Category Archives: Products

Tech Tools that Prevent Information Overload

If you’re an “information junkie”, you have likely struggled with how to manage the constant flow of information that comes across your radar every day. Before I ironed out my systems for gathering and retrieving information, I often felt like my head was about to explode as I attempted to capture information with primitive tools like paper notebooks, and browser bookmarks.

Today, I’ll introduce you to some sanity-saving technology tools that I discovered that have increased my productivity exponentially.

Feedly

I’m a heavy consumer of blog content, and used to struggle with keeping up with all of my favorite blogs. Oftentimes, I’d stumble across a great blog, bookmark it, and then forget all about it. Jumping from website to website in an effort to keep up with my favorite bloggers would often result in lots of time wasted with all of the opportunities for distractibility. To remedy this, I started signing up to receive blog posts via email, but over time, these posts start to clutter up my Inbox.

That’s when I discovered Feedly.

Feedly is an RSS aggregator…a single place where you can read all of your blog posts, as well as online newspapers and magazines in a customized “feed” that you design. Consuming information in this streamlined, distraction-free format saves me tons of time, and ensures that I never miss a post from any of my favorite blogs.

The Feedly app enables you to access your media feed when you’re on the go via your mobile devices. So convenient when you have 15 minutes to kill while waiting in the school pick up line!

Pocket

How often do you find yourself stumbling upon a great article while surfing the web, but you just don’t have time to read it that moment? How can you tuck it away to read later?

1. Print it out (and create paper clutter)

2. Email it to yourself (and create inbox clutter)

3. Save it to your bookmarks (and never see it again)

4. Use a super cool tech solution that consolidates all of this type of information into one convenient place for you to view later when it’s more convenient

I choose #4 and use Pocket as my solution for this common information organizing need.

For my business, I use Pocket for gathering cool content that I eventually plan to share across my business social media platforms. Essentially, I create a “menu” of great articles, tips I’ve come across on other’s social media sites, images, videos, etc. that I can pull from to create Facebook posts and tweets that will be of interest to my audience each week. For a great summary of all the ways you can utilize Pocket, read here.

Like the other tools, Pocket has an app for both iOS and Android devices that enables you to save content from any mobile device. Like Evernote, Pocket offers a bookmarklet that you can install in your browser that allows you to save any piece of web content to Pocket with a single click. In addition, it’s integrated with over 1,500 apps like Twitter and Feedly.

Pocket is a really useful tool for people who are prone to distractibility and often find themselves “going down a rabbit hole” while surfing the internet. Instead of getting sucked into reading interesting articles that are irrelevant to the task you are currently attempting to complete online, get in the habit of simply clicking the “Save to Pocket” bookmarklet. You can easily view these articles later on at a time that you’ve officially earmarked for leisure reading.

Evernote

Evernote‘s tagline is “Remember Everything.” Enough said.

It’s difficult for me to imagine my “Pre-Evernote” life. I like to describe Evernote as my “virtual bulletin board” and/or my “resource library”. It’s the place where my recipe collection lives. It’s the place that I corral all of my travel information for upcoming trips. It’s the home for all of those random hobby-related articles I’ve torn out of magazines and since scanned into a digital file. It’s the repository for all of my business-related project materials.

My absolute favorite Evernote feature is the Web Clipper, which I use to curate and save web content for future reference. In my Pre-Evernote life, I used my browser bookmark function for this purpose. Despite having a well-organized bookmark folder structure, I found myself losing so much time hunting for a particular website. Evernote’s remarkable tag and search capabilities make information retrieval effortless and lightning fast.

In addition to web content, Evernote can be used to capture and store information in a variety of other forms including: photos, videos, text, documents (PDF, Word), even voice messages… all in one place. The Evernote app enables you to have access to all of your content from all your devices. Hands down, the magic of Evernote is that it utilizes OCR (optical character recognition) technology to make the content of your notes searchable…even a photo you took of a handwritten post-it note!

Have additional tools that you use to organize information? I’d love to hear about them. Please share in the comments section.

Want to learn more about Natalie Gallagher or Refined Rooms? Visit www.RefinedRoomsLLC.com or connect via: Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter | LinkedIn

Seasonal Closet Clean Out Tme

Spring has {finally!} sprung, which means that many of us have set out on a spring cleaning/decluttering rampage throughout our home. Each spring, I begin with the most frequently used room in our home – the dual purpose laundry room/mud room. We are fortunate to have a large coat closet in this room, which we use not only for coat storage, but also to store shoes, winter accessories, and several miscellaneous items.

Since this closet sees a lot of action, it requires a high degree of weekly maintenance and a semi-annual seasonal clean-out to keep it functioning well for our family. In this post, I’ll be sharing how I prepped the closet for the spring/summer seasons, as well as a few minor tweaks I made to improve functionality in this space.

My first order of business was to launder every single winter accessory and store them away in this plastic drawer unit that lives at the bottom of the closet. I added labels to indicate which draw is designated for gloves, hats, and scarves.

Second order of business…going through the coats to weed out the heavy winter coats, any coats that the kids have outgrown, or any that are no longer worn. Outgrown/unused coats will go to a local consignment store or donation center. Winter coats will be stored elsewhere for the next 6 months (more on that later in the post). While going through the coats, I also removed any wire/plastic hangers that somehow weaseled there way into the closet over the past few months and replaced them with wooden hangers. Although I am a huge fan of huggable hangers in clothing closets, I prefer wood hangers for the coat closet, since they are much less apt to break under the weight of a heavy coat.

I purchased a few water hyacinth bins from The Container Store to organize the insulated lunch bags/coolers that are stored on the upper shelf of the closet, as well as our vast collection of rain ponchos. I am a huge fan of these bins, as anyone who has taken a tour of my home can confirm. They are sturdy, inexpensive, and so pretty!

“An entire bin devoted to rain ponchos?” you ask. We use these all spring and summer for sporting events, camping trips, and amusement park outings. So yes, an entire bin for rain ponchos.

Voila! The hardest working closet in the house is now fully functioning for the spring/summer season. Bring. It. On.

There’s still the matter of where to store those pesky out-of-season coats. This is a yearly conundrum that I haven’t yet solved. I’ve tried to store them under the bed, but the low profile of the bed frame makes it nearly impossible to slide them under. But..wait! Perhaps there’s an organizing product out there that can solve this problem…

Why yes there is. Have you heard of Ziploc Space Bags? These wondrous inventions enable you to triple or quadruple your storage capacity by vacuum-sealing your items into an airtight bag. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes. I used the XL Flat Bag to reduce my pile of winter coats from this:

down to this:

The true test was whether the flattened bag could actually clear the 4″ space between the bed frame and the floor:

Yes! Storage conundrum solved!

After that victory, I became ambitious and experimented with the L and XL Cube-sized Space Bags in an attempt to recoup some storage space in our hall linen closet (which has become overrun with decorative pillows and down comforters).

Wait for it…

O.K., so the vacuum-sealed package isn’t exactly pretty, but it takes up significantly less space! In fact, by using 3 of these bags I gained almost an entire shelf of space in the linen closet! I’m officially a fan of the Ziploc Space Bag.

I hope that this post inspires you to complete your seasonal closet clean out in preparation for the spring/summer months. Now go forth and organize!

Want to learn more about Natalie Gallagher or Refined Rooms? Visit www.RefinedRoomsLLC.com or connect via: Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter | LinkedIn

Disclosure: Some of the links in the post above are affiliate links. This means that if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and/or with my clients and believe will add value to my readers.

Bringing Order to a Home School Space with Ikea Products

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As a rule, professional organizers tend to have a love affair with Ikea…and I am no exception! You’d be hard-pressed to find a better “one-stop-shop” for value-priced organizing and storage products anywhere. Spend a few moments on Pinterest searching for organizing ideas, and you will invariably come across countless illustrations of Ikea products creating organizational bliss in homes all across the globe.

Recently, I came across a blog post on BuzzFeed that showed some great examples of how a simple shopping trip to Ikea can enable you to organize just about any area of your home. It prompted me to think about the multitude of times that Ikea has come to my rescue when tackling various client organizing projects.

Perhaps the best example of this is a home school room that I designed last year. My client home schools her 4 children in an 11 x 11 foot room on the 2nd floor of their home. Given the small size of the space, I needed to use every the trick of the trade to meet all of my client’s objectives for this redesign. One “trick”that I definitely needed to implement was to maximize storage space by going vertical. What better way to do it than with trusty ol’ Expedit shelving units?

My client was lucky enough to purchase these units before they were (sadly) discontinued (FYI, Ikea’s replacement line of shelving is called Kallax, which is almost identical to its predecessor). The shelving units provide storage for teacher manuals, classroom manipulatives, student books/workbooks, and general teaching tools. We used Drona storage cubes in various colors to provide closed storage, and Kassett magazine files to corral teaching manuals and student workbooks.

The larger unit houses teacher materials, manipulatives and tools, while this smaller unit is designated strictly for student books and workbooks. The candy-apple red color really adds a fun element to the learning environment…you’ll notice that this accent color is repeated throughout the room. I love the fact that each child has their very own set of cubbies!

My client had her heart set on a reading nook in the new home school room. We created one in the corner using a Besta storage bench, which we topped with a cozy homemade cushion and pillow set. The childrens’ library books were stored in the cubbies beneath the bench, as well as on wall shelves that we fashioned out of inexpensive Bekvam spice racks (that were eventually painted red). The colorful picture books do double duty as wall art, adding a cheerful touch to the room.

Mom also requested that I create a designated place for the children to put their completed assignments. That’s where the Kvissle wall magazine holder came in! With five slots, there’s a place for each child’s work, as well as a bonus slot for Mom to tuck away her important papers.

Turning our attention to the other side of the room, we used this wall primarily for display space. We implemented one of my favorite solutions for displaying children’s art work…using a series of Dignitet curtain wires in conjunction with Riktig clips along the top portion of the wall. The lower portion of the wall was used to hang a fabric map and classroom calendar. A Kusiner wall pocket serves as a handy organizer for all of the various magnets and felt accessories that go with the map and calendar.

Last, but not least, let me show you where the kids spend a significant part of their school day…at this awesome “table” in the center of the room, which is actually comprised of 4 Micke desks. This space-saving desk configuration still enables each student to have their own individual storage space within their desk, even though it feels as if they are working together at a large table.

The Jules swivel chairs are not only appealing to the eye, they provide a way for the kiddos to burn off a bit of energy by engaging in chair twirling contests between lessons!

So…what did all of this Ikea organizational goodness cost my client? Roughly $900. Money well-spent, don’t you agree?

What organizational solutions have you uncovered at your local Ikea store?

Want to learn more about Natalie Gallagher or Refined Rooms? Visit www.RefinedRoomsLLC.com or connect via: Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter | LinkedIn

Bedroom Closet Makeover Reveal: Elfa to the Rescue (Again!)

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If you are a regular blog reader, you probably remember my Guest Room Closet Makeover Reveal post from February of this year. In that post, I confessed that there are several areas within my own home that are crying out for an organizational overhaul. One such space was my daughter’s closet.

Although the closet is quite spacious, the space wasn’t being utilized to its maximum potential. Storage containers consisted of a mishmash of old, inherited furniture pieces, random plastic drawers, and cardboard boxes. To make matters worse, all of the clothing hangers were inherited from retail stores who give you their hanger along with your purchased garments.

Since the closet was fairly functional, redesigning/organizing it was a home improvement project that stayed on the back burner, until…

Once the front drawer of this 50-year old hand-me down piece fell off, I took it as a sign to move the closet makeover to the front burner. So the first task was to examine what I call the closet “skeleton” (a.k.a., its basic infrastructure) to see how I might improve upon it. Here it is in all o

Once again, here’s where the Container Store comes to the rescue! As you all know, I am a huge fan of the Container Store’s Elfa storage systems (read my Elfa post to learn why). I spoke with an Elfa design consultant by phone, and together, we arrived at a design that would work for my daughter’s storage needs. Her need for drawer space trumps her need for hang space, so our design incorporated a whopping eight Elfa Mesh Hanging Drawers. Our design also included an additional shelf that allows for out-of-the-way storage of items that are seldom accessed (e.g., memorabilia).

So the transformation began with the removal of the builder-installed stationary shelves. I prepared myself for the inevitable ginormous holes that result from this process. Nothing that a lot of spackle and some paint can’t conceal!

Yes, that’s right. I said paint. I took advantage of the opportunity to add a fresh coat of paint to the closet walls when it was emptied prior to installing the new shelving.

Installing an Elfa closet system was a piece of cake; the Container Store walked me through each step of the installation process via their online video tutorials. I installed this on my own over the course of approximately 2 hours.

Ready for the “Before & After” shot?

By far, my favorite part of the “makeover” is the Elfa drawers. Unlike the drawer systems that I used in the guest closet (which were the freestanding type), these mesh drawers are built into the wall track system via a hanging drawer frame.

They glide open effortlessly, and provide more than enough space to store my daughter’s pajamas, t-shirts, sweatshirts, off-season shoe collection, and her assortment of purses and tote bags. As you can see in the photo below, there was just enough room to squeeze in a cool square mesh hamper that I purchased on clearance at Target (score!).

We made use of the walls on either side of the closet system by installing several Command Hooks. The hooks are used to hang my daughter’s scarves, robe, and Girl Scout vest. The right wing wall contains a cute cork board for her to use as additional display space in her room.

Did you actually think I was going to use that mismatched collection of plastic department store hangers? Surely you jest. Who could pass up these adorable kid-sized huggable hangers?

One vestige of the original closet set-up that continues to work like an organizational charm is this over-the-door shoe organizer. This tool is one of the most versatile organizing products available. For this space, the many compartments are used to store small toys and trinkets that would normally invade all of the flat surfaces of my daughter’s room.

I typically opt for the clear shoe organizers, but I couldn’t pass up this opaque one when I found it on clearance. It was just a matter of labeling the compartments to ensure that items are returned to their proper home.

My daughter was so ecstatic about this closet makeover that she asked me for a bedroom “makeover” for her birthday gift earlier this year. It only took me 10 months, but I finally completed that project! Be sure to check out next week’s blog post to see the Before and After photos…

Want to learn more about Natalie Gallagher or Refined Rooms? Visit www.RefinedRoomsLLC.com or connect via: Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter | LinkedIn

Organizing Kids’ Art

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Now that the school year is in full swing, it’s the ideal time to set up systems for processing the various types of paper that you’ll begin to find in your child’s backpack on a regular basis. In a previous post, I proposed a system for handling school memorabilia. Today, we’ll tackle the vexing problem of what do with all of that artwork .

Create an Art Gallery Wall

Find a place in your home where you can prominently display your child’s best pieces of art. Your kids spend a great deal of time and effort producing these gems; creating formal displays that go beyond the front of the fridge demonstrate to them that you value their hard work and creativity! Switch out the pieces on a regular basis as new art comes in.

In addition to using traditional frames to create a kids’ art gallery in your home, you can get creative! One of my favorite methods for displaying art is to use a simple wire and clip system on a long wall. I also love the Lil’ Davinci Art Cabinet, which provides another hassle-free way to frequently change out your art display.

Designate a Temporary Holding Container

For artwork that isn’t quite “gallery-worthy”, designate a container for each child that will serve as a temporary place for all incoming art to be stored until the end of the school year. Make sure that the container is sufficiently large to accommodate oversized paintings and 3-dimensional pieces. I like to use under-bed storage boxes, since that’s where the holding containers live at our house.

Review Your Collection at Year’s End

At the conclusion of the school year, take some time to sort through the holding bin with your child and determine whether the collection needs to be culled down prior to “archiving” it. As you review the collection, you and your child will likely identify pieces that are not significant to either one of you (e.g., coloring pages, etc.).

Give yourself permission to discard these and keep only the pieces that reflect your child’s talent, creativity, and interests. I recommend conducting this end-of-year review with your child; that way, you won’t be tossing any piece that is important to her (even if you don’t attribute any significance to it).

Archive and Share Each Year’s Collection

Once you’ve culled your collection, you may choose to keep the original art and store it in an archival quality container. Alternatively, you can archive the collection by creating digital images of each piece of art. I am a huge fan of this method. Not only does it eliminate the necessity of devoting space in your home for storing tons of artwork, it opens up so many possibilities for sharing your child’s precious creations!

Artsonia

Artsonia enables you to upload your digital images to create an online art gallery to share with friends and family. It also serves as a “virtual museum”, in which your child can display their artwork publicly on the web. This service is available to parents, as well as school teachers!

Artkive

The Artkive app is another option for creating an online art gallery that can be shared with family and friends. Artkive is a free app that boasts some great organizing features, including the ability to categorize your art by school grade, child, and child’s age. You can even name each piece of art. In addition, you have the ability to produce a photo book of your child’s art collection with a few clicks of a button.

Photo Books

Creating digital images of your child’s art work enables you to take advantage of the dizzying array of online resources for creating digital photo books. Sites such as Shutterfly, MyPublisher, Snapfish, and Mixbook make it easy for anyone to create a photo book these days.

You can create a digital photo book for each school year, or create larger books that curate art across several school years. I’ve created photo books for my children’s artwork using Artkive, Shutterfly and MyPublisher. These books can get pricey, so I suggest searching Groupon for current deals when you are ready to create your books.

Photo books are a terrific way to enjoy your child’s artwork for years to come…

Want to learn more about Natalie Gallagher or Refined Rooms? Visit www.RefinedRoomsLLC.com or connect via: Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter | LinkedIn

Using the Right Tools is Key to Maximizing Dorm Room Storage

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A universal truth about dorm dwelling is that you will be living in much tighter quarters than you are accustomed to at home, AND you will likely be required to share your tight quarters with one or more roommates. For these reasons, you will need to maximize storage space in your small corner of the campus.

Luckily, there are some great organizing and storage tools out there to assist you in taking advantage of every square foot of real estate within your dorm space. These tools will enable you to find storage space you didn’t realize you had in unexpected places, such as:

In The Desk “Zone”

1. Rolling Drawer Cart: One area that you may not have considered when hunting for additional storage space is the area under your desk. Use a rolling drawer cart to store everything from office supplies, electronics, to food. Simply roll it out and slide it over temporarily when you are seated at your desk. Sterilite 3-Drawer Wide White Cart

2. Desk Hutch: An add-on desk hutch (specifically sized for a dorm desk) takes advantage of vertical space above your desk, without the need to fasten something to the wall (which is typically prohibited). It provides a place to house your text books, notebooks, etc. without sacrificing work space on your desk surface. Classic Dorm Desk Bookshelf

3. Desk Chair Storage Pocket: When space is at a premium, you need to “think vertical” and store items in creative ways. For example, using a chair storage pocket takes advantage of the “dead space” on the back of your desk chair, which can be used to store small items such as notebooks, pens/pencils, and electronic devices. Aussie Pouch Chair Pocket

On the Back of Doors

4. Over-the-Door Shoe Organizer: The backs of doors are the most overlooked area for finding hidden storage space. One of my favorite general organizing tools is the over-the-door shoe organizer. It can be used to store just about anything…food, jewelry, accessories, electronics, and yes, even shoes. Be sure to opt for one that has clear pouches, since visibility is key. 24 Pocket Blue Shoe Organizer

5. Over-the-Door Towel Holder: Dorm dwellers need to store their wet towels in their dorm room. What better place to stow them out of the way than on the back of your door! 4-Swing Rack Towel Holder

In the Closet

6. Double Hang Rod: New dorm dwellers will likely be shocked to discover how tiny their dorm room closet is. Take heed! There are a number of ways to maximize space in the closet. If you hang the majority of your clothes, you will definitely want to take advantage of a double hang rod. It does precisely what its name implies…it literally doubles the size of your hang space. Closet Doubler

7. Slimline Hangers: Slimline or “huggable” hangers are a must in your dorm room closet. Their ultra-slim profile will enable you to maximize the number of garments you can hang in that tiny closet. Joy Mangano Huggable Hangers

In the Bed “Zone”

8. Bed Risers: My #1 piece of advice for maximizing dorm room storage space is to raise your bed off the floor so that you can utilize the space underneath it. The best case scenario would be to loft the bed high enough to create usable living space underneath it. If this is not an option, utilize bed risers to raise the bed high enough to accommodate under-the-bed storage containers. Colored Bed Risers

9. Bedside Storage Caddy: You will likely need to go without a nightstand as a dorm dweller. The bedside storage caddy is your new place for housing those “nightstand” items, such as glasses, books, reading light, tissue, etc. Bedside Storage Caddy

On the Walls

10. Wall Organizer: Although you may be tempted to use your walls strictly for displaying decor, be sure to earmark some of the wall space for vertical wall-mounted storage solutions, such as a wall organizer. These can do wonders for keeping desktop paper piles at bay! Smead Cascading Vertical Wall Organizer

11. Adhesive Hooks: One ironic aspect of dorm dwelling is that you’ve never needed to use wall space more, BUT you are typically prohibited from using any type of permanent fastener to hang items on the walls. That’s where adhesive hooks come to the rescue! Be sure to pack a bucketful of adhesive hooks in a variety of sizes. You will be shocked at all of the items you can hang on your walls and doors, as well as inside the walls of your closet (robes, jackets, belts, hats, keys, purses, totes, etc.) using hooks. Command Hook

Want to learn more about Natalie Gallagher or Refined Rooms? Visit www.RefinedRoomsLLC.com or connect via: Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter | LinkedIn

Hot Organizing Tools Featured at the NAPO Organizing Expo: Part 2

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In my previous blog post, I presented some great tools for organizing clothing, gift wrap supplies, and vital documents that I came across while attending the 2014 annual conference of the National Association of Professional Organizers. Picking up where I left off in the in the NAPO Conference debriefing process, today’s post will highlight some of the impressive tools I came across at conference for organizing and reducing paper, as well as managing time.

4. Organize Your Paper with Smead Flexi Folder

Anyone whose worked with file folders has experienced the aggravation of having to replace their folders because of a) wear and tear, b) the need to re-label the tab, or c) the tab placement no longer conforms with the current file organizing scheme. The folks at Smead have come up with an innovative new file folder that eradicates all of these file folder frustrations. Here at the Smead booth, Jim Riesterer demonstrates some of the great features of the Flexi Folder, including the heavy duty card stock and the ERASABLE file tab that can be positioned anywhere along the top of the folder!

I’m not the only organizer who was jazzed about this office product…the Smead Flexi Folder was voted the Best Solution for Organizing at Work as part of the 2014 Organizers’ Choice Awards. Take a look at this video below to see the erasable/repositionable tabs in action:

5. Reduce Paper and Organize Digital Files with NeatConnect

For those of you who have a keen interest in moving toward a “paperless” household, you will definitely want to investigate the NeatConnect, the latest addition to the Neat Company’s arsenal of scanning/digital organizing products. Unlike its predecessors (the NeatReceipts and NeatDesk scanners), the NeatConnect is a cloud-based scanner and digital filing system that requires no connection to a computer.

The functionality of NeatConnect impressed the heck out of me when I viewed the demonstration at Conference. Like it’s predecessor, the NeatDesk, NeatConnect can scan a mix of receipts, business cards, and regular-sized documents (at a speed of 24 pages per minute). The really cool part happens after your papers are digitized. NeatConnect sends your digital documents to the cloud, at which point, you can access them anywhere. The icing on the cake has to be the seamless integration with 3rd party applications such as Quickbooks and Evernote.

Watch the company’s demo video to see NeatConnect in action.

6. Manage Your Time with The Time Timer

I was first introduced to the Time Timer by my son’s preschool teacher, who used it in her classroom to facilitate transitions. Who knew that several years later, I would be recommending this tool to my clients and actually using it during my organizing sessions! This tool is simple, yet genius. The Time Timer provides a visual representation of the passage of time via the use of a red disk that disappears as time elapses.

While I was familiar with the original Time Timer tool, I was excited to learn at Conference about all of the other Time Timer products, which include watches, desktop and mobile apps, and several useful accessories that can be used to customize the Time Timer for classroom schedules and home routines. I routinely recommend the Time Timer as a valuable tool for clients who have difficulty with procrastination and staying focused (particularly during decluttering sessions). This tool is especially useful for families with young children…you’ll never have to answer the question, “How much longer?”

A favorite among professional organizers, the Time Timer won Best Solution for Personal Productivity as part of the Organizer’s Choice Awards at this year’s NAPO Conference. Click here to see the Time Timer in action.

That concludes my review of cool organizing tools from the NAPO 2014 Organizing Expo! I hope that at least one of these products peaked your interest. If you decide to try out any of the organizing solutions highlighted in this blog series, please return and tell us about your experience with it.

Want to learn more about Natalie Gallagher or Refined Rooms? Visit www.RefinedRoomsLLC.com or connect via: Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter | LinkedIn

Hot Organizing Tools Featured at the NAPO Organizing Expo – Part 1

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I just returned from Scottsdale, Arizona, where I attended the NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers) conference, along with 500+ professional organizers from all around the world. The NAPO conference provides continuing education regarding best practices in the organizing industry, as well as a wonderful opportunity to learn about the dizzying array of organizing products/tools and storage solutions that exist in order to assist clients with their particular organizing challenges.

As part of the conference “debriefing” process, I wanted to highlight some of the products I came across at the Organizing Expo. In today’s blog post, I’ll present some great tools for organizing clothing, gift wrapping supplies, and vital documents.

1. Organize Your Clothes with Pliio

One of the first products I discovered on my foray into the Organizing Expo Hall was the Pliio Clothing Filer. This product totally plays into my OCD tendencies. Do you struggle with maintaining order within your dresser drawers or closet shelves? The Pliio Clothing Filer is a tool which makes it easy to fold your clothes and store them in perfectly uniform piles or stacks. This enables you to easily see all of the garments that you own. The structure makes putting away and retrieving clothes effortless. L-O-V-E it!

Here’s professional organizer and Pliio co-creator Clare Kumar demonstrating how to use Pliio at the conference:

Not only does the Pliio system reign in clutter at home, it is also a useful tool for keeping the clothing in your suitcase uber-organized while traveling. Pliio comes in several sizes to accommodate various types of garments, including children’s clothing. You can purchase them at Bed, Bath, & Beyond or The Shopping Channel.

2. Organize Your Gift Wrap Supplies with Wrap iT

Raise your hand if you have struggled with keeping all of those gift wrap rolls and supplies corralled and organized. I have. In fact, I wrote a blog post on it not too long ago. For those of you with your hands raised, I’m happy to introduce you to Wrap iT, the all-in-one solution for organizing all of your gift wrap and wrapping supplies. Wrap iT is available in both a regular and a deluxe size. Both options hold up to 26 (yes, 26) rolls of wrapping paper, but the deluxe version can accommodate oversize rolls. There are a number of storage compartments designed to hold gift bags, tissue paper, ribbons/bows, tape and scissors…everything you need to create a gorgeously packaged gift.

As creator Adam Levine demonstrated at conference, the Wrap iT includes a unique system for storing wrapping paper rolls to prevent those annoying frayed/damaged edges that can often occur when rolls are stuffed willy nilly inside the closet or under the bed.

The best part about Wrap iT is that it stores so much in so little space! When hung in the closet, Wrap iT takes up about as much space as a suit jacket. If you don’t want to hang it in the closet, its slim profile enables you to simply tuck it away underneath a bed. I love this product so much that I plan to become an affiliate and sell it in the Recommended Products page of my website! Until then, you can purchase it directly from the Wrap iT website.

3. Organize Your Vital Documents with LifeinCase

I spend a great deal of time working with clients to organize their “paper life”. One of the overriding goals we strive to achieve together is to create systems for easily retrieving important documents (for them or for their loved ones) in the event of an emergency. Whether the situation takes the form of a medical emergency, a sudden death, or a natural disaster, it is crucial for everyone to have a way to quickly find the important documents.

The makers of LifeinCase recognized this need and created a ready-made system that makes it quite easy for anyone to gather their essential documents and have them ready to “grab and go” in the event of any emergency.

LifeinCase is an organizational tool that’s comprised of:

5 Plastic Folders: To hold Personal, Medical, Financial, Estate, and Property records
Checklists: Summarizing the 50 essential documents that should be stored in each of the 5 folders
Grab-and-Go Tote: 500 sheet capacity that’s small enough to be portable, yet larger enough to hold all essential documents

LifeinCase comes in multiple patterns and colors and is available on their website.
Stay tuned for the next post, where I’ll be describing cool time management and productivity tools from the NAPO 2014 conference!

Want to learn more about Natalie Gallagher or Refined Rooms? Visit www.RefinedRoomsLLC.com or connect via: Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter | LinkedIn

Garage Organization 101: Tips from a Local Professional

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Now that Polar Vortex 2014 is becoming a distant memory, we are all anxious to roll up our sleeves and begin sprucing up the exterior areas of our homes. Of course, we all know that spring is the ideal time to give the garage an organizing “overhaul”. In order to assist with the process, I invited Paige Norton of Top Shelf Transformations to provide some basic tips for banishing garage clutter and creating a functional space that you can be proud of this spring!

Make Decisions:

When you begin to go through the items in your garage, think about how often you use them. If you haven’t used an item in the last few years, you probably won’t use it in the future. Separate your items into “keep” and “toss” piles.

Once you’ve decided what to keep and what to toss, consider donating those items in the toss pile to your local charity. Donating gently used items to a local charity is a great way to recycle and give back to your own community. Now that you’ve gotten rid of unnecessary clutter, it’s time to organize what will remain in the garage.

Separate and Categorize:

Now that you’re left with the essentials, it’s time to separate them into specific categories such as: sports equipment, seasonal items, tools and yard equipment. Storing multiple items together into a category will help you identify their whereabouts easily when needed.

Once you’ve separated your items into specific categories, you will then need to assign them to a spot in the garage. Think about how often you use each item. Seasonal and holiday items are used only a certain amount of times per year and should be stored out of the way. Yard equipment, tools and sports equipment are used more frequently and should be stored in an area of easy access.

Maximize Space:

To maximize your available storage space, consider storing things up high on walls, above windows and doors and hanging from the ceiling. Utilizing these typically unused overhead areas allows you to take advantage of all the potential storage space your garage has to offer and keeps things up off the floor. As mentioned before, seasonal, less-frequently used items should be stored out of the way. Utilize overhead racks and shelving to store things up out of the way while still allowing for easy access to them when needed.

More frequently used items such as tools and yard and sports equipment should be stored in an area where items are easily accessible. Hang these items lower on walls and in cabinets for easy daily access.

Select the Right Storage Containers:

Avoid storing things in cardboard boxes. Sturdy, plastic bins are easier to stack and protect your items. Use clear plastic bins to help you easily identify the contents, or clearly label each bin.

Select the Right Storage System and Accessories:

Everyone’s storage needs are different. After separating your storage items and deciding where to store them, it’s time to decide how to store them. There are many storage solutions out there. Shelving, hooks, racks and cabinets are all great options for storing items up off the floor. Select the system and accessories that fit your specific storage needs and maximize your particular garage layout.

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Garage Organization Giveaway!

Now that you know the steps to complete your garage “makeover”, I invite you to head over to the Refined Rooms blog and enter to win a fantastic garage organization tool from Monkey Bars Storage. Refined Rooms is giving away a Garden Tool Rack to one lucky blog reader!

Paige Norton is the Community Manager at Top Shelf Transformations, Northeast Ohio’s exclusive, authorized dealer of Monkey Bars Garage Storage Systems. Top Shelf Transformations provides expert garage storage and organization solutions.

If you’d like to learn more about Monkey Bars Garage Storage Systems, you can find them here:
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Introducing Freedom Filer: The Solution for All of Your File System Woes

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Image courtesy of John Kasawa / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We are nearing the end of Organize Your Files week…

Does the task of organizing your files sound about as appealing as getting a root canal?

Perhaps you dread the task of filing papers into your current filing system because the filing cabinet is overstuffed and hasn’t been purged in years. Maybe that dread prevents you from filing altogether, and you have resorted to piling your papers in stacks throughout your home instead.

Image courtesy of Nutta Kit /FreeDigitalPhotos.net

If any of this resonates with you, first understand that you are not alone! As I’ve discussed in prior blog posts, paper clutter is a common challenge for most of my clients – so much so, that I offer an organizing service specifically devoted to assisting clients with managing the paper that comes into their home.
One of my absolute favorite tools for managing household papers is the Freedom Filer system.

I use Freedom Filer for organizing my own reference files, as well as my clients’ files. My clients love it as much as I do. Here’s why:

It’s a self-purging system in which files are categorized as Permanent, Replaceable, or Rotating…so you will never have to clean out your files again once the system is set up (take a few moments and let that sink in);
Following some simple rules, all of your files will rotate out after their useful life has ended;
Color coding enables users to quickly retrieve documents;
You will not have to waste any time creating labels or determining appropriate file categories/names…it’s all been done for you;
You can completely customize the system to fit your specific filing needs.

Click here to link to the Freedom Filer site, where you can learn more about this highly recommended product. After you purchase your Freedom Filer, contact me to schedule a session during which we can set up your customized filing system and end those paper piles once and for all!

To learn more about Natalie Gallagher and Refined Rooms, visit RefinedRoomsLLC.com.

Your Home… Refined

Tips and Resources to Help Homeowners Create a Home that's Organized, Stylish, and Sellable

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Garage Organization 101: Tips from a Local Professional

Make Decisions:

Separate and Categorize:

Maximize Space:

Select the Right Storage Containers:

Select the Right Storage System and Accessories:

Garage Organization Giveaway!

Introducing Freedom Filer: The Solution for All of Your File System Woes