposes the space needs to accommodate versus the space available

5. What should a plan from a professional organizer include?

Again this will depend on the organizer and the type of services you are receiving. When I worked with local clients (hands-on) my plans were less involved and less specific because I was implementing them. With virtual organizing clients the plan is much more detailed and "user friendly" so that the client can easily make the changes called for. Any basic plan should be specific to the client's needs, situation and goal for their space.

6. What makes plans effective?

Effective organizing plans are NOT canned. Everyone has a different organizing style or personality. Any plan needs to reflect the unique desires and style of the client and their situation. Organizing is not a one size fits all field.

7. Why should people consider hiring a professional organizer instead of doing the project themselves?

A professional organizer can look at the clutter/disorganization objectively and can assist with insight into how the problem came to exist in the first place. A professional organizer can also narrow the focus and set realistic goals to make sure a project is successful from start to finish.

Store Your Wedding Treasures Safely, Smartly and Stylishly

We recently received some suggestions from Sharon Naylor of how our Rubbermaid products help keep newlyweds organized and thought we would share:

            Throughout your wedding planning, you kept all of your notes organized in a binder or on a spreadsheet, knowing that the organized bride is a happier bride. You know where everything is, can find a contract or a receipt at a moment’s notice and have all of your bridal party members’ and vendors’ phone numbers programmed into your cell phone. Being organized makes wedding planning a breeze.

            After the wedding, organization is even more important! You have so many beautiful keepsakes that you’ll surely want to store safely and securely so that they’re in perfect condition when you take them out in the future to reminisce and perhaps even show your kids someday.

            Safely and securely are the key words here, and that’s where Rubbermaid becomes your saving grace. When items, particularly paper items, are stored in your home, they’re in danger of getting ruined by moisture, less-than-perfect air quality indoors, even bugs who like to munch on paper. As scary as it is to think about, some bugs are known for being attracted to the glue on envelopes. Besides critters, you would surely want to protect your priceless keepsakes from any water damage due to floods, pipe leaks, and any kinds of spills in your home. Wedding couples who have stored their wedding day keepsakes in cardboard shoe boxes almost always experience damage to their invitations and other items, so I highly recommend Rubbermaid storage boxes for all of your wedding keepsakes. With these inexpensive, sealed-lid storage boxes, your keepsake items are safe, secure, protected from the elements, and bug-free. Your treasures will be safe.

And organized. Imagine the top shelf of your closet highly organized with stacks of these clear or fashion-lidded storage boxes, rather than mismatched shoe boxes or even the paper bags that some brides and grooms use. Their result? A mess. Your result? An organized collection of your keepsakes, easily arranged and immediately identifiable.

Here are some of the wedding keepsakes that will be happy to spend their Happily Ever After in your collection of Rubbermaid storage boxes:

• Invitations & Save the Date Cards
• Maps and inserts
• Greeting cards from guests, for wedding, shower and engagement gifts
• Souvenirs from showers and engagement parties
• Your bow bouquet
• Honeymoon keepsakes such as shells, postcards, shell anklets
• Copies of your registry and personal wedding website – printed out for storage because many aren’t kept online forever!

Sharon Naylor, www.sharonnaylor.net, is the author of over 35 wedding books, a resident wedding expert at iVillage Weddings, and a frequent guest expert on the top bridal and news shows. She is a recent newlywed, living in Morristown, NJ with her husband Joe.  Read Sharon's full bio at http://www.sharonnaylor.net/about.htm.

Q&A with a Professional Organizer - Debbie Jordan Kravitz

Debbie Jordan Kravitz – York, PA – www.VirtuallyOrganized.com

1) How long have you been a professional organizer?
I officially began my business in 2006.  But I was a chronic organizer well before that! I was always the one who had a written, detailed plan and list for everything I did. I also enjoyed helping my friends and family get better organized in their homes, and was often enlisted to help with their projects and organizing issues.

2) What inspired you to become a professional organizer?
I love watching decorating and organizing shows, and I had always thought being a Professional Organizer was my ideal dream job. But for a long time it was just that. . . a dream. In 2004, I battled breast cancer. This experience taught me that life is too short and unpredictable to waste. So I found the courage to try something new and started the process of establishing my very own professional organizing business. I have a degree in Psychology from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, but I knew I needed more specialized training in the organizing industry, so I joined the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO). Between my natural organization and the many courses I took from both (NAPO) and the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization (NSGCD), I have managed to develop a strong foundation in the theories and strategies of getting people better organized.

3) What is the most common organizing project you’re hired to do?
People often hire me to help them deal with their endless piles of paper, but once I get in there, we quickly discover that their piles are just a symptom of more elaborate organizational issues. Once we deal with the problem in its entirety, they find that maintaining their newly organized space becomes an easy and natural process.  I also do a lot of kitchen and home office jobs, helping my clients to create better work flow and productivity.

4) What is the most common organizing challenge people have?
I think most people struggle with just knowing where to begin. They have good intentions, but before they even get started they get overwhelmed with what to do and how to do it. They may have goals and dreams of creating an organized home, but they struggle with exactly how to get from a state of chaos and disorganization to a state of control and calm.  And that’s where a Professional Organizer can step in and really guide a client through the maze of getting better organized. 

5) If you had to pick ‘your’ biggest organizing challenge, what would it be?
I would have to say that my biggest organizing challenge is saying “no.”  I tend to have many projects brewing at once. Whether they are personal responsibilities, work projects, or volunteer commitments, I enjoy keeping busy. But sometimes I take on too much and cause myself unnecessary stress trying to keep on top of it all. Achieving a good balance is crucial to maintaining a simplified life, and this is an issue I often struggle with.

6) What tips would you give to people who are trying to get organized?

1. Develop a plan before you jump into any organizing project.
2. Avoid the temptation of cute and pretty organizing containers. Determine what storage options you need first, and then hit the stores.
3. Avoid overwhelming yourself.  Instead, divide your project into small, manageable chunks.  It’s better to lower your expectations about how much you can achieve in one session and set yourself up for success, rather than take on too much and feel like you’ve accomplished nothing.
4. Forget about perfect organization and instead settle for “organized enough.”
5. When in doubt, hire a Professional Organizer.

7) How can potential clients get in touch with you?
Potential clients can visit my website and blog at www.VirtuallyOrganized.com. In addition to organizing tips and the opportunity to join my monthly Procrastination Challenge, I have pages that describe my on-site organizing services in the south-central Pennsylvania area, as well as information about my Virtual Organizing Services. I also have a form to sign up for a free coaching call to check out the benefits of working with me virtually to solve your organizing dilemmas.

How can we help you?

I'd like your input.

At Rubbermaid we often publish Tips & Solution articles on our website in addition to writing posts about organizing on this blog.  Often the topics we choose come from personal experience or ideas generated from professional organizers and other people who read this blog, follow us on Twitter, etc.

What I'm wanting to know is... What do you want to read about? What types of Tips & Solution article do you want to read? What do you want us to blog about?  What do you want us to tweet about?

Ultimately, how can we help you?

Your responses are appreciated. Thanks a bunch!

Organizing your Dishwasher - Time Saving Tip

For the past week I have been trying this tip I found at 5 Dollar Dinners - and it REALLY WORKS! It works for me because it is simple and quick. When loading your dishwasher, put all like silverware in the same compartment. Knives go in one compartment, forks in another, and so on. It does not take any time to do and when you go to unload the dishwasher...it takes like 1/2 the time!!! I was surprised I had not thought of this before because it makes sense and is so easy!

So there is your time saving tip for the day :)

Basement Makeover with Tanna Clark

This post was written by Tanna Clark of Complete Organizing Solutions

As a professional organizer I can honestly say I have found my dream job! I love working with my clients and seeing their faces light up after a job well done. When I started my organizing business I knew right away I also wanted to be able to use my skills to give back to the community. I recently contacted the local Pregnancy Care Center to offer my services as they were just opening in my town.The director contacted me and told me about their basement and could use my help deciding how to best use the space. 

The director wanted to essentially be able to turn this basement into a huge maternity and baby closet where they could hang maternity clothes, baby clothes, and store all the other necessities a new baby and mother might need. After looking at the basement customizable shelves immediately came to mind and lots of totes! 

I had previously met Jim Deitzel of Rubbermaid through Twitter so I contacted him and told him I thought the Rubbermaid Configurations Closet Kits would meet our needs. I asked him if he could pass a discount on to me since I was a member of The National Association of Professional Organizers with whom Rubbermaid is also affiliated. Rubbermaid went above and beyond and supplied us with all of the shelving and totes that we needed for free! 

We hung all the baby clothes by size, we have shelves for diapers and totes for everything from bibs to pacifiers! The shelving is so useful because it can be rearranged to meet the needs of the center as it grows. Having so much storage on the walls frees up the floor space for freestanding shelves in the future. Each time I came back to the Center more donations kept rolling in. This system will definitely come to good use. We also had left over shelves and a few other components so we bought an additional hanging piece and were able to get a little more wall hanging space out of the materials we had. 

Since working on this project the Pregnancy Care Center had an inch or so of water that had come into the basement. Luckily everything was up on shelves and in plastic totes so there was no water damage to the items that were already donated. Three cheers for Rubbermaid!

It was a huge blessing for all involved in this project. I learned so much and got to help out a wonderful non-profit organization and the new mommy's and babies they continue to help. Thank you Rubbermaid for your generosity!

Alternative "Linen Closet"

If you don't have a linen closet like Jim (see his blog on his Linen Closet Makeover) , a quick way to store extra tablecloths, linens and sheets is an underbed box.  I love how the top flap will open halfway so I don't have to drag the box completely out to find what I am looking for. 

How do you store sheets and linens?

Consumer Queen Garage Makeover - Getting rid of the junk

The Consumer Queen is working hard with her garage makeover. As professional organizer Melissa Smallwood advised (see this post), the Consumer Queen is starting with decluttering. She has started to go through her garage and get rid of the junk - with a garage sale.

Check out her garage sale and her progress!

Junk Drawers - Organizing, Categorizing, and Separating

I finally found sometime this weekend to begin tackling my "junk drawers." I decided to do some research beyond the AWESOME comments that my other post left to find out just where to start.

I stumbled on Christine Kane's blog post about what your junk drawer can teach you about success. This post made me STOP FEELING GUILTY about my "junk areas." If you're not an organized person all the time (which is definitely me), then work with it. You need a place to just dump things. That's fine as long as it doesn't get out of control (aka clean it out every once in a while).

So with some motivation, I started with the step of removing everything and placing it in like piles (this suggestion came from April Welch and Life Organizers.com). I did this with two questions in my mind that professional organizer and friend Organized Home suggests:

• How often do I use this?
• Can I live with just one?

I ended up with:

1. A pile for writing utensils (I have a lot of these...and no I cannot live with just one :) )

    2.  A pile of office supplies

    3.  A pile of cords/electronic stuff

    4.  A pile of memorabilia

    5.  A pile of scrapbooks

    6. A pile of decorating stuff

    7.  A trash and a recycle pile (even though I cleaned it out before I moved, I still found things I just did not want to keep)

    8.  A random pile of things I needed (lightbulbs, screws, etc.) that did not seem to belong anywhere else

Basically my floor looked like this...

I felt so accomplished. I went ahead and put all my decorating stuff out and around my apartment and decided to put my scrapbooks on a shelf in my living room so anyone can look at them.

So now all I have to do is decide how I am going to store these piles. I am headed out shopping next week (hopefully) so stay tuned!

Oh and if you need motivation try one of Organized Solutions 15 minute organizing tasks (including cleaning out that junk drawer)!

Rubbermaid Stacking Recycle Bin

A little while ago @cprmom tweeted me asking where she could find the Rubbermaid 14g Stacking Recycle Bin. I was glad I could help her out by directing her to @acehardware. In return she offered to do a quick guest post on our blog. Below is her post.

Here are my new Rubbermaid recycling totes!  I’m excited to have them. Prior to these I used a sad collection of other damaged totes to store my recyclables.  I still have one left, the green Rubbermaid container on the far left of the picture still holds my cardboard.  We don’t have curbside recycling and I needed something that I can put outside as well as in the back of my minivan that won’t spill its contents all over the place as well as keeping the elements out of my recycling.  These will happily do just that!  I can pop just one or several in the back of my van and take them to our recycling center.  No more spilled recyclables all over the floor or worrying that the kids will get into them.  The only suggestion for improvement would be making the little green flap more weather resistant. However I am thinking that the Rubbermaid storage shed for trash cans will be the perfect compliment to these so that I can move them outside.

Thanks to @rubbermaid on Twitter for guiding me to Ace Hardware (@acehardware) to find these!  I did have to order them, but had them in about 5 days.

Gail, aka @cprmom