How to Organize for a Weekend Getaway

With summer right around the corner, vacations will be in full swing for many people. Especially now that more and more people are getting the COVID vaccine and more places are opening back up. We often help personal assistant and concierge clients plan, organize and pack for their trips whether it is a weekend getaway or longer trips. For getaways that are quick when you just have a weekend to getaway here are some tips to plan for. 

Plan your budget. Before you go on any trip you should decide what your budget is because this will determine a lot of factors like where you will go, how you will get there, what you will do while you are on vacation, etc. 

Decide on where you want to go. Do you want to go somewhere to relax, off the grid, adventurous, a big city, a small city, near water, near mountains, etc. There are so many options that you can choose from.

Do you want to fly or drive. Depending on whether you want to fly or drive has a lot to do with where you will go. Also, it makes a big difference on your budget. If you have a limited amount of time off you will need to decide how much of the time you want to be travel time to and from places. 

Check the weather. Wherever you decide to go, check to weather because that will determine what you will do and what you will need to back. 

Book a place to stay. Will you be winging it, staying at a camp ground, hotel, hostel, airbnb, etc.?

Decide what to pack. I always suggest packing as light as possible because it makes traveling a lot easier and so much less stressful. This will be determined mostly based on where you will be going, the weather and what you will be doing.

Decide what types of snacks you will be taking. Decide your snack options based on if you will be driving or flying. If you have kids or don't have kids. I always like to have snacks on hand in case we get delayed somewhere, travel somewhere with limited pit stops, restaurants, gas stations, etc. 

Plan activities. Either plan or have an idea of activities that will be available based on where you are going. Maybe you don't want to do any activities and just completely decompress. If you have kids or know that you are the type that likes to get out and do things than plan, schedule or at least know of some things to do in the area.

Have fun! Above all else try to have as much fun as possible and if there are challenges along the way try to make the most of them because they will be great stories to tell one. 

Photo by Element5 Digital from Pexels

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5 Things to Organize This Weekend

Looking for some quick and easy organizing projects this weekend? Here are 5 ideas of areas that you can organize this weekend. Most will only take a few hours. Remember that by starting small on your organizing journey you will not get as overwhelmed like you would if you were starting a big project. If you need to break these various areas down even more to make them more manageable, then do that. Organizing shouldn't feel stressful and do what works best for you.

• Toys. Get rid of any old, unused toys. Sort and organize toys into categories, so it makes it easy to find what you are looking for. 
• Spare bathroom. Do you even know what is in your spare bathroom? Go through everything and use bins to organize under the sinks and in drawers. Get rid of any old, expired products. Refresh the space every 6 months to make sure guest products are up to date and to make sure it is always ready for any unexpected guests you may have. 
• Shoes. Do you have shoes that are falling apart, shoes you no longer wear or want? If so, get rid of them. Figure out the best way to organize your shoes based on your space. You can organize using some shoe organizing solutions found on the Eco Modern Concierge shop page.
• Blankets. Anyone else have too many blankets? How do you organize them? Consider rolling them up and putting them in a basket near your couch or on a ladder blanket holder to display. 
• Medication. Get rid of any expired medication and properly dispose of it. 

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Car Organization Must Haves

Headrest hooks: These are especially helpful when you need extra space and can go vertical.

Back of seat car organizer: I love how much storage is in this.

Trash can: Something to hold trash is almost a necessity in the car.

Roadside emergency kit: I have had an emergency kit in my car since I started driving and it has come in handy many times.

Trunk organizer: This is great for groceries and making sure they don't roll around in the trunk.

Gap filler: These are great to hold random things that you keep in the car.

Car visor: Perfect to hold little things that you need to grab quickly.

Dog barrier: Great so you don't have unwanted guest in the front seat while you are driving.

Mini document file: Useful to hold necessary documents you may need to keep in the car.


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Where to Purchase Organizing Supplies

There are soooo many places to purchase organizing supplies. Here is a long list:

• Amazon
• The Container Store
• TheOrganizingStore.com
• Organize.com
• TJ Maxx
• Home Goods
• Marshalls
• Ross
• Thrift stores like The Women's Home, Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc.
• Some grocery stores like HEB, Kroger, etc.
• Tuesday Morning
• Target
• Walmart
• Michael's
• Hobby Lobby
• Joann's
• Lowe's
• The Home Depot
• Southland Hardware in Houston
• Dollar Tree
• Kohl's

Here are some of my favorite organizing supplies to use, this is just of few of many:

• Embossing Label Maker
• Shelf Dividers
• Acrylic Organizers
• Hooks I use these in a pinch and they hold a surprising amount of weight

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Client Fun, Busy Family: Kitchen Cabinet Organization

This is an organization project that I started several months ago and if you have been following along here, here, here and here you know that I have been working on several areas of their home. The kitchen was a big project, but they did have systems in place to work with which is always fantastic. Some cabinets and drawers, like the picture above, was pretty organized already. In those cabinets and drawers, I would just make minor tweaks.

Here is what I did:

• Put items in areas they belong
• Clean out cabinets and drawers if they were dirty
• Organize all drawers and cabinets
• In the medicine cabinet got rid of old medication

Some kitchen organization products I like:

• Customizable drawer organizer
• Modular drawer organizers
• Adjustable drawer organizer 

Before:

After:

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Client Busy Mama, Baby Closet Organization: Before & After

Last month I got a chance to organize two little girls closets and loved every second of it. Everything was so tiny and cute. I don't always get permission to photograph projects, so I was happy I got to photograph these closets. I really should have brought the good camera along, but only had my iPhone with me. A little back story, the two little girls closets I did one was a baby & one was a toddler. The one below is the baby's closet. I will do a part 2 for the toddler closet. There were a lot of hand me downs that's why you see several boxes labeled with months on them. I sorted the clothing and arranged by size & type in various sections. This closet was also used for additional storage. 

Before:

After:

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EMC on Blogs This Week

EMC was featured on 2 popular blogs this past Monday Camille Styles & Veronika's Blushing where I give organizing tips. Go check them out and happy organizing!

Camille Styles: I offer tips on staying organized with holiday gifting
http://camillestyles.com/living/life-lessons/a-professional-organizers-guide-to-gifting/

Veronika's Blushing: There is before and after photos of a pantry organization project I did and tips on how to organize your pantry. I will also be a regular contributor on there as well.
http://www.veronikasblushing.com/2015/11/organizing-pantry-eco-modern-concierge.html

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