professional organizer Archives

Nov 26

Repurposing Your Things Is Good For The Environment

By Diane Quintana How to Declutter: Use Simple Strategies 8 Comments

Do you repurpose your things? I love to repurpose furniture. One of the chest of drawers in my house is no longer used for clothes but has been repurposed as my wrapping station. The drawers along the top hold tissue paper, tape, scissors, and small gift bags. The three large drawers are dedicated to ribbon, birthday wrapping paper, and holiday wrapping paper. These drawers are so long and deep that I can also stash small gifts inside them. Repurposing things which we own is one of my primary missions as a professional organizer. Titles of businesses Do you ever think…

Sep 10

Does Your Home Still Suit You?

By Jonda Beattie It's All About You: A Personalized Approach to Achieving Your Organizing Goals

I feel that I have lived many lives. I was a child. Then I was a young married adult. Before I knew it, I was a mother. I was a divorcee. Then I was a widow. I was a retiree. Now, I am an older married woman and entrepreneur. Just as the role I played in my life has changed so has my wardrobe, hairstyles, and my home. The home that suited me at one point does not still suit me. Does your home still suit you? My different homes Sometimes your home just happens when you are on…

Jul 09

Reasons To Create Personal Boundaries

By Jonda Beattie It's All About You: A Personalized Approach to Achieving Your Organizing Goals

Most everyone knows that a fence or a wall set around a building is a boundary. It lets people know that when they enter, they are entering someone else’s property. Why does someone want to have personal boundaries? According to Oxford Languages a boundary is a line that marks the limits of an area. When thinking about personal boundaries, I like to think of it as having an invisible fence that protects us and that has a gate we control. Everyone has boundaries but not everyone has the same boundaries. It is important that your boundaries work for you rather…

Jan 07

Get Organized To Be Organized

By Diane Quintana What is Your Reason to Get Organized?

Ask just about anyone what their New Year’s Resolution is and a large percentage of them will tell you something about getting organized. Some want to organize their garage, their attic, their basement, kitchen, closets, and the list goes on. It may not even be a specific project; they just say they want to get organized this year. Here’s the problem. Organized is not a destination. When someone says they want to get organized I want to ask what happens when you get there? Something has to change because anyone can get organized. The trick is learning how to be…

Aug 22

5 Common Reasons You Don’t Complete a Project & How to Move Forward

By Jonda Beattie Ask the Organizer How to Organize

As Professional Organizers Diane and I often get calls from people who are overwhelmed by projects that have been hanging around for what seems like forever. It might be a huge project like clearing out a cluttered home to put it on the market, dealing with unopened boxes scattered around since a move 5 years ago, or paper that has taken over an office and spilled into the rest of the house. We have found that most people have common reasons for leaving these projects hanging. These people are not stupid or lazy so why can’t they do this? These…

Aug 01

How to Shift Your Focus from Yourself to Your Stuff

By Diane Quintana It's All About You: A Personalized Approach to Achieving Your Organizing Goals

As a professional organizer, I often am on the receiving end of comments like: I’m so stupid, why did I let this happen? Or some people say: I’m a slob, I’m a packrat, I’m a collector just like my parents and things like: I’m so lazy, if I were not so lazy my house wouldn’t look this way. Can you relate? Do you call yourself out? What are the names you call yourself or the things you say to yourself? Are these things on repeat? Do these nasty phrases cycle through your mind over and over again? Shift your focus…

Jun 13

5 Ground Rules for Difficult Conversations

By Diane Quintana It's All About You: A Personalized Approach to Achieving Your Organizing Goals

We’ve all had difficult conversations with spouses or partners, colleagues at work, children, and parents. We call them difficult conversations because they are just that, difficult. It may be that we are fearful of the person’s response. We don’t want to alienate them. Sometimes we don’t know how to bring up the topic because it is sensitive, so we struggle. Other times we gloss over what we really want to say and walk away knowing we didn’t make our point. What if it could be easier with ground rules that everyone followed? Wouldn’t that be great? As a certified professional…

May 30

3 Surprising Things You Must Do So That The Best Organizing Tips Work

By Diane Quintana What is Your Reason to Get Organized?

Most experienced organizers offer their clients much of the same advice. They may say it slightly differently but if you read between the lines and boil the advice down to its essence, it’s the same. It doesn’t matter if you follow Marie Kondo, Peter Walsh, or Martha Stewart the heart of the advice is identical. We, experienced organizers, give our clients the best organizing tips that are tried and true. We know these tips will work but you must do your part to ensure they continue to work after we leave. Let’s start by talking about the best organizing tips….

May 23

How to Organize Your Handbag or Purse in 10 Minutes or Less

By Diane Quintana How Long Will it Take to Organize X

Is your handbag, purse, tote or whatever you are using to carry around your stuff like a deep, dark cavern? You know, a place where anything and everything can hide? It’s hard to find what you’re looking for in a bag that’s full of everything. Do you sometimes feel like your keys, phone, wallet, credit cards, checkbook, or sunglasses are lost because they are hard to find quickly in your bag? My mother used to call my handbag, my suitcase, because it was big and could hold just about anything. The point is that if just about anything can fit…

May 04

Clutter Support Groups: The 411

By Diane Quintana It's All About You: A Personalized Approach to Achieving Your Organizing Goals

Does clutter bother or overwhelm you and you don’t know what to do about it? Have you ever thought about joining a clutter support group? I am here to reassure you that almost everyone has some form of clutter in their lives from time to time. I am a professional organizer and even I have times during the year when one part or another of my home is full of clutter. Take the holidays, for instance. My family room, leading up to the holidays, can get cluttered with gifts, wrapping paper, ribbon, cards and holiday decorations. But I know where…

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