PROJECT PORTFOLIO: Choose Stress-Free Home Office Over Cluttered Storage

My client was so excited to move forward in his life, both professionally and personally, and working on this home office and guest bedroom combination was just the way to do it.

These boxes never had a home when he moved in - containing his old files and memoirs and valuable papers inherited from a deceased parent.

He also wanted to advance his writing career and really needed a place to get inspiration and keep track of all the fanciful stories he was going to spin.

ENTER: ORGANIZED. By Jenny.

We whipped this corner pile of boxes and doohickeys into shape.  We created a space plan with tastefully and appropriately sourced furniture and storage solutions.

We are happy to report that by the time the holidays rolled around, our client was able to have his mother-in-law stay in the newly refreshed guest bedroom AND have a clean and orderly place to get his finances and writing projects in order.

Cheers to that, 2012.

Do you have a pile o' random boxes taking up valuable real estate and feeling more like a thorn in your side?  Where is it?  What is all the stuff in those boxes? What do you think is holding you back from going through the stuff and finding the right place for your things?  Please leave a comment!

PROJECT PORTFOLIO: Be the Donald Trump of Your Kitchen! Counter Tops as Valuable Real Estate

Not everyone is blessed with forty linear feet of clutter-free counter space (Oh. In my dreams...in my sweet, sweet dreams).

For the rest of us, we need to make the best of our valuable kitchen counter top real estate.

When you think about it, viewing our kitchen counters as "expensive real estate" is actually a great way to think about how to best use our counter tops!

Let's imagine: If you own valuable property on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills or a storefront on Park Avenue, you wouldn't just use that space for storing your random crap that you don't use, would you? Would you treat that Rodeo Drive storefront like it's just some storage garage you rent? Probably not.  

You would choose only the best things that will be the most useful, or add the most to your life (or your bottom line).

To use real estate "talk," let's think of it this way: What is the "highest and best use" for our kitchen counter tops (Say, if you are a busy family with three kids)?

• Space to prep kids and mommy and daddy's lunches? Check!
• Place to store washcloths, daily vitamins and baby food to feed and wipe down little grubby faces? Check!
• Counter space to spread out my chopping boards and prep food? Check!
• Appliances and coffee maker close to where we store our food, beverages and glasses? Check!

Anything else? Well, they are not as important "uses" of the kitchen, so they do NOT get any of the valuable counter top real estate.  Simple as that.

From Project Portfolio

Have you ever thought of the rooms in your home as "real estate"?  What are the highest and best uses for YOUR counter tops and the needs of you and YOUR family? Please leave a comment below!  I'd love to hear from you!

PROJECT PORTFOLIO: Simple Bedroom Makeover - from CLUTTER to CLARITY

What happens when you need to move out the personal possessions for a physically disabled roommate and prepare your home for a new roommate to come in, all at the same time?

Chaos.

So ORGANIZED. By Jenny helped this IT professional to get some order in her otherwise disheveled bedroom. We taught her some basic principles around knowing when to keep items, and where to place things you use the most often for daily living.  Here are the results.

From Project Portfolio

She still has a nice mound of "To Sort" but now she has a closet that works for her everyday needs.  Believe it or not, she was actually getting her wardrobe from a couple piles in the middle of that madness on her bedroom floor.

This is what we did:

1. Clear out all the junk stuffed into the closet and onto the floor so we can assess what's useful.
2. Talk through her daily activities for getting ready for work, relaxing and coming home to rest.  Where are the things she needs to do these activities? Let's place them within reach in designated "zones" or "homes."
3. What is the clothing that she is ACTUALLY wearing on a daily basis?  Great! Let's put THOSE items back into the closet with plenty of room to spare!
4. Create space in the closet for 

• Laundry baskets,
• Daily wardrobe,
• Smaller essentials like underthings like socks and underwear in the drawer units,
• Workout supplies,
• An extra bed and linens for when mom comes over once a week and
• A space above the drawer units for your purse and backpack (you'll know exactly where it is for when you run out the door).

 Then let's put the shoes you actually wear in a shelving unit by the door, with some of your daily vitamins, medicine and hair products at eye level above the shoes.

That's it!  Your daily routine, simplified and clarified.

What do you think about the "after" closet? Do you have some "empty" or "white" space around YOUR clothing?

Before & After: A Screenwriter's TV / Media Room [Project Portfolio]

INTERIOR. MAN CAVE
The spare bedroom looks like it has been hit with a Blockbuster Video tornado. The SCREENWRITER is sitting on the sofa.


SCREENWRITER
This is too much.  I've got to get a handle on all these old VHS and DVDs.  How will I ever get inspired in this space so I can write more screenplays?!


(2 months later)
ORGANIZED. BY JENNY enters.


ORGANIZED. BY JENNY
Well lookee here!  Some sorting, purging and some great storage furniture later, you've got your Man Cave/media room back!


SCREENWRITER
Thank goodness! Not a moment too soon.  I don't know HOW much time I've spent on just looking for my limited collector's edition of Scarface.


ORGANIZED. BY JENNY and SCREENWRITER high five.

From Project Portfolio

[Jenny's Crib] From Dark-Hole-of-Storage-Room-Doom to Organized Closet [Before and After]

I have a confession. I moved into my two-bedroom condo over two years ago and I STILL hadn't finished unpacking. I still had six big boxes of random things covered with construction dust stuffed in the dark hole of see-no-evil storage room doom second bedroom. I just shut the door and lived my life.

After two years of letting my things hibernate and two bathroom and a full kitchen remodel later, I was finally ready to use my space for exactly their intended purpose.

From Project Portfolio

Step 1: Clear out the 2nd bedroom fake storage room of doom and make it an ACTUAL bedroom.
Step 2: Sort, Purge, and Categorize all my homeless stuff while my mom helps deep clean the bedroom. (Thanks, mom!)
Step 3: Crush extra boxes and kick out the donations and trash!
Step 4: Set up my real storage closet to do its job!
Step 5: Enjoy the new storage closet almost every day to live an awesome life!



I wish I had photos of my sad 2nd bedroom when it was the storage room of doom, but no. I probably did not have the strength to stomach the shame.  Thankfully, I managed to squeeze six big boxes and more of random unorganized stuff, neatly and reasonably into my spacious storage closet.

This storage closet is centrally located by the living room and dining room.  It's the perfect spot to keep all the things I need for my entertaining, hobbies, outdoor activities, cleaning supplies and household projects.

From Project Portfolio

Scroll down for photo of my summer 2011 "storage closet reveal"!

Where are the random places around your house that you've turned into storage? Where are the nooks and crannies that have taken on your random things? Storing tupperware in the oven?  Clothes on the treadmill? Toys in the never-used tub? Please comment and let us know!

From Project Portfolio

From Project Portfolio

Mission: Find a DVD in Under 5 Seconds. GO! A Screenwriter's Inspiration Room [Project Portfolio]

If you had nearly 800 movies, could you find Scarface in under 5 seconds? I didn't think so. That's what my Silverlake, Los Angeles client needed to find inspiration for his screenwriting. How can you spin fanciful tales of excitement if piles of DVDs and old, unlabeled VHS tapes are crowded all up in your business? We started with his vision of this TV room/Guest Bedroom.  He wanted inspiration!  A clutter-free environment!  The power to research, reference and recall any movie or television show on a moment's notice! We planned for him to run his own personal film festival by the end of August - a great way to put some accountability to the organizing project. From Project Portfolio We donated duplicates, and grouped by genre (Suspense, Horror, Comedy and Musical, Family and Animation, TV series, British TV series, Drama, and Non-Fiction).  My client spent plenty of his own time on homework, purchasing storage furniture I suggested through my Pinterest board for him, and alphabetizing the entire combined collection of DVDs and VHS tapes within each genre (BTW: Pinterest is a great tool to source ideas for a room). From Project Portfolio An hour and a half consultation, lots of client homework and two four-hour sessions later, what started as a Greek tragedy of clutter...

From Project Portfolio

...became an Oscar-worthy movie and television library!

From Project Portfolio

All right Mr. De Mille, I'm ready for my close-up.- Norma in Sunset Boulevard

From Project Portfolio