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Recently, we marked the 2 year anniversary of my Mom’s passing. She was diagnosed with liver cancer in November of 2009 and died exactly 3 months later in February of 2010. In the time that has passed, I can’t say it has gotten easier, but maybe a little less raw.

Since then, we had our first child, which would have been her first Grandson. It has been tough knowing how much she would have enjoyed watching him grow and I can honestly say that not a single day goes by that I don’t think of her and wish she was here.

It has also made me think about my job a lot, as I come across this scenario so often with my clients. They are dealing with either an illness or loss that has prevented them from keeping up with their regular routine. Often they are dealing with their own clutter or, in some cases, clutter from a loved one and the uncertainty of what to do with it.

There is nothing more difficult for some people than letting go of things either gifted or bequeathed to us from loved ones. We feel it is our duty to hold these items sacred. We feel appalled at the idea of throwing away or giving away items that were once held dear by our friends or family members that are no longer with us.

And then, as I sat in the audience when Organizing Master Peter Walsh came to visit us, he said something that resonated very deeply with me:

“No one who has loved you wants you to feel a stranglehold from the other side.”

In other words, our loved ones would never want us to feel captive to their things, as that’s not what really matters and that is honestly not where the memories of them lie. It is in our hearts and the way they treated others and what their passing has taught us.

But that also doesn’t mean that everything has got to go. Choose 5 items, 5 wonderful treasures from the person that meant a lot to you and frame or display them. If they had a favourite shirt, cut a piece from the material. If they had a favourite book, frame the cover. Do what you can to honour them in a way that brings happy and peaceful memories.

I love photos and have begun filling my house with them, as I find that is my favourite way to honour to my Mom. She was all about her family, so filling our home with not only pictures of her but our family brings me great joy. Here is one of my favourites – it was taken the day after my husband and I were married in Maui and the joy in her smile brings me peace.

For all of you out there struggling with loss, I hope you can find a way to let go of some of the things and find a way to honour your friend or family member in a beautiful and peaceful way.

I used to tell my clients, “Just take 5 or 10 minutes every day to do a little bit of organizing and you’ll be able to keep on top of it.” And then I had a baby  And I haven’t had 5 free minutes ever since.

Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but even when you have what feels like free time you’re so busy just keeping up with day to day tasks, it feels impossible to tackle anything more than that. So, to all those that have come before me, let me say, I get it. (And, to any new Moms on here, ignore this post.  Please stop reading, just go lie down and come back when the baby is 1.)

However, for all of those on the other side of baby’s first year, the fog has started to lift. Things are returning somewhat back to normal, and you may now find yourself with those 5 or 10 free minutes. Well, maybe they’re not necessarily ‘free’ (it never is when you’re a parent), but you may be able to find a tiny bit of room in your day to make a dent in the clutter. But, now the question is “Where do I start?”

For today, let’s just focus on what I like to call a “Top Level Purge”. This is often a task I’ll give my clients for homework (if they want some) or what we will often do in a larger area so we can see results more quickly. Below is a Before & After of one such room that we did this in:

As you can see, there was a lot of miscellaneous items to go through so before we even thought about containers or what to do with the room, we walked around and purged the larger and more obvious items, making the sorting and organizing process that much easier.

To start your Top Level Purge, pick a room (or even just a certain space in a room like a closet or even a drawer) and quickly go through it and get rid of anything you know is donate, garbage or recycle.  If you get stuck on making a decision, move on.  We only have 5 minutes so we want to make the most of it.

If you can manage to do this, even a couple of times a week, you’ll rid yourself of unwanted items and excess clutter, clearing the way to make a larger scale organizing project that much easier.

But for now, go!  Take that extra five minutes and do a bit of “Top Level Purging” and let me know how it goes!

One of the most important things I wanted to do before baby arrived was cross off some of those long-standing ‘to-do’ items. They consisted mainly of things that I wanted to do but weren’t pressing like hanging curtains, changing out a light fixture and hanging pictures.

When it came to hanging pictures, I had bought a bunch of frames from Ikea over a year ago, but had yet to get them hung. I wanted to do a picture wall grouping and was not looking forward to how long it would take me to figure everything out. But then a friend who works in design gave me the best advice for hanging them and I wanted to share it with you! Some of you will likely be familiar with this technique, but I had never heard about it and thought it was fantastic – it easily saved me a couple of hours of work and, more importantly, frustration!

Basically, the best way to do a wall grouping is to start with a large sheet of paper. Place your frames on the paper in the layout that you want to use, then trace their outlines.

Next, tape the paper to the wall where you want to hang the items. I was able to easily measure out where the middle of the wall was and used a level to ensure the paper was straight.

From there, hammer the nails directly into the wall through the paper. Be sure to note where on the frames the nails will sit. If you’re using wire to hang them, make sure you take note of where the string will sit once the nails are in.

Once all of the nails are in, pull the paper off the wall and hang your photos!

It was so simple and easy and took less than half an hour from start to finish! And, because I saved so much time on this project, I was able to tackle even more items on my to-do list! It also meant one less thing for my husband to do, so I could put him to work elsewhere 😉

Always remember that organizing isn’t always about clearing the clutter – sometimes it’s about ridding yourself of the weight of unfinished projects, whether it’s finally completing them or, in some cases, just letting them go.

For the past three weeks, I have been preoccupied with one thought – “I have to get this house organized before the baby gets here!”. I would say this is nesting but, considering my profession, it’s really just an excuse to organize.

But organizing for baby has been a bit different. It’s not just about making sure things are purged and sorted, it’s about finding space and re-thinking certain areas to make sure there is room for a new person to move into.

I see this often with my clients. They have one child, then another, but fail to consider that, with the addition of these new people, no matter how small they may be at first, it requires you to look at your home differently and make sure you’re opening a space for them. And I’m not really talking about toys and baby items. I’m talking about the day-to-day spaces like closets and pantries.

With that said, I broke down our home into different areas that needed to be re-evaluated. My starting point was the hub of most houses, the kitchen and, from there, I broke it down even further into the following categories with the expectation that I would tackle one of these areas every couple of days:

a) Pantry
b) Under the sink
c) Cupboards
d) Phone nook/Utility drawer
e) Fridge

The pantry was probably my biggest accomplishment. I purged unwanted or expired items, donated food that we weren’t going to use and then labelled everything, including the shelving.

When I was finished, I had created a large empty space that is now ready for baby!

In the other ares of the kitchen, my main focus was looking at our current spaces and how I could adjust them for baby once he got a bit older.  We will eventually need room for toddlers dishes, cups, etc so I kept that in mind as I was reorganizing and sorting.  So, although I didn’t clear out a cupboard for this (I’m organized, but hey, the baby isn’t even here yet), I did consider what space would be ideal for them and where I could make adjustments.

It’s important to remember that one of the vital elements to organizing isn’t getting the right bins or even throwing a ton of stuff away. It’s about re-evaluating spaces and seeing them with a fresh eye and using that insight to make adjustments that make sense for you here and now. Just because something worked for you 5 years ago, doesn’t mean it applies to your needs now. Lifestyle and priorities change and it’s important to make adjustments as that happens. And, if you can’t do it on your own, call in someone who can help! Friends, Professional Organizers, family – whatever you need to feel like you’re making the most of your space and ensuring that you’re home is the sanctuary that it needs to be.

Back to School: The Best Tips on Getting You & Your Family Prepared

As the kids head back to school, it can be a hectic time, trying to get everything prepared. Although overall home organization is the key to keeping things under control throughout the school year, there are also some great tips and tricks you can use to make things easier.

After speaking with dozens of parents, we compiled a list of some of the best ways to get and stay organized throughout the school year!

Tip #1: Take Inventory & Make a List… Before Hitting the Stores

Like any large shopping trips, taking a list ensures that, not only do you remember everything you do need, but it prevents you from buying what you don’t. So, before hitting the stores, see what items you already have lots of and others that you need to buy new. Do this a few days before shopping and add to it as you think of things.

Tip #2: Color Coding

By having each child pick their items in the same color, it’s easier for you, and more importantly, for them, to know exactly which items belong to who.

Tip #3: Supplies Drawer

Purchasing some school items in bulk can be a time & money saving venture. In that case, hold onto the excess and have the kids grab them as they run out (or lose them). Pick one drawer in the house that they know is for them and organize specific supplies that they’ll likely need; pens, pencils, erasers, rulers, pencil sharpeners, etc.

Tip #4: Family Activities Calendar

With so much going on, you’ll want to create a home base where everyone can see what’s happening at a glance. A large wall calendar is ideal. Or, depending on the number of kids and activities, you may want to have 2; one for on-going events and another for one-off appointments like the doctor or dentist. If your family is a bit older, you can consider doing this on a shared electronic calendar.

Memory Box/Photo Books

As every parent knows, kids come home with a ton a papers and projects throughout the school year. It can be a bit tough to decide on what to keep and what to throw away during the year so we suggest keeping an on-going bin of school projects. Then, at the end of the year, you or child can sit down and decide which projects to keep and what to get rid of. For large projects that don’t fit well into a storage bin, consider taking pictures of them and storing those.

You can also consider doing away with hard copies all together and taking pictures of all of their items throughout the school year and then making a photo book to capture the entire year’s memories. This is great way to preserve favourite projects without taking up a ton of real estate in your home. It also eliminates having to pare down so much, as you can take as many photos as you’d like.

Tip #6: Don’t Blow Your Budget in August

Throughout the year, kids will require specialty items for projects, replacement gear and, likely different sized clothing as they go through growth spurts. Budget accordingly so that you can purchase these items down the road.

In addition to that idea, at the beginning of each school year, take a picture of each child with the date and the grade they’re going into. That will help you sort through items later and keep everything with the correct school year.

I’ve worked with several clients recently who have the best of intentions when it comes to preserving their children’s memories but, in practice, it’s hard to keep up. You know, that pesky thing called ‘life’ always seems to get in the way.

But I do believe it important to find a way to take care of the projects, paintings and awards that matter most – not just to your children, but to you. For this reason, I recommend that everyone keep a Memory Bin.

First off, if you’re doing one for your children, decide up front how much physical space your children’s memories will take up. I tend to recommend 1 medium sized bin for school and extracurricular activities and perhaps another bin to preserve favourite childhood toys and books that they might like to pass down to their children one day.

Once you’ve determined the size of memory space, the ideal way is to preserve your children’s school work in chronological order. Because children’s work is often larger than regular sized paper, use a large butterfly clip to secure the years together. You can lay the paper flat in the bin and add to it as the years go by.

So, now the big question…. how do I know what to keep?? In order to ensure you’re keeping the ‘best of the best’, keep 1 years worth of school and artwork in a separate bin that is easily accessible. Then, when school is out for the year, quickly sort through it and pick the best examples of what your child accomplished that year; A test they studied really hard on, a piece of artwork about your family, their report card, etc. Always keeping in mind that whatever you keep has to fit within your memory bin. The more you keep from one year, the less you may be able to keep from another, so be selective.

(If you’ve got years worth of memories piled up and very little spare time on your hands, don’t worry about sorting chronologically for now. Just make sure the best of the best is preserved in a bin for them and move on. Better yet, if they’re old enough, have them do up their own bins!)

Another big question I get… cards. Should you keep them? Cards are definitely an item that a lot of people have trouble parting with. My own personal philosophy? I heard once about the 5 week, 5 month and 5 year rule, which I use often when deciding what to keep and what not to keep. The question you need to ask yourself is “Will this matter to me in 5 weeks? 5 months? 5 years?” When it comes to cards, they are likely to feel special 5 weeks from now, less so 5 months from now and really 5 years from now? Using this rule should eliminate keeping 95% of the cards that you receive. And don’t feel guilty. The person who sent you that card is never going to ask “What happened to that card I sent you with pictures of my kids when they were 3. Do you still have it?”

And last but not least, don’t forget a Memory Bin for yourself!  You can keep special notes from your kids, your first business card (but just ONE will do), achievements, your own childhood memories, etc.

A Memory Bin is not just a way to keep memories – it’s also a great way to share the story of who a person is and what mattered most to them. So take the time to make sure that the bins of yourself and your family are truly reflective of the type of person that they are or will become.

How about you? Pro or Con Memory Bin? Share your thoughts below!