Heading Back to Work with Covid-19

We are excited to say that we are starting to get back to providing in-home services with a few new practices in place given the need to manage health concerns around Covid-19. If you are considering having work completed in our home, outlined below are the things that we will be doing each working session.

During each working session, we will…

• Not take public transportation

• Wear masks during the entire session

• Use disposable gloves or wash/sanitize our hands at least once an hour  

• Clean “high touch” areas in our work space upon arriving and before departing including door knobs, door handles, light switches, faucets, etc. 

• Open windows, if possible, to keep air moving 

And, we ask that clients maintain a distance of 6-feet when possible and wear a mask which we can provide if preferred. 

Lastly, cancellation fees won’t apply to appointments that are impacted due to illness. We will gladly reschedule the work session to another mutually agreeable day.

Happy Organizing!

Designing a Closet That Will Grow with Your Children

To be a parent is to embrace a life of constant change. Your lifestyle changes. Your home changes. Your bank account changes. And, most importantly, you baby changes and in the blink of an eye they grow out of clothing, shoes, toys, books, furniture, cribs… And, you may ask yourself - is can anything last for more than a few months or even years? The answer is yes – closets.  

Many clients ask us to help them organize their baby’s room and often that includes designing or re-designing closets that can grow along with their children and accommodate their ever-changing needs. If this sounds familiar, read on for some of our best tips for creating a closet that will last through the ages.

1. Stacking on the Shelves: Add a lot of shelving to house all of the diaper supplies and folded clothing. Make sure that the shelves are fully adjustable shelving to allow maximum flexibility. And, when it comes to organizing shelves consider adding some bins to help contain smaller items and keep the space clutter-free. 

2. Make it a Double…Rod: Babies have very little need for hanging space since most of their clothing can be folded and it easily fits in drawers and in bins on shelving. By the toddler years, it is typically helpful to have one low hanging rod to hang items and make things more accessible for little hands. Then, over time you can create more hanging space with a double rod by just removing some shelving and adding an additional upper bar. 

3. Digging Drawers: Drawers in a closet may seem like a luxury but it can be worth the investment as it can replace the need for a dresser down the road. This can free up space in the bedroom for different furniture configurations, toy storage and school desks as they get older. When deciding on the drawer sizes, add at least 2-3 four-inch drawers for smaller items and then a few deeper drawers to house bigger items. If you aren’t sure how deep you need them try folding some items and measuring them so you can be sure of the actual depth needed. 

4. Shelves to Spare: Be sure to include a few extra shelves near the floor for shoes. This will free up floor space, help keep the closet tidy and maybe even allow some extra room for a freestanding laundry hamper to fit larger toys that don’t fit into smaller bins. 

5. Hook it Up: Hooks are a great way to clear floors as they can be used for almost everything from school backpacks and helmets to sports uniforms and robes. If space allows, consider adding two rows (a low one and high one) to maximize space and to let your little one help hang up things up too. 

Hopefully, these tips are helpful when it comes to designing your next closet…now, if only it was as easy to teach our little ones to put their items away in their closets.

Happy Organizing!

For examples of some of our closet designs, click here.

Our Services: Home Staging

Our projects aren’t always about unpacking boxes and setting up new systems, designing or redesigning closets or even decluttering spaces to make them more livable. Sometimes our job is to help stage a home so it is ready to go on the market. However, unlike typical home stagers, we don’t bring in all new furniture and “re-do” the house.

Instead, we declutter the house to show off the best features and use what the home owners already have to make the space look as marketable as possible to potential buyers. This is a more cost effective way to get the house ready and can actually help set the stage for a smoother transition if the owners are willing to focus on decluttering the space of unwanted and unused items.

The basic DIY package involves an in-person meeting - typically about an hour long. We walk-through the home and see what needs to be done to get it ready and a follow-up document recapping our notes from the visit – your homework so to speak.

Sometimes it is as easy as swapping or adding lights to a room and rearranging closets but other times the process can involve a partial move out of the house with excess furniture and items that are cluttering the home but need to be kept. And, the work doesn’t have to be completed alone, we can always come in and help make the shifts required to make the house stand out in the market.

Happy Organizing!

Setting up a Desk for Your Kid

We recently had a client ask us to help set up a desk for her 7-year old son. He wanted a spot of his own to sit and work on his projects and we were more than excited to help out.

We found a desk that fit with the aesthetic of the room from Land of Nod and then started the process of organizing the space. In this case, since our client's son doesn’t have a lot of homework yet, we hung up some cork boards behind the desk to display his art, reminders and memorabilia and we put his craft supplies within easy reach. A divided Lazy Susan creates an instant art supply bin than is portable and simple for small hands to carry and use. We also added simple stackable paper trays on top of the desk which create a drop zone for loose sheets and art projects.

Then, we put small trays inside the desk drawers to keep items such as pencils, tape, scissors and small notebooks neat and tidy. Our trick for helping kids remember where things should be placed is to add clear labels inside each of the bins and then they can easily retrieve them again before their next project. 

If you are looking for more ideas on how to set up a homework station/desk for your family, check out our post on the topic - How To Create The Ultimate Homework Station - from last fall that posted on What Moms Love.

Our Favorite Organizing Products for Small Space Living (Part 2)

We love the challenge of organizing whether in big or small spaces. There is nothing more satisfying that coming up with a solution that works for the space and the client and makes their life better.  But the unsung hero of any job are the products that make it all possible so without further ado, here are a few of our recent favorites. Read on and happy organizing!

StickOnPods

These self-adhesive pods are great for making the most of small cabinets without a lot of shelf space. 

Huggable Hangers

Slim line huggable hangers make a big difference when you are trying to fit more clothing into a smaller closet. And, if you do make the switch, you get the added benefit of having your closet look more organized since your eye isn't distracted by different types of hangers. 

Lazy Susan

Lazy Susan's are helpful in any tight space where accessibility is an issue so don't feel like you can only use this in the kitchen - take it into the bathroom, playroom or really any place in the home were it can make a difference. 

Undershelf Baskets 

Undershelf baskets are a great tool for maximizing cabinet space and can be used for almost anything from hand towels to mugs and even hair tools if you use it in the bathroom. 

If you are looking for more small space living tips and product recommendations, please check out our other posts on the topic here, here and here. 

Before & After: NYC Kitchen Pantry

By Annie Draddy and Michelle Hale 

We just finished up a kitchen pantry organizing project. First thoughts......you have a pantry in NYC? We cannot wait to see it! The space was fantastic and really just needed shifting and resorting so items can be accessible. When organizing kitchens, we feel it easiest to group products by types. This particular client likes to bake a lot with children so we centralized all of the ingredients on lower shelves. 

BEFORE:

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IN PROGRESS:

AFTER: 

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BAKING SECTION:

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When working with deep shelves, we like to utilize clear container bins and vertical storage. It is easier to see items displayed. By putting the baking ingredients on a low shelf with bins, it is easier for kids to reach in to pull items out and maintain the organization long after we leave.