Tag: professional organizer

Declutter the Car

Post author By Bella Organizing
Post date December 21, 2016

clutter_car_get_organized — Don't take the clutter with you.

Car clutter is common for people on the go. Crumbs, food wrappers, soda cans, empty water bottles, loose change, baby supplies, pet supplies…we’ve all been there. It accumulates on the floor, in the seat cracks, inside the glove box, side doors, trunk, in the truck bed for those with pick-ups.

I recently helped a friend clean and organize her car. She was ready to run from the next zombie apocalypse; we uncovered 30 pair of shoes to last the next few decades. We pulled out tons of jackets, scarves, gloves, old food wrappers and drink bottles. If you want to give a gift to a good friend, be on their team and help her declutter the car. Many hands make light work, and you can listen to the radio and tell light-hearted jokes about what you find along the way. When done, you have space to take that Thelma and Louise road trip you’ve always wanted.

It’s time to downsize and minimize.

Step One – Declutter the car and trunk

Grab a few bags for trash, recycling, and items going back into the house
Sort, purge, put things back where they belong – clothes to the hamper, shoes to the closet, dishes into the sink.

Step Two – Clean

Take the car to a self-serve, automatic, or full-service car wash. Now that surfaces can be seen, it’s time to get the car clean. This is a good time to clean the car thoroughly, including the engine/under hood (self-serve car washes are great for this), wipe down and vacuum the carpet and seats, inside glove compartment, console, side door pockets, trunk, all the nooks and crannies. I personally take my truck to a self-serve car wash twice a year to inexpensively clean the engine and take it to a full-service car wash every other week to let the professionals take care of the rest.

Step Three – Organize

Organize car compartments. Use a small pocket organizer to store vital papers: registration, insurance card, car maintenance records. Replenish car chargers, napkins, pen, notepad, meter change in a small zip purse, and a few Chico Bag reusable bags…my favorite! You can find them at grocery checkout stands.
Use pockets behind driver and passenger seats as smart storage. Stash small trash bags (use a quart size ziplock bag to keep them together and ready), a mini-size squirt bottle of vinegar and water (great for cleaning interior AND windows), a clean rag, paper towels or disposable cleaning wipes.
Maximize backseat & trunk storage. There are many varieties of organizers for the car and trunk. Here are ideas from BestProducts.com
Invest in a cell phone holder. There are varieties that attach to car vents, dashboards, and cup holders. Beware of those that attach to window glass, they may block full view of the road.
Check the spare tire for working condition. Have this taken care of next time the car goes in for servicing, especially if you don’t take the car in for regular tire rotation.
Invest in safe tie-downs. Whether you have a truck or occasionally carry large purchases on the hood of the car, it’s a good idea to have on hand secure tie-downs that you practice how to use in advance. Ratchet straps work well, and are small versions of what you see big rigs use to tie down their loads. If you have an open truck bed, local law requires you cover your load with a secure tarp or safety net. I use the Gladiator Cargo Net, which folds and returns nicely to the zip case it comes with. This keeps everyone safe on the road.
Get an emergency car kit together. Here are safety tips & a checklist from Ready.gov

Bella_Organizing_Best_Professional_Organizers_San_Francisco_Oakland_Berkeley_silicon_valley_monterey

Isabella Guajardo, founder and owner of Bella Organizing, is a San Francisco Bay Area professional organizer offering home organizing and residential move management services throughout the Greater San Francisco Bay Area. Call (510) 229-7321 or email info@bellaorganizing.com for more information. Gift certificates are available.

Tags Bella Organizing, car clutter, clean car, declutter, downsize, get organized, konmarimethod, martha stewart, minimalize, napo, organizetheworld, professional organizer, sparkjoy, wash car

Professional-Organizer

Declutter Books, CDs, and DVDs

Post author By Bella Organizing
Post date December 20, 2016

Is the accumulation of books, CDs, and DVDs in your home weighing you down? Has your home become a library piled high with hardbacks and paperbacks, old school CDs with shell cases, and a DVD movie museum? There are ways to downsize and minimalize without saying goodbye forever to these beautiful things that provide knowledge, joy, and entertainment.

books_declutter_minimalize_downsize_organize

For those interested in donating, here are two nationwide causes to know about

Friends of the Public Library (Books, CDs, DVDs) – Libraries everywhere accept donations, some of which are needed as regular inventory, others used to fundraise for library programs. Libraries take current best sellers, classic fiction and non-fiction, books on CD, music CDs in jewel cases, timely non-fiction, large print books, popular or classic DVDs.
Prisoners Literature Project (Books) – a San Francisco Bay Area-based non-profit group that provides free books to prisoners across the United States. They’ve been doing it for 30 years! They accept books that help prisoners with language and vocational skills, and inform them about history and culture. The most requested books are dictionaries, how-to books, and books about African-American, Latino, and Native American history and culture.

Resources to sell books, CDs, and DVDs

Amazon (books, textbooks, books on CD, CDs, DVDs, and more)
Half-Price Books (books, books on CD, music, and more)
Amoeba Records (CDs, DVDs, records, video games, and more)

It’s time to downsize and minimalize.

Step One

Declutter Books – A home full of books can give a heavy look and feel to a room. Books are lovely, but too many becomes physical and visual clutter. It’s time to lighten up your home…

Go to the bookshelf (or piles of books) and pull out those you have read (and not read) that you are willing to let go. Be strong. If you haven’t read it in a year, honestly ask yourself “will I ever?” Also “Can I check this out from a library when I want to read it?”

Step Two

Declutter CDs – You’ve got a fabulous variety of music you’ve collected over the years. Have you outgrown a few? Have your tastes evolved? Prep the CD player, it’s time to listen to music you’ve forgotten.

Glance through the collection, one CD at a time. Set aside those you are willing to donate or sell. Set to another side ones you’re on the fence about. These are the ones to listen to now.
When you’ve finalized what to keep, organize the collection by genre and/or alphabetical order.
Go a step further and remove the CD and insert, and place inside a CD/DVD organizer case like the one in the photo. This is my personal collection of over 200 CDs, which I dealt with last year after years of storing. These are CDs to keep, so I’m not going to worry about resale value and holding onto the jewel case.
Look into music streaming services such as Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music, and prevent CD clutter from entering the home again.

Step Three

Declutter DVDs – You’ve got favorites and holiday classics you enjoy watching year after year. If you’re going to keep movies forever, there’s no need to keep the space-hogging case. If you can care less about the movie or are willing to stream or check it out from a library, let it go.

Glance through the DVD collection and remove those to donate or sell.
When you’ve finalized what to keep, organize the collection by genre and/or alphabetical order. It’s faster to do this while they are in cases.
Next, remove DVDs from individual cases and consolidate inside a CD/DVD organizer.

With time and courage, you will also go through your record album collection! Keep them in their covers and sleeves. It feels good to be uncluttered.

Isabella Guajardo, founder and owner of Bella Organizing, is a San Francisco Bay Area professional organizer offering home organizing, interior redesign, and residential move management services throughout the Greater San Francisco Bay Area. Call (510) 229-7321 or email info@bellaorganizing.com for more information. Gift certificates are available.

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Tags Bella Organizing, declutter, downsize, get organized, konmarimethod, martha stewart, minimalize, napo, organizetheworld, professional organizer, sparkjoy

Professional-Organizer

Declutter Mail & Email Lists

Post author By Bella Organizing
Post date December 19, 2016

Are paper catalogs, credit card offers, donation requests, and junk ads cluttering your mail box? Are email and newsletters tormenting your inbox? It’s time to get removed from mailing lists.

Step One

Get off email lists

Go to your inbox. Find email from companies you want to remove from your inbox permanently. Scroll to the bottom of the email, click the “unsubscribe” link, and follow steps to be removed. By law, companies must include this link at the bottom of marketing email. If they do not include a link, go to the company’s website and follow procedures to unsubscribe. Contact the company by email or phone if an easy way to unsubscribe through the email or their website is not available.

Step Two

Get off paper mail lists

Gather junk mail from around the house.
Visit Catalog Choice for information on how their program gets your name and address removed from marketing lists or download the Paper Karma mobile app and snap away, then recycle or shred the junk mail.
Respond to Privacy Act inserts in billing statements. Companies include these to inform consumers of their rights and are a great way to opt out of information sharing which leads to more junk mail.
Select the best “Optout” registration method that meets your needs. Register with the Direct Marketing Association or Mail Preference Service. Registered names are placed in a “do not contact” database.
Enter opt-out requests for deceased family members. Use the same procedures as above to submit the request.
Contact major credit reporting bureaus (TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian) directly to be removed from credit card offer lists.
- TransUnion – (888) 567-8688, Name Removal Option, P.O. Box 505, Woodlyn, PA 19094
- Equifax Options, Marketing Decision Systems,(888)567-8688; Equifax Credit Information Services Inc., P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374
- Experian Marketing Lists – (402) 458- 5247, Experian Consumer Services, West Bond St., Lincoln, NE 68521
- To opt out permanently all at once, go to optoutprescreen.com or call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688) to start the process.

Step Three

Be patient for the mailings to decrease. The process can take a few months. After this time, you will notice a sizable decrease in pre-approved offers, flyers, and magazines flooding your mailbox. Unwanted email should stop immediately.
Prevent getting on lists in the future. When making online purchases for which you include a mailing or email address, you are often opting in to the company’s newsletters and special offer mailings. If you want to avoid this, carefully uncheck boxes that give the company permission to place you on their list. When you accept a credit card offer or make a donation to a cause, your name and address often gets sold sold to marketing lists, and more offers come rolling in. While opening new accounts or donating to an organization for the first time, stress to them how you do not want your information shared with marketing lists and if you prefer email to paper correspondence about your donations.

Follow these steps and you will be free from unwanted paper and email clutter.

Tags Bella Organizing, declutter, how to get off email lists, how to get off mailing lists, junk mail, marie kondo, martha stewart, opt in, opt out, paperless, professional organizer

Professional-Organizer

Declutter Paperwork

Post author By Bella Organizing
Post date December 18, 2016
Sticky post

Paperwork organizing can be challenging, but it doesn’t have to be. Take control of paperwork and deal with it as soon as you walk in the door.

For today’s paper decluttering task, choose paperwork that challenges you most, the stuff you’ve been holding off on for a while and letting pile up. You don’t need to worry about organizing it to perfection today, the goal for the day is declutter – GET RID OF – what has no business in your home. And after today, don’t let it enter your life again.

Here’s How

Recycle paperwork as soon as you enter the house with it. Go straight to the recycle bin and drop in whatever you don’t need. Toss in that junk mail. Open mail and immediately recycle envelopes and inserts, this way you filter out most paper clutter before it hits a surface.
Immediately place bills and correspondence on a designated work area, such as you desk or a command center you work at regularly, instead of on the kitchen or living room table. Is the kitchen or living room your work area? Oi vey! Work on creating an alternative paperwork space if your goal is to keep these areas free of paper clutter.

I’m concerned about my name and address going into the recycle bin, so I tear off and shred it. I also have an identity theft protection rubber stamp that I use at my desk, like this one pictured from Solutions.com ~ you can also get it on Amazon. Or simply use a black marker.

identity theft protection stamp — Identity Theft Protection Stamp

If you receive a lot of junk paper, go a step further and have Catalog Choice or Paper Karma get you off mailing lists. You’ll receive less paper mail, which means less clutter to deal with later.

How I handle paperwork at Casa Bella.

Each day I sit at my desk for 15 minutes and file away what little I actually need to keep and shred or recycle the rest. 15 minutes per day works miracles!

I use a cork board on the wall in front of my desk to pin small notes and important reminders. I take down and recycle weekly anything that no longer applies. Here’s an example of a cute DIY cork board from Apartment Therapy, with a link to how to make one yourself.

corkboard paperwork organizing — DIY Corkboard from Apartment

Get it off the desk, but don’t let bills and important correspondence get out of sight, out of mind. Create a neat place where you can see and access bills daily, such as standing upright in a desktop file folder, or pinned to a cork board on the wall by your work area. Highlight or circle due dates on bills.

desktop_file_paperwork_organizing_bella — Desktop file holder from Containerstore.com

It’s a good idea to keep

Adoption paperwork, birth certificates, marriage license, divorce documents
Car titles, repair and maintenance receipts.
Personal identification, social security statements.
Educational degrees and certifications.
Home improvement paperwork and receipts.
Insurance documents for current policies.
Medical receipts and reports.
Warranties and manuals you cannot find online.
Receipts for high value home or office furniture, computers, electronic equipment, household goods, art, anything you may one day want to sell or may need for value reference in the case of a home or renters insurance claim.
If you’re holding onto department store receipts in case you need to make a return, and the return date is expired, do you still need to keep the receipt? Probably not.
Tax documents. When the year is up and it does not need to live in my active files, I store tax documents with that years tax return in a closet designated specifically for this kind of storage.

More ways to prevent paper pile up

Go paperless wherever you can. NOW is the time. Get online and learn how to receive statements, bills and receipts via email. Learn how easy it is to download and store them on your computer as a digital document. If you ever need a paper copy, simply print from your digital storage file. Banks allow you to log onto your account and glance at your statements from years back. So convenient! Consider going paperless with one or two minor bills. If this works for you, do more. A little at a time steadily builds great paperless bill-paying habits.
Don’t sign up for notices and special offers via paper mail. When ordering online, do not check boxes that allow the business to send you paper mailings. It’s easier to remove yourself from email than mailing lists.
Download the Stop Junk Mail Kit created by the Bay Area Recycling Outreach Coalition for numbers to call and websites to visit to be removed from Direct Marketing lists, Credit Card offer lists, Sweepstakes, Shopping Flyers, Junk Faxes, Catalogs and more.

We have individual needs to consider when it comes to dealing with paperwork. For this reason, I suggest consulting with your CPA or legal advisor about what you should be keeping vs. recycling. From my own home office and that of clients I have worked with over the years, what I have found is this: we are quite more similar than different. So do not feel alone with your paper clutter. Deal with it at least 15 minutes a day. If you’re not going to hire a professional organizer or personal assistant to come in weekly and do it for you, learning to self-maintain is key. Like good habits, getting organized with paperwork is something that can be learned.

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Tags Bella Organizing, declutter, get organized, marie kondo, martha stewart, paperwork organizing tips, professional organizer

Professional-Organizer

Declutter the Kids Room

Post author By Bella Organizing
Post date December 17, 2016

declutter

to remove mess or clutter from (a place)
to organize and prioritize (one’s commitments, material possessions, etc.)
to let it go

I work with parents every week to tackle clutter in the kids room and around the house. Some parents have rules for a dedicated toy storage space, such as the kids room or playroom, but most homes I visit have a naturally evolving system of everything everywhere… toys, books, shoes, backpacks in the living room, on the kitchen table, under mom and dad’s bedsheets. I’ve seen it all…

A little before we get started:

Why does the kid stuff get out of control? Common answers:

Parents plan to have another child soon and want to save everything to reuse (makes total sense!)
Parents want the most for their kids
Grandma wants the most for the grandkids
Friends of the parents want the most for their friend’s kids

Everybody is so giving!

There comes a point when enough is enough…

How much is too much with toys, books, clothing, artwork, and memorabilia? The answer lies within YOU, parent or guardian. Here’s a hint: the less there is, the less you have to clean up, sort through, put into storage, and the easier it will be to find things.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the kids simply picked up after themselves?

Unfortunately the littles can only do so much on their own.

Helen Neville, a pediatric advice nurse at Kaiser Permanente for 35 years, gave an Ages and Stages in Early Childhood Development workshop that brings things to light. She specializes in inborn temperament and authors Is this a Phase? Child Development, Parent Strategies Birth to 6 Years, and other books on temperament, sleep, and potty training.

Q&A with Helen Neville

Question: At what age is it best to help kids clean their room?

Answer: Clean up with them ages 2-5. You have to help and make it fun and interesting.

Question: At what point is it easier to get kids to give up toys without being hurt by it?

Answer: 3-5 year olds forget what’s important to them, which can include toys. A 2-year old won’t care to lose toys, a 6-year old may start to miss them.

Grab the kids! It’s time to get their room in order.

Step One

When working with a child to declutter toys and books, tell them about places they can donate to kids in need, such as to homeless shelters and toy drives. Pick a place to donate together and follow through with it. ‘Tis always the season to give give give away!
Tackle clutter with the kids for as long as their attention can be held, they are having fun, and being productive with you.
Kids (as do adults) can get overwhelmed by choice. Allow them to make decisions on what to keep and what to donate for only a few things at a time. When their interest starts to wane…

Step Two

Set them free! Don’t get frustrated. It’s up to you, parent or guardian, to continue sorting, decluttering, and putting things away.
Put excess toys into labeled bins and store in the garage for 3 months. What the child remembers and asks for, bring out. What they forget, donate.

Tackle kids clutter on a regular basis. Downsize a little at a time together and instill great habits in everyone. Do not give up. Your kids clutter is your clutter. Set a regular schedule, find balance with the amount of stuff you are willing buy/accept/store/donate, and turn challenges into successes.

Prevent and Take Action on Toy Clutter

At your child’s next birthday party, make a themed gift donation box that everyone attending knows about in advance. Gifts received will go directly to charity, such as school supplies to a classroom in need.
What we hold off as a reward can be what kids are motivated toward. Find creative ways to get your child to let go of excess toys often, such as making it a house agreement during the weekly family meeting to only allow in a new toy or book if one or two goes out.

Tags Bella Organizing, declutter, decluttering, downsize, early childhood development, helen neville, kids room, kids room organizing, marie kondo, martha stewart, minimalize, professional organizer