Compromising Spaces

When it comes to space, everyone thinks their way of functioning is the right way. IFyou are an organized person living with an unorganized person, it doesn't matter, both like the way they live and they don't want to change it. 


The challenge is that when you do live with others, you have to compromise on your style of living. The best way to do this is to have communal areas that have boundaries and personal areas that are yours to manage as you please.


Communal areas like kitchens, family rooms and bathrooms are spaces that need to have a place for each individual to find the items they use.


Some areas that are contentious in home compromising are:


Kitchen Area 
Every partner (the one who is not the one that spends as much time in the kitchen) needs a drawer or two to call their own. That drawer is theirs. If it keeps their mail, cords, etc. it gets left alone. ( I do recommend it be sifted through every now and then, but it's their choice)

Family Room
Games, electronics for videos, etc. need to be defined on shelving and bins. If you have roommates, you can have different color bins for each person to keep their stuff in. This makes for an easy clean up.


Bathrooms
Hooks help for those who are not great at putting their towels away. They are better than towels sitting on the floor. Have different color towels for each person. This way you know who to go to when they are not put away properly. Dedicate drawers, bins and areas of cabinets for each persons belongings. 


Shared Bedrooms
Honor this space with whom you share it with. Keep is simple. You sleep here. This is not a storage room. Work with person you are sharing your space. There are lots of creative space ideas to hold everything you need but you need to define what it is that you are compromising on and how to keep it in your space so the other person is happy.


These ideas seem basic and simple yet more homes than not are following these simple steps.


Take the time to met with your family, partner or roommates and make a list of what works and what doesn't. See if you can come up with solutions that make everyone feel like they are being heard. Compromise. Your environment will feel better and so will everyone who lives there.


Make some changes and share them with me. I would love to hear what you did. 


~Eve

I repost this quote (I came up with years ago for a client) every now and then as a reminder to everyone on how to assess your belongings.

"What you keep in your surroundings should be 
things that support your life, 

memorialize your past and leave room for the future."

Spring into Summer

The energy in the air is changing. Spring is here with a touch of summer in the air. The stores are starting to get summer items in stock and the desire to clean house is inching up on all of us. 


10 Easy steps on how and where to begin ~


1) Of course, I am going to say, "buy my book ," 31 spaces 31 days, since I believe it is the ultimate guide to analyzing your spaces and getting you started on your spring cleaning.


2) De-clutter  -  Just look around you and start to get rid of one item a day. By summer you will feel like you have cleaned house. Think about it, between now and Summer Solstice, (June 20, 2012), if you get rid of one item a day that you don't need or want, you will have gotten rid of 60 items in your home. 


3) Plan Your Project - Look at a calendar and pick some dates that you can commit to that allow you to work on those projects that you think about all the time. Maybe you have a few on the back burner or one big one. Either way, commit to a time you can work on it between now and Labor Day Weekend (the official end of summer date). Enlist help if you need to, in order to get it done!


4) If you live with others, get them involved. Give everyone an area to work on. Bake a treat or have an ice cream bar, to give as a "thank you" to those who pitched in.


5) Get excited about your outside area with fresh flowers, an edible garden, herb pots, etc. - even if you live in an apartment and have minimal outside space, bring the outside inside...
 .


6)  Change your bedding to spring/summer colors. Freshening up the bed can give your room a whole new look.

7) Clean filters, replace batteries in smoke detectors and alarms.


8) Re-organize your bookshelves - giveaway and clean out books that you no longer want.


9) New mats for the kitchen or front entry can wake up your floors.



10) Buy one special item ( recycle is even better - visit your 2nd hand stores) that will last for years that represents how you feel at this time in your life. ( i.e.: A new frame for family photos, Buddha state for meditating, a vase for fresh flowers, water fountain.)

Happy Spring into Summer~


~Eve

Photos are ads affiliated with organizing and home decor ~ 

clicking on links may generate monetary gains for everything's organized

Home is where the heart is ~

I just finished reading Reimagining Equality , by Anita Hill. A story of gender, race and finding a home. When she begins to talk about the history of what it meant at the turn of the century to own a home, it occurred to me that it had nothing to do with stuff.


She talks about the pride of ownership and what it meant to own a home. The struggle that individuals had to go through to have the right to own a home is mind boggling. We take it for granted. Owning a home meant you were free to live in a community, create memories, root your family. Your home represented who you were. Your purchases were made wisely, the pieces you put in your home had meaning and were handed down to generations.


After the industrial revolution and World War II, our consumerism skyrocketed. Mass production of products were created (thousands of miles outside of our country) and we bought and bought and bought. The idea of something going on sale was a big deal. People would wait all year to buy an item that they knew was going to be marked down after the holidays. Now, we have discount stores that encourage buying multiple items of things you will never use and don't have a place to store. But we buy anyway because it is a deal.


We have lost the meaning of why we buy something. We no longer buy to admire it in our home or have it for 50 years to hand down to someone in our family. We purchase items we don't really want, need or have a use for but we can't forgo the great deal. Maybe we can give it to someone (who doesn't need it).


Although I advertise products and things to buy on this blog, I do believe there our products that can help you create systems to support the way you live in your home, but I encourage you to choose wisely. Buy items that will last, have multi purpose use and that you really want in your home. As a professional organizer I have seen homes that have more stuff that will never be used or accessed from storage ever again. I believe we need to get back to honoring a home for creating roots, community, love and laughter.


Your home represents who you are. What you bring into and how you treat it shows how you respect your purchases and the money that was earned to buy it.


Next time you buy something, consider this: when Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation and slaves were free to own property, I doubt very much they had closets filled with stuff they would ever use.


~Eve

Link to Anita Hill's Book - Reimagining Equality

Closet Ideas

What does being mindful have to do with organization?

I had someone ask me the other day what being mindful had to do with organization and why did I choose that word in my tag line. I have studied and taught yoga for 18 years. My first 6 years of practicing yoga, 25 plus more hours a week, was 100% physical. I could blow through the poses with no problems (well maybe a few) but for the most part it was a workout. I began doing workshops and teacher certifications that represented different styles when I realized the poses were not coming so easy, yet they had been the same poses I was doing for 5 years. What began to happen was that I was moving into the mindful part of the practice. With each pose I had to slow down, sit with it and then move on to the next. Some days, I felt like a beginner. 

When I wrote my vision book last summer and was looking for a title for it,(redefining the meaning of what I felt organization was after 20 years in the business), a friend asked me what was the message I was trying to convey? Without a pause, I said, "organization is a lifestyle choice, it is a daily practice and a it takes a mindful approach to get things done." With that, I had the title of my vision book and my philosophy of 20 years in the business was redefined. the Daily Practice.sos/a mindful approach to getting things done, is what I believe it takes to live an organized life.

 It does not happen overnight, you may have years when it is easy, but in the end if you don't stick with it, you will not be living it. I workout every day, practice and teach yoga and I believe this mindfulness about how I feel inside, reflects who I am and how I live my life. 

One day at a time, learning the tools it takes to succeed and being willing to start as a beginner, when called for. 


Namaste, Eve