Product Review - Hannah Jewelry Tree from Bed, Bath, and Beyond

As I have been working to get my house "market-worthy" I have invested in several new products that I have always wanted an excuse to try! This makes the otherwise sad and torturous job a little more palatable. I thought it would also be fun to put my critical nature to work and review the products here as I go.

This product review must start with a confession. I got sidetracked. This is one phenomenon that happens to all of us, and it can really stump you as you try to clean or organize a space. (I KNOW this has happened to you - if you say it hasn't, I am going to suspect you of never having cleaned your house!) Here it is: I go to organize my teeny-tiny closet, and find myself sorting through the jewelry on my dresser! "What? How did I get over here? Why am I not working on the closet? I need to get back to the closet.... as soon..... as I........ untangle.......... this................. one.......................... necklace."

Although I always encourage my clients to try their best to keep their focus on the project we have decided that they should attack first, and not to get distracted by other jobs along the way, I have to admit that I completely understand the temptation to do so! During my closet project, I did get sidetracked for a little while by my jewelry situation. (Fortunately I was able to get it done and re-focus on the closet!)

But in the meantime, I have to share the product I used for my jewelry! For several years I have been dissatisfied with the box where I kept my necklaces. I knew this was not the best solution, but didn't like the other solutions I saw. The closest thing I had seen was a jewelry tree, but had never found one with quite enough "branches" for all of my necklaces. I didn't want to have several trees on my dresser, and I wanted to have access to all of the necklaces that I wear regularly (and, of course, to be able to wear those frustratingly tangle-prone necklaces without spending an hour each morning straining my eyes and my patience freeing them from their knotted masses).

But FINALLY...ta da! The Hannah Jewelry Tree came along at Bed, Bath, and Beyond! It is big enough to hold all of my casual necklaces, and I can easily see and grab any one I want each morning. It looks much prettier than the overflowing box I had there before. But the strangest thing of all is that it seems that the designer must have been spying on me through that back window that I never close, because the Hannah Jewelry Tree just happens to match my bedroom furniture exactly, and to be named after my daughter! (Just a little creepy, right?)

Anyway, if there are spies in my backyard, and their job is to make products that I have needed for years and that match my furniture, I think I won't complain!

Here is the photo of my newest find!



And here is the link to the product at Bed, Bath, and Beyond: Hannah Jewelry Tree
Balance your life!

Nora

My Closet Project

My closet has problems. Okay, really it just has one problem, but that one problem is just so… problematic! My closet is small. And I share it with my husband. And I love shoes. And I can't reach the top shelf without jumping (but of course I need to use it because the closet is so small!). See? That one problem just keeps causing others!

But we are about to put our house on the market, so the closet that has always bugged me now needs to be addressed. Formally. And it must meet my demands. Today.

The main problem I have in my closet is really my shoes. My shoe collection has grown exponentially this year because a friend of mine gave me a whole suitcase full of shoes when we visited over the summer, and my sister gave me several pairs when I visited her in Arizona in November. (Are my own shoes really that bad? Maybe I look like I need shoes…I got some for Christmas too, come to think of it! Did someone hang my name and shoe size on the Dove Tree?)

So to tackle my shoe problem, the first thing I did for my closet was to invest in a Hanging Shoe rack. I already had a shoe rack that hangs on the inside of the door, but I have overflow now that I have become a charity case! I bought my hanging shoe rack in a dark color, which will blend into the dark background of the closet behind my clothes unobtrusively. This has helped more than I could imagine, and really takes up very little space! I am so pleased. I can keep my "occasional" shoes in this rack, and keep my every-day shoes on the back of the door where I have easier access. After purging a few extra pairs (and a few that I have had since 9th grade), I was able to easily fit all of my shoes in my two racks, with three pairs of boots left over. They fit perfectly along the baseboard under the hanging rack. Voila!

Here are the photos:

Over the next few weeks, I will be giving product reviews on all of the items I used to tame my closet. But in the meantime, here is the photo of the closet after I showed it who really wears the pants around here!

Have a great day, and Balance your life!

Nora

Why can't an organizer keep her own house in perfect order?

I saw a note once from someone saying that he had fired his professional organizer because he saw that her own house was not an oasis of organized bliss.

While it is certainly ideal if a professional organizer can set a good example and model how "easy" it is to keep one's house looking its best, the fact is that there are several reasons why she (or he) might not have everything looking like a Pottery Barn catalog at all times. Here are just a few of them:

1. We've probably all heard the old adage, "The Cobbler's children have no shoes!" The Cobbler is so busy making shoes for the townspeople that he hasn't had a moment to make shoes for his own children. So it goes with many professions! Professional organizers are just as busy as everyone else. Many have 2 jobs. Many have families. Although you will probably find that a professional organizer can straighten her house fairly quickly and easily, it still takes some time to accomplish. And unfortunately, professional organizers are busy, just like you. Organization takes maintenance, and requires at least a little bit of time. (In fact, if I weren't writing this blog right now, I would be taking out the garbage, which is currently waiting by the back door!)

As a professional organizer, I do try to keep my house and my car straight so that my clients see that it is possible to accomplish organization in their lives, and that I am capable of helping them to achieve this goal. However, it would be unrealistic if I were to pretend that my life is without a single chaotic moment and my house in perfect order all the time. It would be equally unrealistic for me to indicate to my clients that once we are finished they will never have a pile of mail on the counter or dishes in the sink. An organizer's goal is to make things simpler, easier, quicker, and more fulfilling, but these things still require regular maintenance, even with the best system in place!

2. If you have a family, then you know that sometimes you have to "pick your battles". You may hate that your children leave their clothes on the floor and that your husband cannot put his tools back on the shelf that you clearly labeled "Tools". But you probably hate fighting with them even more. Your professional organizer has the same issues with her family. She probably has figured out quite a few ways to organize her house and her life so that it is easy for everyone to follow the same routines. But there are almost certainly areas in her life or home where she has decided that instead of fighting with this member or that, she will just "let it go". She has probably realized that it is more important to preserve the relationship than to insist on having her way.

In my family, for example, we all have different ideas about how things ought to be stored and used in the basement. It does bother me when I am stepping on kids' craft projects on my way to the washing machine or when I find batteries on the shelf instead of in the battery caddy sitting beside them. But I have decided not to worry too much about the basement. I have come to the conclusion that it is better for all of us if I take one full day every 6 months to thoroughly clean the basement rather than spending a day or two per week scolding various family members about keeping it straight. If a client came and saw my basement shortly before my semi-annual cleaning, he or she would almost certainly fire me. But this system works for me, it keeps the basement "neat enough", and most importantly, it preserves the relationships that are vital for my and my family's happiness.

3. The goal of organizing is to simplify your life so that you can spend time and energy doing the things that bring you peace, happiness, and fulfillment. What you need in order to accomplish this might be very different from what your professional organizer needs to live his or her life to the fullest. For example, I like to have my coats and shoes by the front door so that leaving in the morning (or any other time, for that matter!) is quick and easy. However, I can certainly imagine someone feeling that this makes an entry-way into a mud room, rather than a warm place to receive visitors. In this case, the system that works for me would not work at all for someone else. That person might even feel that my entry-way looks messy. For me, it works. It helps me to get out quickly, which helps me feel less panicked in the morning. Therefore, it brings me peace. To someone else, it brings clutter and unrest. Everyone has different needs when it comes to organizing.

You might wonder why I bother to write this post. Why is it important that you understand the reasons that an organizer's house looks messy sometimes? Why is it important to know that your professional organizer deals with the same issues that you do? Because if you are on a mission to get organized, it is important that you realize that no matter how organized you get your life, there will be times when things aren't perfect. There are times when a system that used to work "perfectly" no longer fits your lifestyle. There will be times when you must shift your priorities around and the laundry or the yard work will not get done on time. There will be times when you decide that your marriage is more important than whether or not the tools are put back on the shelf after a project is complete. And there will be times when you realize that the system that works best for you - the system that allows you to do all that you want to do, and meets your needs perfectly - is not the most attractive or the most sensible to someone else.

Your house and life may or may not look like a magazine photo at all times, but if your organization system works for you, then it works, period! (Okay, exclamation point!) It does not need to be perfect at all times, it does not need to be the same system that someone else would choose, and you have not failed if things sometimes get a little chaotic or messy.

If you can keep this in mind, you will be well on your way to a balanced life - one that works for you, and one that allows YOU to live YOUR life fully.

Nora

Balance your life!

Winter tips for your car

Yesterday I received these tips via e-mail from North Hills Community Outreach and thought that they were very timely and helpful! I don’t know where they originated, so I do not take the credit for them. However, I did want to share them with you! To whomever came up with these—thank you! I need to use some of these tips; I had three of these problems today alone.

I hope these make your winter a little easier...

1. Keep your headlights clear with car wax! Just wipe ordinary car wax on your headlights. It contains special water repellents that will prevent that messy mixture from accumulating on your lights - lasts 6 weeks.

2. Squeak-proof your wipers with rubbing alcohol! Wipe the wipers with a cloth saturated with rubbing alcohol or ammonia. This one trick can make badly streaking & squeaking wipers change to near perfect silence & clarity.

3. Ice-proof your windows with vinegar! Frost on it's way? Just fill a spray bottle with three parts vinegar to one part water & spritz it on all your windows at night. In the morning, they'll be clear of icy mess. Vinegar contains acetic acid, which raises the melting point of water---preventing water from freezing!

4. Prevent car doors from freezing shut with cooking spray! Spritz cooking oil on the rubber seals around car doors & rub it in with a paper towel. The cooking spray prevents water from melting into the rubber.

5. Fog-proof your windshield with shaving cream! Spray some shaving cream on the inside of your windshield & wipe if off with paper towels. Shaving cream has many of the same ingredients found in commercial defoggers.

6. De-ice your lock in seconds with hand sanitizer! Just put some hand sanitizer gel on the key & the lock & the problems solved!

Balance your life!

Nora