There is no typical day for a Professional Organizer

There is no typical day for a professional organizer, says Linda Barlaam. Some days we are in garages, others in kitchens. Sometimes we are helping people pack for a move, somedays we are assisting a stressed-out mom to organize her playroom. That is what makes the job fun and rewarding.

Seeing spaces transformed by de-cluttering and organizing puts smiles on our clients and smiles on us. Yet, at times even organizers can have different points of view. Yes, we are trained to say and do the same things but different generations grow up with different experiences. Take for example my colleague Ben and myself. Picture a typical day in the kitchen as we help a client clear clutter and decide what to keep.

Ben: “gravy boats, butter dishes, I'm not sure people still use these.”

Me: “wait a minute, I do.”

Ben: “how often?”

Me: “idk, 2-3 times a year.”

Ben:  “feels like I'm right.”

I make a face and remember Ben is in his 40’s, and I am in my late 50’s and we bring generational differences to each project.

Recently I ran into a neighbor who was complaining that her adult children do not want her home items which she considers keepsakes and valuable. As she prepares to leave her house of over 30 years she wonders what to do with all her china, crystal, silver and things which she has been saving from her own mother and grandmother. Many articles have been written about the younger generation not wanting their parent's stuff. Young adults live differently than our grandparents and parents.  No one wants to polish silver which has been lovingly passed from generation to generation. People move for jobs more frequently and do not want to be burdened with large furniture and items which are difficult and costly to move. People tend to buy furniture at Target or Ikea. Parents work fulltime and need to make dinner hour easy with paper plates and plastic cups. Very rarely is china used or the crystal butter dish.

That being said, when events such as holidays come and the table is set with candles, silver, crystal, and china, it really does feel special as it should. Nothing gives me more pleasure than setting the table a few days before an event (yes organizers set tables very early) and stepping back and admiring how beautiful the room is. When my adult children come home and the guests show up, using the “good stuff” makes the holiday seem that more special. It is true that special occasions are only as good as the people in the room, but breaking out the pretty linens, china, crystal, and silver can only enhance the beauty of the occasion.

So the challenge is to find a balance. A balance between the past, present, and future. How to organize and keep things from our past but being mindful of the future. Of course having space may determine what you can and cannot take. Decide whether it is worth holding on to something or passing it to a relative, friend, or donating to a charity. Some tips we can suggest are to be gentle and kind when talking to relatives about what you can and cannot take. Remember even if it not meaningful to you it may have significance and history to your relatives. No need be rude or get upset, stay calm. Maybe compromise and focus on the small things. You might say, “I can take a few small items that are meaningful to our family. Maybe the silver? Maybe a small chair? Maybe antique jewelry?” You can pick some really important items that have personal meaning and can be transported easily. Try to remember that you may not use it now, but when you are older and have space, wouldn’t it be nice to have the beautiful dining room set magnificently for special times in your life?

Back to work,

Ben: “is this an ice bucket? Do people still...”

Me: “here we go again!”

Guest post: 3 Kid-Friendly Fridge Storage and Organization Solutions You Should Know About

Fridge storage and organization can get pretty tricky at times, but when you throw a couple of hungry kids into the mix, you have a real situation on your hands. Before you turn to the pros for storage solutions, here are 3 quick and easy storage and organization solutions you can try out to make your fridge kid-friendly!

Image from Pinterest

Keep the snacks at their eye level

Want to avoid a big mess in the fridge? Store your kids’ snacks and drinks at their eye level. To give your kids easy access, keep the snacks and drinks on a shelf that is low enough for them to reach and make sure they’re kept in the front of the fridge.

To up your fridge storage game, you can even store each snack in a separate bin or container - simply head over to the dollar store to get these special fridge storage containers. If the kids know that the low shelf is their special snack section, they won’t rummage around the fridge to get what they want!

For older kids who are looking for a big bite, make sure your leftovers are in glass containers and kept in a visible area. The great thing about glass containers is that they are dishwasher and microwave friendly, so you don’t have to worry about them using the wrong container for the microwave and it can reduce cleanup time by eating in one container!

Make sure breakables are out of reach

Another fridge storage solution is to move the breakables out of the way - things like eggs and glass containers should be moved to the shelves that are higher up and towards the back to make sure your kids can’t get to them. The same theory applies to food that you don’t want the kids to eat - the higher up, the better!

Hide unhealthy food the smart way

Want to hide unhealthy food like ice cream and popsicles from the kids? Simply put them in old food containers and bags they would never think to open! You can store ice cream or a bag of popsicles in a resealable bag of frozen veggies as a storage solution. Out of sight, out of mind - as long as they can’t see it, they won’t eat it!

So there you have it, 3 quick and easy storage and organization hacks for your fridge! The next time you go grocery shopping, you can store and organize your food the smart way!

Author profile

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Interview - Nicholas Guitars

Since we deal with "stuff" all day we try and focus on keeping items of quality that will last a long time. We spoke with Nick of Norwalk’s own Nicholas Guitars to get a sense of the custom process for well made "stuff" that rocks.

What’s your background?

I have been around music since my early teens in Liverpool. I played in band's pretty much right up until I moved to the US in 1996. In the early 90's I had a number of guitars built by an outstanding English luthier and we became good friends. Spending time with him in his "shop" gave me my first taste of guitar building and over the next 20+years it slowly grew from modifying finished guitars to building kits to full scratch builds.

How do you work?

All my builds are done with hand tools, I have a table saw and band saw for roughing out, but I shape with chisels, scrapers and gouges, there's no CNC cutting or design software. 

How long does it take to make a guitar?

On average about 4 months. That's from picking out a couple of raw blocks of wood to plugging an instrument into an amplifier.

How does input from the costumer work?

I want to build the instrument a customer has in his or her head (within reason). Outside of the fixed requirements like scale length and fret position, pretty much everything else is open to interpretation. So it may be as simple as a customer showing me a picture of a guitar they saw in a magazine, a color they like or it may take sitting down with a pencil and a piece of paper and sketching out a complete guitar.

I know it is hard to choose, do you have a favorite guitar you created?

Right now it would be one of the tricone "resonator" guitars. There's 100+ hours in the building of them and because of their acoustic nature, there's no electronics or amplifiers to hide behind, they either work or they don't. Thankfully they work!

Interview - Greg Stones

As long time visitors to the SONO Arts Festival, we have also been longtime fans of artist Greg Stones. If you are looking for something original to turn your home into a art museum check him out.

What’s your background?

The most important pieces of my creative evolution that inform my work at the moment: I saw Star Wars in theaters in 1977, my parents bought me Crayola crayons at some point, I graduated from Bates College in 1996, I got picked up by Chronicle Books in 2011 because zombies were a thing, and then in 2016 my editor Steve Mockus Jedi mind-tricked Lucasfilm and Disney into letting me write and illustrate a Star Wars book. So there you have it.

How do you work?

I have two ways of working. If I am creating art for galleries and art festivals, I start paintings with no plan whatsoever, and whatever happens happens. It is very improvisational and fun and surprising. If I am working on a book, I lock down a theme and a character that I would like to explore, then sketch pages and pages of ideas that may or may not lead to something worthwhile.

Why did you choose to work in the medium you use?

I like gouache because it is a very flexible and direct medium. It is also super portable, so when I am in the middle of some crazy book deadline, I can bring my work with me to art festivals and hotels and get stuff done.

Your work is what I consider family friendly with a twist, how would you describe it?

I have to say that much of the family-friendliness of my work is thanks to my editor at Chronicle Books, who realized early on that kids really enjoy my books. Left to my own devices, there is a lot more nudity and death by chainsaw in my work, as anyone who has seen my paintings in galleries or at art festivals can attest.

Did working on a Star Wars book make your childhood dreams come true?

To be honest, it never even occurred to me that working on a Star Wars project would be a possibility, so I never really thought about it. I did start to think about it once I got picked up by Chronicle Books, however, because they published four of Jeffrey Brown’s humorous Star Wars books (Darth Vader and Son, Vader’s Little Princess, etc.), which are the books that paved the way for funny Star Wars books everywhere.  It was definitely a crazy and fun and scary and exciting process, though. And how cool is it that I got to use all my action figures from the 80’s for work??  Cray cray.

Of your many character creations or Star Wars what do you love working on the most?

At the end of the day, I love painting penguins more than any other character. Don’t get me wrong, working within the Star Wars universe was an amazing thing, but penguins are just so darn awkward and goofy and fun. Plus, they don’t wear stormtrooper helmets, which are the hardest things to paint EVER!!!