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Home & Holiday Tip #3: Containers for Beauty & Order

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During the Holidays we want our homes to be organized and also beautiful.  This is our favorite tip for bringing both of those together!

The secret to success is CONTAINERS! Containers provide a home for all the loose stuff so it is easier to find, use and return.

1 – Containers inside: Use containers within drawers, closets, and cupboards and on shelves to add clarity and beauty. When it comes to the kitchen and pantry, containers make a huge difference. Our favorite resource is The Container Store.

2 – Consistent: Then be consistent (all white, wicker, etc) to add that clean feeling and functionality. You can also add one color for fun!

3 – Label: Lastly, label all containers for instant ease in returning to their home and zone.  There are many ways to label now so you can get really creative. Check out this erasable duct tape. See The Container Store’s other fabulous labels.

Have FUN getting Holiday Container for your wrapping paper, gifts, and decorations.

Our FREE GIFT for this holiday season is our Ebook – Top Ten Tips for Home & Holidays.  You can get it on our Shop Page.

A Podcast… Be More Organized & Present

A Podcast… Be More Organized & Present

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Create Organizing Habits to Reduce Stress

In this episode of Wellness Wisdom Camille Kennard interviews Marla Dee, Professional Organizer at Clear & Simple Organizing. In today’s world we are bombarded with information & stuff! So there is clutter everywhere – on our phones & computers, desktops & countertops, bedrooms & basements, closets & cupboards… We crave being free of the clutter and fantasize about being organized, but it feels impossible. Marla Dee is here to change that. As a professional organizer for 18 years, Marla has seen the pain!

Living in chaos has an impact on our physical, mental, and emotional health, and our outside environment is often a reflection of what’s going on inside our minds and our lives.

Marla believes that as we clear the clutter in our lives we will be happier, alive, and connected. When we let go of the clutter, we FREE ourselves to possibilities and open space for something new to come in.

Marla will share with us Clear and Simple principles that are the foundation of her work including how to see it, map it, and do it. You can create a vision of how you want things to look, feel, and function. She will help us learn how to simplify and set up habits to be more organized and present. The habits piece includes the “keep it up” step in STACKS (sort, toss, assign, contain, keep it up and simplify). Tune into this episode to learn systems that can help you make shifts in how you care for yourself and your environment.

Marla believes that living organized and clutter free is a skill anyone can learn. What is your clutter costing you? Free yourself of clutter and be present in your life to what matters most! Listen to the podcast

Camille is passionate about supporting people in their health and wellness. Check out her other blogs for inspiration and support.

Listen to the Podcast
Clear & Simple, Marla Dee, Camille Kennard, Flourish Wellness

Celebrate Your Kitchen & Pantry

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Take time to celebrate the big and little things! We love everything about our kitchen now! We spend more time there than anywhere else. I’m so glad we took the time to do it right! B.P. You deserve to celebrate! This year of 2020 we are helping you transform all...

Picking the Perfect Planner

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DAYTIMER DILEMMA? TIPS FOR PICKING THE PERFECT PLANNER Do you have daytimer dilemma! We need paper planners more than ever! We love our technology for tracking all the details of our contact and appointments.  But nothing replaces paper for planning out our month,...
Where to Start Getting Organized!

Where to Start Getting Organized!

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Marla’s Monthly Message

At the beginning of a new year, the inner urge to finally get FREE of clutter and disorganization can hit hard. Yet it feels impossible and overwhelming. We don’t even know where to even start. Let me make this simpler for you.

I want to start with where “getting organized” began for me. 20 years ago I read a line that changed my life. It was from Karen Kingston‘s book Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui. She said, “Imagine how it would it feel like to be surrounded only by the things that you use and that you love”? When I read this, I was struck with lightening. I wanted to know what this would feel like. But I didn’t know where to start. So, I decided to just do a drawer, which led to a closet, then my kitchen and within a year my life was radically different.I got hooked. It was so freeing.  This led to my business being born because I wanted so much to share this feeling of freedom with others.

So let me ask you….WHERE? If you could start anywhere with your organizing, where would it be? If you could do one area, one layer or one project this year what would it be. I want you to be clear on this. Is it your bedroom, your kitchen, your paper? Maybe it’s your calendar? By knowing where you want to start, everything gets easier because you can let go of the others. Honestly if you get one project done each year, that is good enough.

Then I want to ask you… WHY? Why do you want to start with this area? What is the meaning for you? This whole month we will be exploring your why. Why do you want to get free of the clutter in this area? Why do you want to get organized in this space? When you are clear on the personal meaning you will be motivated to make the change.

And now, at the beginning of 2019, I can honestly say that I know what it feels like to be surrounded only by the things that I use and love. I am deeply grateful to be living in a quiet country town surrounded by nature and open space. I joyfully get to fill my days only what I most want to do. I want to be a messenger of hope. I want to help you get free of the clutter or chaos that is keeping you stuck. I would love to have you share your where and why with me. This will help me support you throughout this month and this year.

Please know that I am here for you. Let me know if you want to talk or if you want help in any way. I want to be your guide and witness your success.

Your Guide, Marla Dee
and the Clear & Simple Team

Clutter Clear Your Paper

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Here are 3 simple ways to start that can be done in under an hour! Are the paper piles taking over your space and your life? Getting in control of your paper begins with clearing the clutter. Start with your purse or wallet, the kitchen counter, or your desktop. Marla...

Our Favorite Containers in Action

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Kate shares a container story in her own home. Kate’s Closet Journey Before we even closed on our home, I knew we would be putting elfa from The Container Store in at least 3 closets including the entry one. Since I have designed my fair share of elfa closet systems,...

Top Four Organizing Tips for Couples

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Work together rather than battling each other.

Relationships can be our greatest gift and also our greatest challenge. And of all relationships, our intimate partner is the most loaded. Because the Universe is intelligent and likes to balance things out, we often partner with our opposite. Use these tools to make projects and organizing easier to do together.

Tip 1: For your TIME

Plan your weekends for all the parts of your life. Rather than stressing about projects every weekend try the following formula instead.

    • One weekend just for PLAY.
    • One weekend only for PROJECTS.
    • One weekend where each person get to do what he or she wants!
    • One weekend left open for the outside world and events.

Marla sharing TIPS on KUTV Fresh Living

Tip 2: For Your STUFF

Use Bankers Boxes for the piles when doing your projects.

This is one of my top tips for all organizing projects. Contain the piles in banker’s boxes so you aren’t distracted with all the stuff shouting at you. This also makes it easy to move the piles and stage the project.

Tip 3: For your PROJECTS

Try out the powerful tool of MIND MAPPING

Numerous couples have told me that mind mapping has saved their marriage. Because the left-brain list maker often ends up with the right-brain creative, trying to plan anything can be loaded. Mind Mapping allows each of you to access get your vision down on paper. Then share your maps with each other and you will be ready for action. Try this when planning a trip, an exciting renovation, the garage, etc.

Just Google Mind Mapping to get hundreds of examples and resources. Here is an example from Wikipedia.

Tip 4: For Your Happy Home

Each of you get your “own space” to keep the way you want.

We all have our own style and patterns with our stuff. It is vital to the life of the relationship that the man has his cave and the woman has her creative area to spread out those projects.

Your Next Step

Sit down this week with your partner and look at the month ahead. Use TIP 1 above and schedule each weekend accordingly. Have fun experiencing how different your weekends can be. Then use the other tips when you are ready for the project. Please share your success with us through email or sharing on our Facebook Page and we will give you a prize.

We want you to get organized and have fun doing it!
Marla & Team

Clutter Clearing your brain!

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A clear day begins with a clear brain.

Information is coming at us nonstop from every direction.  How can we make clear choices and decisions when our brain is already on overload. One tip for sanity is to claim 15-30 minutes each day just for clean out of all the build up and to give yourself a break from the new coming in.  Some of my favorite ways to do this are:

  • Sit quietly with a morning cup of coffee or tea.  Just let your mind wander where it will.
  • Do a BRAIN DUMP – write down anything and everything that is chattering away in your brain.  Let it out.
  • Go for a walk around your block and take in the sites, sounds and smells.  Let the earth clear you.
  • Journal in a free style format.  Let whatever thoughts, ideas or wonderings that pop up go down on paper.
  • Have a conversation with yourself.  Yes, just talk out loud and be amused at what is going on inside you.
  • Do a simple breath meditation just focusing on your inhale and exhale.  Set the intention that with every exhale, old information will leave your body and your brain.

 

Some Favorite Resources –

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Organizing is more FUN with a friend!

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Everything is more FUN done with a friend – even organizing!

Let’s face it – most things are more fun when done with a friend – shopping, movies, dining, hiking, travel, and hobbies. What is it about organizing that makes us think we have to suffer?  We have to force ourselves to get it done.  It is always on the list but typically the last thing we want to do on the weekend, right? There seems to be shame around letting our friends see our chaos. And yet inviting someone to help is the solution!

This is one of the powerful secrets to make organizing FUN!  Invite a friend to do it with you. Let go of the fear and shame of your friends seeing the chaos and open up to a powerful experience. As a professional organizer for 15 years I have seen hundreds of people be set free when they let themselves receive help from an organizer, a friend or family member.  The important elements are:

  • Pick someone safe who won’t judge you.
  • Do the project in small pieces of 2-3 hours
  • Make it fun by playing music or having snacks
  • Try taking turns and helping each other
  • Choose someone that supports you making a change

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