Friday Find: Follow us on Pinterest!

This week's Friday Find is us...on Pinterest! We love to bring you great organizing ideas and Pinterest is proving to be a great virtual bulletin board for gathering them together! We're pinning organizing ideas we see and use in our travels with a touch of our organizing expertise to help you figure out how to apply these fabulous finds to your own organized life. So if you're already on the Pinterest train, just search for Organizing Boston. We'd love for you to follow us and can't wait to see your organizing finds as well! We've got boards including home, kitchen, closet and office organizing as well as organizing products we love. It's a work in progress, but we're having fun along the way. Come join us!

Friday Finds: Smart Ways to Refresh Your Wardrobe

Today I've got 2 Friday Finds for you! They're both clothing-related but that's about all they have in common :)

The first is a great local event where you can celebrate Earth Day by refreshing your kids' closets the green way! Itsy Bitsy Thrifty is holding it's spring/summer seasonal consignment event for children's clothing this weekend in Woburn, MA. With free admission all day Saturday, this is a great way to get some 'new to you' items for your fast-growing kids. We always think of donation and consignment as great ways to get organized without trashing all your unwanted stuff, but buying used items (as long as you need them) is another great way to keep it green! Thanks to my friend, Kristi for mentioning this great local event!!

On a different note, I've got an interesting Friday read from the NY Times for those of you who might be having trouble clearing out your closet clutter. Turns out that many of us get attached to certain brands and might have a hard time 'breaking up' with them as the style and our lifestyle grows apart, whether we realize it or not. While there was way too much fashion in the article for my non-fashionista brain to digest, the article definitely made me think about how much trouble we all have letting go of clothes, styles and brands that may no longer fit or fit our current lifestyle. Give the article a read and then give yourself permission to let those old clothes and brands go! Thanks to home design guru, Sabrina Soto, for mentioning the article on facebook. She's got a great little spot in the article, having recently undergone her own brand breakup!

Tuesday Tip: Know What You Have

Have you ever been on the highway without toll money, run out of toilet paper or paper towels at home, or been out with your kids without snacks or diapers? Knowing what you have (and what you don't) is a huge part of being organized, in my opinion. In my former life, I definitely let myself get into a few pickles due to lack of systems and planning to keep on top of my household, car or personal inventory. 

Over the years, I've gradually developed better habits to keep on top these everyday necessities...like re-stocking the parking meter change in my car whenever I use it and writing items on my shopping list as soon as I notice they're running out. But as with most things organizing, being a parent has forced me to kick my organization to a new level. It's less ok, and definitely less bearable, to get into an 'inventory' pickle, such as running out of gas or cash or diapers with a little one!! So I do my best to not let my gas get below a quarter tank (and yes, I sound like my wonderful mother who taught me this a long time ago...I'm finally listening), to clean out and re-stock the diaper bag as soon as we get home from an outing, and other painless but majorly pain-saving inventory systems. 

My advice to myself and all of you...anytime you say or think, "that would stink if I ran out of or forgot to...", do something about it! Come up with a simple system to prevent an inventory failure. For household items, the easiest bet is to keep a running shopping list and add things you're running low on. I keep my list on my phone so I have it with me whenever I head to the store. For on the go tasks, the best practice is to take care of them as soon as you notice you're running low or keep a spare inventory somewhere that's accessible if a problem pops up. My all-time best example of this was the time I dropped my entire set of keys in a storm drain...yes, you read that correctly. Fortunately, I had a spare condo key in my bag (not in my condo where it wouldn't have been any use) and spare keys to the other important items (like my car) in my condo. Guess what my next to-do item was after the storm-drain incident? Get a new set of spare keys :)

Do you have a spare set when you need it?

Friday Find: Boston Area Earth Day Recycling Events

Earth Day is coming up on April 22! Celebrate by recycling your household clutter at a local recycling event. It turns out that several cities and towns in the greater Boston area are making it really easy for you to donate and/or recycle a variety of household goods and electronics. Here's a list of a few events we found posted on-line. Check out Mass.gov for more events or call your town to find out about recycling opportunities close to home:

NEWTON

City of Newton Electronics Recycling Collection
Friday & Saturday, April 20 & 21, 2012
8:00 a.m.-12:00 noon
Recycling Depot
115 Rumford Avenue, Newton, MA

Monthly drop-offs for Newton residents, businesses and non-profits for electronic recycling ("anything with a plug"). There is a $12 charge for each TV and computer monitor. All others accepted free of charge. Sponsored by City of Newton Department of Public Works. More information: http://www.newtonrecycles.com or 617-796-1000

BOSTON

19th Annual Earth Day Clothing Drive
Monday, April 23-Friday, May 11, 2012
7:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m.
Lobby of 89 South Street, Boston, MA

Donate clothing, shoes and accessories to benefit people in need in our community. Sponsored by Second Chances and The NonProfit Center.
More information:
http://www.secondchances.org/clothingDrives/NonProfitCenterEarthDay2012.htm or info@secondchances.org

MEDFIELD

Medfield Green Day

Saturday, May 5, 2012

9:00 am-12:00

110 Peter Kristof Way, Medfield, MA

Donate or recycle a variety of household items from clothing to baby gear to sports equipment and appliances. Check the website for more information:
http://www.medfieldgreen.org 

ARLINGTON

Community Collection Day
Saturday, May 12, 2012 (Rain or Shine)
9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
51 Grove Street, Arlington, MA

Outdoor event to collect materials for reuse and recycling. Residents can drop off a variety of home items to be recycled including CRTs ($10 per unit): bikes, books, old sneakers, confidential papers, old prescriptions, sharps, more. Sponsored by Arlington Public Works and Recycling Committee.
More information: http://www.arlingtonma.gov/Public_Documents/ArlingtonMA_DPW/Recycle/index

Check out our deal on Eversave.com

Have you ever thought..."I'd like to have a professional organizer come over and just give me a head start and some great tips on all my organizing projects and challenges?" Today's your lucky day! We are offering a deal today on Eversave.com - $39 for a one hour consultation with one of our professional organizers.We'll walk through your space and give you customized tips and solutions to get you started. So if you need a little jump start, jump on over to Eversave and let us help you get on the right track. The deal is live today through Saturday, so don't delay!!

Tuesday Tip: Hire a Baby to Help You Get Organized

Ok, so you may think I've lost my marbles with today's tip, but I swear there's also a point. Ever since our 10 month old starting crawling a few weeks ago, she has really helped kick our home organizing into high gear. To put it simply, everything must have a home (one of the cardinal rules of organizing)...even things we used to leave out. If it's out, it's fair game to her, but if it's put away, it's out of sight, out of mind!

Here are some good examples - shoes...in the closet; my bag...up on its hook; remote controls...in the remote caddy up on the TV stand. She has really forced us to make sure every little thing serves a purpose and has a home. If it doesn't meet those criteria, it's a hazard or at least a nuisance and has to go! Besides having a safe home for her, this has really helped streamline our cleaning up routine. I'm also finding that I need to vacuum more frequently with a mobile, food throwing baby, so having a place for everything, and everything in it's place has made it much simpler to whip out the vacuum for a quick cleaning...bonus!

So if you want an organizing boot camp for your space, think like a baby, or even better - borrow a baby! Look around for anything that's just lying around and figure out if and where it belongs to straighten up your space in no time.

Tuesday Tip: Simplify Spring Cleaning

Whether you're preparing for Passover, getting ready for Easter guests or just looking to bring that fresh and clean springtime feel into your home, it's time to get your spring cleaning on. Do yourself a favor this year and clear the clutter before you dive into cleaning. Removing items you don't use and love from your space will save you tons of time when it comes to wiping down surfaces, vacuuming, and cleaning out cupboards and closets. The best part is you can do both tasks together - take everything out of a space, toss or set aside for donation any items you no longer want, and give the space a good cleaning before you put the 'keepers' back in. Keep the clutter at bay and you'll save tons of future cleaning time, which you can spend outside enjoying the weather. So give your home a little springtime TLC, open up those windows, and enjoy the season!