Death Organizing

Death organizing is something that I have been doing for years for clients, but last year was the first time I heard about Swedish death organizing from my cousin who sent me an article and then a book came out about it. Here are some, of many, things I often help people with, so their families don't have to:

• Inventories
• Making sure they have all of their important documents in one, accessible place
• Listing heir wishes of where and who should get certain belongings
• Helping clients make a list of things they still need to do like make will, paying for burials, etc.
• Decluttering
• Going through old paperwork
• The list goes on and on

These are 2 books that are helpful in prepping for death organizing, Get it Together & The Art of Swedish Death Cleaning. 

Have you heard of death organizing? 

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10 Last Minute Things to Do to Get Organized for the Holidays

Christmas is a little more than 2 weeks away and you are scrambling to get things done. Here are some small tips to keep you on track and less stressed.

1. Amazon Prime. Amazon is great for so many things gifts, household items, etc. 
2. Make a master to do list of thing that needs to get done. Delegate tasks to different individuals in your household. You can't always do everything by yourself, so ask for help.
3. Create a timeline of what needs to be done and when. This will help you get a grasp on what exactly needs to be done and then you can figure out what things you can get done a what days. This helps you eliminate things that aren't necessary and prioritize properly.
4. Don't overbuy. When you are stressed and don't know what to do, people often times tend to overbuy. Try hard not to do this by looking at your master list. This will save you many and stress of buying too much. 
5. Make some food ahead of time and freeze. There many things you can pre chop and freeze, make ahead of time, etc. Pie crusts and cookie dough are common things to make ahead of time and freeze.
6. Hire professional help. If you have so much to do and not enough time it may be worth your while to hire a professional like Eco Modern Concierge ;). Hiring professionals can often times save you lots of time and money. Houston has lots of options for concierges and professional organizers. 
7. Set up a gift wrapping station. This way all of your supplies are all in one place and aren't scattered throughout your house. 
8. Treat Yourself. I know you are probably thinking oh gosh I have to get SO much done, but really take a break and go get a pedicure or go to a park or do something where you can relax. This will help you focus on what you need to do with more clarity.
9. Focus on the true meaning of the season. It's not always about gifts and being perfect.
10. Take a Deep Breath. If you don't get everything done that is ok. So what? What is the worse that can happen. 

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How to Organize a Card Making Party & Give Back

The last several years I have made tons of Valentine's cards for Texas Children's Hospital and it is SO fun! This year I thought I would post on how to organize your own card making party.

1. Choose a charity and/ or organization you want to make cards for. 
2. Decide on a date and location.
3. Invite guests.
4. Get supplies or asks guests to bring crafting supplies. I usually buy supplies in the dollar bins at Target, from Dollar Tree and use the tons of supplies that I already have at home. 
1. You will need cards. I have gotten the Valentine's that come in the boxes and I have made my own. If I make my own, I get A2 or A4 size blank cards in various sizes, designs and Valentine's colors like reds, pinks, whites, etc.
2. Scissors
3. Glue / Glue Sticks
4. Decorating supplies like stickers, foam stickers like hearts, washi tape, watercolors, markers, etc. I don't get a lot of glitter things because Texas Children's ask to not use much glitter.
5. Plan a small menu and drinks.
6. Make cards.
7. Have fun!!
8. Send off or deliver to charity and/or organization!

I saw this in another article and thought it was a great idea, choose some questions to discuss and reflect while you are making cards.

• What are you grateful for?
• What are some of your favorite charities?
• Why do you give back?
• What makes you the most happy about giving back?
• How do you like to give back the most?

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Current Organizing Product Trends

Once I do organizing projects I try to use what my client already has, so we don't have to buy unnecessary organizing supplies. More and more lately I am getting asked to use trendy organizing supplies like in these 3 photos I took from The Container Store. You can find these products here and here.

Here are some of my top ones I have been using: 

• Acrylic Turntable
• Drawer Divider
• Acrylic Set
• Small Tray
• Copper Desk Accessories 

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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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10 Year Celebration!

I'm celebrating 10 YEARS of business!! What started off as a side job while working in O&G turned into a career I LOVE! 

I thought I'd extend my celebration discount for my clients to everyone with 10% off purchased services from now until Nov.20th this includes gift certificates and phone consultations for out of towners. They make great hostess gifts, gifts for employees, etc. Also, stay connected for some exciting things in the coming weeks.

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Organizing Product: Acrylic Organizers

Some of my favorite products to use when organizing are acrylic organizers. I use them in all kinds of places. Some of my favorite places to use them are in the office and in the bathroom. My clients love them too because they are very modern and minimal. 

Where to purchase acrylic items:

• The Container Store
• Goodwill / Resale Shops
• theorganizingstore.com
• organize.com

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Labels to Use When Organizing

When I am organizing various things that need labels these are some of the ones that I like to use. My favorite are the Martha Stewart gold and silver metal label plates that they no longer make. You can still find them on Amazon, but they are overpriced.

Labeling items like shelves, boxes, etc are great for identifying what things are and where they go. Use them anywhere in your house or office. 

Great resources to find them:

• The Container Store
• eBay
• Office Depot
• Staples
• Amazon
• Target
• Craft Stores

Also, check out this great article on label holders.

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Client Hip, Fun, & Fierce Closet Organizing Project: Before and After

I thought I would post some pictures of an organizing project I did several weeks ago. As I have mentioned on here before, I am so bad at the before and after photos. Frankly, these photos are pretty shitty because I took them with my phone rather than my good camera. In other news, I am finally getting a new cellphone after almost 3 years, so hopefully my phone pictures will be much better. 

This particular client I have worked with for years. We began by purging a TON of her clothes, shoes and bags. We used what she had and stuck with the current hangers. Then coordinated the clothes by type and color. The photos really don't give the project justice, it looks really good in person. Plus, I totally have shoe and bag envy from this client. 

This client was super generous and donated all of her purging. We donated items to The Women's Home and Dress for Success here in Houston. 

Before 

Before

After

After

Before

 After

Before

After

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Organizing for an Animal Shelter

Recently I organized various rooms for an animal shelter called K-9 Angels here in Houston. It is a no kill shelter and they have pet adoptions on Saturdays. The main goal was to help them organize the things they already have that they get from donations. We tried to use what they had on hand. I put some things in bins and labeled. Here are some before and afters. I hope to go back there soon to organize the other rooms. 

Before:

After:

 

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Organization: Paper Planners

January is Get Organized month everywhere and here is Houston all the stores have their organization items out in full effect. I know there are tons of people trying to get organized and get their life in order as new years resolutions. I know that I am booking clients here in Houston who are ready to get a fresh start on their organization. 

As I have said several times on here before I try to be as eco as possible, but my vice is paper (stationery, organizers, etc). I love paper products whether it be to make various things with them, that I can send them to people, etc. 

I am not against electronic calendar organizers. They just aren't as effective for me, as I am more a visual person and like to see it in front of me and make notes.

Below are several paper planner organizers that I use for various reasons. 

This organizer I use on a daily basis for clients, personal, etc. I use the Franklin Covey compact size. I love it. I have used this for years and years. It is small enough to fit into most of my purses and it stores various business cards, notes, etc.

This organizer is a new one from Sugar Paper that I found at Target for $5. It is one that I use in my home maintenance binder. I put things on it like when I need to change filters, house appointments, dog medication, etc.

This one is a Russell + Hazel calendar that use in conjunction with their mini binder. If you have read the blog for a while you know that I love Russell + Hazel products as they are eco and made in the USA. This one is for personal use

This is another mini calendar from Sugar Paper that I found at Target. This one I currently use to store important work dates. I honestly don't know specifically how I will end up using it, but it is very compact, thin and I was thinking I may take it to client meetings instead of the more bulky brown one. Plus, it is made on part recycled paper and soy ink.

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Organizing Taxes

Organizing tax information can be such a draining thing for some people because there can be a TON of paper work involved, especially for self employed individuals. Here is how I like to organize taxes (pictures below), I actually have several different clients that use this exact system and I recently switched to this way as well (not really sure why I didn't do it sooner). I help others get organized all the time and by the time I get home sometimes I'm just too tired to think about what I need to do at home. 

What you need:

• Half file boxes that you can find at an office supply store
• Hanging files that you can find at an office supply store
• Label Maker
• Taxes (of course)

It's super easy to put together if your taxes are already divided up by year. 

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Organizing RSVP Cards

I really liked Bryan and I's RSVP cards because we used a mad lib style stamp that we got on Etsy along with some scalloped ivory cards we found at Paper Source to stamp on with silver ink. Since they were a mad lib style people wrote in various sentiments (some nothing at all). Some were sweet and some were funny. We really enjoyed reading all of them. 

I struggled with finding how to display them since I wanted to keep them. Then one day, I am not really sure why I hadn't thought of it sooner, it hit me to get the divided sheet protectors from Hobby Lobby in the scrapbook section and put them into a binder. I found a burlap binder that I really liked because the bottom half of my bouquet had burlap wrapped around it. Luckily the size of the RSVP card was 4.25" x 5.5", so it fit perfectly into the sheet protectors. Plus, if you are not aware Hobby Lobby often has various sales on different sections of the store and the sheet protectors and binder were 50% off or you can always print a 40% coupon off on their website. 

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Wardrobe Pare Down

I love this colorful wardrobe pare down chart from the Mimi + Meg blog. One of my clients found it online earlier this year before I had a Saturday closet organizing session with her. I love how colorful this chart is and this is all stuff that I tell my clients when we do closet organization. 

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Organizing Books

I often organize for  people who have ADD or are in the creative business and these two books have really helped many of my clients and have helped me understand my clients better when working with them. There are a ton of organizing books that I would recommend and I will continue to post some more recommendations every so often. 

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Closet and Office Organization

Below are photos from a closet and office organization job that I did. I always seem to forget to take photos of my work. So I am trying to be more diligent about it. I love this client (like I love all my clients). She is always so sweet and fun to work with and we get a ton accomplished in a short time. 

When organizing I try to work with what you already have in your home so we don't have to go out and buy a ton of new things. Unless of course my clients want new items to make everything look more uniform.

Before: 

After: 

After photos from office organization (I forgot to take the before photos): 

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