How To Organize Your Kosher Kitchen

How To Organize Your Kosher Kitchen
By Rivka Slatkin
www.jewish-life-organized.com
Did you know you owned a Valuable Piece of Real Estate? It’s
your Kitchen!
Kitchens in general are the most “expensive” piece of real estate in your home. Why’s
that? Because…
Rule #1: EVERYTHING COUNTS.
That’s because the kitchen is your mudroom, mail center, phone charging center,
cooking, and entertaining area. It’s the heart of the home and everyone loves to gather
there.
This rule not only applies to every kitchen out there, but triple fold to kosher kitchens.
Why? Not only do we have double, triple, sometimes quadruple the amount of stuff that
other people’s kitchens hold, but because of our Yiddishkeit.
Jewish Holidays and Shabbos involve a lot of food. That’s the bottom line. The kitchen is
the physical and spiritual heart of the home.
And we need to take care of that heart because if the kitchen is in disarray, your whole
home and life is bound to be in disarray.
If there is no logical place for the kids lunchboxes and room to prepare lunches and
snacks, most likely you are struggling to leave the house every morning- a stressful and
often resentful activity.
If you don’t have enough aluminum foil on a Friday when you are attempting to bake,
your baking is often waylaid and Shabbos preparations are pushed off, causing a lot of
rush and needs being overlooked.
I think you’ve got it. I don’t want to dwell too much on the problems of a disorganized
kitchen. Just that you MUST know that every inch of the kitchen is prime and therefore,
make sure your valuable property is not cluttered up with mismatched Tupperware lids
and broken hand mixers.
That said, we are going to talk more about how to give your kitchen the respect that it
needs and deserves. Remember, everything counts!
Rule #2- A Kosher Kitchen needs to be divided up into Halves.
Even if you have the smallest kitchen in the universe, you need to divide up the kitchen
into 2 for milk and meat. Whether you are working with 2 separate islands, cutting
boards, or even just one cabinet, divide that space into half with a meat section and milk
section.
If you have one countertop, have two separate cutting boards, dividing your countertop
into “half”. That is how you keep a kosher kitchen.
You can do other things to ensure kashrus and kosher mishaps like color coding pots and
pans and dishes. Or only using cold water when you work so nothing gets “treifed” up.
Labeling is essential for putting things back in the right place.
Don’t be afraid to keep a kosher kitchen! If you are really afraid, use glass dishes, which
are easy to kosher if they get mixed up somehow.
Make your kitchen look like 2 kitchens- like I said, even if you have to use one shelf for
fleishig and one shelf for milk in the same cabinet!
Consult your Rav and find out what is really necessary in keeping a kosher kitchen
without going overboard.
You don’t have to have 3 of everything- I rarely use Pareve except for baking. If you
keep your baking pans pareve, then you can serve your baked good at either a meat meal
or dairy meal. But you don’t need a whole set of pareve silverware and dishes! Keep a
couple of spoons and knives that are pareve and your baking wares and that’s it!
Let’s Start With What Your Kitchen Looks Like
Everyone’s kitchen has at least some counter space, cabinet space, and drawer space.
Most likely you have a refrigerator and freezer too. If you are lucky, you have room for a
pantry and kitchen table. Some of you may not have room for a pantry or table.
But I’d wager to say that you do have counters, cabinets, and some drawer space.
You know you need to maximize the space in your kitchen when you are jamming your
fingers in the drawers, don’t know where things are or where to put items back, have to
look for lids and maybe even end up using mismatched lids on things, open up your
cabinets only to have things fall out.
I’d like to help you get to the point that your kitchen is streamlined down to what
you use on a regular basis, have a need for, and is within reach to you, comfortably
and conveniently.
Find Out What’s Actually In Your Kitchen
Sometimes this task is called by other, more intimidating names like “home inventory”.
I’m not going to call it that because for some reason, to me, asking you to conduct a
home inventory sounds more daunting then the process of walking around your kitchen
and determining what you own and how much of it you have.
That’s all I want you to do. Get out a piece of paper or a voice recording device. Walk
around your kitchen and start talking or writing as you open up a drawer. For example,
“In this cabinet I have plastic bags, tons of Tupperware containers, 3 water pitchers, and
6 tablecloths.” Become aware of what is deep inside the drawers and cabinets.
Many people don’t even know what they have! Can you make this mission fun in any
way? Like- playing music or doing it with someone else? Having them write a list while
you go around and mutter? Or, write your list just as you are saying it. “I can’t believe I
have so many %^*()_ water bottles? What was I thinking?” Lists of mutterings can be
funny to read later on.
Get curious about what lurks inside your kitchen.
I hope you can now appreciate what I’ve emphasized above. EVERYTHING COUNTS.
Every inch of your kitchen MUST be utilized well because otherwise, the whole home is
disorganized.
When you walk around your kitchen and see appliances and things you don’t use, that
clutter is cutting into your most valuable real estate. Feel the ickiness of it. Taste the
staleness of your kitchen. Identify those feelings of stagnancy and clutter and frustration
and… well you get the picture.
It doesn’t feel right or good to have extraneous, broken, under utilized items in the
kitchen. You know what those items are and gosh, you’ll feel a lot better when they
are gone.
Do you Keep Your Stuffed Pig in The Kitchen?
It’s funny. I was giving a lecture about organizing and asked the question to the audience:
“What’s actually in your kitchen?” People were giving me the usual answers: China,
dishes, silverware, plastic wrap. One woman said, “A Stuffed pig.” She kept a very large
stuffed animal, a pig mind you, in her kitchen. Maybe it was part of her decor! But
nevertheless, a lot of people have things that do not belong in a kitchen. I’m not talking
about regular old kitchen clutter. I’m talking about really foreign objects that are just in
the kitchen because no one knew where else to put it!
I’m sure you don’t keep stuffed pigs in your kosher kitchen, but there may be items that
are less obvious to you that don’t really need to be in your kitchen. Sports
equipment…maybe seems like is along the lunch box line but really is not. Get the sports
equipment out of there into a deck box outside if you have nowhere else in the house to
store it all.
Remember Principle #1- EVERYTHING COUNTS IN A KITCHEN!
Here We Go! Let the Fun Begin!
Get a lot of trash bags ready, some boxes or laundry baskets (4 at least- “to sell”, “to
donate” “to put away somewhere else” “give to a friend”), pens, tape, scissors, markers,
and paper, highlighters, and cleaning rags. Splurge on a labelmaker if you like, you’ll see
why in a little bit.
Get ready, get set, organize and make every space count!
You’ve felt the yuckiness of your kitchen clutter. Want to be done with it already. Good
for you. Here’s how to start.
You can either go through one cabinet, drawer, or countertop one at a time, ONLY if you
are quick to make decisions. I don’t want you opening up a drawer and thinking for a
while- “well, I could really use this. I don’t want to let this go…”
If you think you will have a hard time with decision making, then JUST sort through your
kitchen putting like items into piles. No need to make decisions yet, just put all of the
water pitchers in a pile, all the batteries in a pile, all of the milchig cookware in a pile.
One your whole kitchen is sorted, then start making decisions about where these items
should go: donation, trash, or away to a friend. Once you see the pile of maybe
appliances and see how MANY there are in that pile, the decision to purge won’t be as
hard.
Great job! You’re opening up cabinets, drawers, and taking things off the countertops,
deciding to put them in various trashbags or laundry baskets to donate.
Put the donation pile and trashbags outside in your car when you are done so you are not
tempted to take things back inside.
When in doubt, get it out! Be ruthless in weeding out your kitchen clutter. Do you want
to clutter up prime real estate with things that are not useful to you?
If you have 3 sets of dishes and only use one set, put the other 2 sets in the basement. If
you have a whole set of pareve pots and pans and only use one pan, keep one and store
the rest or donate them!
Where Should Everything Go Now?
Making sure you’re not putting anything back that you don’t use or is broken or that you
feel iffy about, now it is time to put things back.
Notice your Patterns
You may adjust this step a few times based on your personality and habits. I always
recommend doing things according to habits. So if you always use oil and salt and spices
at the stove, keep them there in a caddy.
Notice your other habits. Do you have to walk back and forth from the pantry to the
fridge 10 times just to make a cup of coffee? Keep all of your coffee supplies, (and I do
mean all!) together in one spot!
Start noticing what you do on a regular basis and assess whether or not it makes sense to
keep working that way. Without trying to hard to change yourself.
Another example are baking supplies: keep the baking ingredients in a cabinet along with
your baking tins, to create a baking center. Does that work for you? Or are you not
making too many trips back and forth to bake? Start Noticing.
Use your cabinets last
Cabinets are first to be completely used up. I want to make you away of the fact that you
have four options for storage. These 4 rules apply to anything, anytime, anyplace, and
anywhere.
Hang it up
In a Drawer
On a Shelf
On the Floor
Even in the smallest of kitchens, there are other options for storage besides the cabinets.
So use them last, when you are putting everything back.
Now that you are putting things away, assess which storage option would be best for that
grouping of stuff.
Your kids’ lunches? How about on a rolling cart?
This way, the kids can get their own lunches, rolling
the cart away when it is not needed. Tuck it in the
space between the refrigerator and the cabinets, or on
either side of your stand-alone oven range.
See? Stuff doesn’t all have to go back into your
cabinets. Leave your cabinet space for last since it is
the easiest space to fill up first.
Really consider your 4 storage options- especially
the one about hanging things up. When looking for
ways to store things, always LOOK UP! Look at your walls. You can hang shelves from
your walls, hang magnetic strips, put up hooks, there are many, many options and they
are beautiful as well.
How about your Shabbos china? Can you display it on a wall shelf instead of in the
cabinets?
Do you feel ready to put everything back now? Can I quiz you?
List 4 ways you can store your spices other then putting them back into a drawer:
________________________________________________________________________
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If you want to know what kosher kitchen organizing products I recommend you use, Go
to http://astore.amazon.com/bestorganizin-20. Copy and paste this link if you can’t click
on it. I looked through all of the products myself and handpicked the best ones for kosher
kitchens.
May your Kosher Kitchen serve you well with 3x the Bracha of any old kitchen! Happy
Organizing ☺
Rivka
You may be wondering: Can you send this
ebook to your friends?
The answer is no, but you can make money by recommending this book to your
friends!
This is done through what is called an affiliate relationship. Contact me and let
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Beautiful Shabbos Tables
By Rivka Slatkin
Of www.jewishlifeorganized.com
About Rivka Slatkin, “Jewish Life Organizer”
Rivka Slatkin, “Jewish Life Organizer”, helps new Jewish
families get organized to make Shabbos and Yom Tov
simple and beautiful, decreasing the stress and overwhelm
that often is prevalent.
She made it her mission to teach others what she worked so
hard to learn on her own, years ago, not having anyone
teaching her successful homemaking methods. Rivka does
not want others to feel alone or “inadequate” the way she
did, when going about her learning curve.
She offers tutorials, reports, teleclasses, articles, workshops, and personal
consulting that help people just like you learn step-by-step methods that GETS
RESULTS for their homes. You can learn more about these terrific resources at
http://www.jewishlifeorganized.com.
For FREE tips and to be notified of upcoming teleclasses and workshops with
The Jewish Life Organizer, sign up for Rivka’s monthly e-zine Jewish Holiday
Reminder Service at
www.jewishlifeorganized.com.
She's appeared as a guest speaker for various Jewish organizations, has been
interviewed by The Baltimore Jewish Times and has been featured in dozens
of online and print publications.
Rivka’s articles on Jewish life organizing, specific holiday planning tips, and
managing your time are published regularly in Jewish magazines and
newspapers and in hundreds of organizing sites on the Web.
I. Section One
A. Choose an inspirational object
You don’t have to have a lot of money or spend a lot to make your Shabbos table
look gorgeous. Work with what you have. The secret is to accentuate what you
have and bring out the possibilities you did not even knew existed.
Let’s start with what you already own. A decorator always builds his/her room
from an inspirational object; a rug, a piece of art. Let’s find our own
inspirational piece to create our Shabbos Table masterpiece.
Look around your house and find at least 1 object you love. It doesn’t matter how
big or small it is, we just want to understand more about why you love it. We
need inspiration to build from and we don’t want to make mistake purchases.
Begin by understanding why you were initially attracted to these pieces. Did you
love the:
• Price?
• Color?
• Look and style?
• Finish and shine?
• Newness or oldness?
• Family history and sentiment around it?
The reason I ask. “Why?” is that understanding your style is the first step to
ascertaining what you love to be surrounded with. When I go into a home to
decorate it, lots of times I hear the homeowner saying, “I don’t know what I like. I
don’t really have any preferences.”
I don’t take that at face value. I work hard to get to the bottom of what they are
saying. Sometimes I have to actually bring home a rug or a picture so I can really
get a feel for if they love the piece or hate it. After I bring a few pieces into the
home, the homeowners begin to warm up to the questions. “I don’t really like that
shag rug, it looks so outdated. That combination of blue and brown looks like my
grandmother’s house did in the 80s.”
Or, I’ll walk around the home and ask, “What do you love in your home? Your
dishes, your antique chest?” Sometimes I get a straight answer and sometimes I
do not.
If you currently feel that you do not really know what you love, take this
decorating quiz offered to you by House Beautiful. It is really easy and will guide
us towards the decorating era that you click with best.
If you already have spent some time decorating or are interested in it, take the
next decorating quiz to test your decorating IQ.
After we figure out your decorating style, then we can go through your house and
work with what fits, collect other pieces to finish the look, and finally, set up your
Shabbos table.
B. Choose a Decorating Style
I hope by now you have a sense of what decorating styles are out there. A very
basic list of styles which stem from culture and time period are:
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•
Formal
Contemporary
Casual
Traditional
Read over the following information, and notice which picture pulls you in.
Formal
I.
For an Elegant and Luxurious Interior
If you love the look of elegant Ritz-Carlton hotels or
public buildings such as the White House, you're
probably drawn to their formal style of decorating.
In a formal style interior, a central focal point draws
the eye. Objects are also more ornate and gilded.
If your table setting taste is formal, give your dining room that formal look as well
with highly polished woods, glistening mirrors, luxurious and sensual fabrics,
sparkling crystal chandeliers and wall sconces, carved mirrorsoriental rugs,
highly polished brasshardware, gold-leafed accessories, tassels and fringe, oil
paintings, dramatic draperies with valances, leather and porcelain accessories,
and antique furniture.
A dining room is the perfect place to introduce a formal look. Choose from a wide
range of elegant and beautiful china, crystal, and silver. A simple gold-banded
dinner plate set atop elegant linens with sparkling silver flatware and beautiful cut
crystal stemware creates a perfect formal
setting for dining.
Having a formal dining room as the backdrop
for your formal table is the best way to
extend your look.
Contemporary
II.
Be Right Up to Date
Current, modern, of today, right now. If that sounds like you, then you might
like a contemporary style of decorating.
Fundamentally, simplicity, subtle
sophistication, texture and clean lines help
to define contemporary decorating on the table.
Neutrals, black, and white are the main colors
in contemporary interiors. So for your dining
room, if the walls are painted in a basic neutral,
you have a wonderful backdrop for bold colored
accessories. If a wall is a bright, bold color,
neutrals should be used everywhere else.
In contemporary interiors, less is more. Each
piece stands out as individual and unique.
Smooth, clean, geometric shapes in black, white, or other neutral tones for the
tableware will give you the contemporary look you want. Cover the table in a
neutral, black, or bold fabric. A tablecloth in a natural look (wool, cotton, linen,
silk, jute) adds textural appeal.
Contemporary pieces are simple and uncluttered, without curves or carved
details. That means exposed legs, no skirt, trim, fringe, or tassels.
You can always add a splash of color in one or two pieces or in the carpet on
your floor.
Set your table with natural materials like metal, stone, and opaque or clear
glass. There are a number of geometric shapes, bold colors, and interesting
styles available. Bring in texture with silverware, napkins, placemats and
centerpieces. The texture of the tablecloth and linens will soften and warm up the
space.
Don't clutter the room with collections or too many pieces. Open space is just
as, if not more, important as the pieces you put in the space.
Casual
III.
The Focus is on Comfort
Do you long for a casual style room that is homey, warm, comfortable, and
inviting? Who doesn't want to be comfortable in their own home? If you want to
set a casual style dining room table, give your dining room that same casual look.
Avoid perfect symmetry. Details are simple, and elements are rectangular or
softly curved and have a touch of whimsical.
Use an old or reconstructed birdhouse or wooden candlestick for a centerpiece,
stack pieces of old luggage for a side table.
For special accents on the table, add ruffles, pleats, buttons, ribbon, or cording.
Contrasting colored details incorporate the full range of colors in the room.
In the dining room, pieces are often long, large, and horizontal, rather than
vertical and tall and petite. Tables are chunky and of a large scale, which gives a
comfortable feeling, while providing space for storage and spreading out. This
helps to create a restful look.
A dining room decorated in a casual style is the perfect place for found items of
wicker, iron, and rattan, or flea market finds. Old antiques fit in well.
Light woods are often used for furniture pieces and wood flooring. Oak and
pine are the most popular, either painted or finished with a flat, low luster varnish
to protect the grain.
Hammered iron, antiqued brass, wrough iron, porcelain, or carved wood are used
for the hardware on doors and drawers.
Collections of treasured or found items are often arranged to add the casual
look. The shelf of a bookcase or corner tabletop is the perfect place for an
arrangement of treasures.
Windowcoverings are simple (not dressy) with a touch of whimsical. Add a
simple swag of fabric or fabric tie-backs if you must.
Rooms decorated in a casual style have light fixtures made of wrought iron, tin,
pewter, or wood. Simple chandeliers look old in wrought iron or antiqued metals.
Or electrify a hanging pan rack or hang a rack of antlers.
The dining table of a room decorated in a casual style would be set with rugged
stoneware, textured woven or fabric placemats, coordinated napkins, heavy
glasses, stainless flatware, wooden bowls, and accessories of iron or pewter.
The colors of the table should enhance the theme of the room, using either bold
floral patterns, plain pieces, or soft, comfortable pastels.
Keep in mind that a room decorated in a causal style should be:
•
•
•
•
•
•
comfortable, homey, welcoming, and sturdy.
Fabrics should be soft and textured.
Furniture is long, overstuffed, and low.
Surfaces worn and rugged.
Accessories are old and rustic.
A touch of whimsy is in order.
Traditional
Traditional style interiors are
comforting and classic. You may
have grown up in a home that was
decorated with traditional style
furnishings.
There is nothing wild or chaotic in a
traditional room. It is calm, orderly,
and can be somewhat predictable.
Furnishings might look a bit outdated
to some, while others will enjoy an
interior that embraces the benefits of
classic styling.
Symmetry is very important in traditional decorating.
The dining room in a traditional home is generally a separate room, often with
some built-in corner cabinets for china storage. A large area rug sits on top of a
hardwood floor. The table is rectangular with a set of matched chairs placed
evenly around the perimeter. A matching sideboard, buffet, or china cabinet is
centered on one wall.
Traditional dining rooms can show off a variety of china, glassware, and silver.
Plates might be a classic gold-rimmed style or a simple floral design. Use either
beautiful tablecloths or pretty fabric placemats and napkins.
Whew! Congratulations on reading through all the material above. Consider
yourself a graduate of Decorating Styles University. Now that you are familiar
with decorating styles, you can actually label the pieces in your home that you
love according to a decorating style. You won’t make new purchase mistakes
because you know what your decorating preferences are.
Do you love your ornate, crystal glasses with the gold rims? After reading the
Formal section, could you attribute your love of your crystal glasses with a
leaning towards Formal style decorating?
What other pieces in your home do you love? Choose one or two, understand
what decorating style it is, and then we can start finding more pieces in that style.
Homework Assignment:
1. Find an object in your home you love; a vase, crystal china, a mug, a piece of
furniture, anything. Name it.
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2. What do you love about it (i.e., colors, shape, texture)?
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3. Which decorating style category do you think it falls under: formal, casual,
contemporary, or traditional?
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C. Choose a Color
Do you have preferences about how a Shabbos table should be set? It would be
important to take those into consideration if you do.
For instance, my husband insists on using a white tablecloth for Shabbos. Not
cream, not gold, white. So I work around it, after all white is neutral so anything
can work with it.
Combine your preferences with the decorating style you gravitate towards.
Put that together and you know half of what you need for a gorgeous Shabbos
table.
What’s the other half? COLOR! My favorite. Why is it so important? You already
have serving pieces and china, you can’t change the colors of what you use?
It is worth your effort to find out what colors you really love deep down inside.
You’ll notice a shift in your life if you are surrounded by (at least some!) things
that reflect your true color personality. I know a woman whose husband insisted
on having everything be brown in the house. He only wanted brown furniture and
accessories. She hated it, resented it, and I won’t tell you the rest of the dirty
details because they are just too negative.
Let’s find out what colors you love so your Shabbos table never is thrown
together haphazardly. We’ll highlight your favorite colors by adding a few
accessories and by gathering up what you already have and grouping them it
new ways.
Take this color quiz to find out what colors work best with your personality and
your preferences. Trust me, it makes all the difference.
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If you’ve never had your personal colors done, I recommend it highly.
Not only is it a fabulous organizing tool- you’ll know what clothes work
best on you and your closet will no longer be cluttered up with
unflattering clothes-but you will look better.
You know when you are wearing a certain item from your closet and you get so
many compliments about it? That means you are on the right track color wise. I
recommend this particular website to look at getting your colors done. There is a
free color tool, click here to check it out.
************************************************************************
Did you come up with at least 2 colors that you love from the quiz? Great. If not,
go back and take the quiz.
Another way of choosing gorgeous colors is to look frequently at home
decorating magazines. I love House beautiful, Oprah at Home, and Better Homes
and Gardens.
I recently noticed that no matter what issue magazine I am looking at, the
pictures I tend to really love all have a similar color scheme or hue in them.
That’s because each of us naturally gravitate towards certain colors.
Begin to notice what colors seem to pull you.
Write them down so we can later create a beautiful Shabbos table color scheme.
The Colors and Suggestions I got from the Color Quiz:
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“What about the rest of the family”, you may ask? After all, you are only one
person, perhaps the one in charge of setting the Shabbos table. Are others going
to hate your personal color preferences? Are they going to start feeling resentful
and hating your choice? The answer is No.
We are not going to be making drastic changes in how you currently do things.
Only spicing them up a bit, adding excitement and anticipation to your regular
Shabbos preparations. Plus, the colors will change a bit if you like from week to
week or month to month. Nothing is set in stone. It will be easy to change color
schemes whenever you or a family member so desires.
One last comment- “If Momma ain’t happy, no one will be happy.” I find this to be
a true statement. If you are the one in charge of the Shabbos preparations, YOU
are the one that needs to feel happy with regards to doing so, not resentful or
negative. So if you are happy, your positive feelings will extend to everyone else
sitting at your beautiful table, permeating the energy and making it a pleasant
atmosphere. With that kind of atmosphere, no one notices a subtle color choice!
Attractive Color Combinations
You may have selected at least 2 favorite colors, or perhaps you love all colors
and couldn’t narrow your choices down! What I’ve done for you is provide you
with attractive color combinations. Most color combinations will start with 2 colors
and sometimes a 3rd or 4th color will just seem to make
sense with what you already own in terms of
dinnerware or servingware. Nevertheless, I want you to
have a list of great color combinations you can
reference anytime.
1. Pale Blue and a Neutral
Soft, pale blues offer a soothing look for any
room. It’s a color that works well with white, cream, tan, black, and brown,
as well as sparkling accents of silver, glass, and white ironstone.
2. Pink and Chocolate Brown
3. Tan and Black
Neutral tans (anything from barely-there taupe to a deep golden beige)
gain added punch as a background for trendy black furnishings. Lighten
things up with creamy ivory trim and lots of gleaming accents in ivory,
silver or gold.
4. Golden Yellow and White
A few darker accents in aged bronze, dark wood, or even a bit of black
add a note of elegance.
5. Pale Sage Green and Walnut
6. Navy Blue and White
Classically nautical, blue and white
schemes can work with nearly any
theme or style of furniture. Try the color
pair with red on a porch, with zesty
orange in a contemporary living room,
with yellow in a kitchen, or with soft
green in a bedroom.
7. Wild Brights
Punch up your interiors with shots of
summer color: kiwi green, ocean aqua,
hot pink, and fresh-squeezed orange.
8. Pale Tan and Any Pastel
Start with your favorite pastel (light pink,
peach, butter, blue, or green) and
accent with doses of light camel tan and whites. This scheme can be a
good compromise when she wants color and he wants neutrals.
9. Golden Yellow and Red
10. Tone-on-Tone
Any color is elevated to new radiance when done in a tone-on-tone
scheme. It could be wall stripes in identical colors but in 2 paint finishes
(matte vs. satin), or a fabric or wallpaper that shows off a damask pattern
over a similarly-colored background. The effect is soothing, elegant, and
versatile. (About Interior Decorating)
11. Aqua and Red
12. Ivory and Mocha
13. fuchia and orange
14. Blue and brown
15. black and fuchia
16. lime green and hot pink
17. Pink with celadon green
18. Soft sage or celadon green with
deep or pale yellow, coral for extra
zip
19. Soft Lavender with darker purple
or magenta, to really
pop
20. Platinum with almost any shade of lavender or purple
21. Robin's egg blue with a cheerful yellow or cream
22. Shades of orange with blue (my favorite)
23. Brown, red, green and pink
24. Brown and White
How are these great color combinations thought of so I can come up with
my own? The way great color combinations are put
together is through the use of the color wheel. The color
wheel generally shows the pure hues of colors: red, blue,
and green. In decorating, however, you're more likely to be
using tints (lighter values) and tones (also known as
shades) that are darker values of a color. For example, you
may not use an intense green in a room; you're more likely
to go with a soft sage or a deep hunter green instead.
For those of us who haven’t graduated from design school,
the task of getting everything coordinated can seem a bit
daunting. What colors should be chosen? How can these
colors be used for the best effect? For reference purposes, a simple color wheel
goes from yellow to orange to red to violet to blue to green to yellow, with other
hues in between. Below is a quick list of color schemes used by designers that
will help you achieve visual balance in your decorations.
Monochromatic:
One base color is
used throughout,
but there are
several different
hues and tones
present. For
instance, you may
choose blue as your
color. The table can
vary in color from
navy to periwinkle
to powder blue and
have a stunning
visual effect through
this color scheme.
Adjacent:
Two or three colors
are chosen that are
adjacent to the
color wheel. An
example of this is to
have yellow, yellowgreen and green
tones throughout
the table.
Triadic: Three
colors are used,
that are equidistant
from each other on
the color wheel. For
instance, you may
choose yellow, blue
and red for your
colors.
Complementary:
This scheme is very
popular. Two colors
are chosen that are
opposite on the
color wheel. Two
examples are using
red and green or
using violet and
yellow. (Worqx.com)
Tips for using the Color Wheel:
•
•
•
•
•
•
You’ll want to choose a dominant color for your table that is present in
most of the table. The other colors you choose should be accents.
The color wheel also helps you identify warm and cool hues.
Half of the color wheel, from red to yellow-green, is considered warm,
stimulating, and advancing. Such a description reflects emotional
associations (the sun looks yellow, and fire is orange and red, for
example), but it has a basis in physiology: The eye can't bring the red and
purple ends of the spectrum into focus at the same time, so it perceives
red to be nearer or advancing.
The other half of the wheel is described as cool; these colors generally
appear to recede. Thus a small room may benefit from visually opening up
the walls with a cool, or receding, paint color such as blue, green, or
purple.
TIP: A warm color scheme needs a dollop of a cool hue to feel wellrounded and complete; think of a green plant in a yellow room.
TIP: A cool scheme needs a jolt of warmth to liven it up; thus a shot of red
will perk up a room done in blue and white.
•
Green and purple may seem to either advance or recede, depending on
the context; for that reason, some interior designers consider them
neutrals that can go with any color.
Color Mood Chart
Pink: soothes, acquiesces; promotes affability and affection.
Yellow: expands, cheers; increases energy.
White: purifies, energizes, unifies; in combination, enlivens all other colors.
Black: disciplines, authorizes, strengthens; encourages independence.
Orange: cheers, commands; stimulates appetites, conversation, and charity.
Red: empowers, stimulates, dramatizes, competes; symbolizes passion.
Green: balances, normalizes, refreshes; encourages emotional growth.
Purple: comforts, spiritualizes; creates mystery and draws out intuition.
Blue: relaxes, refreshes, cools; produces tranquil feelings and peaceful
moods.
You’ve chosen colors, decorating styles, and inspirational objects. You know how
to create an attractive color combination, what moods colors can create and
about the color wheel.
Congratulations! You are finished with Section One- Choosing. Let’s move on to
Section Two- Collecting.
II. Section Two
A. Collect and Categorize
Can you guess what the next step is? That’s right. You need to go around your
home and categorize your pieces according to color.
The easiest way to do this is first, to make sure you have enough room to store
all of your pieces. You probably have a china hutch or dining room server/buffet
that you use now. You may find that when you take everything out and sort
according to color, there is no more room!
Create an “entertaining closet” out of a closet in your home that gets minimal use
(yeah right) or by setting up a small storage area in your office or basement that
holds Shabbos table overflow. Say you have those cute little wine necklaces or
extra benchers, colored glasses and chargers, colored napkins and other
tablecloths.
If you are familiar with my organizing advice both on Cluborganized.com and
Jewishlifeorganized.com, you’ll know that I ALWAYS recommend using walls for
storage. Not necessarily creating built ins, but maximizing storage by hanging
shelves or cabinets on the wall instead of finding extra floor space around for yet
another piece of furniture.
Find a way to contain the overflow from entertaining and make it a pleasant work
space.
The SPACE Formula
But before you run out and by storage cabinets, we FIRST must Sort. Do you
know Julie Morgenstern’s SPACE formula when tackling any organizing job?
S-Sort
P-Purge
A-Assign a Home
C-Containerize
E-Equalize
Unfortuately, finding great containers is only the 4th step in the formula. That’s
because, you wouldn’t want to go buy storage before you even know how much
you have to store!
I love it that the first step, the one we are up to now, is Sorting. I love it because
it’s a no brainer. You don’t have to think- “Well, should I keep this? Do I use it?
What should I do with it?” All you have to do is sort according to like items.
Take everything out of your dining room hutch and server, wherever you have
Shabbos table dishes and serving pieces. Work with a blank slate.
Sort all of your white linens together, all of your white dishes, all of your patterned
china, and work according to color. All of your servingware that is the same color,
put in a group now in your “staging” area (whatever flat surface you are sorting
everything on).
Are you done? Is everything sorted according to color? Good. Feeling
overwhelmed? Don’t. We are almost there.
If there is anything that is broken, cracked, chipped and you haven’t repaired it in
years, purge it. Donate it. Remember, we are aiming to create a spectacular
Shabbos table, not a hodgepodge (unless you like country casual style!).
Once you’ve chosen your best pieces, it is time now to Assign a Home. Decide
where everything will go. If you are lucky and have a closet solely devoted to
entertaining, I recommend you put items back according to color or color
scheme. That means, all of your white dishes go on one shelf and perhaps if you
like contemporary decorating styles, you also place your chocolate brown dishes
on the same shelf, signaling what your favorite color scheme is.
If you decide to put items back according to a color scheme, what if you wish to
change color schemes around so the white dishes would go with the black ones
too?
That leads us to the next section, which is Coordinate.
III. Section Three
A. Coordinate
I recommend you make a list of color combinations and the
pieces that go along with them.
In my own palm pilot, I have a list that looks like this:
4 color combination
Brown, White, Green, Silver
-silver bowl from sue
-brown everyday fleshig dishes
-chrome pedestal bowl
-white china teapot
-silver coaster
-brown everyday flesishig mugs
-green salad bowl
3 color combination
Blue, Gold/Amber, and Red
Blue Shabbos China
Amber color glasses
Blue Kiddush cups
Amber Chargers
Amber Water Pitcher
Red Mayim Acharonim
Red cake stand
Keep your own list, perhaps taped to the inside of your entertaining closet. So,
even though the white dishes may be next to the brown ones, when you look at
your list, you will know what other color combinations the white dishes can go
with.
Here’s a handy chart for you do to this.
Shabbos Table Color Combinations
1. _________ + _________+ __________
Pieces that fit into the collection:
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
___________________________________
2. _________ + _________+ __________
Pieces that fit into the collection:
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
___________________________________
3. _________ + _________+ __________
Pieces that fit into the collection:
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_______________
Make notes on your list if there is a particular color combination you loved or if
you purchased a new piece. Keep it updated.
Back to the SPACE formula, we’ve actually covered the last 2 steps.
Containerize is finding the right container for you items. As far as entertaining
goes, you may have a silverware chest or caddy, that would be a container,
or the plastic dish protector covers you’ve seen to protect your dishes. Label
everything clearly so you can follow the next step, Equalize.
Equalize means maintaining, and with your checklist above, I know you will
have no problem maintaining order in your entertaining closet because of the
excitement of regularly rotating your pieces.
You may decide to shop around to add to your collection. Before you add
pieces, do make sure you’ve explored your entire house from top to bottom
so you do not buy pieces you do not need or may already have. When I buy
something new, I try to donate the same number of items bought. So if you
bought 2 new skirts, try to weed out 2 items from your closet to prevent
excessive clutter. Do the same with entertaining pieces.
Make copies of your Shabbos table color combinations list and keep it in your
purse at all times. Or get it on your Palm Pilot. So when you are out shopping
and you see a great piece and wonder if it would “go” in your collection, you
will know the answer.
IV. Section Four
A. Specific Shabbos Table Suggestions
If you have been wishing that I would go through the specifics of setting your
Shabbos table and provide you with suggestions, now is the time!
Let’s take the Shabbos table apart, piece by piece, and talk about how you
can give it a pop!
Dining Room Chairs
You probably already have a set of dining room chairs. You can give them a
facelift by reupholstering them yourselves. It is not too hard to do that, do a
search for instructions on google.
Or, you can buy inexpensive dining room chair covers special for Shabbos.
Or, combine looks. Keep two upholstered head chairs, and throw chair covers
over the other chairs. This is great especially if you have young children.
For a very fancy dinner, tie a bow around the
back of each chair with an extra piece of fabric or
with a gauzy type of material. This is nice for a
Sheva Brachos.
If you have ladder back chairs chairs with room to place tie back cushions,
find some with a great pattern. You can always take them off to change looks
around and it would be great if you found patterns that go with your favorite
color combination.
Tablecloths
I mentioned before that
my husband request that
we stick with a white
tablecloth only for
Shabbos. You may or
may not feel the same
way. If you are using
only a white tablecloth,
that is perfectly fine and
special for Shabbos.
You can dress up the
white tablecloth with an
overlay, a sheer type of
material that is also
white or cream. This
adds texture and depth to the table, without tampering with your family’s
preference for a white Shabbos tablecloth.
You can also place a table runner on the top of your white
tablecloth going horizontally or vertically on the table.
Place Settings
Now that you are decided on your tablecloth “look”, let’s go over your actual
place setting. I’m talking about the china, the glasses, and silverware.
My first question to you is: Do you currently love your china? If you don’t
particularly like your china pattern, I am not going to tell you to replace the
set. Replacing your china pattern can certainly be expensive and may not be
an appropriate goal for you.
Good news! You can update your china pattern and detract from the aspects
of the pattern that you do not care for.
What colors are in your pattern? White with a gold rim? Is there any black?
Find a complimentary color that is in your pattern currently. It does not have
to be a very bright color or an obvious color. Just find it.
Got that second color? If not, go back to the color wheel and list of sample
color schemes to pick out a secondary color.
Once you have your secondary
color, look around your home to
see if you have any china dishes
of that color. If not, go find a few
dessert dishes or fish plates that
are of the second color.
Here is an example. Look at how
the red heart shaped plate was
pulled out of the original dinner
plate colors. Red is not even the
main color of that dinner plate but
it was pulled out and
emphasized, detracting from the
old china pattern.
Once you have your second
color, continue to optimize it by
adding a couple of other pieces.
How about drinking glasses? If
you already use a set of clear
glasses, add a colored wine glass for kiddush or lechayims. Add colored
napkins, and purchase flowers for your table that bring out that secondary
color.
You won’t even recognize your old pattern anymore!
I recently bought a cake tray and mayim acharonim
(tea for one) to compliment my blue and gold
patterned china. I pulled out the gold rim from my
china and picked an amber color as my secondary
color. I threw red in there.
Here is a picture of my china- blue and gold. How did
I get the red in there? I started accenting the gold and decided I wanted a third
color.
I am really happy with my Gold, Blue, and Red
setup. I’ve added amber glasses and fish plates,
blue kiddush cups from the dollar store and a
couple of red pieces, shown to you in the pictures.
We are really happy with the results.
Centerpieces
The last step and perhaps the most important is
the centerpiece. The centerpiece ties everything
together. It does not have to be elaborate.
Sometimes I purchase flowers that compliment my color scheme, other times
I bring dessert out on a tiered cake stand.
The purpose of a centerpiece is to provide the eye with a focal point to “rest”
on. You will know when you go into a room and your eye has no place to rest.
Similarly, with a table setting, if everything is flat against the tablecloth, there
is really nowhere for your eye to rest. The eye travels from plate to plate and
has nowhere to stop.
Add something simple, a vase with flowers. Your husband may already bring
you flowers home for Shabbos. Tell him what colors you like. Or a nice tall
water pitcher. Or put your tall candlesticks on the table. Anything to bring your
eye upwards.
Napkins
I’ve had a hard time finding napkins that are easy to wash with no ironing. If
you find some, please let me know where you did!
Cloth napkins are always nice. Go with a dark color to hide stains and use a
color that can go with almost any color scheme you pick.
For napkin rings, keep a variety of styles if you like, or just tie up napkins with
a ribbon or piece of raffia or use a jewelry pin. For napkin folding ideas, go to
http://www.table-settings-with-pictures.com/napkin-folding.html.
*******************************************************************
I hope you’ve enjoyed the Shabbos Table course as much as I
did writing it. I would love to hear what inspired you from this
course and what you implemented into your Shabbos table.
Send me a picture or let me know what I can do to further
assist you in your Beautifying project! Good Shabbos!
Make Money with Beautiful Shabbos
Tables
You may be wondering if you can give this book to your friends.
The answer is no, you can't because it's copyrighted.
But you can sign up for our referral program where you can tell friends
about the book and make money from everyone who buys a copy. And, you
don’t even need a website to do it!
Go to http://www.jewish-life-organized.com/earn-commissions.html to find out
how you can start receiving checks right away!
43 EASY and low-cost ways to
organize and decorate!
Created by
By Rivka Slatkin
www.jewish-life-organized.com
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
SECTION I- ACTUAL DECORganizing TIPS…………………………………3
SECTION II- THE DECORganize THEORY……………………………………14
SECTION III-TIMESAVING SECRETS………………………………………….21
Version 2.1
Entire contents of this booklet © A Professional Organizer, LLC 2007
All rights reserved for entire book.
B. Introduction
I'm Rivka Slatkin, professional
organizer. I love to decorate and
organize.
I was tired of going into homes and
helping people get organized only to
see them clutter it up again.
I realized that there had to be a
better way.
What I really loved was clearing out
the space and decorating it, making
it beautiful and doing what my
clients called a "blitz", emptying out
the clutter and then planning out
how we would decorate together
and what would go back in the
room.
So I created the Decorganize
method. First decorate, and then organize. And then your area becomes
sacred, like I said, there ain't no way you'll clutter it up again once it looks
great.
So let's get you started, the lasting way, today!
Section I-Actual DECORganize Tips
***
This Chapter was made available for Free on RebekahSlatkin.com
at the signup of Organewz, our quarterly ezine.
Attic
Turn your attic into a store. Create aisles out of shelves. Give your store a name
and limit what you “sell”. If your store “sells” Christmas decorations and
memorabilia, you know your extra fans and humidifiers don’t go up here.
Bookcases
Move all of your bookcases together to create a library. To give yourself a built-in
look, butt two freestanding bookcases together in a corner. Treat your bookcases
as storage AND an opportunity to decorate. Your books themselves can be
decorative focal points. Arrange the books, containers, and baskets by color.
IV.
Closets
If your whole house needs to be organized, I like to start with closets. Or even a
shelf in the closet. That’s because if your storage spaces are clutter-free, you’ll
have some room to move things too when you are organizing the rest of the
house. If you want to inspire yourself with a “designer-look” custom closet,
Rubbermaid Configurations (as mentioned by my website) is the only closet with
adjustable shelving and closet rods. No cutting wire shelves or measuring
mistakes. So to start your closet organizing project, empty everything out of the
closet, sort through your clothes, purge the ones that are out of style. And then
put your newly selected wardrobe in your designer closet. Trust me, you’ll be
motivated to keep this closet organized.
Double trouble
V.
Have fun with spaces that can serve more than one purpose. Get
a kitchen table with a wine rack as a base. I love storage ottomans also.
Anytime I look for seating, say an entryway bench, I always look for one
with storage opportunities! Another idea is to use a armoire/cabinet or
console for storage as well as a room divider. If you put a console behind
your sofa, that can serve as a room divider between the living room and
dining room.
Entryways
Give each member of your family his/her own hook, cubby, and/or drawer. Keep
only in-season coats, scarves, and hats. Include seating. Plan your family
entrance around your children’s interests. If they play many sports, include
seating to take off equipment, bins, hooks, and calendars. More details on how to
create an entryway in “How to Organize every room in your home.” (coming
soon!)
Freestanding storage
You may have things around the house that can serve serve your storage and
display needs. Put an old dresser in a corner and have it serve as a “corner
piece”. Display your collections and whatever else underneath. Use an antique
ladder for hanging quilts and blankets.
Garages
Organize your garage around your hobbies. Do you love to garden? Put a little
garden fence around one area in your garage and store all of your gardening
supplies in there. Do you go camping? Pitch a tent in the garage and put all of
your camping supplies in the tent. Fishing lovers can raise a large net up high
with all of their fishing supplies in the net.
Hide it
Use decorative screens to hide work spaces that do not need to be seen-your
sewing table, your pantry, and toy areas.
Incoming
Whatever you bring in must have an equal amount going out. If you recently
bought 2 pairs of shoes, 2 pairs must go. Having an incoming/outgoing balance
is the only way to prevent clutter buildup.
Jars
Contain everything-put extra buttons, qtips, and cotton balls in glass jars. You’d
be surprised how something as simple as buttons or your collection of colored
golf balls could look attractive in a glass jar. Use larger decorative (something
like terracotta) jars for bulk foods.
VI.
Keepsakes and Kollections
VII.
Anything you have 3 or more of is a collection. Think beyond the
obvious for collection and keepsake display. Use a bakers rack to display
your collection of teapots. A crown molding ledge going up and down a
wall or a deep display ledge all the way across a room. Store collections
where they can be used.
Laundry
VIII. Laundry Room Favorites:
Overhead cabinets
Corner cabinets
Rolling hamper with sorter
• Flat surfaces to fold on
Full-size appliances
Ironing center
Retracting poles or lines
Rolling cleaning supply caddy
Extra hangers
Measure, measure, measure.
Measure any storage piece you purchase or build as well as the container you
want to put on it. Even a basket on a bookshelf doesn’t always fit. Measure
height, width, length, and depth of each.
Nooks and Niches
IX.
Create a quiet retreat for yourself in a small area of your home.
Keep all of the supplies necessary for your favorite activity nearby in a
space you love. Take advantage of the natural lighting. I love this example
for a makeup nook, add a skirted vanity stool and hide unsightly bottles
underneath.
X.
Ideas for a Nook:
Photography
Reading
Offices
Typically I have been hesitant to having an office/bedroom combination. I am
finding however, that many people prefer this setup. As a result, my strongest
encouragement is to be cautious of potential overflow. Keep papers in a filing
system and other supplies contained. Use pieces that can double for storage- a
Murphy/table bed, a bookcase as a room divider, or turn a closet into a small
office.
Paper
XI.
Use an attractive, color-coded, easy filing system. Keep all papers
in one place. Learn how to create a mail center in “How to Organize every
room in your house.”
Quilts and Seasonal Storage
XII.
How many of you dread switching seasons? There are two ways
to switch. You can put clothing away elsewhere as you stop wearing them.
So if one day you find it is too hot for what you are wearing, clean it and
put it away. Or you can do it all at once with the help of a collapsible
clothing rack. It doesn’t matter what you chose as long as you purge before
storing away. Store things in antique trunks or stack suitcases as an end
table with out-of-season things inside.
Receipts
Whatever system you decide to use be consistent! There are many ways to sort
and store receipts. First, keep all tax related receipts 7 years. For big appliances,
keep then as long as you own them. Credit card receipts keep until the statement
arrives. I like to store my receipts in an alphabetical clear check file. I sort mine
according to the stores I most frequently visit. You can sort yours according to
purchase, credit card. I just like to know where my Nordstrom’s receipts are.
Stairwells
Remember the nook I told you to create? Don’t forget about the space under
stairwells. You can stash file cabinets and other types of storage pieces on
wheels underneath the steps. Create a little TV watching area underneath a
stairwell. Put floor pillows down and put your TV in a corner on a corner cart. Add
some lighting and when you want to watch something, go relax into your little
nook. How cozy!
Towel Racks
Towel racks are excellent organizers and can be used virtually everywhere.
Install them in cabinets, on the backs of doors, on the inside of a linen closet.
Under the bed
Remember you can use under-the-bed storage when space is tight. Storage
boxes and bins are ideal for out-of-season clothing. Tried this but it doesn’t fit
under your bed? Read “How to Organize every room in your home.”
XIII.
Think Vertical.
I strongly encourage you to look up. Look how much wall space you have. I once
had someone call me for help with organizing. Every inch of her floor was used
up with large furniture. She had a TREMENDOUS amount of wall space that
went unused. Use Pegboards, Canopies and nets, Display shelving, Utility
Racks, Dish display racks, hanging pot racks, wine shelving, and Hanging Shoe
Bags. There are only 4 ways you can store items. If ever you don’t know what to
do with something, remind yourself of these 4 options: Hang it up, store it in a
drawer, put it on the floor, or on a shelf. Hanging is my favorite option because
we all have much more vertical space than floor space. Always ask yourself,
“how can I mount this on the wall?” I love this idea with regards to jewelry in a
wall-mounted mirror.
Waste no window
Maximize the potential for storage beneath each window in your home with a
custom built-in or with a low, freestanding storage unit or organizing bench. You
can store books, linens, blankets, display plants, and hold CDs and stereos.
XYZ-Examine your zones
If a room is very cluttered in your home, it is likely due to the fact that there are
too many “zones” or activities going on in that room. A room should not have
more than 5 activities happening in a room. Your bedroom may be piled up with
things that do not belong there. When you list the zones that should be in a
bedroom, you’ll find that there is no reason for the extra piano keyboard to be in
the room. Examine the zones for every room in the house! (especially the garage
and kids rooms)
Congratulations on purchasing the Best of Organewz from
Cluborganized.com! (If you did not purchase this yourself, then you have
obtained an illegal copy. Please honor the large amount of time that it took me to
write this for you by purchasing one here.)
Make a Mudroom
I finally got over my mudroom jealousy and created one.
You see, my home opens up to the living room, dining room, so you walk right
into the main areas.
I wanted a place for the family to put away backpacks, papers, shoes, coats, etc.
So what did I do?
I have a large armoire (you can use a bookcase) which
was flat against the wall. I turned it perpendicular to the
door so you see the back of it. I then attached sticky
hooks to it and placed a bench right in front of it. Under
the bench I put baskets.
Now I have a place to dump stuff right near the front
door! My very own mudroom.
You can
create a
mudroom too, or section off areas
of a room by doing just what I did.
Pulling a large bookcase or
armoire into the middle of an area
divyies off that space.
Or, you can treat yourself to a
hallway tree.
It will look better than the back of
a bookcase.
Room dividers and Furniture Placement
Don’t be afraid to put sofas or chairs in other groupings besides flat against the
wall. Pull them out into the middle of the room or in a creative conversational
arrangement.
Use bookcases as room dividers or to section off different purposes of the room.
I pulled my own piano out perpendicular to my door to section off a little play area
for the kids.
Clean up your yard and porch
I've been working a lot
outdoors to spruce up
my home. A clean front
yard that is colorful and
clutter-free is a
wonderful segway into
a clean, clutter free
inside.
If your front yard and
porch are cluttered up,
no wonder the inside is
too! Our external
environment really
impacts our internal
environment. I'm
talking physically and
spiritually.
You can do things to spruce up your lawn like planting, or edging, weeding, and
raking. Those bits make such a difference.
Yesterday I found underneath the deck, the previous owner to my home had left
large amounts of rocks. So I took them out and lined them up along my flower
beds making curves wherever I needed to! My own landscape edging beat any
other manufactured kind that doesn't allow zigzagging.
What can you do to spruce up your front yard? Put on a new pair of eyes so you
can see what you don't usually pay attention to.
If you don't have a green thumb, just buy a few hanging pots of flowers and put
them in flower pots or rest them on top of a stool.
Putting just one or two PRACTICAL garden accents in your garden give your eye
a place to rest and focus on, rather than on the parts of your garden you have yet
to clean up!
Minimizing ugly kitchen cabinets
I recently felt inspired to paint my kitchen
when I saw these dishes. My walls were
already blue and I wanted to add brown.
However, because I would be doing it
myself I didn't want to go through the hassle
of painting everything.
So, I painted only the cabinets.
The top cabinets are the same color as the
wall. I thought of this because in a House
Beautiful recent issue, there was a picture
of a kitchen with NO kitchen cabinets above the countertops. The decorator
mentioned that he did this to give a very clean, clutter-free feel. He placed
decorative shelving on the wall above the counters. And of course, there was a
pantry to store everything else in.
If you cannot knock out your upper cabinets (as most of us probably cannot), do
paint your upper cabinets to match the wall color. This will hide them and hide
the clutter. Or, you can unhinge the front of the cabinets and paint the inner
shelves different colors, displaying your dishes attractively with no actual cabinet
doors.
You can paint your bottom cabinets another color or the same wall color if you
want to hide them.
My kitchen walls happened to have already been blue. The cabinets were not.
The combination of blue and brown is so popular nowadays that I thought, I
know! I'll paint my lower cabinets brown, upper cabinets the blue wall color.
I'll send you a picture when I'm done :)
Streamline the Pantry
I recently reorganized my pantry. It was a
mess! What I did was put all food items into
clear storage bins.
I love this new look of boxes on shelves because it is so easy now to clean the
pantry. I just pull a bin off of the shelf and wipe it clean.
Plus, it looks so magazine-like! If it wasn't a pantry, I might have used wicker
baskets or something more decorative, but I really need to be able to see through
the boxes to the food inside.
Try it out in your own home anywhere you have shelving (insides of cabinets
too!) First figure out how many you think you'll need and then order them. Always
sort first and then containerize.
Display your Collections
Decide to arrange objects in
groupings. If you've got a lone
teapot over here and a couple
of spoon rests over there,
group them together and make
a display!
Objects look much better when
they are among friends, not
alone.
I've done this a lot in my house
recently. My husband had flute
from Equador, a random
trumpet, I had a windchime
and a drum lying around in
storage. I decided to pull these
objects that I could not figure
out what in the world to do
with, and created a musical display hanging on our wall.
Because of its exotic nature I call it "windows to the world". Corny I know but this
way, anytime something comes into our home that is ethnic or exotic, I know
where it will look great!
Do a Walk Through
Have you ever come back from being away from home for a while and you notice
clutter you previously hadn't noticed?
It is good to reenter your home with a pair of fresh eyes. We get so used to
seeing our surroundings the way they usually are that we often may not notice a
pile of clutter here or there.
It just isn't bothersome.
Try this home organizing idea. Prepare yourself to reenter your home (if not
every room then just the entryway). Put a new pair of eyes on. Get a little bit
critical!
Notice clutter than you had not previously noticed. Or a decorative item you
thought worked and now you see that it does not.
One thing I noticed when I did this in my own home
was the bottles of hand lotion, dish washing liquid,
shampoo, etc. I had them at every sink in the
house and they looked so cruddy after a while.
I didn't notice this though until I came in with a
sharper eye.
If you are also using the original store bought big
shampoo or dish washing liquid bottles, I
recommend you get small sleeker bottles, perhaps
with a pump.
If you want to go really sleek, put your soap or shampoo in something like a
Chrome soap dispenser.
Your sinks won't get a gross ring around it and you'll be surprised what a
difference it will make!
Get rid of miscellaneous food containers
I challenge you to get rid of all of your old food
containers, you know those cruddy plastic
containers whose lid you cannot find or melted
when put accidentally in the oven.
Get rid of them all. Throw them out!
Instead, you can use the Smart Spin Storage
System. It comes with 24 containers, spins on
a carousel, everything fits neatly, and it slides
forward for easy accessbility.
You can get it in the Kitchen Organizing section of Linens and Things.
Not only will you now have more room in your kitchen cabinets and you will enjoy
not having containers topple out at you every time you open up the cabinet.
ps-if you already own it, good for you! You an experienced organizer :)
A Place for Mail
I have seen so many people without one place for their mail. The worst part is the
anxiety that goes along with not knowing where a bill or water shut off notice is! It
is just too nerve wracking!
Here is how to create a complete mail center.
Include the following (altogether in one spot):
1. large table for sorting
2. Trashcan
3. 3 sections or drawers like this picture- 1 for medical reimbursements, one
for to file, one for pending. I keep Bills and action items in another spot.
4. Outgoing Mailbox
(Action items can go in a tickler file. Designate one
place for those little scraps of paper, such as wedding
invitations, appointments to schedule, and information
to enter into the computer. A tickler file includes slots
for each day of the month 1-31, and each month of the
year, Jan-Dec. That way, you can place each scrap of
paper on a specific day of the year. That gives a
definitive time and date for taking action on the
"pending" items.)
If you choose to have a general pending file, look through the file every so often
(depending on how pressing the tasks are) and take action.
The thing that is wonderful about a tickler file, is that both "hot" and "warm" tasks
can go into it, and if you review your next day's tasks, you will not forget to
complete the tasks.
With a general "pending" or "now" folder, it is easier to forget to look through the
file and take action.
You can also paperclip these scraps into your calendar, just be wary of the
papers falling out or creating too much bulk.
To File- for mail coming in that doesn't require any action, just put it in the "to file"
basket or hanging wall pocket. When it gets full, take the time to file the papers
away. Another use for this category is to put the stubs after you've paid your bills
in the "to file" pile. Or you can file them straightaway after bill paying. It depends
on your energy levels!
You do need to have a file system intact. If you do not currently have a file
system, start separating your papers using manila folders. Label the folder using
a title you would think to look back on. So if you just got your lawn cut, for
example, don't label the folder by the lawn company. Not many people even
know the name of their lawn company! Just label the folder, "lawn" or "home
maintenance".
Medical reimbursements- I include this category as an optional one, depending
on your insurance company. Some people have the arduous task of having to
submit receipts to their medical insurance company. Believe me, this can involve
a lot of paper. If this speaks to you, keep another wall hanging pocket for medical
reimbursements in your mail center.
Outgoing Mailbox- one really wonderful item to include in your mail center is an
outgoing mail box. All this means is for you to pickup an attractive box and put
scissors, envelopes, scotch tape, stamps, return address labels, and pens inside
of it. Having an outgoing mailbox makes paying bills easier because everything
you need is onhand in one location!
Review-After the mailperson comes, pick up the mail onto your mailsorting table.
Throw out the junk mail immediately. Open the rest of the mail. Put the items not
requiring any action in the "to file"
pocket. Put the bills in the "bills"
pocket. The medical receipts in the
"medical receipts" pocket. Any other
piece of paper requiring action goes
into your tickler file or paperclipped in
your calendar to complete on a
certain date.
Proportions
When you decorate, make sure your
proportions and scale look right. For
example, I was in a home recently
with a teeny tiny 3 light chandelier hanging over a huge 12 seater table. It didn’t
look right.
When you set your table, keep this in mind as well. A huge flower decoration will
look overpowering on a teeny tiny table.
Using Draperies
I really like the use of curtains and draperies for many things. You can cover up
an entire wall with curtains, a wonderful alternative to artwork.
You can also hide things behind the curtains, toys, shoes, etc. (I hide my
unsightly trampoline behind our curtains) No longer are draperies just for
windows!
Another way to use draperies is to section off large rooms, drawing attention
to the different function of each room. For example, in my home, my living room
goes right into the dining room. I put up a soft white
sheer curtain and tied it back just as a way to say, “This
is the dining room now, there is a different function.”
The eye is also drawn upward and has a place to rest.
Bring Outdoor Furniture Inside
I love this idea. It may not work for everyone so think
about how you can do your best to make it work. For a
new fresh look in your home, switch your outdoor
furniture into your home or your indoor furniture
outdoors. Of course this requires good weather, but think
about it! An old garden bench in your hallway or your cozy couch on
your deck? Vintage and distressed looks are so in style now, I really think you
may see that you can really love this look. I actually thought of it after looking at
the beautiful pictures in a Spiegel catalog.
Beautiful wicker furniture that looked outdoorsy was placed in a
sunroom with a beautiful end table and a cozy rug underneath.
Behind the Sofa
I don’t notice too many people taking advantage of the spot behind their sofas.
Look at the console table behind the sofa, it is a tall table that is functional and
decorative as well.
Find a high table that you can place behind your sofa and accessorize with a tall
vase, two matching lamps, or a collection of books.
This takes the pressure off having just one coffee table for everything!
One Common Denominator
When putting objects together, pick one
common denominator that they all have.
Perhaps they are all the same color, same size, same shape?
In this picture, all of the mirrors have the glass in common. They are different
colors but look right together because they are all clear glass. And look below at
the white grouping. They are all the same color so the grouping looks well
balanced.
You can clear up a lot of clutter this way by using it on the walls and in attractive
groupings!
Professional Matting
Don Aslett, professional cleaning expert,
mentions in his book Is There Life After
Housework that one of the best ways to
prevent dirt from collecting in your home
is to use commercial quality door mats.
Not the pretty kinds you see in home
decorating stores, but the kind you find in
a janitorial store.
I compromised with this commercial grade
one for my home, not to shabby, don’t you
think?
SECTION II- The DECORganize Theory
Organize and Decorate at the Same Time
When I go into someone’s home, I first DECORganize and then follow the
SPACE formula.
DECORganize essentially involves creating niches and areas in your home that
are organized, simplified, balanced, and beautiful. If you’re the type of person
that loves clean look of organized spaces, you’ll love this. You can take a picture
in a magazine or book of something that inspires you and replicate the beauty in
the picture.
My clients call this “doing a blitz”. Sometimes, they feel just too unmotivated to
sort through clutter or tackle the piles of paper. So I say, “let’s do a blitz”.
Rearrange the bedroom to create a more cozy look or add new color to the living
room. Sometimes I’ve created a photography nook or a beautiful
makeup/dressing area with items that are in other rooms just sitting there.
And what to do with the clutter while I’m doing a blitz? Well, I take my arm and
push all of the clutter into a box! Just get it out of sight! Working with a blank
canvas is so much more inspiring then rearranging the clutter over and over
again.
SPACE Formula
S-Sort.
Sort each item and ask yourself, “Do I love this?
Have I used it this year? Could someone else
use this more than I?
P-Purge.
Does “x” need to be purged, whether trashed,
donated, sold, or given away.
A-Assign a home (decide where it’s going to liveare the books going on the shelf or in the drawer)
C-Containerize
E-equalize (maintain)
If you want to sort through
the clutter though while
doing a blitz and kill two
birds with one stone, keep
1 laundry basket, 2 boxes,
and trash bags nearby.
The laundry basket is for
items that go in other
rooms, 2 boxes are for
giveaways, and the trash
bags are for trash. Take
everything off of the
counters, one at a time,
and follow the SPACE formula.
You must follow the SPACE formula in order. You wouldn’t want to decide to put
all of your books in a set of bookcases before sorting through the books to see if
they fit.
DECORganize is a little backwards, you may think. Decorating before
decluttering? Never been heard of before! I stand by my theory.
People who haven’t been able to organize in the past are most likely creative
people that like to DO. They like beautiful things and have dreams in their head
of how they want their home to look. Following systems seems boring to the
creative person, and typically, setting up systems are what traditional organizing
methods require.
For these people, I prefer to think instead of creating beautifully, clutter-free,
decorated areas and niches rather than systems. Systems will come naturally
when you walk by the areas and love them, thereby keeping the areas
consistently clear. And you won’t feel like organizing is a drag either.
Now, for those of you that want me to give you traditional organizing systems,
fine. And for those of you that want to begin DECORganizing, I’m going to satisfy
you both.
The following list are areas in the home that particularly need focus. If you
want to DECORganize, cut out a picture in a magazine that inspires you.
No matter what your motivation is for organizing, a lot of your housework can be
put on autopilot, if you create a spot for each of these items.
1. Mail- Establish a place for incoming mail and outgoing mail. For
DECORganizers, I like to keep a designer picture box with my stamps,
envelopes, tape, scissors, a couple of pens, and whatever else I need to send
letters. For incoming mail, you can keep a tiered tray with different categories to
look at a later date-bills, medical reimbursements, to file. Frequently check the
tray to see when anything is due.
Keeping your mail in one location prevents paper pileup.
2. Receipts and coupons- establish a system for receipts. You can use an
expandable check file and label each section according to store, credit card, or
type of purchase. Think about where you would look to find it if you needed it.
3. Library books/movies-keep anything you can incur a fine for in one location.
For DECORganizers (People that want to organize and decorate), I like to use a
wicker basket or planter near the front door.
4. Magazine basket-keep magazines in a basket and when it gets too full, sort
and purge. There are many aesthetically pleasing boxes or bins to hold
magazines. It doesn’t need to be from Office Depot.
5. Keys-keep your keys in one place! It may sound obvious to you but do you
waste time desperately searching for your keys? Put a nice bowl on a console
table near the front door and always keep your keys inside.
6. Gifts-I like keeping extra gifts on hand for those last minute necessities. This
may sound terrible- but I also keep gifts that I receive (that I don't particularly like)
in this location. I do not allow my home to become cluttered with gifts I did not
like and the guilt that goes along with not using them. Devote a bookcase or a
few closet shelves for this purpose.
7. CDs/DVDs-believe it or not, I have seen media take OVER much floor space
and counter space when no specific place is designated for it. Devote one piece
of furniture with drawers to contain all of your media. You can use a storage
ottoman or specialized media cabinets. You can even take an old shutters,
mount them on the wall, and use the slots for CD storage.
8. Notebook- get all of your thoughts down on paper. Seriously, if your mind
keeps racing with what you need to finish, then you have not fully figured out
what your next action steps need to be. For my creative people, buy a beautiful
journal. Get rid of the mental clutter that occupies your head.
And, establish these routines.
9. Grocery shopping and cooking-Keep a running grocery list on the front of
your pantry or refrigeration (with a pen!) so you can write down items as you
need them.
Plan one day a week to plan all the meals for the week with the ingredients that
you need. Be sure to add those ingredients to your grocery list.
Designate the same day each week to go grocery shopping.
10. Laundry and Cleaning routines-One of the most important routines is the
laundry and cleaning routine. Part of it is just having the supplies on hand and a
comfortable spot to do the laundry.
Designate 2 days a week to do laundry or if it works better for you to throw a load
in each morning, that's fine. Make sure you have laundry baskets in everyone's
room and a large sorter basket in the laundry room. That way, each person can
bring their basket into the laundry room on laundry day and sort it by color. Or,
have a laundry sorter on the main floor and every morning have everyone bring
down their laundry.
In terms of a cleaning routine, you have a lot of flexibility. You can designate one
day a week for cleaning in addition to cleaning for a 1/2 hour every morning and
evening. Think like a restaurant server-pick up after using, wash dishes, wipe
down dirty surfaces often. That way you will not need a heavy duty cleaning too
often.
Your laundry room can also be a room to DECORganize. There are so many
lovely pictures of laundry rooms now in magazines. The key is comfort. Good
lighting, a rug for your feet, a bowl to collect trinkets in pockets, artwork, and
whatever else will make you feel better about doing the laundry.
Why haven’t you been able to organize in the PAST?
Your home can be a place that even you, as caregiver, feel rejuvenated and are
able to recharge even when you are running on empty and fulfilling everyone
else’s’ needs first.
P stands for clutter Personality Types. The 3 basic types are Thinker, Doer, and
Feeler.
Thinker-You are highly intelligent, self-critical or apologetic, compare yourself to
others, feel like if you can’t do it right, why start? You are excellent with coming
up with solutions, practical problems and thinking in abstract terms. Are you
cautious and careful? Do you struggle with making decisions? Your complex,
deliberated thought process and analysis perhaps seems “slow” to others.
Doer- You are creative, fast-paced, full of ideas, often shift from one thing to
another, not really sticking to any particular system. Looking for the newest way
to “cut corners”. Do you lose interest easily, seeming inconsistent to others, have
a hard time focusing? It’s torture for you to think about working only on one thing
at a time. You love beautiful things and want them so much, you’ll go back to the
store and get it.
Feeler-It’s hard for you to say no. You feel sentimental about many objects, you
are people-oriented, often concerned about hurting people’s feelings. It’s tough
for you to make time for yourself. Your home is made up of bits and pieces of
your family.
There’s another feeler category. A feeler/nurturer takes pride that others depend
on you. Do you have an image of how you want your home to look and a
preconceived notion to how it “should” be? Listening to others tell you how to
change your home feels a little threatening.
A stands for attitudes that work against us.
S stands for sociological and inherited beliefs we have about ourselves and our
clutter, i.e., self criticism, guilt.
T is for the technical difficulties in your home, such as not liking the space or not
enough lighting in a room.
Why did I start with the mushy talk before I told you the practical steps for how to
organize? Because, changes begin from inside. As Hannah Kelley says of The
Art of Home, “Until you understand the reasons behind your behaviors, you will
never be able to permanently change.”
I hope you’ve perhaps identified with one of the Personality types or recognize
some of the attitudes (last issue) that work against you, you may be holding.
Because, if you do, now we can get started formulating a customized plan on
how to organize. It’s like a diet. One diet may not work for the next person. You
may like sweets, while others are tempted by rich cheesy foods.
However, a diet with an overall theory, or general principle, may in fact work for
many people (think Weight Watchers) if the actual steps or implementation of the
diet can be customized for individual types.
I have an organizing method that I find works to get people organized. I will
explain my theory and then customize the action steps according to your
Clutter Personality Type-thinker, doer, and feeler.
I call it DECORganize™. I recently formulated this principle after years of
watching different types of people struggle with wanting to get organized, doing
it, and staying organized. If you are a doer/creative person, you are going to love
DECORganize™. A thinker or feeler can stretch to do this, and only positive
rewards will be the result.
It’s hard to feel the motivation to organize. Yes, clutter is stagnant, dangerous,
demanding, poisonous, contagious, useless, embarrassing, and selfish but that
STILL often is not enough to push people to organize.
That’s because clutter is comforting. We all have “creature comforts”. Thinkers
like to buy lots of books and software. You like having the power of knowledge to
handle a situation. Nurturer/Feelers like to buy gifts for the kids or the home.
Doers like to buy beautiful things and tools that teach skills or “cut corners.” And
once we accumulate all of this stuff, it’s so hard to want to get rid of it or organize
it, because it is comfortable to be surrounded by all this stuff we like.
Getting out of your comfort zone is hard. I know! I also know that getting rid of
clutter is exhilarating. Talk to anyone who has recently undergone a purging job.
They’ll tell you how much better they feel. Guaranteed.
No longer do I have to really push people to organize or even find the motivation
to organize. That’s because DECORganize™ is a motivator in itself. I’m finding,
that when people (especially creative doers) create beautifully decorated small
areas or corners of their homes first, they are then motivated to organize and
stay that way.
Does this sound backwards? Decorating and rearranging before organizing? It
kind of is. But it provides INSTANT rewards and gratification and that is what
people want today.
How to do it?
Start here. Decide which room is most important to begin loving? Your bedroom?
I like to start here because where you sleep is where you recharge, get
inspiration, etc. It is the basis for everything else that happens in your home. If
you are not happy, no one else in your family will be happy.
Start with a clean slate and start small if you are currently living below clutter.
Maybe just your bed you’ll DECORganize™.
Put all surrounding clutter into one of the following items: 2 laundry baskets for
items to store somewhere else around the house, trash bags, and boxes for
donations.
Move all the clutter around the bed or in the bedroom into one of these
containers. If you don’t want to sort now, then literally take your arm, and go
around sweeping all clutter off of your dresser tops, nightstands, and the
floor…into a box. Get it out of site. You’ll deal with it later.
Rearrange furniture in the most beautiful way. Go find pillows and a bedspread
you love and add color to your bedroom.
Thinkers-don’t waste time figuring out the best way to do this. Decide on a plan
of action-ex. You have until Wednesday by 3PM to go to HomeGoods and pick
out a beautiful bedspread with coordinating pillows.
Nurturers/Feelers-Even if you are not sure it is going to match, put something
you love on the bed. You can always change it later. It doesn’t have to coordinate
with anything else in the house. Just do it.
Doers-You probably have something around the house that can serve this
purpose. I know you’ll have no trouble with this step. If you do have things lying
around that could potentially decorate the bed and you want to buy new ones,
then you need to force yourself to purge at least the same amount of things you
are buying.
Yes! You now have an area that is beautifully decorated. Decorating and
decluttering by removing everything else in the space is going to force you to
organize. By organize I mean sorting through the clutter you removed and asking
yourself if you love it. Let me say though, once you see how beautiful your room
turned out, you most likely won’t even want to deal with what is in the box.
Even if the rest of your home is full of clutter, wouldn’t it be great to own little
areas that look like some of the magazine pictures you love? A dressing area
with a makeup table, a reading corner, or a Martha Stewart like linen closet? A
photography station or a correspondence area stocked with stationary, stamps,
pens, and stickers?
Start small. If you need more ideas of what and how to create the little areas, cut
pictures that you love out of magazines. Thinkers- get your strategy down pat
and then do it before a deadline or before the timer rings. Doers-ask a thinker for
assistance with your strategy and then run with it, Nurturer/Feeler-make it work
for the whole family. Let your spirit float around the areas you DECORganize,
instead of the entire house.
If you are not concerned about your clutter, well you need to be!
I'm telling you this as a friend.
You know my website combines organizing information with decorating tips. I
love decorating and organizing.
I am finding though that even when I have decorated a room to the tee, and
believe me, it looks wonderful, if there is an ounce of clutter that shows, the
entire look is ruined.
We have to get rid of the excess. Even in my own home, I am constantly
decluttering. And I recently went on another rampage.
And my recent rampage happened when I was decorating. Or Decorganizing.
I have a room with wall to wall built in bookshelves. I had some beautiful pieces
of artwork that was not yet hung. I decided to hang it from one of the actual
shelves, in the middle of a bookshelf. It's a very popular look and it creates a very
distinct impression.
Anyhow, it happened just like I tell you with DECORganizing. The best way to
start organizing is to first Decorate and then the organizing will come.
If I had thought about decluttering my bookcases, I probably would have
procrastinated that large "Sunday" job.
But here I was, motivated to create a beautiful look in the library, when I noticed
all these books I don't read and not enough room for them all.
That was it! I couldn't stand it. I went through my drawers and my bookshelves, I
found A LOT books, electronics, CDs, that WE JUST DON'T USE! And my home
does not even look cluttered!
You can read all of the organizing information out there, and the bottom line is
that clutter must be gotten rid of.
My personal theory is that it is more fun to organize when you begin decorating
and see that you want the decorated area to look as streamlined as possible.
And it may or may not be hard for you to get rid of things. If you want your home
to look great, you've got to do it. And if you want to feel in control of your home,
knowing where things are and not having to constantly feel frustrated about
misplacing objects or opening a cabinet with items toppling out, you must
streamline your possessions keeping ONLY WHAT YOU USE ON A REGULAR
BASIS.
I want you to pick an area to Decorate in your house. One little nook. Email me
and tell me what it is ([email protected]). I'll help you. Once we
decorate it together, the clutter is going to have to go. The following books I
recommend will assist you with the organizing part.
SECTION III-Time Saving Secrets
Do Two things at once
How can you do 2 things reasonably at once?
Ask yourself this question when you need to get organized. Killing two birds with
one stone (I just realized how not nice that phrase is!) will increase efficiency. Of
course you want to be present in every moment so you'll see what I mean with
these ideas.
1. Folding the laundry while on the phone
2. Doing the dishes while the kids do crafts
3. Use up your leftover paint by splashing it on posterboard and canvasses to
create the artwork you need around the house. (The dump won't take paint cans
anyhow.) Or, paint the garage with the leftover colors.
4. Turn the lights dim creating a romantic and homey atmosphere and organize
so you don't get distracted by all of the clutter!
5. Letting the kids splash around in the bathtub and using it as an opportunity to
clean the floor.
6. Take a stroller exercise class so you spend quality time with baby while you
get in shape.
7. Fill a tub with clothes needing hand washing while you are taking a shower.
Clean the shower right after you turn off the water. (try not to get cold)
8. Dust the piano right before or after you finish playing.
9. Streamline your kids artwork by creating a time capsule or a care package to
send to grandparents or other long distance friends.
Increase your family’s independence
Many of you have mentioned how difficult the daily routine (or lack of!) is and
getting out of the house.
I think the key is to make your household members as self-sufficient as possible.
By this I mean, design your house in a way that encourages all children to get
what they need, do what they want to do without needing your help or too much
supervision.
Here's an example. My 2 year old constantly wants snacks. So, I dedicated a low
cabinet and put in ziploc bags with cookies, pretzels, almonds, carrots, (anything
not perishable) and I stock it full. She knows to take one or two bags. When she's
hungry, she often does not even ask me. She goes right to her shelf and helps
herself to snacks. I know they're healthy and don't mind at all. This teaches her
also to not eat too much at once since I have predivided the snacks.
All it requires of me is when I go to the store and buy a bag of pretzels, I open it
up and distribute all of the pretzels in small ziploc bags, stocking up the cabinet.
It works great.
Another home organizing idea to make your kids more self-sufficient is to
establish zones or work centers around the house. My daughter likes to read.
She also tends to get very active and somewhat wild at times. I designed a
reading corner for her in an out of the way corner in the living room. I bought a
Dora couch for her that is her size, turned over a clear plastic container on its
side, and filled books in it like a little library. Whenever she needs to calm down, I
tell her to go to her "Dora couch". Believe it or not, she does.
Sometimes I'm cooking in the kitchen, and I notice the kids are awfully quiet.
Getting a little nervous, I think, "Uh-oh what are they doing?" And sure enough,
the 2 year old and her 11 month old brother are sitting nicely and reading! It's so
great :)
What are some other things to make your kids self-sufficient? How about
establishing an arts and crafts center in an area that you are not too worried
about a mess? I bought a small blowup swimming pool to put finger paints and
crayons, markers, and other paints. My kids can sit in the pool and paint (inside!).
I know this sounds silly but it sure corrals a potentially huge mess.
If your kids are older, set up a folding table and chairs and put two rolling carts
filled with arts and craft supplies to fit under the table (when not in use). Lay an
outdoor rug under the table and have this table possibly near a sink to wash
brushes and hands when done. This way, the kids can go straight to the arts and
crafts table, all of their supplies are in it and with the floorcloth, you don’t stress
out too much by the mess.
Keep the table set up all the time and use this instead of a dining room table that
you need to clear every time dinner needs to be served.
Another home organizing idea to help make the kids more self-sufficient is to put
together a complete outfit from headband to socks in individual bags. Every
morning, your child can dress his/herself using this premade clear bag. Even a
two year old can begin to dress themselves.
Anyhow, I hope my home organizing idea on self-sufficiency establishes a little
bit more of a routine for you and your family. Once these little centers and work
zones are set up around the house, you'll notice that your name is called a lot
less.
Work with your energy cycles.
I must debunk the myth that you can get everything done as long as you stay
organized, motivated, and put your mind to it.
Wrong.
What about energy cycles? Huh?
We all have natural energy cycles. Sometime during the day we feel most
energized. Other times, usually the same time everyday, we are tired.
Most people don't think of it this way but if you do, it will change your life!
Figure out when you highest energy levels are during the day. Is it in the
morning, or late afternoon? Are you tired right after eating lunch?
Once you can mentally chart your energy cycles, when you are most awake and
most tired, schedule your work around these cycles.
If you are most tired after lunch, do something requiring little energy such as
checking email. If you are most energetic in the morning, schedule clients,
meetings, and work that is most important. Don't waste precious high energy time
answering or returning phone calls or checking email.
This hit me the other day because I still am getting little sleep with my 2 babies.
Anyway, I needed to schedule a client and in the past I just scheduled around
when I had a babysitter. Now I know I am most tired in the early afternoon so I
would not want to go to a client at that time.
Purging and organizing does require a lot of energy :)
I hope this tip really assists you in your life and enables you to be most
productive each and everyday.
Routines and Regularity
My husband and I recently returned from a trip to Austin, Texas. It was beautiful
and refreshing. We didn’t take the kids.
The reason I was able to leave the kids behind (remember, I have a two year old
and a 5 month old) is because they have ROUTINES and a regular schedule.
Therefore, my close family members could read the 5 page printout of
instructions I had prepared because the routines were easy to follow and
continue.
You can incorporate routines into your schedule. When I say regularity, I do not
mean rigid tight schedules.
Here is an example that may or may not work for you.
1. Go grocery shopping on the same day each week. I recommend going
Tuesdays because the beginning and end of the week are usually busy.
2. Designate 2 days a week for laundry. I do not worry about the piles of laundry
on any other day except Sunday and Wednesday. That way I don't stress out
about it until the regularly scheduled days.
3. I like to grocery shop Tuesday morning (least busy day of the week) and then
come home and cook it all Tuesday afternoon. I buy loads of fresh foods and
then I freeze it after my cooking fest!
You can create a time map for yourself by listing all of your responsibilities and
then plugging them into hour increments. So for me, a list would include- laundry,
cooking, shopping, website editing, exercise, newsletter writing, etc.
Then, I plug all of these responsibilities into some hour of my weekly schedule. I
try to make that hour the same every week. It's easy to remember.
Think of what your responsibilities are-they probably do not change much from
week to week- and create routines. You can even call it a "ritual" or "event".
Those words are more celebratory and make it fun. So my "laundry day parade"
on Sundays and Wednesdays is somewhat fun. (I try to spice up my life as much
as possible)
Get the paper off of your desk
If you have piles of paper all over your desk, you're going to love this issue.
The method is called FAT. I'm not sure who invented the acronym but it really
works. A piece of paper requires 1 of 3 options.
1. File- A paper such as a bank statement that doesn't require you to do any
action (usually) just needs to go in a file system. If you do not currently have a file
system, a quick solution is to purchase an accordion file and label each section
according to most common papers.
Also, if you hate filing and prefer piles (you can tell this by your current habits :), I
recommend using the Pile Cabinet) More on that later.
2. Act-A piece of paper requiring action such as a wedding RSVP, or IRS form to
be sent needs to go in an action file. An Action file could be simply a tiered tray
on your desk labeled "To Call, to write, to enter in computer".
I like writing all of my tasks requiring action in a spiral notebook. I number them in
order of importance and expect to complete about three tasks a day. This is a
quick solution, no need to purchase anything fancy.
3. Toss- Trash!
Here’s the Pile Cabinet info:
I may have mentioned to you a product that a friend of mine, Blair, created. He,
like many others, hates to file! There were piles of papers all over his office until
he decided that there has got to be a way to organize people who prefer "piling"
instead of filing.
Many people will tell you to conquer your habit of piling but I say that if you really
have a strong hatred of filing, then work with your natural preference and find a
way to go along with what comes naturally to you.
Blair created the Pile Cabinet. A way to keep papers organized in piles while
knowing what every piece of paper in the pile is. You will be able to find papers
within the pile in minutes.Check out Blair's link to the Pile Cabinet.
Kids and Homework
I hear from many parents that their child is stressed out with schoolwork, tests,
finals, finding time to study, and extracurricular activities.
I do not like seeing overstressed children and teenagers. Stress takes a
dangerous toll on us-we must prevent it early on.
Sit down with your child and do these three things:
1. Pick out a paper or electronic planner for them to record their appointments,
assignments, and to-dos. I like using a paper planner in conjunction WITH
something electronic to record all phone numbers, addresses and set
appointments.
This planner is designed especially for a college
student and includes room for budgeting yet it can
work for your student. Show it to your child and
decide together if it looks right for them.
2. Talk about Priorities and map them out.
What are your child's priorities? Typical student
priorities are academics, family life, after-school
activities, friends, relaxing, religion, pets, etc.
Have them rate their priorities according to level of importance. Then track the
time they've been spending on things. For example, does the amount of time
spent on schoolwork reflect the number 3 that your child gave it?
Draw a schedule with your child. Put the days of the week on top and the time of
the day on the left hand side. Draw squares for the chunks of time that are
occupied currently. Much of the time will be "school". Include squares for travel to
and from school time, wake-up and dress, snack time, and after-school activities.
Once you draw it all out, you can see how much time is left. Having this visual
really helps to see when is the best time to sign up for another class or hang out
with friends.
3. WADE through the tasks (Morgenstern). Sort through the piles of to-dos
Write it down-write down the task at hand. A test, a paper due date, a dance
rehearsal. Get it in your planner.
Add it Up-Estimate how long it will take. A dance rehearsal that is an hour really
can be an hour 1/2 when you include travel time. Overestimate.
Here's an example-A final exam in 12 weeks requring 200 pages of reading. If
you read 20 pages a week for 2 hours, you can get it done with 2 days of review
time.
Decide- when to do the task based on your time map.
Execute- Do it. Reward yourself. Take babysteps and start the project. Work in
30 minute increments. Silence your inner perfectionist!
It is my hope that with these tips and recommended resources for teens time
management, you can help de-stress your child and provide them with the skills
they need when homework overload hits.
Manage your Money
We have heard time and time again that money doesn't grow on trees. But we
wish it does. Life is super expensive! You may have even taken a second or third
route to pursuing income.
I am no financial planner but the following tips will assist you in getting your
finances in order and making the money you have last longer.
1. As soon as the mail arrives, separate the bills and put them into one
designated area. Sort through them and put the bills into 2 folders labeled 1-15
for the first 15 days of the month, and the other folder labeled 16-31. Twice a
month, designate a day to pay your bills. Be sure to schedule your bill paying day
on your calendar so it gets done in plenty of time. By the way, I also keep a folder
for medical reimbursement receipts for my insurance and for tax documentation.
2. Designate a separate auto depreciation account that money is transferred into
monthly. It doesn't have to be a large amount. Have it transferred automatically,
and sure enough, by the time you need to buy a car, you will have money to turn
to.
3. What motivates a purchase? Do you shop when you're blue, stressed,
frustrated, bored? If you know you use shopping as a coping skill, then don't set
yourself up! Don't go to the Mega Bucks Boutique. Go someplace where the
prices are reasonable and you won't replace your current emotion with guilt. Go
to the dollar store. Yes, the all-incredible, super, glamorous collar store. You
need to buy something, right? I buy generic children's Tylenol ($3-5), BandAids($2-4), shampoo($2-5), gift bags($2-3), all the trimmings for a child's birthday
party($20-30), hair stuff for my daughter ($2-4), bath soap($2-4), cleaning
supplies ($2-4) and on and on. Think about paying the cost of these items in
other stores (listed in parentheses) and then think--I only paid a dollar. It is is
amazing all the stuff people pay too much for and find on the shelves of these
kinds of stores. Along with the good feelings someone gets when purchasing
something expensive, there is a sort of a euphoria that can be felt when you save
a significant amount of money. Better yet, later you don't feel guilty for saving
your family $20. (Teresa Higginbotham)
4. Consolidate your credit cards. You may have heard this before and it is
REALLY IMPORTANT. By paying the minimum monthly balance on many cards,
you are paying lots of finance charges and postage. Choose 1 credit card with
the lowest APR and highest credit limit. Transfer old balances to this card. Your
balance will look a lot higher because all spending is on 1-2 cards. You will be
able to pay a much larger balance though now that you only have 1-2 cards
instead of 10!
5. Keep track of expenses. I don't mean a rigid budget, but for a month or so,
keep a small notebook with you and record your purchases. Include the
miscellaneous ones- the People magazine, snapple, and starbucks. Record
these expenses and at the end of the month, total them and match them up
against your income. You will see where the money is going. Perhaps much of it
is falling into categories such as the miscellaneous one. You can cut back on
these incidentals by assessing whether or not you really need these items. I don't
mean not to enjoy life and relax but keeping tabs on where the money is going is
really helpful when making decisions about how you want to spend most of your
money-travel, retirement, or eating out? Make small incremental changes when
possible.
I hope these money saving and enhancing tips benefit you in your life.
Get away with the least amount of housework
We all have our very busy times of the year. For accountants, it is tax season.
For wedding planners, it is wedding season. For teachers it may be report card
time.
During these incredibly busy times, it becomes hard to keep up with all
household demands. The piles of laundry start to overflow, the mail pile takes
over all flat surfaces, and the chores seem endless.
In order to prevent too much of a backlog, Organizedhome.com recommends
implementing the Magic Minimum in your home.
Every family has different needs. However, for the most part, we all need to get
to:
- the bills and deposits
- the laundry
- food, groceries, and dishes
- daily pickup
- bathroom and kitchen cleanup
To make your own Magic Minimum plan,"list the rock-bottom essential
maintenance chores necessary to keep the household clean, fed and on time."
(Organizedhome.com)
Create a simple daily and weekly chart or plan. For example,
Every week:
Every day:
Review checkbook and pay
bills
Load and run dishwasher
Tidy kitchen
Shop for groceries
Clean bathrooms
Run one load of laundry, fold
and put away
Family pick-up time
Make sure to delegate tasks and post the chore lists in a central location so
everyone knows what they need to do.
I hope it is a relief to know that there is indeed a way to "get away with" doing a
minimum amount of housework. When you do finally get a break from the
intensity of the busy time, you can get to the other chores! (I can hear your
enthusiasm :)
Delegating
Delegating is a commonly misunderstood concept. Delegating is not about
dumping problems or chores you dislike doing onto the shoulders of others, it is
an invaluable tool for "motivating and training your team to realize their full
potential." (Blair)
What an awesome power we each hold. We have the ability to assist another
person (i.e., your spouse, kids, or coworker) in capitalizing on their full potential.
How many thousands of dollars do people spend on motivational tapes,
programs, weekends, coaches, and training seminars on learning how to make
best use of our abilities? Most people want true fulfillment, in all areas of life.
Therefore, it benefits you AND your loved one to learn how to delegate.
Make sure this person knows what you want done, they can actually complete
the task, and they know how to do it.
Many people worry that if they let others do a job for them, they will lose control
or the job will not be completed as well as you would have done it yourself. For
example, I just gave birth to my second child. (His name is Joseph David :).
During these past two weeks, others have done my cleaning, cooking, and
shopping. Have they cleaned as well as I might have? No. Did they buy the
brands and specific products that I would have bought? No.
I told myself that the jobs that I delegated did not have to be done as well as I
could have done them. They just had to be GOOD ENOUGH.
When you think about tasks you can delegate, decide what is "good enough". I
decided that I can live with my clean but not perfect kitchen or the sandwich bags
that were purchased without Ziplocs. For now, they will do. I took a breath and
then let go of my high standards.
And you know what, I see how happy people are to help me and how good they
feel doing a job that requires them make their own decisions. They feel
empowered and I know my confidence in them only helps.
Give your children a chance at loading or unloading the dishwasher- even if it is
easier and faster for you to do it yourself! A toddler can help set the table. The
forks may not be on the left initially but one day they will get there!
Empower your loved ones today and enjoy the results tomorrow (or a little later :)
How many times a week do you grocery shop?
During both of my pregnancies, I had wonderful friends offering to go grocery
shopping for me.
This forces me to know EXACTLY what groceries I need for the upcoming week.
I don't want anyone to have to make repeat trips to the store so I've been honing
my meal planning and grocery shopping skills as best I can.
What I've discovered is, I only have to cook 3 times a week, providing that I make
enough quantity, for 6 weeknight dinners.
Once I realized that organized meal planning only required me to come up with 3
meal ideas, I now actually ENJOY trying new recipes and experimenting on the
weekend. I never thought cooking could actually become fun!
Try it out! Sit down with a pen and paper on a Sunday afternoon or whenever
works best for you and find pick 3 recipes for the upcoming week (there are
recipes provided in the free download).
Look through each of the recipes and list ALL ingredients you may need and
create your grocery list.
It is my hope that this information serves to guide you further along your journey
to get organized, simplified, balanced, and beautiful.
Better To-Do Lists
Chances are most of you have a lot you need to get done.
Your to-do lists are long and sometimes complex, often including large projects
that require multiple steps that need to be done in order to complete the project.
I've come to realize that it is important to not only WRITE DOWN my chores but
to break them up into bite-size pieces, brainstorming ALL of the possible parts
that may be involved in completing each chore.
So, on my to-do list, "buying a minivan" looks like a simple task to complete,
taking up just one line on my trusty notepad! What about all of the research, test
driving, model and price comparisons, dealer negotiations, and financial planning
that is involved?
I break down each task into as many pieces as I can. I like using an outline. For
instance:
I. BUY A MINIVAN
1. Pre planning
a. research the internet
b. discuss all options (leasing/buying/new/used) with financial planner
c. locate dealerships nearby
2. make appointments with sales office
a. test drive
b. compare favorite models
3. Check again with financing options.
a. Buy!
As you can see, buying a minivan is more involved than it seems.
Most of the time, tasks require more time, energy, and input than we may have
thought to allocate. Break down each task into as many steps as you need.
Assign deadlines to every step. It can be as simple as entering them into your
calendar.
Getting rid of Mental Clutter
One of the tools I use as a professional organizer, and as a mother of two
toddlers are countdowns.
What exactly is a countdown? To put it simply, anytime a special event, party, or
holiday is anticipated (okay maybe dreaded :), create a MASTER list of
EVERYTHING you need to do.
For example, with Hanukkah and Christmas rapidly approaching, tasks such assetting your table, gift buying, cooking, decorating, may be floating around in your
head. "Oh yes, I can't forget to do x,y,z", sound familiar?
Transfer all of that mental clutter from your head onto a piece of paper. This is
your MASTER to-do list.
Then, transfer each item on your MASTER list to a day in your calendar,
preceding the event. It will not be too hard to determine the necessary
chronological order for each task. You now have DAILY and WEEKLY to-do lists
and have just created a COUNTDOWN.
If you are pressed for time, decide to delegate, delete, or diminish some of your
tasks. Do you really need to give a gift to every single one of your coworkers?
Can you buy the jelly donuts instead of baking them-especially if you've never
made jelly donuts before?
It is my hope that you enjoy the deep meanings of this holiday season and take
the time to reconnect with yourself, your friends, and your family.
Hope you enjoyed 43 Easy and Low Cost Ways
to Organize and Decorate as much as I did writing
it!
To your success!
Rivka Slatkin
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