Sustainable Organizing Services

A shout out to fellow Northwest Ohio Professional Organizers Jen Hill Organizing for her interview yesterday on back-to-school organizing thoughts. Well done!

A sidebar tip for school lunches - make sure your kids can actually open any manufacturer packaging. Sometimes schools have volunteers at lunch just to help open packaging. From a sustainability lens, here are some links with reusable products for packing lunches.

https://oliviafortheocean.com/plastic-free-lunch-containers-for-kids/

https://superbee.me/zero-waste-school-lunch/

Organize For Back To School Rebecca is joined by Jill with some back to school organization tips.

Good thoughts on reframing the mindset by Nourishing Minimalism. ✨

“Minimalism isn’t about suffering from less.
It’s about keeping the best stuff and making those decisions that are going to help your future self.”

Tips for Effective Decluttering - Nourishing Minimalism If we're decluttering, we want all of our work to be effective, right? We want it to accomplish something. We want to see a change. We want to make our lives easier because of decluttering. For so many years, I decluttered all the time and I never saw a difference in my home. So today I'm going to t...

Reminders from Martha Stewart on easier things to purge … a favorite idea: share old linens and towels with an animal shelter.

8 Household Items You Should Get Rid of When You Deep Clean Your Home These are the common household items experts say you should consider letting go of when you clean your home, including expired makeup products, broken toys, and old documents.

Great points on the “boundary method” from Real Simple. ✨ In essence, define the spaces where things should live and then purge - donate, recycle, gift, toss, or sell - what no longer fits.

The “Boundary Method" Is the Perfect Organizing System if You’re Overwhelmed by Clutter Drowning in clutter? Try the "boundary method," a simple decluttering system that helps you reclaim control of your space. Learn how to sort belongings and set boundaries to create a lasting organized environment.

An important message from those currently in the trenches, helping aging parents. This message is a common refrain we hear from our clients. ✨

It’s been a long couple of months.
Back in April, my mom went into assisted living, and my sister and I have been charged with cleaning out her home. We’ve each spent about 8 hours per weekend, almost every weekend since, going through her belongings and trying to find new homes for every little piece.
My mom is a keeper. Every shred of paper it seems… had a spot somewhere in her home. And as we were going through her things, we’d find items in pretty crazy places. Her wedding ring in a bin in the garage amongst paper clips and fingernail clippers was the wildest example. So it meant that every thing… EVERY thing… had to be touched to make sure we weren’t tossing something of real value.
I wanted to share this with you because I feel like I did my sister and me a disservice by kind of ignoring how bad the house was getting. Also, I wasn’t really in tune with just how much businesses and other people literally prey on the elderly for their money. From MLM companies, to mail solicitations, to texts about needing insurance immediately, older people are bombarded with several messages per day that want them to believe that they are in violation of something, or their money is urgently needed to continue some mission. My mom gets a stack of mail at least an inch thick per day that contains magazines, junk mail, and membership cards that proclaim that her donation is helping to save the world.
I just wanted to put it out there that we all really have little awareness of how much junk we keep in our homes. I’ve been starting to clean at my own house this weekend, and have lots of stuff to take to donation and things bound for the trash. As I’ve been going through this painful process at my mom’s, my own son pleaded with me to “not do this” to him and his siblings. Because my parents have passed on the keeper gene to me, unfortunately.
I kinda just wanted to put it out there that if you have older people in your lives (or are predisposed to keeping things like me) start NOW to clean it up and clear it out. You will honestly be doing future you a favor by being able to conquer a little bit at a time now instead of spending months down the line.
A few tips:
Call to get taken off of mailing lists for catalogs, magazines, and brochures.
Check bank statements for recurring charges or charges that the account holder doesn’t remember authorizing.
Check the subscriptions part of smartphones. My mom had several subscriptions she wasn’t aware of and was paying them faithfully every month.
Check out all the places locally that take donations and pick your favorite mission. Go through unwanted items in the home that can help further their mission. Get a receipt for your donation.
Check on the older people in your life and offer to help them navigate through things. Voicemails and letters in the mail seem obviously suspect to us, but scary to older people when they “threaten action.”
Start now. Every action now is one you don’t have to take later.
Here’s a picture from one of the first weekends I started collecting her mail. This was Thursday through Saturday. 😳

Let us help with your *Doom Pile* - random items that haven’t been sorted or dealt with … it’s an acronym for “Didn’t Organize - Only Moved.”

How to Declutter a Doom Pile—and Prevent It in the First Place, According to Organizing Pros While a doom pile can help you quickly clear clutter, it can also be difficult to manage. Learn how to clear your doom piles and avoid creating them.

Thoughts on under-the-sink storage from bhg.com …

11 Things You Should Never Store Under the Kitchen Sink Keep this space clutter-free, and your family safe from harm, by leaving these items out of it. Here are the items you should never keep under the kitchen sink.

A tip we often give … keep a donation bin in your closet.

Confirmed in this article in Real Simple -
“Instead of waiting for your next closet-clean out to declutter your wardrobe, buy a large, pretty basket for ongoing donations. “Each time you pull out something from a closet or drawer and it just doesn’t feel right, toss it in the basket. When it gets full, take it to a thrift store,” says Cynthia Kienzle of The Clutter Whisperer”

10 Secrets Only Professional Closet Organizers Know Implement these pro strategies at home to transform your closets.

It’s been a busy and fun week of organizing in Indiana. It began with a presentation to a Senior Group. It was an honor to speak to 45+ who were engaged in the convo. ✨ Meanwhile, one more closet to do today.

quick, everyday ideas, including organizing tips …

13 Secrets of People Who Always Have a Clean House No, it's not magic.

In helping family and using the wonderful resources of this local company that finds sustainable solutions to haul away. ✨♻️ ✅



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Shoe storage ideas from Southern Living.

The Best Ways To Store Shoes That Are Clever And Cute Shoes tend to pile up by entries to your home. These simple shoe storage ideas are the perfect way to keep order and fight off mess from scattered shoes.

Simple advice from . ✨
Including:
* 6-month rule
* Create zones

An expert's guide to decluttering your home in 24 hours or less Decluttering your home but don't know where to start? We asked four professionals for their tips to get it done in only a few hours!

Where is the best place to store butter? Land O'Lakes explains a question we’ve been asked …

Thanks Southern Living. ✨

The Only Way You Should Store Butter, According To Land O' Lakes The butter experts at Land O' Lakes gave us all the pointers on the only way to store butter for the best flavor and shelf-life.