We’ve Moved! Organize and Decorate at Our New Web Site April 24, 2012

You know that “tired, but in a good way” feeling you get when you finish painting a room or moving all of your furniture around?  Well, that’s how I feel right now.  We’ve recently just moved two whole sites!

This is the last post at this address.  Those of you who are getting these articles sent to you about twice a week will need to head over to the new site and re-subscribe, but just this once, I promise.  When you head to www.HeartWorkOrg.com, look on the right-hand side and enter your email where it says “subscribe to blog”. 

I am not fond of the word blog, but it is a shorted version of “web log”, or the modern day version of a mini-magazine.

Anywhoo, I’ve got so much more capability on the new site, you’re going to love it.  The before and after gallery has been updated.  I can finally add pictures of your furry critters to the Furry Gallery.  The store has been updated, with more to come.

The very first thing that I’m doing is FOR YOU.  There’s a brand new post over there about green decorating with a lamp makeover, and there is a giveaway for a $25 gift certificate to get you started on your own green decorating project.    This giveaway closes May 2, 2012, but there are plenty more to follow, so I hope you’ll head over now and subscribe.  Really, go now.

Click here and enter your email to subscribe and keep getting organizing, decorating, and home staging tips.  See ya there!

 

 

Earth Day Decorating April 17, 2012

Tax day.  Earth day.  It’s a big week here.  I’m also just about to reveal my new website design.  If you receive these posts via email, you should keep seeing them as scheduled, about twice a week.  If, however, you read my stuff through Facebook or some other circuitous route, you might want to check back here in exactly one week to get the new link.  The blog and website will be merged, and I’ll finally have the capability to do some fun things like giveaways.  That’s good, because I have a TON of really nice giveaways cluttering up my office right now.

I’ll also be revealing my huge office makeover in the near future.  (Note to self: probably not a good idea to redesign my site and my office in the same week.)

But today, you’ll have to settle for this little reveal.  Last weekend I was honored to accompany the Habitat for Humanity ReStore manager, Makeda Yeru, to the Delaware County EnviroFair at Strath Haven High School.  Think of a ReStore as a thrift store for household items and construction odds and ends.

I wanted to show the great stuff that ends up there, some of it donated by my clients.  (Yes, the ReStore has a truck and helpful guys who will come pick up your donated furniture and working appliances. You can call them at 484-401-1650 to arrange a pickup.)  So we picked a few things:

I honestly didn’t spend a lot of time on this one, folks.  But I was so happy with the outcome,

and Makeda was, too.

Doesn’t she look comfy?

I really loved the paint treatment that my assistant, Jill, did on the little table.  And I also love the little brass lamp that we turned into an indoor/outdoor lantern.  Price these in stores and you’ll pay $30-$80, but you can make them yourself!

The plan was to take the slipcovered chair back to the store for display, but we almost sold it that day!  Did you notice the great slipcover from Surefit? We pulled back the foot-rest just a bit to remind you what it looked like before.

There were quite a few things to see at the fair.  I was happy to talk to the folks from The Energy Coop, where I belong and get a deal on both my heating oil and electricity.

The table next to use was doing a brisk business selling waterproof bags and even iPad cases made from juice pouches.  Get a little bling with your recycling!

There were plenty of things for the kids to do, and we got to hide the giraffe for the scavenger hunt.

My favorite part was getting to see a Nissan Leaf all electric car in person.  Actually, I ate lunch sitting right next to it and didn’t even realize it was running.  It’s not just quiet, it’s silent!   No gas.  No emissions.  No kidding.  It’s still a bit pricey, but if combustion engines were outlawed tomorrow, I’d happily run for a Leaf!

There were displays of farm co-ops and even something called the Philadelphia Cow Share, where you meat eaters can band together and each purchase 48 pounds of a cow that you help to responsibly raise as a co-op.  I would have taken a picture of my beautiful veggie wrap for lunch, but I ate it too quickly!

If there’s an environmental fair in your neck of the woods, definitely go.  You’ll get some good info, hear about products that might be hard to find otherwise, and find something that you can do to celebrate Earth Day.

(That’s it.  No more scheduled posts until next Tuesday.  Can’t wait to reveal the new site.)

How to Get Rid of Ants April 12, 2012

It’s hard to feel good about organizing or decorating when ants go marching two by two through your space.  For those of you who think I lead a charmed life, sorry to pop your balloon.  We have ants.

True, these ants have tenure.  I’ve only lived in this house 4 years, and the ants have probably been here for most of the hundred years the house has stood here.  But I don’t have to like it, and I don’t have to share my snacks with them.

Since I have kids and I like to be all goody-goody about reducing chemicals in my home, I don’t just head for the pesticide aisle.  A couple of years ago, I contacted Mike McGrath, who hosts the show You Bet Your Garden on WHYY, which is a wealth of resources on plants, organic gardening, and natural lawn care techniques.  He pointed me to this little product, that has revolutionized my war on bugs.

It’s a bit different because you don’t spray your stuff or your crawlers.  No, this is more subtle.  You just put a couple drops of Pic Liquid Ant Bait Killer down in a little cardboard or plastic doormat (included), and let the ants walk on it.  And they will, because this stuff is like Easter candy to them.  Did you know that ants are very systematic?  They follow in each other’s footsteps to their food source, and then the ants go marching home again, all in a line.  But at my house, their little legs will be coated with blue juice, which they carry home to their colony.  Within days, all of the ants in the colony have had a taste of the Kool-Aid.  No more ants.

Still, they are ants, and I have to go through this every spring.  I’ve been doing this for 4 years, and you see how much of this tiny bottle I’ve used?  Since I’m using so little, I worry a lot less about unintended targets getting a taste of my blue wrath.

After that’s all taken care of, I can get back to the fun stuff, decorating and organizing for spring.  Here’s hoping for peace around your baseboards.

How to Hang a Vintage Light Fixture April 10, 2012

If you need decorating bang for your buck, start with lighting.  Although lighting is step three in a room redesign, it carries a lot of importance, and you can be thrifty with this element.  In redesign, first we place the largest pieces of furniture, then the smaller pieces of furniture, then the rugs.  Then comes the type and positioning of the lighting.  The right lighting can change the entire look of a space.  Many lighting fixtures can be had for a pretty reasonable cost, but sometimes either the budget might not allow for a desired fixture, or something with a little history is actually better for a particular space.  If you come upon the right vintage fixture, you can have it refurbished, or possibly tackle the job yourself.  Here is a guide to retrofitting a vintage hanging lamp in a foyer.

Step 1.  Find your replacement fixture. 

In this case, we found a hanging lantern that was similar to something it was replacing, but the style of our thrift store find fit the space a little better.  It had been used in another home, so it didn’t come with instructions or all the fittings we needed.   Before taking it apart, hold it up to the ceiling or gauge by the fixture that you are removing the length of the lamp cord and hanging chain that you need, if these are being replaced.

Step 1

Step 2.  Disassemble the fixture to retrofit it.

It’s a good idea to lay the pieces out on a flat surface the way you take them off, so it will be easy to reassemble again.  Had we wanted to paint it, now would have been the time to break out the spray paint, when the glass could be taped off and the interior parts were off the main frame.  This is also the time to measure and replace critical parts like the electrical lamp cord and the hanging chain.  These are easily found at hardware and home improvement stores.

Step 2

Step 3.  Threading

Thread the lamp cord down through the hanging chain and all the way through the stem of the fixture.  For this type, use wire strippers (inexpensive and available at hardware stores) to slit the plastic about 2″ to separate the leads and gently strip the ends of the lamp cord.  Strip both the top and the bottom ends now, and strip just about 1/4″ from both leads on either end.   Use wire nuts (you can probably use the ones that came with the original fixture) to connect the ends of the lamp cord to the electrical wires connected to the light bulbs.

Step 3

Step 4.  Reassemble the fixture. 

Try not to have any spare parts on this step.

Step 4

Step 5.  Hang In there.

This is where the real work begins.  Turn off the power and take down the existing light fixture.  It is best to turn off the circuit that controls this fixture at your electrical panel.  This is a fairly easy procedure.  Do pay attention to how the fixture comes down, to guide you on putting up the new one. In older houses, the old receptacle may not look like the new fixture.  This is where your helpful local hardware store or home improvement center comes in.  We have a 100-year-old home.  The box is more shallow than would be used in today’s homes, the wires are old-style, and there is no ground wire.  No matter, you can still switch out the fixture.

Step 5

Step 6.  Modify, if needed

To make this work, we did need a small piece called a coupler.  We got it from our favorite local hardware store when we took in the new fixture and dimensions for the electrical box in the ceiling.   It was the best $1.50 we spent, because the whole project would have been sunk without this little item.

Step 6

By screwing the coupler on to the existing box, we got the extra bit of length that we would have otherwise had in a more modern electrical box.  If you are lucky enough to not be dealing with hundred year old electrical, you’ll skip the coupler and go right to the next step.

 

Step 7.  Ta-Dah!

This step is best done with two people. While one person holds the fixture, the other person connects the one wire from the fixture to one wire from the electrical box.  Tighten these again with wire nuts.  Do the same thing to the remaining two wires.  Then screw the fixture in to the coupler and adjust so the fixture collar sits flush against the ceiling.  It’s time to put the light bulbs in, turn the breaker back on, and enjoy your frugality.

Step 8

There you go.  A couple of bucks for a garage sale or thrift store find can replace a broken fixture without breaking the bank.  No electrician required.  Just be careful on those ladders.

A version of this article was orginially published at AboutOne on 3/23/12.

Organizing the Car Trunk Means Less Rattle, More Mileage April 5, 2012

Last week, I was driving very, very carefully.  Driving conditions have been fine, but I was driving gingerly because I was harboring a noise-maker in the back: a wire bin with wheels on it, that I hadn’t yet returned to the store.

Empty trunk + metal bin on wheels = lots of noise when driving

Did you know that organizing your car can keep your car quieter AND save you real money? Predictions are that gas prices will rise above $4.00 by April.  Every extra pound that you carry in the car trunk (or anyplace else) leads to lower gas mileage, costing the average family an additional $40 per year, and more as the price of gas increases. As if you needed another reason to get organized.  Here are some strategies to get it in gear:

Read More on How to Declutter the Family Car

This is excerpted from the article originally published at  ShopGetOrganized on March 21, 2012.

What essentials do you keep in your car?

How to Organize Kids Art Projects April 3, 2012

Kids’ art projects are notoriously hard to organize.  The topic comes up constantly.  There are a bazillion ways to store your little Picasso’s projects, of course, but really, simple is better.

My absolute favorite storage solution is the Li’l Davinci art frames.  You can check out this video of how these front-hinge beauties from Dynamic Frames work.  My kids (2 and 5) decide which creations are frame-worthy, and they love to help me load their new opus into the frames at least once a week.

While we have enough wall space in our house for a mini art gallery, we don’t actually have enough space in our house for the art studio it takes to create said art.  So I was thrilled to take my little ones to a new place recently, the Creative Clubhouse in Havertown, PA.  Unlike the pottery studio just down the street from our house, the Creative Clubhouse is geared for the younger set (12 months to 8 years), and I didn’t feel like I was bringing my bullish children into the china shop.  The setup is simple, with areas set up for Lego play, dough play, simple glue projects, easel art, magnet boards, a huge chalk wall (sure kids, go ahead and draw on these walls), and an area for building towers from blocks.  They also run scheduled art and music classes throughout the week.  If I had an extra room in my house for art, it would look just like the Creative Clubhouse.

Look around this space, and you’ll see some pretty simple but effective art solutions that can easily translate into most homes, even if you don’t have your own art room.  Owner, Amy, will tell you that they are all IKEA solutions, easy to pick up and easy to install.  Supplies, like paint brushes, crayons, and any other high-risk implements can be stored in cute and shiny cans hanging from organizing rails, originally meant to organize a kitchen.

Smocks and aprons, the wardrobe staple of the preschool set, hung on simple keyhook bars in the lower left corner of that shot, were super accessible to the kiddos.  At home, you might be able to hang these on the inside of a pantry door or coat closet door.

If you can’t spring for a set of Dynamic Frames, then a simple set of clips hung on airline wire, normally used to hang curtains in a hip loft space, will allow you to hang painted art, especially great for those that need a bit of drying time.

For hardback or canvas creations,  this skinny ledge provides the perfect perch for a rotating display of color.  It’s only about an inch and a half deep, so it can fit into just about any space. I like the idea of adding in some favorite books to create a seasonal or theme display.

Last, think multi-functional in every single piece of furniture you bring into your house once you have kids.  I think it should be a crime to manufacture any bench or ottoman without storage underneath.  With just a little planning and maybe a basket or two, a bench can store even more puzzles, games, and creative supplies.

We’ve been back to the Creative Clubhouse, and I love that my kids get to be creative and messy, but I don’t have to clean it up.  If you need a few more ideas on how to store your kid’s art, check out how to organize creations in digital form, and 5 more ways to organize kids art supplies.

Are any of these solutions to organize kids’ art working in your home?

Fear Of Buttons March 29, 2012

Are you itching for a new spring wardrobe?  Beware not to let koumpounophobia, a real documented phobia of buttons, set in.  Watch this tip on how to store those extra buttons that come with new garments so you can actually find the right buttons when you need them.

If you can’t see the video thumbnail, click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3cyd5EwbJw

Please comment below to let me know what you think of this idea to save and store buttons, and how you would make it even better.

Home Office In a Closet March 28, 2012

I was talking to a friend about this particular transformation, and realized it had never made it to the blog, so here you go.  For those of you who work at home, you can have a super-functional and pretty office, in just about 30″ of space (deep).

Before:

After:

What would you accomplish if your office was this pretty?

Why Remove Pictures when Staging March 27, 2012

Removing personal pictures from your home is one of the first and easiest things you’ll do when staging your home for sale.  There are three reasons you want to remove personal pictures from your home when it’s on the market.

1.  You want to leave room for the buyer to imagine their family, not yours, in the home.  First impressions happen very quickly, and it’s just easier for a potential buyer not to have to erase an image of your family so they can picture themselves at home.  Only about 10-20% of buyers can imagine the changes they want to make to your home.  Don’t stress the other 80% who can’t.

2.  Buyers love to wander over to your wall or table of family pictures to see if they know you.  It’s only human; we want to connect.  They’ll want to see if they know you from high school, if you look like them, or if your kids are about the same age as their kids.  Any time they spend trying to make these connections with you, they aren’t making the connection with the house, which is exactly what you need to have happen.

3.  It’s just prudent to safeguard your family.  Buyers are strangers, after all, and there is no reason that you need to let strangers know how old your kids are, what activities they participate in, and what your family likes to do in your free time.

Most sellers don’t want to remove family photos because they think that means removing the frames and necessitating a new paint job.  Not so.  One easy trick is to replace family photos with landscape art that goes with your decor.  In this shot, you can see that the homeowner doctored  a family hallway montage, and now it features some peaceful seaside shots.  Still pretty, still framed, but now something that draws you through the space to the next beautiful room, instead of slowing you down in the short hallway.

If your home is on the market, and you haven’t yet taken down or swapped the family photos, what are you waiting for?

Why I Love My Job March 22, 2012

This week I’m enjoying hanging with my organizing peeps at the National Association of Professional Organizers annual conference. Did you know there is one?  It is always one VERY organized agenda!

I can’t wait to get back and share what’s new in the industry.  I’ll be spending a few days in the land of crab cakes and Orioles.  Too bad we’re a few weeks ahead of opening day. It’s true, I have one of the best jobs a person could ask for.

I love my job.

This is one of my favorite parts of my job.  I almost never work alone.

This is Smudge, and he was doing the safety check and space planning for this linen closet reorganization.   I have a million shots of my your little furry children helping me organize your spaces.  Next time I’m at your place, please remind me to snap a shot of the silly things they do to help us out.

Enjoy your week.

What do you love best about your job?

Organizing While Human March 20, 2012

People I work with often blame their current organizing state of affairs on the blessings of being an American.  Let’s face it, while the 99% have gotten a lot of press with the Occupy Wall Street movement, most Americans are still the richest 2% of the world’s population.  If we feel overwhelmed by our stuff, our debt, our gadgets, our calendars, and our information, is it just because we are Americans living in the year 2012?

Nope.

One of the biggest reasons we keep too much is because we treasure possibilities.  We keep things we’ve never used just in case we might need them some day.  We keep relics of activities we used to do, but are unlikely to take part in again.  We keep magazines we don’t have time to read because there might be a cool article in there. There’s lots of psychology behind this, but basically it boils down to us being human, not the year we live in.

I found a little organizing story tucked in the book of Acts in the Bible.  Acts tells the story of what happened to Jesus’ followers immediately after he rose and ascended to be with the Father.  His guys were sent all over the ancient world to tell His story.  Paul, one of the new guys, heads over to Athens, Greece and is hobnobbing with the folks who run the town.  “All the people of Athens spent their time talking about and listening to the latest ideas.” (v.21)  Sounds a bit like us, always plugged in and getting our news practically by I.V. drip.  The Greeks were really into their gods, as you might recall from mythology.  The guys in charge ask Paul what he’s in town to discuss, and Paul says, “As I walked around, I looked carefully at the things you worship, I even found an altar with to an unknown god written on it.” (v.23)

In effect, the people of Ancient Greece were keeping an empty building or shrine in high-rent downtown real estate labelled to an unknown god, just in case they might need it one day!

There’s no need to beat yourself up about a little extra in your life here and there.  After all, there are times when being prepared makes a lot of sense.  The ability to plan makes us human and sets us apart from the rest of the animals. But taken too far, you might be taking up valuable real estate for something that really is a little wacky. We’ve seen it for two thousand years and more.  We’ll always organize while human.

Paul says that not only can he describe the God that they are holding a place for, but that God doesn’t even need a separate shrine, that He’s master over everything and everywhere.  Hey, Greeks, he’s saying, listen up.  That space could be better used than sitting empty.  Today, our unworn sweaters, unused books, uneaten food, unworn shoes, and yes, probably even our unoccupied real estate, can be better put to use helping our fellow humans.  Donating unused goods is a good thing!

Stay human, but keep the just in case within reason.

10 Ways to Go PaperLess March 15, 2012

If I had a nickel for everyone who told me they wanted to go paperless, well, I could buy several reams of paper.  The truth is that our society is nowhere near going paperless.  In fact, our actual individual consumption of paper is up in the past decades!  But we can all take one or two free or easy steps to have less unwanted paper in our lives.  The less that comes in, the less you have to organize.  Take a few minutes and do just one or two of these steps, and have less in your life:

Steps to go PaperLess

1. Stop your newspaper, or subscribe to only one day a week.

2. Get off direct mail lists at the Direct Mail Association site.

5. Let magazine subscriptions expire if you didn’t read them last month.

7. Display kids’ artwork with clever front-loading storage frames from DynamicFrames.

 

Read the rest of this excerpted article where it was originally published on ShopGetOrganized.

What steps will you take to reduce your paper piles?

 

Saved Again by Organizing An Emergency Fund March 13, 2012

How are you doing on organizing your finances?  Do you have an emergency fund?

Yeah, you snort, that and a live-in butler.  Wouldn’t both be nice?

Let me share a real-life story about how an emergency fund helped one person, and how you can get your own.  If you read stories like this and think, this isn’t real life, let me tell you, this is very real life!

One of my organizing clients has been working on a few organizing goals for about the last year, while employed with a temp job.  A few months ago, she got serious about paying down debts and stashing an emergency fund.

We agreed she should quickly stash $2,000 in an emergency fund.  To do it, she re-allocated some extra money that she was sending to pay down a credit card account, she completely cut out spending $30 per week on clothes, and she paid more attention to her food and eating out expenses.

At first, she was worried that by diverting some of her cash into a savings account, she was hurting her other goal to pay down credit card debt.  However, when I explained that the next “crisis” would cause her to rack up more credit card debt without having some cash in reserve, she got on board.  Without a cash emergency fund, credit card debt will grow because there is no other alternative to tap when a crisis hits.

It only took her a matter of weeks to pad her hard-to-access savings account (not her regular savings account).  Then, the inevitable happened; her car broke down.  Here’s the email she sent to me:

“I have to tell you something.  My car needs major repairs.  It’s not driveable.  If you hadn’t advised me to start an emergency fund several months ago, I would not have had the money to get the repairs done.  At all.  I am extremely disappointed that I have to use up at least $660 of the $1650 I have saved thus far, with great effort, but one thing I am not is panicked — thanks to you.  This is exactly the type of emergency you wanted me to start the fund for, and your advice could not have been more timely.”

On the same day she sent this to me, I had just paid over $700 for four new tires.  Yes, I used my credit card at the register, but I transferred the money from my emergency account over to my credit card account when I got home.  Done.  I’ve been doing this for well over a decade, and our emergency account covers these kinds of things, so financial snags aren’t really emergencies, they are just life events. I sleep a lot better now than I did in my twenties.  Marketplace Money calls this the FU fund.  Or the “See Ya” fund.  Call it whatever you want, it is how you can get ahead, too.

To get your emergency account going, follow the same strategies that my client used:

1.  Figure out if you can divert money from other obligations, like credit cards, just for a short time.

2. Find your splurges and halt them, just for a short time.

3. Part with anything valuable but unused, and sell it on CraigsList or similar.  $50 here or there can be way more valuable than a dust-catcher lurking in your basement.

4. Take a part-time gig if needed.  Tutor, mow lawns, whatever it takes to add a few bucks to your balance.

5. Monitor necessities.  Cut back on groceries, cable, cell phone service, whatever else you might normally think is non negotiable, even just for two months.  A little here or there can get you to your $2,000 faster.

6. Stash the money in a hard-to access account, like at an online-only bank or a credit union you don’t normally visit.

Once you have your emergency built up to $2,000, then start paying down credit card debt again.  Once that’s paid off, then you can really grow your emergency fund to cover the recommended 3-9 months of living expenses, which can really come in handy.  You see, my client lost her long-term temp job a couple of weeks ago, and she’s back to searching for full time employment.  Uncomfortable?  Yes.  Crisis?  No, thanks to an emergency fund that was waiting for life to happen.

If you love these ideas, please read more over at Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace  site.

all photos:  Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

Exit Planning: Organizing Your Vital Records March 8, 2012

No one really wants to think about it, but exit planning can be a blessing for those you love.  Planning for what happens to your assets, your debts, and even your email account and digital identity, can give you a sense of peace and security, even if you are nowhere near your final act.

I am gearing up to help a client with just this activity.  The process looks a little bit like cleaning up your files.  But there is a layer of detail added in, taking time to do things like contacting financial firms or governmental authorities, to make sure all is in order.

Recently, I went through my own family’s vital records, made copies, and removed the originals to a safer location.  People call me just about every month because they’ve lost their birth certificate, a child’s birth certificate, or their passport.

You can take a moment to download my free list of Vital Records  here, and use this to guide what documents you need to locate, copy, and safeguard. When I did this for my family, it took about 3 hours, total.

If you want to do a bit more planning than that, I suggest this great article called, What I have learned about Being an Executor of an Estate.

By the way, you don’t need any fancy books, folders, or software to get your affairs in order.  Chances are that most of your vital records are still in paper form, and a standard 2″ folder with dividers will work just fine to help you get your vital records in order.

This is one of those things that falls into the “important but not urgent” category, for sure.  I’m traveling to visit my parents this summer, and I hope to help them with it as well.  My mom tells me that their final will and testament still has designations for guardianship for my brother and I should my parents die.  I think their will might need updating while we’re at it.

What would help you get your family’s vital records in order?

Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

Recycling Do’s and Don’t for Single Stream Recycling: From The Source March 6, 2012

Before heading to the Waste Management Materials Handling Facility (pronounced merfs by those in the biz) in Northeast Philadelphia, I asked my peeps what they wanted to know about recycling rules. Your questions, and maybe a few you didn’t think to ask, are answered here, thanks to Patty Barthel at Waste Management.

Why can’t we put pizza boxes in for paper recycling?

If the box is super clean, break it down and throw it in. But if it’s greasy or stuck with cheese, it contaminates the rest of the paper in a batch to be recycled.

Must we separate plastic bottles from their caps?

HA! NO! This was actually the question everyone wanted to know. If you are concerned because the cap and bottle are different levels of plastic, worry no more. Apparently, plastics get baled together and sent to a plastics recycling plant, where they are crushed, ground, floated, and who knows what else. Then they are made into new plastic goods and  – surprise! – new fleece jackets you wear to the gym. So no, don’t separate your water bottle from its cap, and don’t throw the caps in the trash.

Must you separate the lids from glass jars?

I keep the lids on my recycles so my kitchen doesn’t smell. It turns out, that’s just fine. The glass usually breaks in the truck, and separates from the metal lid anyway. Glass going through the recycling plant is all tiny shards at the end of the line.

Are magazines recyclable?

Yes. Even paperback books can be recycled. Hardback book covers can not be recycled, but if you tear the covers off of books, you can send the pages to recycling.

Envelopes with plastic windows?

I have known people who stress over putting envelopes in recycling if it has a plastic window. This was a problem when recycling was a new industry, but now there are appropriate tolerances in the system that allow for this sort of thing.

Can shredded paper go into recycling?

YES! Go ahead and shred your old checks, but put the shreds into paper bags or directly in your bin, NOT in plastic bags, or it will go to the landfill. I saw one of these while I was there, headed out the back end of the plant.

If I’m not sure it’s recyclable and I put it in, what happens to it in the end?

“If you put it in the bin and we don’t need it, we’re going to throw it away,” says Patty. Makes sense. They are recyclers, not magicians, so about 10% of what comes in still goes out to the landfill.

How clean should food containers be?

Lightly rinse, then toss in the bin. Labels are no problem, either.

Can you recycle aluminum foil?

No. Foil isn’t desirable. Even foil pans, like the ones you carry to the church supper, aren’t very desirable. But if they are large enough and very clean, the system may still bale them with metals, so if it makes you feel better, throw them in.

Electronics?

Not here. But there are some great places to take your old PC, fax machine, TV, or phone. My favorite is Best Buy, because they are everywhere and take everything.  Whole Foods recently hosted electronics recycling events in my neck of the woods. Be on the lookout for other take-back events in your community.

Here’s a shocker: TOYS!

You know those gigantic colorful toys, like swimming pools, kitchens, and rocking toys? Once they’ve been enjoyed, passed down, and completely sun-faded, they too can be baled along with other rigid plastics, like buckets. However, toys that have lots of metals and electronics, like cars, won’t make the cut. It’s a good idea to think of this when you are making the initial purchase.

Some of those colorful blobs could be plastic toys heading for their next life.

Styrofoam and packing peanuts?

Sadly, no, even if it is marked with a “5”, styrofoam does not get recycled. At all. Ever. Stay away from it if at all possible. But if you ever become the proud owner of packing peanuts, you can drop them off at UPS Stores and many other places that pack and ship, and they’ll re-use them.

What about batteries, CFL lightbulbs, and needles/sharps?

Household batteries are one of the hardest things to recycle. CFL bulbs are so new, they are confusing.  And used needles should be handled properly, of course. Why should you care? It turns out that batteries have really nasty stuff in them. Those metals should really be recycled, not leached into our landfills. Waste Management has a nifty solution. Order a mail-order recycle pack at Think Green From Home, and ship your stuff once a year or so.

Hazmat  Recycling

Don’t send your hazmat stuff here or, God forbid, dump it in the trash.  Take your full paint buckets, household chemicals, and other hazmat to an approved facility or county drop off.  Even tires are considered hazmat, not recycling.

 

While I learned a lot on this trip, the industry is constantly changing. I hope the next time I take the trip, they are taking styrofoam and pizza boxes. Please be open to changes to your local recycling process over the next few years.

What else do you want to know about the recycling process?

Field Trip to My Trash March 1, 2012

Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

I recently took a trip to a recycling facility. Field trips were the best days when I was in school. Usually just the break in routine was enough to get me excited, but field trips were usually fun, too. This was all of that and good for you, too.  If you want your kids to have their own recycling adventure, you can check out this recycling curriculum, designed for elementary school-aged kids by a national recycler.

My township went to “single stream” recycling a couple of years ago. Homeowners get to throw all of their recycles into one bin, and they get sorted out at the Materials Recycling Facility (MRF). Apparently, that increases recycling rates by 50%.

from Allied Waste/Republic Services, applies to Radnor Township

You can take your own Waste Management recycling tour via this video. My initial impression when I saw this was that the process moves super fast, just like our exuberant Waste Management PR host for the tour, Patty Barthel. It’s hard to find people so excited about trash! If you go in person, you’ll get to wear those super sexy hard hat, safety glasses, earplugs, and safety vest, just like I did. (Sorry, I’m not giving up that picture!)

My big aha moment was that recycled materials are not just trash to avoid, they are an industry. An industry! It produces jobs. It generates millions of dollars in raw materials. It is highly automated. It is continually evolving. Oh, yeah, and it keeps our stuff out of landfills.

This state-of-the-art facility is only a year old, built in November 2010, but I’m wondering why we don’t have one of these in every neighborhood.  This relatively small facility was very impressive. It processes over 20,000 tons of material each month: glass, metal, plastics, and paper.  I don’t really know what 20,000 tons looks like, but I do know what a Boeing 757 looks like, and this facility processes the weight of two hundred sixty-one Boeing 737’s each month.

Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

Recycling is mandated by the state, but controlled by counties or municipalities in Pennsylvania. It turns out there are lots of MRFs in our region, but they don’t all operate exactly the same. You need to dig a little to know what to put into-and keep out of-your bin. Go to your township’s homepage, and there’s probably a link for Trash & Recycling. It’s worth checking out, because there are plenty of things that go through the line that shouldn’t. Patty said she’s seen these kooky things, among others, on the recycling line:

Bowling balls do not belong in recycling.

• bowling balls
• mattresses
• garden hoses
• asphalt
• car batteries

When I was there, I saw these non-recycles on the line:

• Barbies
• bath towels
• window blinds
• a basketball and baseball
• a full plastic bag holding carefully shredded paper
• tires
• an umbrella

An umbrella???? Seriously?

The entire facility is a series of conveyor belts that look a lot like the rides at Sesame Place. Patty called it an amusement park for your water bottle.

At the end of the ride, everything is baled and sold as a resource for new materials. There are bales of rigid plastic, other plastics, paper, and metals. Less than 10% of what comes in leaves as trash.

Single Stream recycling is highly automated through disk screens, optical sorters, magnets, and air flows in addition to the facility workers, but it only works when dissimilar materials are separated from each other. If you buy something that has a cardboard liner inside a plastic wrap, remove the cardboard from the wrapper, otherwise the whole thing ends up in the landfill.

Speaking of plastic bags, they don’t belong in curbside recycling at all. Shopping bags, dry cleaning wraps, and trash bags can be dropped off at many local grocery stores. They literally gum up the works. Don’t use plastic bags for your recycles, or they end up caught in the gears and screeners, like this.

What can you recycle at this facility? Do you need to wash, sort, or separate into your bins? In part two of this post, I’ll spill the beans.

Um, you compost beans. They don’t recycle well.

Wreaths Go ‘Round February 28, 2012

The months between Christmas and spring are a tough time to decorate. Repurposing something on hand, like an old wreath, can be just the right creative outlet for this time of year, adding a splash of color to your home. Let’s start at the front door.

Faded and worn wreaths seem to hang around, in bags and basement store rooms, way longer than they should.  Florals take a beating from the sun, elements, and time, but the ring that the original wreath is built on might still have another life, like this project shown here.

In about an hour, go from this:

Before (Hint: those pointy things used to be green)

to this:

After

Make A Wreath – Demolition

First, strip the old wreath down to its bones. I love demo way too much. I really love demo, even on this small scale. I can see the better option even before the old version is out of the way. Just pull off the old florals, making a righteous mess as you go.

Demolition

Next, take some time to meticulously select and trim exotic materials that you grew in your shiny glass backyard greenhouse.  Or, do what I did, and pick up a bundle of scented florals at your local home decorating store, like HomeGoods. Most people would buy this bundle and stick it in a vase, but we can do better.

Separate the floral bundle into its elements, because we are going to work in layers.

Sorted

Make A Wreath – Tools

Go get your glue gun. Getting excited? For some people, it’s the most important appliance in their house. Mine only comes out for projects like this, after the kids go to bed. Go warm that baby up.

Starting with a background layer, glue several strands of grass or other filler to the wreath. Work the material into the vines to create stability for the next layers. Use the most basic and plentiful materials first, then the more colorful materials. Keep moving the wreath in a circular patterns so you see it from all angles and fill in evenly.

Base layer

Finally, use all the embellishments in the bunch. Even simple elements like the chunky ends of bamboo make a statement.  There is very little to no waste in good floral arranging.

You probably won’t even have to make a hook for the back, since you are using a recycled wreath.

Make a Wreath – Inspiration

The first take of this wreath was declared “a little wild” by my honey.

On the wild side

Imitating a completely wild wreath that I saw in a client’s home wasn’t working for me, mostly because their home is about twice the size of mine.

My inspiration

I removed the bottom layer of grass, trimmed them to a shorter length, and re-glued them. Now it actually fits on the front door.

The bundle of grass cost less than $10. The wreath form was free/repurposed. The whole project took about an hour. Comparable wreaths sell for between $25 and $50. This little baby will jazz up the front door very nicely until we’re ready to welcome spring decor.

Finished wreath

Recovering: You Might Want to Sit Down for This February 21, 2012

Got kids?  Pets?  A husband?  Then your chair cushions are probably taking a beating.  One of the most satisfying decorating projects that absolutely anyone can take on is recovering a chair cushion. After snacks, stains, and general wear and tear take their toll, you can go from this:

Reupholstering a chair-before

to this:

Reupholstering chair seat cushions, after

in about a half an hour.  Who has more than a half hour for projects, anyway?

You only need a few tools, which you almost certainly already own, and you can freshen your chair’s look in minutes.  There is no need to be stuck with a basic boring neutral cushion.  When you see how easy it is to change, you’ll be willing to take a risk on fun and colorful fabrics, like this leopard print chenille.  (The remnant roll was $3.  Shhhh.)

Read the steps for this super easy chair makeover.

This post was originally published at AboutOne.com on 2/18/12.

Candyless Month: SMART Goals Help Organize Smarter Snacks February 16, 2012

Remember when I told you I was going to try to get a handle on my candy addiction in January?  Boy, am I glad that’s over!

You might be wondering, how is this an organizing or decorating story?  Trust me, it is both.

The thing about organizing is that if you have a plan, a system, and the right tools on hand, you can be successful.  Without any of those things, well, you get more of what you’ve always gotten before.

My plan was to cut out my candy binges.  Not calories.  Not candy entirely.  Just the 3 o’clock and 8 o’clock binges.  That’s where I sit down and eat half a bag of M&M’s or an entire box of Girl Scout cookies.  My system was to have some substitute sweets on hand, including frozen fruit, oranges, Greek yogurt, and roasted vegetables. And the tools, well, that’s where you came in.  Every time I went into the pantry, I thought about this post I was eventually going to have to write, and so I thank you for being there for me.

My goals were SMART:  specific, measurable, applicable, realistic, and time-bound.  There was absolutely no reason I couldn’t be binge-free for thirty days.

Things pretty much went as planned.  Not having my daily sugar dose, some mornings I definitely woke up less sluggish.  Sugars that come from processed foods and candy really do gum up my works, which is way more noticeable than in my twenties.

Oh, and I remembered that I needed to drink more water.  Not just pour it and let it sit nearby, but actually drink it.  Osmosis isn’t a good way to get your hydration.

Then, near the end of the month, I took on a two day staging job, and my system failed.  (That’s the decorating part of the story.) I fell back on chowing through an entire bag of Skittles to get me through the job instead of taking sensible breaks for water and real food.  Skittles are so seductive, I even got my assistant hooked on them.  Sorry, Jill.  Although the Skittles.com site is one of the biggest wastes of time ever, I have to agree with the tweet/quote, “Where there are Skittles, there’s a way.”

OK, one slip is not bad.  But then I had a weak moment in the evening, which began with me reaching for a box of chocolate drizzled popcorn that I bought as a hostess gift in case I was invited to a holiday party.

 

Note to self:  buying candy just in case is probably a bad idea.

I struggled with this one, so close to the end of the month.  So I flipped the box and checked the stats.  10 servings in the box.  130 calories per serving.  Are you kidding me?  Stalling, I pulled out 9 plastic baggies, intending to eat just one serving.  It works for those Nabisco hundred calorie packs; it might work for me.  Here’s what one serving looked like.

Pathetic. Hardly worth the calories.

That particular night, my better nature won out.  I opted for a tub of Greek yogurt instead and saved about a gazillion calories.  ‘Cuz you know I was not just going to eat one serving of that popcorn.  You know I was going to eat the ENTIRE BOX, right?

 

Organizing my pantry and my thoughts help me stay on track.  I have no idea if I lost weight or not, but I can definitely say that one of my favorite shirts feels more loose.  Yeah!

So, it all ends well.  Borrowing a title from my blogger friend, Stephanie over at Intentional Girl, I’ve become a bit more intentional about my snacks.  Which is good, because candy season never really seems to end, does it?

The Amandas: Reality TV, Not Reality Organizing February 14, 2012

You’ve gotta love TV.  If you’re looking for a new sweetheart, check out Amanda LeBlanc , star of the Style Network’s new show, The Amandas. She’s sweet, smart, driven and gorgeous.

My only beef with her new show is that it is billed as an organizing show.  Unfortunately, it’s really more in line with what we’ve come to accept these days as “reality TV,” which has very little to do with reality.  If you are looking for organization inspiration and education, you’re better off with some of the more true-to-life shows like those on HGTV or even shots on the newest social media-crack-addiction, Pinterest.com. I’m not saying these are 100% reality either, but there is a high probability that they represent real organizing outcomes with much less TV producer-induced drama.

Organizers in high heels aren’t new, but they are not the norm, and in fact, not reality.  Yes, I wish I had her team’s drop-dead wardrobe, but if I did, I wouldn’t be scraping floors, painting and climbing ladders in it. If you call a professional organizer, you can expect a professionally dressed person, who is hopefully appropriately dressed for the type of work they will be undertaking.

I love my team, and they are each priceless, with their own talents.

Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

I have no desire to turn their unique talents into little mini-dramas just for TV viewing.  And whenever I am fortunate enough to have a staff of six, you can believe that one of them will be a full-time handy-person or carpenter.  The Amandas could be just as great of a show with her team chosen for their talents and not their egos or shoes.

While it makes for good TV, I wish that The Amandas TV show didn’t harp so much on Ms. LeBlanc’s striving for perfection.  She rants through tears in a recent episode, “Everything I do is PERFECT!”  To quote Michael J. Fox, “I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection.  Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God’s business.”  I’ve lived enough and seen enough homes and businesses to know that perfection isn’t attainable or maintainable.  Good organizing processes should result in spaces that can be lived in, adapted, and easily maintained.  But good organizing processes don’t always result in magazine-pretty.  Having been a part of a magazine shoot, I could tell you some of the silly stuff that goes on to create that beautiful shot that you admire for about 10 seconds, but that gets burned into your psyche.  So, if you decide to seek me out as a decorator, professional organizer, or home stager, recognize that there is only so much I am willing to put you through, because good organizing processes are “good enough.”  Good enough to get you out the door in the morning with a smile on your face, good enough to lower your stress levels, good enough to allow you to enjoy your beautiful home without going into crazy debt, good enough to allow you to file your taxes on time, and good enough to allow you to get ahead at work.  And I promise not to cry twice an hour and leave you feeling more stressed than when we started.

One thing that the Style Network got spot on was choosing a star for their show who is both professional and a professional organizer.  Ms. LeBlanc is an entrepreneur, a respected member of her community, and a smart woman.  She’s building her business and taking care of her clients with great detail.  She’s also a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers, which is a serious support organization for professional in our industry.  I not only belong to this organization, but I have volunteered on committees at the national level, and have served on the Board of NAPO-Greater Philadelphia Chapter.  I have a long list of involvment in community affairs.  And I’ve committed to this career by attaining the Certified Professional Organizer® designation.  I also attend annual conferences, and I’m very exciting to be heading to our next one next month.  I can’t wait to share the latest and greatest with you when I return.

Nope, I don’t have a TV show, but if you need to check out a Certified Professional Organizer® live before you hire one, check me out at the many seminars and low-cost group classes offered year-round, or check out admittedly very low budget organizing videos.

I applaud Amanda LeBlanc for her efforts and her successful business.  If she shows up at the NAPO conference, I’ll gladly buy her a drink to toast her success.  Just watch The Amandas for fun, and don’t let it ruin your real life, okay?