It’s a happy day for this lady because I have a free hour to write a blog post. What? How did this happen?! You guys, I am loving my little business and the impact it’s making (and I LOVE meeting new people / families!)…but I’ll be totally honest and admit I sometimes long for those simple ol’ blog days. Where I came up with a few projects a week around this house and shared it here. Not worried about it though. I’m actually very happy and know I’ll soon find the balance to share both things happening here as well as projects completed with Simply Organized clients. And of course I love sharing giveaways with you guys….and speaking of, I have quite a few of them waiting in the wings. Just need the time here to get them up!

With that said, I do believe sharing other spaces besides my own keeps it real and true to life here on the blog. What and how I organize at home is completely different in someone else’s home. Everyone puts things away differently. I would never expect the way I keep my home to be the “gold standard of organizing” for you in your home. When I share a project or idea it’s because it works for us and maybe it will work for you too. If that’s the case – great! But maybe it doesn’t work for you. While my solutions and ideas resonate with my clients, many times I’m coming up with something totally different to solve their organization issues. And a big one…everyone has a different budget to work with.

Anyway, I could go on and on…my point is – I hope sharing the work completed with clients is a help to all of you.

And, matter of fact, today we’re talking about a client space. This is the sweetest mother of three that I’ had the pleasure of working with for about 5-6 weeks. I enjoy sharing her spaces because it’s proof that putting aside 2.5 to 3 hours just once a week can make a huge positive impact in your home…and with your stress level. She has a busy home to run, a husband that works all day, 3 young children with varying school and after-school schedules…and one little guy that isn’t even in school yet. If she has time to set aside 2-3 hours a week…you do too!

The day I was scheduled to work with her, we had plans to tackle the laundry / mudroom. But when I arrived, she was fired up to go after this closet…

I love a good fire!

She has many hot spots around the house we’ve been working on, but she recognized she could go another week without doing anything in the laundry room…and instead wanted to focus our morning in here. Her 2 little boys share this closet and I’d say she’d done a great job of keeping the clothing to a minimum. There isn’t a dresser in this bedroom, so I applaud her for not having an abundance of clothing crammed into this closet.

The other issue she was faced with was her son and husband’s passion for baseball cards…

That blue bin you see. FULL (to the top) of baseball cards and recently delivered by her husband’s mother. (We love mother-in-law’s!) The cards belonged to her husband when he was young…I love this! There are binders and boxes and bins full of baseball cards. At some point I’d love to help her get them super organized, but that is going to take more than 3 hours. For now, she had the room to get most of them into the closet. It was a matter of sorting out the closet contents first to make that space.

She was also ready to remove the pack-n-play, which had morphed into a toy box over the last few months…

After only 2 hours of dedicated work, some purging and folding…

My favorite part of any organization project? Finding the floor! 😉

The baseball cards her son plays with regularly are now on the bottom shelf. Now he can easily get to AND put them away. Most of the remaining cards are in the upper right corner of the closet.

We didn’t buy anything fancy, or new bins, or a new closet system. Just used the space available and made it work hard for us.

After sorting through the pack-n-play, disassembling and tucking it away in the garage, we had room for this awesome train table….which was previously sitting in the garage waiting for a home inside…

Now the kids have plenty of room to play or sort through baseball cards…

 

Just 2 hours guys!…

 

In my final 45 minutes, we labeled the bins in her playroom. I’ll be sharing her newly organized playroom in a few days, but here’s a sneak peek. I found these adorable Avery chalkboard labels at The Container Store…

Getting organized doesn’t happen in a day. Don’t watch those tv shows and have unrealistic goals / expectations. Remember, these shows have teams of people working behind the scenes.

What’s realistic?…

* Make a list of the spaces you want to organize and list them in priority order.

* Take on one space at a time. And don’t go onto the next space until you have completely finished that space first.

* Worried you can’t get it all done in 2-3 hours? Break down the space into smaller jobs. For example, if your space is a master closet…consider doing just pants one day or just the items hanging. Break it down so you can actually finish what you started and feel accomplished when you do. Take the time to try on everything and ask yourself if you love it, you ARE going to wear it and if you have worn it in the last few years. Don’t get stuck in the “what if”thinking. I’ll come pinch you if you do that.

* You don’t need 3 hours. Maybe start with 1 hour, then see how you feel. Set a timer and focus on that one space. And try not to get distracted. If you find something in that space that belongs somewhere else, don’t leave to put it away. Set it aside and keep working in the space you’ve dedicated yourself to.

Have a great day guys!