[How To Organize] steal these ideas!

here are just a few snazzy examples from my silverlake home project that you can try in YOUR home! why not? it's not like there's some kind of patent on all this sheer brilliance! let's face it, i stole these ideas from someone else...like...using undersofa storage, or consolidating all your entertaining gearl into one place so party central is ready to happen at anytime! so click in and check it out.

two hours of power: a quick pasadena office makeover

a hot office mess "Before" From Project Portfolio - Pasadena Offices

This tiny storage room conversion couldn't afford all the floor space that the stray wire filing racks were occupying. She could barely walk in the front door without needing some high-level cirque du soleil agility to get past the janky wire files and to her chair.

janky wire files "Before" From Project Portfolio - Pasadena Offices

There was no filing system for her active files to speak of so she had to eyeball and flip through every single one of her files to look for one folder!

The solution? organized. by jenny.

Getting those files off the floors and in some sort of order took little effort and time for a huge payoff!

right angle, open space nirvana. cue the choir. "After" From Project Portfolio - Pasadena Offices

It was like a tornado of organizing. This office was done in only 2 hours! This included assessing what the client needed for her work, taking a quick trip to Staples for some inexpensive exposed filing crates (she preferred seeing things out in the open rather than hidden away...a "seeker"...not a "hider" as they like to say), and creating a totally new filing system by using only four main categories organized by alphabetical order. So simple! We threw some colorful personal pictures and artifacts up on the bulletin board, cleared the desk space and she was finally rockin' and rollin' in no time!!

Jenny's 7 Habits of Highly Organized People

1. Shop Smart
Listen. If crap’s not coming in, then you don’t have crap to deal with. Don't bring anything into your home that you don't absolutely love or need. Be ruthless and clutter isn’t such a problem!

2. Everything Has a Home
Dude. Don’t leave your valuable, loveable belongings homeless. If you truly love and value your things, show you care by always giving them a home – a home that makes sense so you know where everything generally lives.

3. Nothing’s Sacred
Hey. If something doesn’t work for you and your habits, then rethink it. Try another way to store and use your things. Rethink. Move on. And get over it.

4. Your Things Don't Pay Rent!
Remember you control your things. Things should not control you. If your things are getting in the way of your living the life you want to lead, time to evict them! Or at the very least, make your things work for you. When something comes into the house, something goes out. Things don’t have claim to the valuable relaxation, entertaining and productive real estate in your life.

5. Schedule Cleaning
Look. No one loves cleaning. (Okay. Some of us do…and we become Professional Organizers). Like anything that’s important to you (paying the bills, your job, taking a shower to get the funk out), you’ve got to schedule in what matters. And since you are going to be a fabulously clutter-free and focused individual, you need to schedule in your cleaning like it’s important.

If you stick to a cleaning schedule you’ll actually cut down on your overall work, because you’re not delaying the cleaning until everything becomes an overwhelming mess. By cleaning just a little bit on a daily basis, you'll be able to enjoy your home rather than worry about it, and you won't feel sandbagged when last-minute guests stop by.

6. Choose Happiness Over Perfection
Stick to your deadlines but don’t kid yourself if you think you’ll do all those projects tomorrow. If you miss a task, you’re not perfect and that’s okay. Make sure you get back on the program and honor yourself by taking small steps to keeping your house clean and clutter free.

7. Party to Bust Clutter
Give four parties a year. One each season. Just a gentle reminder that you are fabulous and your space needs to reflect that. So, get on it! Find an excuse to party and stay organized!