Tag: oakland professional organizers

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Professional-Organizer

Organizing In Preparation For A Kitchen Remodel

Organizing in preparation for a kitchen remodel in berkeley and oakland

PREPARING FOR A KITCHEN REMODEL

You have the plan in hand, you’ve hired a contractor and now the day for beginning your remodeling project is quickly approaching. You need to clear the kitchen and organize the contents so that you and your family can have access to what you need with ease while the remodel takes place. If this seems overwhelming, follow these steps to simplify the process.

  • Gather supplies. You will need boxes or reusable storage bins, newspapers, packing materials, packing tape, quart and gallon size clear plastic storage bags, and markers for labeling. Avoid packing everything into one big box and having to dig through it later; use as many small 1.5 cubic foot boxes/bins as possible until you start getting to the larger and bulkier items such as pots, pans and platters.
  • Pull out items that you use every day such as the coffee maker, tea kettle, pots, skillets, rice cooker (a remodel lifesaver, especially when it comes with a vegetable steamer compartment), plates, bowls, cups, mixing bowls & cooking utensils, can opener, vegetable peelers, eating utensils. During the course of the remodel you will need these essentials. You can also use disposable/compostable cups, plates and dinnerware. Set aside storage containers for leftovers, food storage bags, foil and plastic wrap, lunch sacks. Also, make sure you have dishwashing and cleaning supplies on hand.
  • Pack eating utensils in gallon size zip-lock storage bags. Use a bag each for knives, forks and spoons. It will make it easy to access, and unpack these items once the kitchen is finished. Do the same with cooking utensils and small gadgets. Store utensils and gadgets in their own small box.
  • Pack glassware and dinnerware carefully. Even though you are packing these items for a short period of time, things can get broken in the process of carrying, stacking and storage. Wrap fragile items in newspaper or bubble wrap to protect them and seal your boxes with tape. Top the box with extra padding so the topside doesn’t sink down when the weight of another box is stacked on it…this can cause boxes to tumble and fall. Mark contents on the outside of each box.
  • Pack canned and dry foods in categories such as breakfast food, canned goods, sauces, pastas, spices, baking supplies, drinks, cooking oils, and pet food. Use small and shallow boxes to keep things organized, upright, and at-hand during the construction activity. Double check that tops are screwed on tightly before packing bottles and liquids upright.
  • Collect items you use infrequently such as holiday dinnerware, specialized bake ware, punchbowls, platters. Pack, mark and store these items in a closet, basement or garage.
  • Keep like items together when clearing out your cabinets. It’s worth taking the time to organize things now and prevent frustration later.
  • Set aside things you don’t use anymore for donation. Make a list and estimate the value before you take them to your local donation center. Throw out anything broken or unusable such as old plastic storage ware. This is a great time to reduce clutter.
  • Pack up cookbooks and recipes in their own box.
  • Take down blinds, curtains, rods and wall decorations. Place the hardware in clear plastic storage bags and label with a marker directly on the bag. Clean and dust these items if you will be using them again in the remodeled kitchen.
  • Cover computer and electronics to protect from dust. You may also want to cover furniture in adjacent rooms that may be affected by dust from the construction area.
  • Take down valuable pictures and wall hangings in adjacent rooms that can be knocked off the wall or damaged during the remodeling process.
  • Protect your pets. Keep them away from the work area.  Dogs and cats can be a danger to themselves and the work crew if they are underfoot. The best option is to keep them in a closed room away from all the work. You can also hire a pet sitter to look after your pets during an extensive remodel.

 

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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.

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Professional-Organizer

When is it Junk?

If you’re reading this it’s likely you are considering whether something you own is junk or worth keeping. Here’s an opportunity to figure it out:

When is it Junk?

When is it JUNK?

It’s JUNK if:

  • It’s moldy, mildew, stinky and growing spores
  • It’s broken or obsolete (and fixing it doesn’t make sense or is too costly)
  • You’ve outgrown it (physically or emotionally)
  • You’ve always hated it anyway
  • It’s the wrong color, wrong size, wrong style
  • Using it takes more time than its worth
  • You won’t really care if you ever see it again
  • It generates anger, bad memories or bad feelings
  • You have to clean it, store it, and insure it (but you don’t use it)
  • Storing it somewhere else would cost more than its worth
  • It will horrify, bore or burden your kids or the generation to come

If you can truthfully agree to one or more of these, it’s most likely junk. Do yourself, the people you live with, friends who visit and posterity a favor…get rid of it! It’s robbing you (and probably several other people) of space and mental clarity.

It’s not JUNK if:

  • It helps you make a living
  • It will do something you need done
  • It generates happiness, good memories and good feelings
  • It has high or significant cash value
  • It gives you more than it takes
  • It will enrich or delight your kids or the coming generation

If you can agree to several of the above without hesitation, it’s most likely good stuff. Enjoy, appreciate, take care of, and be sure to use it. You don’t need to re-assess its JUNKi-ness until next year.

Resources for consigning, selling, trading, donating and recycling your unwanted furniture, clothing, housewares and more can be found HERE.

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

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

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Professional-Organizer

How To Develop A Family Technology Policy At Home

This weekend I attended the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) conference for our San Francisco Bay Area Chapter. The Annual NAPO-SFBA regional conference is an opportunity for members and those interested in becoming a professional organizer to network, learn innovative ways to organize, and discover new products and services to help our clients and their families stay clutter-free and productive.

Keynote speaker Judith Kolberg, a world-renown productivity specialist, had lots of tips and information. The following is a sample list of family technology policies for the home she shared with us to share with you:

 

Family Technology Policies:

  • No devices at the dinner table or church
  • No texting in front of grandma
  • Lights out means no devices
  • No devices within 10 feet of water (bathtub, swimming pool, a drink on a table, etc.)
  • No tech zone in the house should be observed

What family technology policies would you implement at your home? What would be your rewards for compliance or consequences for non-compliance?

For more about Judith Kolberg and putting together a Family Technology Policy, visit http://fileheads.net/2013/09/how-to-develop-a-family-technology-policy/

For more about the National Association of Professional Organizers – San Francisco Bay Area Chapter (NAPO-SFBA) and the conference, visit: https://naposfbac.memberclicks.net/regional-conference – Hope to see you at our 2015 conference! (Location TBA)

Judith Kolberg founded FileHeads Professional Organizers in 1989, the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization, and the Institute for Challenging Disorganization (ICD). She is credited with launching a field of professional organizing dedicated to helping individuals challenged by chronic disorganization. Judith is the author of several books including Conquering Chronic Disorganization, which are required reading for industry certification programs (over a quarter million copies sold). She is a popular speaker and a featured organizer on the “Buried Alive” hoarding series. A native of New York, Judith lives in Atlanta, GA where she takes care of her mom, sees clients, writes, and publishes.

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Professional-Organizer

How to Organize and Pack For A Trip

I often help my busy clients prepare for their vacations and business travels. This includes creating packing lists, organizing and packing suitcases and carry-on luggage. Here are packing tips for easier traveling:

Pack clothing tightly but without over stuffing the suitcase. Tight packing means no loss of space and fewer wrinkles. There are two basic ways to pack efficiently:

  1. The Rolling Method – Roll clothing including t-shirts, pajamas, sweaters, and slacks. Use a rubber band to keep items from unrolling. Tightly rolled clothing take up less space and are less likely to get wrinkles from fold creases.
  2. The Bundling Method – Bundle like-garments. This keeps items together and accessible. If you pack three t-shirts, neatly fold or roll them together. To reduce wrinkles, place each bundle in an airtight zip-lock bag.

More tips:

  • Make a packing list of things you need to take on the trip days or weeks in advance.
  • Know the airlines updated baggage policy and Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) rules. Changes happen all the time; read up on the airlines latest fees, policies and rules before you start your packing list.
  • Prevent wrinkling by layering clothes with tissue paper saved from holiday gifts.
  • Make use of empty space by rolling underwear, socks, ties, scarves, etc., and placing into small  zip-lock baggies, removing as much air as possible while zipping. Gently stuff the baggies into shoes.
  • Use sample-size toiletries (contact lens cleaner, shaving cream, toothpaste, etc.) or fill your own small, reusable bottles.
  • Store valuables (jewelry, medicine, cell phone charger, important paperwork) and pack a change of socks and underwear in your carry-on.
  • Minimize wrinkles by unpacking garments right away. Lay tissue paper inside hotel room drawers prior to placing your items and hang whatever clothing you can upon arrival.
  • If traveling with a passport, photocopy the page with your photo and bring an extra picture. If you lose your passport, this will make it easier to replace.

See how a flight attendant from Los Angeles demonstrates how to pack for a 10-day trip in a single standard carry-on using the rolling method.

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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.

Categories
Professional-Organizer

Basement Declutter and A Mohawk

This Oakland, CA client initially planned for us to tackle her basement exactly one year ago this month, right after we finished organizing her garage. I didn’t hear back from her, and thought that perhaps she was unhappy with my services! It turned out (as it usually does) that personal life stuff happened and so she didn’t get a chance to move forward until now. I think I’ve finally come to terms with the fact that people sometimes have more important things to do than organize their homes.

When we first looked at the basement a year ago, it looked more like an extended storage closet. Things were too piled high to walk through and around the back to where more stuff was…things my client had long forgotten. What she did know was that all her precious Christmas ornaments were scattered, she wanted to find and organize them, and that there might be something dead back there…

basement declutter - before 1

This client lives on a hillside, with the garage at street level, the main floor of the house down a long set of stairs a level below, and the lower part of the house and basement a level below that. There was a lot of things to remove from the basement, all of which needed to be thoroughly sorted and assessed as to whether it stays or goes. Some needed to be stored in the street level garage, other things carried up to my truck and hauled away to be donated, the rest placed into the recycle bin on the street. Lots of stuff and lots of stairs meant lots of exercise today!

While digging through boxes and pulling things out, I had in the back of my mind to keep an eye out for critters, live or dead. I came across boxes of poison that had been there a while, the pellets eaten away and cardboard containers obviously attacked by rodents. Then I came across droppings…I was sure I’d find a furry skeleton soon! But there was no foul smell so I thought whatever was here must be long gone…until I saw this on the floor and squealed…

basement declutter cat toy

A mouse with a purple mohawk and studded collar. Obviously a toy belonging to the cat of the house. An incredible adrenaline rush, a burst of laughter, and I was pumped to keep moving with this basement closet project. Luckily I didn’t have any more surprises.

What I did find was lots of holiday ornaments, clothing, boxes of salvaged childhood memorabilia, and house rebuilding papers documenting the Oakland Hills Firestorm of 1991, a fire that killed 25 people and injured 150 others. The fire destroyed 1,520 acres in the Oakland hills and southeastern Berkeley, including 3,354 single-family dwellings and 437 apartment and condominium units. [1] My clients house was one of them.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakland_firestorm_of_1991

We sorted through and dusted off everything in the basement, removed cobwebs, swept the floor, properly packed and labeled treasured ornaments, placing those she uses more often close to the front of the stack.

basement declutter- after 2

During the consolidation and repacking process we got rid of several empty containers that took up space. After a few boxes to be stored in the garage and items for haul-away sorted out, we ended up with a clean and clear basement. And the cat had her toy back.

basement declutter- after 3

 

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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.