I discovered something that surprised me when I started preparing my apartment for my impending renovation. I was removing the framed photographs from my living room to keep them safe and to prevent them from getting covered in construction dust. When I had removed most of them, I realized that I like the sparer, emptier look. When had my decor become clutter? I started out with framed photos on the mantel of my fireplace, as well as on top of…
Read more →Recently I wrote about an impending renovation project in my apartment (see Would You Keep This If You Were Moving?) Well, it’s no longer impending — it’s starting in a few days. Yikes! In order to get things out of the way for the contractors who will be tearing up parts of my kitchen and bathroom, I’ve been reviewing and relocating stuff. Even though I do that fairly often, I can still find stuff that I don’t use and don’t need….
Read more →I think it’s pretty clear that we will keep accumulating stuff until we run out of room. Sometimes we continue even after we’ve run out of room. (That’s usually when people contact a Professional Organizer.) If you’re someone, like me, who has an abundance of of storage space in your home, then it may take a while before you run out of space. So I’ve developed a question that helps me identify things I should let go of even if…
Read more →When I’m helping clients who are overwhelmed with books, we inevitably come across a collection of travel books on their shelves. In the days before you could easily find information about faraway places via the internet, we relied on glossy, fact-filled books by companies like Fodor’s, Frommer’s, and Baedeker. These books not only had listings of sights to see, they also had recommendations of hotels and restaurants. Many of my clients are reluctant to part with these books, even though…
Read more →I think we are all used to the idea of money as a finite resource. But space is a finite resource as well — not just for those of us who live in small homes, but for everyone. Even if you have an attic, basement, or garage to stash the stuff you aren’t using, eventually it will be so full that you will have to deal with it. One way to avoid coming up against space limitations is to use…
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