Holiday Special

Things start to get a little crazy this time of year. Being organized this Holiday Season is not optional!

 

Leave a comment or email me at Tiffany@GraceInteriorOrganizing.com for more info!

Introducing: Tips on Tuesday

I am so excited to announce the new weekly series: Tips on Tuesday!

My goal is to post quick and easy tips that you can start to incorporate into your routine immediately with few or no purchases. If you are my Fan on Facebook these first two may be familiar to you, but tune in next week for an all new tip!

One of my absolute favorite tips produced results immediately. I just love when that happens! To keep organized on a daily basis, My husband Kevin and I set a timer for 10 minutes every night before going to bed and walk through each room of the house putting everything back in the place where it belongs. You can adjust the amount of time for your space. For example, we only needed 5 minutes when we lived in an apartment.

View organizing as an investment in your time. 10 minutes a day could end up saving you hours later.

Another tip I've shared on my Facebook page is to designate a spot for hangers in your closet. Leaving empty hangers among clothes makes them hard to find when hanging up clean clothes.

Here is the system I use in my closet:

Stay tuned for more Tips on Tuesdays!

Imaginary Office Redo

Redesign longing. I'm convinced I'm not the only one who experiences this. Whenever I'm acquiring decor for a blank canvas of a room, I'm always in a rush to get it done- to see the picture in my head translate out to the room before me.

But then when I'm happy with my work, I'm longing to find a reason to visit garage sales and thrift stores looking for that next, unique piece that completes a space. Only my space is already completed and I don't want to (or am not allowed) to spend anymore money.

That's where I find myself today with my office. I have everything I need to function within it, but so desire to start over with new file boxes, desk organizers and magazine racks. Just for the thrill of the hunt.

 So here are the picks for my imaginary office redo. If I was starting all over with my office, these are the products that I would have bought in a heartbeat.

First, baskets I love. I like to use square baskets to store binders, books and folders and rounded baskets to store craft supplies and larger items.

I love how both warm and yet industrial these baskets are.
($14.99 at Marshall's)

I love the chalkboard label on the side! This would be a great basket for binders.
(This item didn't have a price tag, but based on similar items, I'd price it at around 13.99 at Marshall's)

I am loving wire baskets! More than that I love that they are lined so you don't have to stare at the contents all the time. ($10.00 at TJ Maxx)

Now for filing. I really prefer wall files as opposed to file boxes or file cabinets because folders are so much more accessible on a wall rather than all shut up in a box. You can even separate folders by category. For example, "Client Info" can by all by itself in one section and "Financial Records" can be in another.

More wire!
($12.00 at Marshall's)

While I really love the "Shabby Chic" look of this, I think it could be cute spray painted a fun color, too.
($15.00 at Marshall's)

.On to desk organizers. A well-placed desk organizer can dramatically reduce clutter on your desk.

I love the labels on the pulls.
($24.99 at Marshall's)

This is a great center for notes, memos, lists, and sticky notes.
($24.99 at Marshall's)

Some things are just not good for me in digital form. My monthly schedule is one of them. I love being able to see my upcoming events in hard copy.

This calendar is so cute!
($14.99 at Marshall's)

I wish I had unlimited rooms in my house to work on, but luckily I can always come to your house and help you with your rooms!

Happy Thursday!

-Tiffany

949.735.8811
tiffany@graceinteriororganizing.com

Bookshelf Redo

So yesterday I wrote about my 30 minute mini project organizing the computer desk that I have been using while my office gets in order (Have I mentioned i'm excited to show you pictures of my new office soon?). After feeling my spirits lifted by what can be accomplished in just 30 minutes, I decided to see how I could improve our bookshelf that stands next to the desk.

Not awful, but a little cluttered and scattered.

 Again, the key to shaping up this bookshelf was to get rid of stuff. This is usually the hardest part of organizing. The connection we have to our stuff. But it feels so good to only keep what you need and what works to improve the look of a space.

After- feels so much more focused to me!

I encourage you to find just a few things you are willing to part with today! And I can help!

GraceInteriorOrganizing.com

Happy Organizing!

-Tiffany
tiffany@graceinteriororganizing.com

Grace-Full-Time

Well, I am back. Or more accurately: Finally Here. After working my last day of my job as a nanny and taking on Grace as my new full-time work I am finally able to make organizing my focus 40 hours a week. There have been so many tasks that I wanted and needed to tackle to get this business rolling, but found it to be nearly impossible while working another full-time job, cooking, cleaning, laundering, and finding precious time with my husband.

In just these two days as a full-time business owner, I've been able to check so many things off my list! The most exciting being the new business cards that are on their way as we speak!

The Front

The Back

I spent my whole day yesterday on the design and am pretty happy with how they came out, considering I know nothing about graphic design and I was using Microsoft Word to design them. I can't wait to hand one out for the first time!

I've also been working hard with Kevin to get my home office in order. We spent the weekend painting it white and green. (Pictures to come!) While that room is still under construction I have been using the computer desk in our den and realized today while scanning organizing blogs that our house is in serious need. After recently (Um..July was recent, right?) moving while both working full-time, we haven't seemed to figure out a system for our new space.

I began feeling the typical self-loathing that most women feel when browsing pinterest or blogs of women who seem to have it all together, plus four kids and a parakeet. Ugh, I wish I was Super Woman! Instead of allowing myself to harbor those feelings, I decided to make myself a client!

The computer desk I've been using became my first project.



Oh my goodness...how does anything ever get this bad?!

I started the project by removing everything from the top and insides of the desk and categorizing like with like. Then I found a place for everything. The main reason our desk is now organized? I threw away a lot of unnecessary stuff!

After!


I know it's not the prettiest desk, but now it's clean!

I know, I know...the REAL test is, "How clean are the insides of the drawers?" Keep in mind I still need to get some containers to make the drawers look beautiful, but this is at least a before and after of eliminating unneeded stuff!

Before: what a mess!

After: so much less junk!

Before: Crowded

After: Room to spare!

 

 

Before: just so unnecessary!

After: almost empty!

Before: sloppy

After: Clean

Before: cluttered

After: Clear!

 Again, this is by no means a beautiful redo, but I spent absolutely no money on materials, and it took about 30 minutes from start to finish! Just an easy, midday organizing project! And you don't have to be Super Woman to make these small improvements!

I am free now to help with your home, so fill out a request form on our website!

graceinteriororganizing.com

Happy organizing!

-Tiffany
tiffany@graceinteriororganizing.com

We Like to Move It

Sorry for the lack of a post this week! We have 5 more days to move in to our new house, so we are working hard after work!

Sneak Peak!!

Happy Monday!

-Tiffany Pope
tiffany@graceinteriororganizing.com

Visit Our Website

Shelf Life

Hi all!

It's time for another edition of "Kevin and Tiffany love to save money". This weekend while waiting for some friends to arrive at dinner, we found ourselves wandering through a nearby TJ Max. We headed straight for the home organization section in search of good deals on products we love, and there it was...

The Expand-a-Shelf

Once again, remember in this post when Kevin and I listed our favorite Container Store kitchen items? The expanding shelf made the top of the list for its ability to give your cabinet items stadium seating. And there it was, marked down to $6.99 (Regularly $14.99 at The Container Store).

I could not wait to try this in our spice cabinet. Here was the before...

What's that behind the ground tumeric? No one knows..

This is the view I typically see of our spices from my meager height.

And look what a difference the Expand-a-Shelf made!

Ah, spices living in peace with one another.

This product is great because I actually feel like it's easier to put things away and keep them with like items. Before I would just place whatever item I recently used in the front of the cabinet and slide farther back whatever was already there. Now everything has its own home within the cabinet. Another feature I love is that the product expands and contracts to fill your entire space. For this project, I decided not to expand it the full length of our cabinet because some of my spices are HUGE (Yay Smart and Final) and wouldn't fit on the top tier, but would block the spices behind them if placed on a lower tier. Instead I chose to leave part of the cabinet uncovered by the Expand-a-Shelf to accommodate for those taller items.

We are amazed what a difference an inexpensive item has made!

New update: Our website is looking fancier these days thanks to Kevin's hard work. Turns out he's a great husband and a wonderful business partner! Be sure to check it out:

graceinteriororganizing.com

Contact us to get started on your space!

-Tiffany Pope
Tiffany@graceinteriororganizing.com