How do you Organize your books?

by , on
Jan 19, 2022

Hello Everyone, Angie from Architecturally Organized here.

How has your January been? Have you been joining in on GO Month?? It has been a lot of fun!!! One thing that is NOT listed on the Go Month Printable – is organizing your books/library!!

Are you an avid reader??? Do you have a favorite genre? Or do you read anything and everything? 

I think I fell in love with reading in about 4th or 5th grade… Started out with R.L. Stine Fear Street books (I still have a collection of them!!) which were cheesy scary stories… from there – I moved on to Dean Koontz (I collect all his books – in his name – as well as in his other pen names) – again, more scary stories – but for adults instead of tweens.  I also collect Nicholas Sparks books.  I was in 10th or 11th grade when my cousin lent me “Message in a bottle” to read… I tell you – I have NEVER cried so hard from a book or movie or anything in my life.  I bawled.  Seriously!!  

Typically I do not save books.  I like to share them and pass them on.  In my family my grandmother tends to buy books at the local goodwill.  After she reads them she sets them aside… Once she has a good little pile they get passed along either to my mom or to me… and then we pass it on… eventually the bag gets back to gram and she gives them back to goodwill.

I have friends and clients who will collect and keep every book they have ever touched and on the other hand I know some people that do not hold on to any books….  There is a wide divide when it comes to keeping books.

For those that do keep books – storing them, showcasing them, organizing them… there are so many ways to do all of those things…. As always – the trick is finding out which way works best for you (you are going to hear me say that way too many times – FYI).

Are you a visual person? Organizing your books by their visual presentation may be the best way for you to keep track of your books…. How would you visually organize your books? Try:

Hard Cover vs Soft Cover

By Color

By Stacking books

Arrange by height and size

Separate and display your favorite books

Separate books you haven’t read

That is just a few ways that you can organize your books in a way to visually have separation or distinction between the books…. For those of you who are more analytical…. You may want a more systematic approach.  Try:

Organize by Genre or topic

Alphabetically by Title

Alphabetically By Author

Chronological order

Fiction vs nonfiction

There are numerous ways that you can organize your books… try a few out and see what works best for you.  Personally – I…well … I use a couple methods… I separate by Author…. Then I put them in chronological order from that Author.  I do that with the few authors that I collect.  All other books are grouped by Genre… and then I have a few of my favorite books stacked together….. This works for me.  If I am looking for a book I will find it very easily with my method.  You may find this bizarre and prefer to keep your books in color order.  This is also great! There is no wrong way – only the right way for you!!

Well… that’s it for now!! Stay warm and I’ll talk to you later!!

A time for Giving….

by , on
Nov 17, 2021

Hello Everyone, Angie from Architecturally Organized here.

I hope you all are enjoying the Fall weather and are cozied up in sweaters and cups of hot cocoa!! I know I am!! We just got a new Keurig recently and I had to go out and buy flavor syrups for it, so now I can add raspberry or salted caramel to my hot cocoa and it tastes better than the cocoa I get from Wawa!! I am excited about this – can you tell?!?!

Once Halloween is over everything else seems to just zoom past!! It is November!!! Already!!! Ya know time is flying by and Thanksgiving is almost here! Are you ready for Thanksgiving? Have you settled on a menu? Do you go Black Friday shopping, and if so – do you have your shopping list/must haves straightened out?

I have never been a big Black Friday shopping – I don’t like the crowds – or the horror stories of people ripping items from each other’s hands… no thank you, I will pass!! In all reality – I do not know if those horror stories are actually true – But I don’t want to find out lol.

That being said… with all the shopping and eating and craziness during the holidays… Do you ever just stop and take the time to think about the past year and what has happened during it – the good and the bad? A lot of people “give thanks” at Thanksgiving, you know what I am talking about, you see it in cheesy lifetime movies…the scenes of family and friends, together, sitting around their table and taking the time to share with each other what they are thankful for – their health, their family.. Etc. Does your family do this? How often do you give thanks and appreciate what you have in your life?

I like to think that I am thankful all year long, that I show gratitude often… But it makes me wonder – is it enough? I like to think I always tell friends/family/and total strangers that I appreciate them and/or something they have done…. But is there anything else we can do this time of year?? Well why not take some time to Give.

I know this is the season to give thanks… and presents… but instead of spending money – is there anything else you can give?

November 30th is all about a Day of Giving… Taking the time to give of yourself to others. Your time, your patience, your heart…. So many ways to help give. Donate some clothes or canned goods to a shelter, donate your time at a soup kitchen.

Just some food for thought… I hope everyone has a Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving!!
Stay warm, and I’ll talk to you later!

Halloweenie time

by , on
Oct 19, 2021
You need to add a widget, row, or prebuilt layout before you’ll see anything here. 🙂

Hello Everyone, Angie from Architecturally Organized here. 

So… it’s October!!

I figured it would be fun to talk about Halloween instead of organizing… who can think of organizing when you can be busy thinking about what your halloween costume is going to be… what kind of candy you need to buy…. How are you going to hang that spider from the ceiling?!?! Right??  I know it is silly.. But I love Halloween… I don’t go all out like some people do… but I have a few spiders and skulls laying around my house… 

Once October hits I throw up my Halloweenie decorations and start buying candy on a weekly basis.. I also sit and watch all the silly and scary halloween movies I can find.  October happens to be “Halloween Safety Month”  which – I didn’t realize they had such a thing, and at the same time it does not surprise me.  I read about numerous “safety” recommendations and thought the world might be going a bit overboard with things… think: reflective costumes, fire-retardant costumes, and masks that you can see in… and the only thing I can think of is how my costumes were always hand made and used from things we have around the house…. Aside from a few things we needed to purchase to tie it all together… I remember the masks that you couldn’t breathe in or see out of…and, well… we’ll just say things were A LOT different back then than they are now!!!  

As far as Halloween Trick or Treating safety goes… I think a lot of it is common sense… Go in groups, Don’t walk in the middle of the road (it’s dark out there!), stay away from sketchy looking houses (again-go in groups-less likely to have a whole group abducted then just one right?!?!),  Have a check in time set up to see or talk to your kids and find out where they are and who they are with, if you’re driving around on Halloween – keep your eyes on the road-remember kids don’t always pay attention and tend to run out into streets (don’t run over a ghost or goblin!!)

If you aren’t trick or treating – and you plan on handing out candy instead… Well, now is the time to clean up your front porch/stoop (this might entail a little bit of organizing!!).  Turn on an outdoor light if needed….Trim back any hedges, sweep away any rubble and rock… make it easy for everyone to access your front door!

I know some people will leave a bowl outside for everyone to take what they want – well that is not my style.. I love seeing everyone (kids and adults) in their costumes!! I always make sure to have my bowl by the door ready to give out the candy!! Unfortunately, we do not get many trick or treaters up our way!

So now, please tell me about your Halloween traditions! 

What were your favorite costumes?? As a kid and as an adult?? As a kid – my favorite costume was a gypsy that my mom set up… I had an old jean dress of hers with some sort of top over it… We used my guinea pig clear plastic travel ball (which we cleaned first) and covered it in tin foil to be my magic ball…. As an adult…  I reuse costumes… and kind of rotate them… Peggy Bundy has always been my favorite!!!

Lastly – what is your favorite Halloween Candy?? I have a poll below for you to vote on your favorite!! If your favorite isn’t listed please comment and tell me what it is along with your favorite Halloween costume/tradition!!

Get Organized Week

by , on
Oct 1, 2021

Hello Everyone, Angie from Architecturally Organized here. 

Sunday October 3rd kicks off “Get Organized Week” aka GO Week!!  Not to be confused with Get Organized Month -which is held in January (which is sponsored by NAPO). Go Week has been around since the early 90’s!  It is a week-long event to help everyone stay organized (Sunday Oct 3-Saturday Oct 9th)!! Why am I just learning that this is a thing? That’s another “new thing” for me that I learned this week!!! (Sidebar/Sidetrack  – the other new thing I learned this week –  I just posted on Tiktok about it – I love the Doors (band) and now that we are getting into the halloweenie spirit I like to watch movies to put me in the mood – So I watched Death Becomes Her… and saw a clip when Bruce Willis falls in the pool – well they have Jim Morrison standing there about to get in the pool… How did I never notice that it was supposed to be Jim standing there?!?! I was dumb founded!). 

Anyways – So here we are – This starts the busy time.  We just had a birthday-the fellows oldest just turned 17, his youngest is about to be 14, I will be…. Hush your mouth!!! But I will be turning another year older…Christmas shopping will begin soon (I start early and buy little stuff here and there throughout the year-but now comes the times for christmas lists and the heavy hitters), Halloween and trick or treating will be here … then you go to bed and wake up and it’s time for Thanksgiving and then you blink and it’s Christmas…. So… let’s get ready for all that! Let’s get organized and prepared for all the fun that is in store for the next few months….

So – being that this coming week is GO Week I have a few small projects for you to attack… to help you be organized and on your toes for the holidays ahead and the new year to follow!!  These small projects.. Well.. they are things that you don’t normally think about… they just get tossed to the side because it’s stuff that you think really isn’t too important…But…when you need something from them… you are usually scrambling trying to find the info/item.  These are mostly quick projects that won’t take too long.  I have 7 listed – one for each day of GO Week!!  

  1. Organize your contact list.
    Yes it is a silly thing and it may not be the most exciting… but make sure you have up to date addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, birthdays, anniversaries, etc for your friends and family. And – if you don’t already do this – give your contact list a boost by adding notes by the contacts – things they are into, possible gift ideas for future reference! This will help out when the time comes for gift giving and card sending!

  2. Organize Christmas wrapping and tags.
    Go through all of your gift bags, wrapping paper, and tags.  Take an inventory of what you have and how much.  If you can – hold out till after the holidays to buy any new items (things will go on sale and be cheaper and then you’ll be ready for the next year), if you have to buy stuff-don’t go overboard – just get what you need and wait till after the holidays so you can restock while its on sale!!

  3. Organize your holiday decor!
    Hear me out -You don’t have to get nitty gritty with this (unless you want to of course), for now – just macro organizing…. This is me assuming that you already have everything organized into separate containers for the holidays… Now is when you take the time to just pull out those containers… maybe pop the lid off and take a peek inside.  Make sure that the label and content match….lastly.. Like with like…make sure all the Christmas boxes are together, all the Easter containers are stored together..etc Now – when you put them back in their storage locations – put them back in a way that makes it easy for you to grab what you need when you need it… Just think – when December comes and you have to pull out the decorations they will be all ready for you and you will be glad you did this!!
  4. Organize (and clean) your refrigerator.
    Seriously!! The holidays are just around the corner!!!! Empty this baby out!!! You need to make room in here for all the yummy leftovers and pumpkin pies and stuffing.. And I can go on and on.  Clean it out – it will make you feel better!!

  5. Organize your Baking Pantry.
    Again – Seriously… (OK – Seriously I have been watching too much of Grey’s Anatomy-this is my first time binge watching it and they say Seriously A LOT!!) If you do a lot of cooking and baking for the Holidays you will want this purged, organized and want to have a good understanding of what baking essentials you have on hand – and what you need to buy for the upcoming festivities!!

  6. Organize your Food Storage containers.
    Will you be hosting any Holiday Dinners this year?  Well – even if you aren’t – take the time to go through your food storage containers.  Make sure they all have lids and that the lids close properly.  Depending on how much space – store them with the lids on or with them off.  Toss away containers that are cracking.  And Don’t forget to set some aside for friends and family to take leftovers home with them after your gathering!!

  7. Organize your planner/calendar/to do list.
    Everybody needs to have a good grasp of the days, weeks, and months this time of year.  Make note of what days the holidays land, When kids will be out of school, what days you have off from work, When trick or treating is, when you are celebrating with family outside your home.  Plan out when you will start your holiday baking.  When will you finish up your Christmas shopping? When will you start wrapping presents?  All things to just jot down and ya know – kind of get a grasp on things because… well, if you thought this year went by fast… well the next few months will fly by in the blink of an eye!!

So there you go – a week’s worth of projects that: 

  1. A) won’t take an enormous amount of time. 
  2. B) will help you out in the long run.  
  3. C) are small and won’t overwhelm you.

These projects are not exactly glamorous, but by tackling these projects it will allow you to make the most of your time when the holidays do arrive!!

What are some goals or “to do’s” that you set for yourself before the holidays?

September is National Save your Photos Month

by , on
Sep 25, 2021

Hello Everyone, Angie from Architecturally Organized here.  

Did you know that September is National Save your Photos Month?

How often do you sort through your photos and save them?  I do not do this enough and figure I need to get a better system in gear.  My current system …. Would consist of me taking a ton of photos on my phone or my “good” camera – printing out the pics I want – and then uploading them all to Amazon Photos.  Sometimes I will put them into albums….but that’s about it… I should be ashamed of myself lol.

I have a few old photos from when I was little… and some from before my time… pics of my grandfather and my nunny that I would like to preserve. I would be devastated if I lost them in a flood/fire/natural disaster.  Figure – I try to organize everything else around me.. Why haven’t I completed organizing my photos??  I don’t know the answer to that.  But since It is “Save your Photos Month” I figured now is as good of a time as any to try and sort through, organize, and back up my hard copy and digital photos!! Join along!!

My first steps…
Finding any and all albums and removing the photos.  I will sort these photos into a few different piles.  

The first pile – which hopefully is the largest – is my TOSS Pile. Any blurry photos or duplicate photos I have will go in this pile.  Any Photos that I look at for more than a second and really have to sit and think about what was special about the photo – it goes in the Toss pile.  Now my Toss pile is a 2 part pile – because as I am sorting through the duplicates – if there are pictures of friends/family who I think would love to have the picture – I will set it aside for them.

The second pile  – This pile is going to be the Best photos out of the Albums.  These are the photos that went into that album with loving care.  These are the photos that I would be extremely sad if I lost them.  These are the photos that I need to make sure I scan to archive them!!!!  

This second pile I will have a hard time with.  I take way too many photos.  I take even more scenic photos when we go on trips.  This is where I need to learn to knock it off, and really just to keep the best scenic shot, not all 150 of them!!  You do not need 300 photos of the Gulf of Maine!!!!!

The third pile – These are for the photos that aren’t trash… but they are not your absolute favorite either, yet you can’t bear to toss them.  These are photos that help support your second pile memories.  These photos probably won’t get scanned in for archiving.

The fourth Pile is for leftover photos that, well it may not be of a specific friend or family member or family vacation – but it is a memory from a moment in time that leaves you laughing (or crying) at the thought of it.  These are odd photos that have a lot of meaning behind them.  These are photos that we will scan and archive!!

The fifth pile  – welcome to the unknown!!! This is the fun pile….  These are the photos of friends or family that you have no idea who it is.   That sounds horrible, but in all seriousness – in life you end up with photos of the unknown. So what do you do? You take some time to visit your mom and/or dad.. Your siblings… your grandparents or great aunt.. And  go through the photos with them.  They may remember that photo – and say o ya, that is a picture of your older cousin Joey when he was a baby.  Take a walk down memory lane!!

The next steps..
Making the piles is mostly the easy part.  The next steps are a bit more laborious…. and time consuming…. and thought inducing… Now we scan and Organize!!!

Scanning – now if you have a scanner, you can do this yourself (like I said – Laborious and time consuming!!!) or you can send them out to have them scanned (FYI Architecturally Organized performs this service). When scanning make sure you wipe away any dust or debri that might be on the photo.  Now is also the time to understand how you will be organizing the photos so that you can save the document correctly.

Should you organize them by date? By Theme? By family? There are numerous ways that you can save the files, the key is finding the best way that works for you.  I like to save them in chronological order.  Now sometimes I will just have the date of the year for a group of photos and sometimes I will have months and days too – I try not to get too picky about it so long as I have them within the right year.  A bonus of doing it chronologically is that it creates a timeline of you and your family’s life.

Organizing via events is easier sometimes as all the christmas photos are in a pile, it is often easier to identify the photos and tagging them and using keywords are easier as well.  Tagging and keywords… that is a BIG thing here.  Try to save as much information to the photo as you can: Dates, Names, Locations, etc.  You want to make these photos easy to find and search for when looking for them!

So what do I do with all the hard copy photos? You can put them back in an album or put them in a box made for photos.  And you make sure to back up all of your digital photos (be it the cloud or a hard drive). Lastly – you make it a habit!! If you do it on a regular basis you won’t be blasted with a ton of pictures to organize and it will make it easier!!

By organizing your photos you are helping yourself and your family out for the future.  Think of all the great photo gifts you can send out, think of the future when your great grandkids are looking through albums and they will know who they are looking at because the photos are so well documented – OK I know I am getting a little cheesy here – but come on.. It’s true!

I hope this was helpful!

Theoretical Thursday – Strength – Utility – Beauty

by , on
Sep 16, 2021

Happy Thursday everyone!! Welcome back to Theoretical Thursday!!
Theoretical Thursdays are the days that we will be talking about Architecture, Organizing and the many different components, connections, traits/etc that Architecture and Organizing have in common.

Last time we discussed Hierarchy, Circulation, and total area. This week’s post we will focus on Strength, Utility and Beauty. I am sure most of you are familiar with Leonardo da Vinci… he was a great…well everything. He was an artist, an architect, an engineer, a sculptor-he was everything. Some of his well known pieces are: The Last Supper, Mona Lisa, and the Vitruvian Man to name a few.

I want to focus on the Vitruvian Man. This man is said to be perfectly proportioned. He is the outcome of Leonardo following the principles of Vitruvius. Vitruvius may not be as well known to some as Leonardo is – hence starting with Leonardo. Vitruvious was an engineer, architect, and author. Firmitas, Utilitas, and Venustas (“strength”, “utility”, and “beauty”). These three adjectives were the ideal puzzle pieces that every building should have – that was Vitruvius philosophy and these principles were adopted across the board.

How does strength, utility and beauty fit in with organizing?

Well right off the bat… Strength… makes sense right? Be it – in buildings or closets – we want materials and products that will hold up… that won’t bend, twist, or deflect. Let’s say you are in the middle of organizing – anything – you don’t want to pile a flimsy box on top of a flimsy box do you? No. Why not? Because that flimsy box is eventually going to squish from the weight on top of it. We want durable and long lasting storage solutions.

Utility – yes please! This goes not only for the space we are organizing but also regarding the products/items that we are organizing with!! What is the point of organizing a space other than to have it function properly?? What is the point of buying a particular silverware divider if it doesn’t organize your silverware in a way that functions properly for you? That may be a silly example – but I don’t think so – there are NUMEROUS types of drawer silverware organizers out there – but you need to find the product that will allow the drawer to function in a way that works best for you. For me – Utility is a major part in organizing.

Beauty – Let’s face it – we all want to look at pretty things lol
In a paragraph above I asked what was the point in organizing other than having it function properly – well the other answer to that question is Beauty. We want it to be pleasing to look at. Sure we could use cardboard boxes to organize all of our stuff – but who wants to look at that? That is why you can go to The Container Store, Homegoods, etc and find beautiful baskets and storage solutions that make you WANT to look at your closet, cabinet, etc.  For some people – that is why they color coordinate their closets, books, shoes… They want it to be organized and to be aesthetically pleasing.

In big ways and in small ways – Architecture and Organizing are joined at the hip. We will continue to learn and expand on that as our journey continues!!

End of summer organizing…5 Small Projects to help say goodbye to Summer and hello to Fall! And a Giveaway!!

by , on
Aug 18, 2021

This year has been flying by so fast!! We are already past the middle of August, which…in my book means the summer is almost over. Granted we have over a month till the Fall Solstice….. But once the first week of August hits … well…. for me – growing up the first week of August was the County fair…and when the week was over… and the fair was packing up… it was always a big bummer because that was it… school would be starting soon and summer as I knew it was over… lol.. So dramatic!!!  To be honest – with the heat that we have been getting hit with…. I am looking forward to Fall!! 

So in honor of getting ready to say goodbye to summer and hello to fall, I have put together a few little Organizing Projects that you can easily do on your own that will help you get you ready for pumpkin spice and everything nice!

Swap out our clothes!!

When I was little I remember my gram storing away her winter clothes…. And up until my 30’s – it was never something I really did… and to be fair – for the most part I try to keep most of my wardrobe wearable year round – however there are things like big bulky sweaters that do not need to be worn when it’s over 90 degrees.  

Now is the time when I start pulling those items out of storage so that I can wash them and get them put away as well as go through my current closets and drawers and donate items that I do not wear anymore and toss things that are … too “worn in” lol.

Start gathering up all the swimsuits and beach attire and put them away as well as getting out the coats and get them washed and ready for use!

Fall Menu Planning, Fridge Purge and Panty stock

Now is also the time to start bringing out the comfort food!!!  I cook different things in the fall and winter than I do in the spring and summer.  Hello meaty stews and pot pie!! Take some time and take inventory of what you have on hand.  Go through your fridge, your freezer and your pantry.  Take notes of what you have in stock and what you are going to need on hand (example: I rarely use beef broth in the summer time – though it often gets used in the winter for different soups and stews, so I always make sure to pick some up this time of year as I know I will be using it).  

https://www.tiktok.com/@architecturallyorganized/video/6996787810820820230?lang=en&is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1

Attack your Central Station (Your document catch all area)

Is it your desk? Your kitchen counter? You’re dining room table? Where do you throw your bills, your important documents, your kids’ school work?  Time to Organize that area!!  

If you have kids- they are going back to school shortly… So all of last year’s work – time to go through it and only keep what you really need – if you are super sentimental – take a few photos of some of the paperwork – but discard the rest.

Purge and shred documents that need to be destroyed, Put everything else where it belongs and get ready to start the season with everything in its place!!

Clean and Swap Decor

I Spring clean… but I also Summer, Fall and Winter clean. In my head – it just makes sense to do a nice thorough cleaning before each season.  I have season decorations up and this just works great for me.  I take down my summer decorations (think fake flowers, kitchen dish towels, table linens and such) – they get washed and put in their designated totes.  Then everything gets a good deep clean.  Everything is dusted, windows are washed, furniture gets moved and vacuumed – the whole 9!! Then it is time to pull out the next seasonal decorations and put them up!!!

Outdoor close up…

Time to give a good clean to your outdoor patio furniture as well as get ready to close the pool!  I know it doesn’t sound like fun – and besides it is “outdoor furniture” … trust me.  “Next Year” you will thank you!!! Take the time now to give everything a good clean before packing things away that way when it’s time to set everything back out you will have less work to do! 

I won’t lie, I love when fall comes around… I love when the days are warm and the evenings are crisp.  I love hoodies and a good campfire.  I love cozy socks and having the fireplace roaring.  

So – you tell me – What do you do at the end of Summer that helps you keep organized?   Now that Summer is ending, there is a good chance your house/garage/attic/etc is in a bit of disarray…I thought- maybe I could help with that and try to make the end of summer not as depressing.

I am hosting an End of Summer Giveaway!!!
(See below on how to enter!!) 

I will pick two names on the last day of August (the 31st) and those (2) winners will receive a 3 hour
zoom/ facebook video chat Virtual Organizing Session. 

The Virtual Organizing sessions will consist of:
Session 1 (1 hour): discussing your problem areas and what your goals are for the space.  You will show me around the space.  You will show me what works for you, what doesn’t work for you and any inspirational ideas that you may have.  After the session is over I will then make a program that works for you and your needs. 

Session 2 (1 hour): During the second session we will go through the program and you can start the work.  I will be with you for the beginning stages so that you can ask any questions.  Once our hour is up you will continue the program on your own.  Once you have completed the program we will schedule our session. 

Session 3 (1hour): We will discuss how everything works for you.  We will discuss any issues you may be having and any new ideas or thoughts that have come to you while you were working.  We will discuss other options that may work better.

Below are ways to enter.  You can have only 1 entry or you can do any or all of the options below (up to 7 total entries) Obviously the more your name is in the pot the better your odds of getting chosen. 

  • 1-Like the Blog Facebook Post that announces the blog and the Giveaway.
  • 1-Share the Blog Facebook Post that announces the blog and the Giveaway.
  • 1-Like Architecturally Organized on Facebook
  • 1-Follow Architecturally Organized on Instagram
  • 1-Follow Architecturally Organized on TikTok
  • 1-Join our mailing list-DM me your email address
  • 1-comment on blog and answer the question “what do you do at the end of the summer that helps keep you organized?”

(if you already follow any of the pages – please let me know -comment on the post that announces the giveaway and you will still receive an entry) 

The Domino effect of Organizing…aka 6 Benefits of being organized.

by , on
Aug 14, 2021

I don’t know about you – but I know that I tend to feel…. Lost? Unfocused? ( I am not sure what the right word to use is) when my living spaces and work spaces are not organized.  When my desk is a mess I feel that I can not concentrate on the tasks that I have to complete.  

I take time out and clean up/organize and then I feel I can concentrate on what I am doing …. Once I feel I am fully focused my mood  gets better and I feel more productive and energized… and so on… Guess what that is?? The Domino effect of Organizing.  Check it out!!

Organizing will save you time.

You have just spent 10 minutes looking for the tape.  You are now running late to that Birthday dinner.  You thought it was in the junk drawer, apparently it wasn’t.  It takes time to organize your house, but once it is…you will no longer be wasting time looking for things.  When you organize a space everything has its own “home”.  A place to find an item and a place to put an item back.

And this leads to …. 

Organizing makes clean up a breeze.

Even if your house feels like it’s upside down, it doesn’t take long to put it back upright.  In most cases, when my house is in disarray – I can have it picked up and ready for company in 15 minutes or so (including vacuuming) because I already had it organized.  Everything has its “home” – so all I have to do is fold some blankets, put things back in their rightful places, throw some dishes in the dishwasher and we’re good to go. 

So if it saves you time and makes cleaning up a breeze… guess what that means? 

Organizing can help reduce stress

Think about it… You now know where everything goes so you no longer need to worry about that pile of stuff that has been waiting to be put away because you had no idea where to put everything-when your house is organized you do not need to stress where to put it because it will already have a home waiting for it – or at a minimum a designated spot. Remember that tape you were looking for? You won’t need to worry about finding it because you will always know where it is… like I said…one less thing for you to worry about!!

Guess what less stress can lead to??

Organizing can help increase your productivity!!

You are now less stressed.  Your mind is no longer dwelling on that tape or the pile of things that only the lord knows where you are going to put it…you have more confidence knowing where things are at.  Now you have made some space in your head for the other things that you should be focusing on.  You have time to focus on work, or your family work schedule.  You are more able to manage your deadlines and family activities!!

So where are we?? Cleaning your house is a snap of a finger, you are feeling more productive and getting more work done and on top of that you are feeling less stressed…. What does that lead us to????

Organizing helps give you more “ME” time!!!

Do I need to say anymore???  I don’t, but I will.

With all this free time you have saved (extra time not cleaning the house, extra time not looking for odds and ends and tape, extra time not working because you are so productive….) now you have time to focus on YOU!!!  Work on that craft that you have put aside, soak in the tub with some wine, read that book…. You have more YOU time so eat it up!!!

Remember this is the Domino effect we are working with…. So now that your house is clean, and you are so relaxed from the soak in the tub, you don’t have a worry in the world… you better believe that….

Organizing can help you sleep better!

Think about your bedtime routine… What does it look like?? Can you fall right asleep right away  or are you up tossing and turning and overthinking things? When you have less stuff on the brain and you are more relaxed you tend to have a better night’s sleep. Now, I am not a Doctor or a Sleep Specialist – but this is my experience.   

So there you have it…. A few of the benefits from Organizing your house… who couldn’t use some more me time??? And think – that is only the positives of organizing your house – we haven’t even talked about taking organizing into your daily life!! But that is a post for another day!

8 Organizing Steps that I follow to help keep my house (and life) in check!

by , on
Jun 25, 2021

So – Today is the day!! You have made the conscious decision that you are going to get your house (and with it – your life) in order.  You feel confident.  You feel MOTIVATED!! You are ready to take on anything – including that pile of folded laundry that has been sitting in the basket for over a week (Oh – is that just me?!?!) You take a look around your house… you see the unopened mail piled up on the table by the door… the opened mail in a pile on the desk… shoes scattered around the front door… a pile of… god knows what sitting at the base of the stairs waiting to be picked up…. And boom – that motivation and confidence… it didn’t just slip out of your fingers – it jumped out of your hands and ran out the front door screaming.


Does any of this sound familiar?? Can you relate?? Guess what?? Most people can.  I CAN!! I have been in that scenario plenty of times.  Yes – I am an organizer, however, I was not always an organized person (before 9th grade I had THE messiest bedroom in the world!).  Once I began 9th grade a flip switched in my head – I started making my bed each morning and somehow that evolved into everything being tidy and organized.  So over the last 20+ years I have worked on perfecting my organizational skills – and it has become my own artform -It is what works best for me and I want to share it with you – the rules I live by to keep my house organized.

  1. Pick a Space and stick to it.

First things first – If you are too busy focusing on the big picture (aka the whole house or the whole room) you could very well get easily overwhelmed.  Don’t do this.  Start by looking at the smaller picture.  Pick one space and stick with it.  Focus on it only.  Not only will this help you not get too over your head – once you have completed this one small task it will help you feel more accomplished and possibly bring those feelings of Motivation and confidence back. Once you have selected the space you’re going to tackle, move on to the next step!

  1. Look at what you have

This is where the fun begins!! You know the old saying “you gotta spend money to make money”…. Well I have a new one for ya.…. “You  gotta make a mess to organize your mess”.  This process is when you take everything out of the space you are organizing – for example: your bedroom closet.  Pull everything out.  Empty it out.  You need to know what you have in order to organize it.  This is the easiest of all the steps.  You want to make the next step easier? Start putting things in piles now!! Separate items into their piles when you are emptying out the space. You’ll thank yourself later!

  1. Wipe down

Your space is now empty, so before you go putting things back – CLEAN IT.  Wipe it down, vacuum it, do what you have to do – but clean the space so it is ready to hold all your items.

  1. Like with Like

Once you have emptied out the space you need to put “like with like” so you can see what you have. Again – we will go with using the closet as an example.  You will divide up your piles.  Categorize everything…..Piles of shirts – long sleeve, short sleeve, sleeveless… piles of pants…jeans, work pants, etc.  Boots…Heels… flats…. You get the idea!!! Once you have all your different piles you will attack each pile one by one with the next step.

  

  1. Purge!!!

Marie Kondo tells people to ask themselves if an item brings you “joy”, and if so – then keep it.  This is a great idea, but not always feasible – Start with – “do i really need this?” and be HONEST with yourself.  Guilt is not a reason to keep something.  Remember the pile of clothes I mentioned above? Now is the time to go through it.

You are going to start with one pile.  We will use a pile of long sleeve shirts as our example.  You are going to sort the pile into color coded piles – and WHILE you are doing that you will be reviewing each article of clothing.  When was the last time you wore it? Does it fit you? Did you get rid of it? Good for you! Did it go in the designated color coded pile? That’s fine too-we’ll be coming back to it!!

So – now that you have individual piles of long sleeve tops – look at your biggest pile, for me – that would probably be black tops or white tops.  How many black tops do I need? Not a big pile worth.  NOW is the time to refer back to the art of tidying. Look at each top and narrow it down to just a few.  Obviously I am not coming to your house and looking through your closet so if you decide to keep them all – there is no penalty by me lol.

  1. Find a “home” for everything

Obviously for our example of a closet – that is the clothes “home” but for other items in other spaces – this is what they need.  A home.  A place to call their own.  A place where you know it will always be and where it will always go.  This is also where the idea of hierarchy comes into play (see my Theoretical Thursday blog post – https://www.architecturallyorganized.com/architecturally-organized/theoretical-thursday-architecture-and-organizing/ ).  What do you use the most vs the least? The items that get the most use, more often than not, should be in the most accessible places.  This will be different for each person as each person is unique as are their needs.  One person will have their business attire front and center.

  1. Contain your items

Sometimes your space needs some extra help.  You have the perfect location for an item – but it needs something more.  Sometimes a basket or box to contain the item is all it takes. Start by taking a look at DIY storage ideas or baskets/boxes you may already have in your own home.  Reutilize them to save on cost.  Organizing does not have to mean running around to The Container Store or TJ Maxx buying tons of containers.  You can easily find things around your own house to hold items.

  1. Maintain your space

Congrats!!! All the easy work is done!!! Now comes the hard work – You have to maintain your organized and tidy space!  That is what takes the most time and effort – taking the time to put things away where they belong. You need to keep yourself invested in it and not let things fall to the wayside.  Which of course is easier said than done sometime, especially when life decides to attack you!

That’s the gist of it.  Those are the steps I follow when going through a room or space to get it clean and organized.  Obviously some of these steps will take longer in different rooms but the end result is a space that houses things you use, need and love. Keep in mind when I am performing these tasks I am usually also cleaning while I am doing it. Wiping things down, dusting, vacuuming when needed – etc.

Take an afternoon and apply these to a space in your own house and let me know how it goes!!!

Follow us on Instagram