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Professional-Organizer

Making the Most of It: Small Spaces and Upcycling

I want to introduce you to my friend and guest blogger Andria Alefhi. I first met Andria almost ten years ago when she was a musician living in San Francisco. She has since lived in Washington, and now New York City. I recently caught up with her at a wee wedding in San Francisco, and discovered the creative way she spends her time upcycling objects found around NYC. Impressed by her artistic and entrepreneurial spirit fueled by the joy that comes from repurposing, I am excited to share her story with you. ~ Isabella

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Do you wish you had a crafting hobby but you don’t have any talent or don’t have a fancy studio workspace? No problem!

new-york-city-art-work-spaceThe Space

When I moved from Washington seven years ago, I transitioned from a giant 2-bedroom apartment with my own washer-dryer to a 330-square foot Manhattan studio apartment. I stopped playing music, where I didn’t have the space to leave guitars and keyboards set up in my room and transitioned to a 24″x18″ workspace (see left). It’s a kitchen island, so I have 2 shelves plus countertop, maximizing height instead of wasting width and length. I added an old wine box to give additional storage space inside and on top for working or completed projects. I added a few hooks on the side for easy-to-grab tools I use often such as metal shears, scissors and tape.

upcycle-kodak-clockThe Hobby

I, sadly, cannot draw, paint, or sew. But I have always had an eye for repurposing. I love functional art. I started making clocks because I liked reusing containers. Once I realized how easy and quick it is (I can make a tea tin clock in 3 minutes, start to finish) I was motivated to make more and sell them on Etsy. I get my items for clocks from stuff around my house, friends, and even right out of recycling bags, which are clear in NYC so you can see what is inside. I also find great items every time I visit Valencia Community Thrift Store in San Francisco.

What can you make a clock out of? Why, how about a tea or candy tin? A game board – the whole thing, or a piece of it. A vintage postcard or family photo, if you mount it on some backing board. I like corrugated plastic which you can buy at Flax. So carve out a corner of your apartment and make some art!

smiling-BIO-photoAndria Alefhi is an interpreter, aunt, zine editor and clock maker.
She dwells in a small NYC apartment and makes the most of her time
and space to create functional art by repurposing material she finds
around the house and the city. You can find her upcycled goods on Etsy
Categories
Professional-Organizer

50 Ways To Creatively Reuse & Repurpose Boxes

creatively reuse small gift boxes for office and utility supplies.
Creative reuse of small boxes for office and utility supplies. Here I use both bottoms and lids of business card boxes to double the amount of storage containers in my desk drawer.

Gift boxes, shipping boxes, and other packaging are a major source of clutter in homes and become instant waste. ”It’s estimated that between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, more than 1 million tons of additional waste is generated each week nationwide…” – CalRecycle.ca.gov

When getting organized around the house, hold back from going out to buy fancy and expensive small storage containers. Instead, reuse and repurpose boxes generated over the holiday season or any time of year:

a jewelry box

  • in the bathroom – hair clips, hair ties, q-tips, floss wands, contacts
  • in the kitchen/pantry – toothpicks, twist ties, rubber bands, tea packet display (see tea drawer)
  • in the office – push pins, paper clips, sticky notes, loose stamps, business cards, ID cards, gift cards, credit cards
  • in the sewing room- loose needles, stray buttons, safety pins
  • in the utility room or drawer- batteries (old or new), nails & screws, miscellany

a shoe or shirt box

  • in the bathroom – brushes & combs, make-up, shaving supplies, travel size toiletries, cleaning sponges/rags
  • in the bedroom – undergarments, tights, socks, scarves, gloves
  • in the craft room – greeting cards, ribbon storage, photo storage, the possibilities are endless in here!
  • in the kids room – small toy parts and pieces, pencil and crayon box, arts & crafts
  • in the kitchen/pantry – small appliance parts and pieces, snack pack storage
  • in the living room – candles/tea lights, CDs or DVDs
  • in the office – receipts, envelopes, printer ink packets, writing utensils
  • in the utility room  or drawer – light bulbs, rags, random parts and pieces

Reuse and repurpose leftover holiday, birthday, or every day online and store-bought packaging to get organized around the house. If you are concerned about the way repurposed boxes look to visitors in your home, use them inside a drawer or cabinet so that only you see them. Do this -even if only a temporary solution- until you can upgrade to exactly what you want and need. Food for thought: “upgrading” does not have to mean “new.”

how do YOU creatively reuse and repurpose boxes around the house?

Read more Bella Organizing Tips & Resources HERE.

Isabella Guajardo, also known as Girl With A Truck™, is a professional home organizer and member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (NAPO). She travels in her truck to work with clients throughout the greater San Francisco Bay down to Monterey. She shares simple and creative ways to stay organized while reducing, recycling and re-purposing. 

Categories
Professional-Organizer

Things To Keep In Mind When Donating

Most donation drop-off centers accept items year around, and the busiest time is the final six days of the year. At this time, twice as many people take donations to a tax-deductible charity organization to get a last-minute tax receipt. Why? Items donated to this kind of charity before January 1 is usually deductible on that years’ tax return.

Things to keep in mind when donating to a tax-deductible charity organization any time of year:

  • Donors who want to claim a tax deduction should request a receipt from the attendant when dropping off donations. The IRS allows a deduction for each item, but it is up to the donor to estimate each item’s value.
  • Have an inventory of your items ready before you drop them off.
  • Remove all hangers from clothing before donating.
  • If you have a single donation worth more than $500, you will need to complete IRS Form 8283.
  • If you have a single donation worth more than $5,000, you will need a qualified written appraisal.
  • Take a glance at Goodwill’s Donation Valuation Guide

rocking-horseFind out what organizations such as Goodwill DO and DO NOT accept at http://www.goodwill.org/get-involved/donate/donation-acceptance-guidelines/

READ MORE BELLA ORGANIZING TIPS, IDEAS & TRAVELS HERE.

Bella Organizing is a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO). We serve the greater SF Bay Area: San Francisco, East Bay, South Bay, Marin County, Silicon Valley, Santa Cruz, and Monterey Peninsula. Join Bella Organizing on Facebook.

Categories
Professional-Organizer

How To Build A Planter Box – Repurpose Wood Scraps Into Beautiful and Usable Containers

~ by guest blogger Rene Rodriguez

I’m one of the “Sustainable Techs” here at Sustainable Technologies and our company does environmental construction and commercial renewable energy installations in Northern California. We are headquartered at the former naval base at Alameda Point.

Over the years we have collected scraps of wood that we use to build forms for concrete pads.  We reuse and repurpose our wood as much as possible on our projects. Because it has concrete on it, is not good for the compost bin, so that is why we tried to come up with other creative uses for it.

One day we decided to take our wood pile and get creative, so one of the Sustainable Techs created beautiful planters for our olive trees.

our wood stock that we pull from.
The used wood stock we pull from.

planter_box_cropped
Finished planter box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At first the olive trees looked like Charlie Brown Christmas Trees but giving them a new home allowed them to thrive and grow into a jungle.

finsihed_planter_box_cropped
Before: Charlie Brown Xmas | After: Thriving Jungle

The olive trees attract birds, including doves. Though we cannot dig into the ground here at the point because of the environmental cleanup that is still going on, creating the container garden has helped us to revitalize our local area and support the wildlife.

The plans to build it are attached (SustainableGreenhouse_Planters).  It is a one page layout with measurements. I’m assuming that readers will be familiar with power tools.

Here are more photos of our greenhouse, which is a great place for our employees to take a break and have their own space to grow things. It is fed by a greywater system from our break room.

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rene_cropped_2Rene Rodriguez is an office administrator at Sustainable Technologies, a  minority-owned small business in Alameda that provides environmental services in Northern California. She assists in implementing the company’s sustainability policy and green initiatives in all aspects of the business. She commutes to work by bike daily from San Francisco and is a proud member of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.

Interested in being a Guest Blogger? Submission details can be found at: https://bellaorganizing.com/guest-bloggers-wanted/

 

 

 

 

Categories
Professional-Organizer

My Resale Therapy

I cannot deny I like to shop for clothes. I want to look stylish and feel good, not raggedy and unpleasant. But instead of retail therapy, I prefer resale therapy. Rarely do I buy something new when there are so many hidden treasures out there to be discovered. Like animal instinct, for me it’s not the kill, but the thrill of the chase.

There are plenty of good deals to be found at thrift stores and consignment shops, yard and estate sales. It makes for fun and guilt-less shopping. No remorse here when I only paid a few bucks for my latest find. I am being green and doing something that feels good when giving my money to a non-profit with a cause, family, or small business owner.

I also get a brand-new-to-me wardrobe selection of unique contemporary and vintage treasures. The scary part is I have to let go of clothing in my closet to make room for my finds. Eek! How do I decide what to let go of?

I let go of a piece of clothing when:

  1. I have worn it to the point that it is fading, pilling, stained, stretching, or tearing
  2. I have not worn it for an entire year
  3. It is no longer my color, size, or style

Having just done a quarterly purge that I dropped off at Goodwill, I have empty hangers that I am allowing myself to refill with some new-to-me clothing. I want YOU to decide what works on me, and what does not.

Is it a FIT, or is it For Someone Else?

Bella_thrift_store_finds_01
Green plaid zip vest by Cabi                  Dreamy blue sweater by Hillard & Hanson         Sassy grey tank blouse by Talbots

Please leave your feedback in the comments section below. Thanks for participating!

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READ MORE BELLA ORGANIZING TIPS, IDEAS & TRAVELS HERE.

Isabella Guajardo, also known as Girl With A Truck™, is a professional home organizer and a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO). Living in Oakland and Monterey, she travels in her truck to work with clients throughout the SF Bay Area, East Bay, South Bay, Silicon Valley, Santa Cruz and Monterey Peninsula. She shares simple and creative ways to stay organized and stylish while reducing, recycling and re-purposing. Join Bella Organizing on Facebook. Gift certificates are available.

Call (510) 229-7321 to schedule a complimentary telephone consultation.