13 Things You Can Do Right Now to Start Prepping For The Holidays

Now is the time to start thinking about the holidays. As a professional organizer and concierge company, we know a thing or two about the holidays. They get insanely busy for us and we absolutely love every second of it. Below are 13 things that you can start doing now in order to prep for the holidays and get an early head start. Remember, do what you can when you can. If it is not in the cards for you right now or this year, then skip it. 

1. Create a holiday binder to keep all holiday related things together: calendars, gift lists, mailing supplies, meal plans, give back, volunteering, etc.

2. Create a holiday budget. To help with overspending during the holidays, here are some things to consider: shopping, events, giving, cards, house to-dos, meals, mailing / shipping supplies, etc. 

3. Make lists: shopping lists, gift lists, to-do lists, holiday bucket lists, Halloween to-do, Thanksgiving to-do, Hanukkah to-do, Christmas to-do, lists of all the things you need to do around, etc.

4. Print blank calendar pages and begin filling it with school commitments, holiday events, appointments, etc.

5. Book appointments: hair, house deep clean, carpet cleaners, window washers, light hangers, organizers, decorators, concierges, photographer, self-care, any other services you know you will use during the holidays.

6. Book reservations. If you know you want to go to special places during the holidays go ahead and make reservations, if you can. Book date nights, lunch or dinner with friends or any dates you know you may need a break.

7. Arrange for pet care. If you know you will be traveling make sure you have pet care all lined up. 

8. Book travel plans. Transportation, lodging, activities, and anything else related to travel.

9. Book doctors appointments. The end of the year is one of the busiest time for doctors offices, so go ahead and get those dates booked. 

10. Take advantage of sales for holiday events & experiences during the holidays.

11. Start purchasing gifts & begin wrapping. Consider experience gifts like memberships, spa treatments, things to do, etc.

12. Review your address list. Update your addresses for people you know that have moved or for people that their card came back from the previous year. 

13. Purchase gift cards for stores you know you will shop at during the holidays in order to help you budget during the holidays.

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How to Accomplish Large Projects | Houston Professional Organizer

As a professional organizer one of the hardest things for clients and often times why they call us is because they do not know where to begin. The large projects can be super overwhelming for clients, making it difficult and stressful on figuring out how to start these large projects. Working with a professional organizer we ask the right questions and help coach you through starting and finishing these large projects successfully. Everyone has different personalities so it can be easier for some clients start larger projects than others. 

What are some tips that help you start and finish these large projects?

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3 Tips for Trying to Balance Work / Life While Working From Home

Are you still working from home because of the pandemic? Many of our professional organizing and concierge clients are still working from home, so we have helped them in many different ways get organized and TRY to help with their work / life balance. I don't think there will ever be an absolutely perfect balance, but there are definitely things that you can do to help you alleviate stress and not feel so overwhelmed all the time. When you are at home working in confined spaces it can be tough and if you are a procrastinator, you will find excuses to do other things that are stressing you out like organizing your desk. 
Here are 3 tips to help you when you are working from home. 

• Invest in desk organization products like drawer organizers, desktop file system, school cart. Here is a school cart we created for a client. Drawer organizers are definitely one of the items we use the most when working with clients. You can find a lot of office products we use for clients here on our Eco Modern Concierge shop page. 

• Organize your space at the end of each day so you start the day fresh and ready to go. This is extremely helpful when you are trying to be productive. It is such a great feeling to wake up in the morning and not have to clean up your work space. This goes for any area of your home as well. Spend 15-20 minutes or less each night straightening up areas and you will wake up less stressed and ready to get a jump start on the day.

• If you need help in a specific area outsource it. In the long run it will save you time, money and reduce your stress levels. Outsourcing various areas of your life is extremely helpful if you don't have the time or are finding it hard to make the time to get certain things in your life done. Somethings you can outsource errands, house cleaning, yard help, organization, meal prep, etc. Figure out if you outsourcing it is cost effective and then go from there. 

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6 Tips For When You Are Overwhelmed with Clutter and Don't Know Where to Start

Are you ever so overwhelmed with clutter and have no idea where to start? This is such a common problem for our clients and the reason why so many of them reach out to us in the first place to help them get organized. Clutter can be a very daunting and unwelcoming thing that leads to an endless amount of unnecessary stress. That is where professional organizers come into place and help you tackle your clutter by asking the right questions, coaching you through everything and making sure everything has a home.

Below are 6 tips to help you tackle the clutter. 

• Make a list of all the areas that make you overwhelmed and/or that you want to get organized. Making a list helps many people get their thoughts out and feel a little less stressed.  
  
• Start small and slow. Organizing can take a lot of time, so try to break up large projects into smaller projects. For example, if you are starting in your master bedroom, start with a small pile you may have, then onto the dresser or a drawer within the dresser, then maybe just shirts from your closets, and so on.
  
• Calendar your broken up areas to tackle. This will help you stay on task and know exactly what you need to tackle without thinking about it all the time. 
  
• Start in areas that give you the most stress. Once these areas are done you will fell a lot less overwhelmed. 
  
• Have an accountability partner. If you know you do not stay on task well, ask someone to be your accountability that will motivate and encourage you along the way. 
  
• Enjoy your organized spaces!

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Houston Professional Organizer // Gift Wrap Organization

 

We love organizing gift wrap stations! As a professional organizer, I think I love them so much because you can see such fun transformations. A lot of people have their gift supplies just all mixed in with each other or it is just very chaotic, so the transformations are always awesome. Some people have a lot gift wrap, while others have hardly anything. Having your gift wrap organize is always good because you can find exactly what you need when you need it. I find that most of my clients are usually in a hurry when they need gift wrap supplies because it is usually when they are headed out the door and need to bring the gift with them. Also, with the holidays right around the corner you want to make sure everything is all organized. We love working with this client because they are the absolute sweetest, well most all of my clients are!

We did not use any product in this area and just used what they already had. So here is what we did: 

1. We sorted like items together 
2. Rainbowed the ribbon
3. Put various bags and boxes together
4. Put tissue all together and rainbowed it
5. Got rid of anything that was torn or clearly trash
6. The drawers were long enough and deep enough that we could keep all the rolls of wrapping paper together. 

I love rainbowing a lot of areas, you probably know that if you have worked with or have seen our projects. Rainbowing when it comes to ribbon and tissue is especially helpful because usually you are trying to perfect gifts with tissue, ribbons or bows based on color. 

How do you organize your gift wrap?

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Houston Professional Organizer // Client Whole House Organization Jewelry Organization

Jewelry organizing is one of those things that there is usually not a perfect solution that we use time and time again because everyone has such a different amount and types of jewelry. With this client we slowly worked through her whole house last year and one of the times I was there we worked on her jewelry. I organized all her earrings (this is only one picture, there was actually a stack of acrylic drawers that had earrings in them as well) We put a lot of the statement earrings on this jewelry organizer and smaller earrings like studs in the acrylic drawers like these. 

Here is what I did to organize the jewelry:

1. Sort all jewelry
2. Match like pairs together
3. Organize on the accordion organizer or in the acrylic jewelry drawers

How do you organize your jewelry? 

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Houston Professional Organizer's Holiday Binder to Help You Get Organized During The Holidays

Every holiday season (and throughout the year) I use a holiday binder in order to help me stay on top of all things holiday and keep me organized. That way have a go to place to keep my calendars, shopping lists, card list, receipts, etc. I also like to keep envelopes with money in them for things that I want to do during the holidays or tips I need to give to service people during the holidays. 

I sell these holiday binders on the Eco Modern Concierge Etsy shop. 

Get organized for the holidays with this holiday binder

28 pages include:

• Thanksgiving timeline
• Thanksgiving menu planning
• Thanksgiving grocery list
• Thanksgiving gratitude list
• Frindsgiving guest list
• Hanukkah menu planning
• Hanukkah grocery list
• Christmas menu planning
• Christmas grocery list
• New Years grocery list
• New Years menu planning
• Shopping list
• Holiday packing list
• Holiday mailing list
• Holiday bucket list
• Holiday kids to-do list
• Holiday to-do list
• Holiday interior decorations plan
• Holiday exterior decorations plan
• Holiday party planning checklist
• Holiday party planning notes
• Holiday restock list
• Holiday ideas
• Holiday gratitude list
• Holiday notes
• Holiday give back ideas
• Holiday travel itinerary 
• Holiday travel tips
• 4 recipe cards with sheet protectors
• 2 clear letter sized pocket pouches
• 1 clear zippered pencil pouch
• 2 blank calendar pages
• 1 binder

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Houston Professional Organizer // Holiday Closet Before & After

A professional organizer's dream is looking at organized spaces and this holiday closet organization project does the trick. We always have so much fun at this client's house and have made some fun transformations in this River Oaks Houston home. They wanted all of their holiday supplies organized and easily accessible, so that is what we did. We organized each box by holiday or type of event like Christmas, 4th of July, etc. Are your holiday decorations organized?

Here is what we did:

1. Took everything out of the closet.
2. Sorted by type like all ornaments together, Thanksgiving, etc.
3. Wrapped all the ornaments and made sure they were secure. 
4. Organized into bins. 
5. Labeled. 
6. Put like holidays together on the shelves.

Here are some items we used for this project:

• Crinkle paper
• Cushion wrap
• Big clear containers
• Index Labels
• Label Maker
• Clear labels for label maker

Before:

After:

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Holiday Tips You Can Start Doing Right Now To Get Ahead

I know it may seem early to start prepping for the holidays, but in order to relieve some stress and in an effort to get ahead of the game, I thought I would give you some tips that have worked for many of my clients and myself. We help organizing and concierge clients all the time get organized for the holidays and try to make them as stress free as possible. Here are several holiday tips of things you can do right now to prepare for the holidays.

 Start stocking up on gift cards. I know I have talked about this before, but now is a great time to start stocking up on gift cards for stores you know you will shop at during the holidays. This way when it comes to holiday shopping you have already "saved" for it and you don't feel as strapped for money. Also, many grocery stores will offer double and triple reward points throughout the year on gift cards and that is also a great time to stop up on them while getting extra points.

If you are shopping sales right now, think about your holiday gift list and stock up on items now. Even some experience gifts like museum & zoo memberships, subscription boxes, etc. are offering great deals right now. Stocking up on gifts now lessens the stress later in the holiday season.

If you already have a stockpile of gift, take inventory of what you have now. That way you are not overbuying during the holidays. Also, take inventory of your gift wrap supplies. 

If there are certain services you know you will use during the holidays, book them now before their appointments fill up. Plus, you will get a better choice on a day and time you want. Book services like photographers, carpet cleaners, caterers, house cleaners for deep cleans, organizers / concierges;), etc. 

Book your doctor appointments now if you are trying to meet your end of year deductible and spend your FSA money. If the doctor is already booked, get on their waiting list.

If you tip certain service people like lawn services, cleaning services, nannies, etc. during the holidays, start putting cash aside in envelopes for them that way you don't forget and you're ahead of the game. 

Start reviewing your holiday card list. Update addresses and take advantage of card sales when they happen in October and November. 

Paying for certain holiday services early will often give you bigger discounts. 

Many holiday light companies in Houston offer discounts anywhere from 50-75% off if you get your lights installed at the end of October versus in late November and December. Just because you have them installed doesn't mean you have to turn them on. Also, some Christmas tree companies will give you a discount if you pre-order your Christmas tree early.

Always ask stores for discounts and to price compare. Many stores will price compare, take expired coupons, discount various items if a box is damaged and sometimes you can even add on a coupon after price matching for even bigger discounts. It doesn't hurt to ask, and the worst that can happen is the manager says no.

Start decluttering your home now. Declutter areas that are often used during the holidays like kitchens, pantries, guest bedrooms, kids rooms, playrooms, etc. Donate, sell or give away your no longer needed items.

If Eco Modern Concierge can help with any organization or concierge services during the holidays feel free to call or email us, info@ecomodernconcierge.com. We'd love to help!! Visit our website to see holiday services that we often offer. 

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Made in the USA: Shoe Box Organization

I know I have talked about this before, but one made in the USA products we love and use often on client organization projects is shoes boxes. These particular ones are from The Container Store and we use them all the time on projects. Besides being made in the USA, one of the things we love most about them is that they are durable and they always stack on top of each other perfectly because they have not changed the design. You can also stack them on other Container Store brand boxes in various ways. For these clients we used the regular shoe box and the boot box. 

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Houston Professional Organizer // Client World Traveller: Pantry Organization

I have worked with this client for many, many years and she moved into this space in River Oaks / Montrose area of Houston several years ago, but the pantry never got organized. I do everything from professional organizing to concierge work for her. One day when she was out of town I asked her if I could organize her pantry and she said yes! When she got back from her business trip was so surprised and how everything turned out. This project cost less than $150 and made a HUGE impact. A little organizing can go a long way.

Here is what I did:

1. Got rid of expired food.
2. Sorted like foods and items together.
3. Organized everything into bins. 
4. Used a water bottle organizer.
5. Labeled. 

Here are some products we used:

• Clear bins
• Water bottle organizer
• White bins
• OXO containers (she already had)
• Can riser
• Turntables
• Label maker
• White labels

Before:

After:

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Houston Professional Organizer // Toddler's Room Organization

This fun family we got to organize for was expecting twins, they already had a little one and they own a local brewery here in Houston. We were helping them get organized in their home before the twins came. They have since moved, but I definitely wanted to highlight how we helped them get organized in their home before they moved. This space was in an older home and many older homes in Houston have tiny closets. Believe me I lived in many spaces for over a decade with tiny closets and in fact, I still have a relatively small closet. Hiring a professional organizer is great if you are trying to utilize every inch of your space in an efficient way. Like I've said before organizing kids and babies spaces are one of favorite areas to organize because everything is so cute and tiny. They were pretty organized already and here is what we did:

1. Put like items together.
2. Take some items out of their boxes.
3. Utilize the back of door spaces.
4. Organize everything in various spaces.
5. Use drawer dividers.
6. Use drawer organizers.

Here is the product we used:

• Behind the door rack
• Drawer dividers
• Twill drawer organizers
• Similar baskets here and here to what they already had

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What You Should Have In Your Emergency Go Bag

If you / when you have to leave your house unexpectedly for various reasons like fire, hurricanes, natural disasters, etc. there are several documents and things you should have on hand.

It is very important to keep an updated inventory of your house / dwelling. This way if anything happens you have records for insurance

Here are somethings you should have on hand and an electronic either on your computer, a hard drive and / or in the cloud. This goes for yourself and everyone in your household. I suggest keeping these items in a fire and waterproof bag like this.

• Drivers license
• Social security card
• Birth certificate
• Marriage license
• Deed to house
• Title to your car
• Medical insurance information
• List of medications
• Medical records
• Passport
• Will
• List of personal contact information
• List of in case of emergency contacts
• Kids records
• Pet records
• Bank and investment records
• All insurance records

What you should have in a bag prepared:

• Cash
• Credit cards / checks
• Cellphone
• Computer
• Food / protein bars
• Water
• Clothes
• Sunscreen
• Glasses / contacts
• Medication
• Portable chargers for electronics
• Flashlight
• Chemical light sticks / glow sticks
• Matches / lighter
• Pocket knife
• First-aid kit
• Blankets
• Masks
• Gloves
• Hand sanitizer
• Whistle
• Batteries
• Wet Wipes
• Tissue &/or paper towels
• Battery powered or hand crank radio

If you have kids

• Diapers
• Formula
• Clothes
• Medication
• Shot records and any necessary medical information
• Age appropriate toys, games, puzzles, books, etc.

If you have pets:

• Food
• Collapsable water bowl
• Medication
• Medical records
• Leash, collar and tags
• Portable carrier if necessary

Any suggestions to add?

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