Brooklyn Home Organizers

09/16/2019

Who's feeling overwhelmed by all the "stuff" in their life?

04/18/2019

Happy Spring! What better time to tackle some home organizing projects?!

I am now booking clients for May! Send me a PM to book your session!

03/22/2019

Hey Everyone!

I haven't posted since the end of December! It feels like forever ago. Since then, we welcomed our sweet baby Sebastian Arthur on Jan 31st, my daughter started Taekwondo, and I've been babymooning with my little man - loving on him, getting to know him, and healing from my c-section. I'm happy to say that we are all doing well and I'm ready to emerge from my cocoon of postpardum bliss and back into connecting with the rest of the world on all things ORGANIZATION!!

First let's discuss the KonMari movement!! I'm a fan of Marie Kondo's joy sparking approach and filing system for our belongings. I implement this with my clients wherever possible and it's been very successful and adoptable. Where I get stuck with KonMari is her methodology for tackling everything all in one go. I've found this approach, for me and my clients, challenging. Particularly in cases where hording is present or if a client has acute anxiety about their space. I've found goal setting and tackling in bits to be more palitable to them. Knowing it's ok if you can't finish your bedroom in 2 sessions - just keep chipping away at the clutter - is a relief to them. There's so much more to be said about the wonders and conversations around MK, but for now let's move on to what BHO has been doing....

Introducing (drum roll please) - the chaos that is the current state of my daughters room. Toys are a pain point for MANY MANY parents. It's one of the primary concerns brought to me "how do we manage all the toys everywhere"?! I believe organizing is evolutionary - it's ever changing. We may complete a project and our room looks a certain way, only to find a need to change that system 4-5 months down the line. THAT IS OK! You know what else is ok - when organizing, you'd be hard pressed to keep a room tidy as you are in the thick of decluttering. Hence the pictures I've attached here. I started this project of clearing out her shelves because we plan to remove them in order to move a crib in here very soon. I'd also like to paint the walls (the yellow has been a pain in my eyes since I finished the last coat more than 3 years ago!) I have a plan. I know the room won't always look like this, and yet it gives me anxiety looking at. Part of me feels embarassed to share it with you, but I feel it's important because I want YOU to see the realities of what a work in progress for organization can look like. Because I have a newborn at home, and a 5yo, projects get started, and stopped, frequently. THAT IS OK! People tend to think my home is like a magazine or staged for perfect organization at all times, but that's not true. Yes, I've mastered organization in many areas of my home, but certainly not all, and there's always room for improvement. That said, what will soon become the KIDS room (still feels novel to say the word kid as a plural) is a work in progress that I look forward to completing.

What are some challenges you're currently facing in your own home? Comment below!

12/13/2018

It’s a “2 post” night because this is BIG. I am so excited and can’t wait to watch!!!!

https://www.facebook.com/1599560516944221/posts/2295554857344780/

12/12/2018

Looking for some easy organizing tips for holiday "stuff"? Look no further! Lots of great ideas in here, and how CUTE are the paper wrapped packages with twine and pinecones?!

https://www.womansday.com/home/organizing-cleaning/g2721/organizing-tips-christmas/

Nip holiday stress in the bud with these handy pointers.

12/10/2018

20 ways to organize a bedroom closet?! Oh, Apartment Therapy, how I love you.

https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/20-ways-to-organize-your-bedroom-closet-43236

Are you a little obsessed with organizing? We are too.

12/04/2018

Happens to the best of us 😄

12/03/2018

Who doesn't love a little Netflix multitasking?! I don't know about you, but even as a person who loves detailed home organizing, it can be hard to find the motivation to simply start whatever project it is that needs doing - especially if that project is folding/putting away massive amounts of laundry each week. Enter Netflix! Treat your mind to something fun while you do something that you find boring.

https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/things-to-clean-while-watching-tv-264826

When you want to watch something but you really need to feel productive at the same time, that's the perfect time to take on some mindless tasks around your space.

12/02/2018

The holidays are the perfect time to declutter your closet. This article has a great process for tackling what can feel like an overwhelming or impossible task. Having organized many closets for myself and clients, this task can be more emotional and time consuming than you anticipated. I promise, the hard work will reap major rewards!

https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-sort-your-closet-like-a-professional-personal-stylist-239052

12/02/2018

The holidays are the perfect time to declutter your closet. This article has a great process for tackling what can feel like an overwhelming or impossible task. Having organized many closets for myself and clients, this task can be more emotional and time consuming than you anticipated. I promise, the hard work will reap major rewards!

https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-sort-your-closet-like-a-professional-personal-stylist-239052

Walk into 2019 with a sorted and organized closet thanks to these expert tips.

11/30/2018

I’ve been following the blog Young House Love for years and they quickly became one of my all time favorite places to visit on the interwebs. From DIY to design to organizing tips - they’re one of my main inspirations when I approach my own home. I don’t know them personally (although if I did I’m certain Sherry and I would be bff’s) but I’ve watched their evolution and feel a sense of pride at how they’ve grown - Real Simple is featuring their new furniture line and it’s SO pretty! The scalloped sideboard pictured is my favorite so far.

If you haven’t already, you should really check out their blog (and their podcast!!) and of course head over to Real Simple to check out their sneak peek of their new furniture line!!

https://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/decorating/decorating-living-room/young-house-love-wayfair-top-picks

11/29/2018

😂 A large part of me wants to do this to my spices.

11/27/2018

With so many of us traveling to see family and friends for the holidays, packing can feel overwhelming. Here are some tips to keep yourself organized.

Thrifty Hacks:
- Instead of buying bags specifically for shoes, dirty laundry, etc - take a look around your home. Use cloth grocery bags for your shoes, or even the plastic bags you haven't yet recycled to make sure the dirt from your shoes doesn't get on your clothes.
- Grab a trash bag or two to throw your dirty laundry in so when you get home you don't need to sort through ALL your clothes, sniff testing what's clean and dirty. Just grab your dirty clothes bag and toss the contents into the washer, and hang up the rest!
- To fit more items into a smaller space, roll instead of fold your clothes. Not only will you be able to fit more items in your bag, you'll also have less wrinkles. Who doesn't love NOT ironing?!

https://www.realsimple.com/beauty-fashion/clever-packing-tools

Our top picks will help you stay stress-free now and later.

04/03/2018

If you haven’t picked up this Martha Stewart magazine on all things organizing then you better run (don’t walk) to get it. My MIL grabbed this for me and it is AMAZING. So much GOLD in here. Plus time management tips which I always love.

03/15/2018

My beautiful friend
at does it again with her honest, heart provoking analysis of the human condition. This time she’s discussing how we support one another: why we do and why we don’t, and the challenges with allowing ourselves to be vulnerable. There’s also a shout out to 😊

Thank YOU Rhianon for being brave, putting your truth out there, and inspiring others to do the same ❤️

If you haven’t subscribed to her blog yet, you need to!!

02/02/2018

One of the biggest challenges many of my clients face is feeling paralyzed by the enormity of tackling their clutter. They don’t know where to begin, feel overwhelmed with all the design options, and don’t know what to buy. Many have difficulty processing the fact that sometimes a project needs to be done in phases because of timing, budget, etc. Its ok to feel these feelings, and completely normal. In fact, it’s so normal that every professional organizer I know, including myself, has felt like this more often that you may think.

Today I tackled a project in my own home I’ve been overwhelmed by and putting off for months: our office/studio/photography/craft closet!

I’d spent a lot of time on Pinterest, pinning all the pretty things, but feeling too overwhelmed with options to make any solid decisions with how I wanted this space in my home to look. (Yes, even organizers can get decision/design paralysis.) I finally decided to stop thinking myself in circles and just jump in and start. Here’s what I did.

Step #1 - Removed the closet doors. This is crucial to our overall design because we need to utilize the dead space the closet doors created.

Step #2 - Took EVERYTHING out of the closet and put it on my dining room table, putting items together in logical categories as I went. Along the way, I tossed what’s no longer needed/wanted, and made a pile for any items I wanted to donate. If you don’t have the budget or time to purchase fancy baskets, use items around your home to wrangle your things. Some of my fav on hand items are mason jars, empty shoe boxes, and decorative bowls... get creative!

Step #3 - Wiped down the closet shelves and floor with my 2.5ph (anti-bacterial) water spray (I added a few drops of Orange oil to make it smell yummy!

Step #4 - Began placing items back into the closet. It’s important to not worry about perfection. Instead, think about how the space will be used. For instance, I knew that the bottom shelf would be heavily used for “active” items like our photo printer, synthesizer and other music equipment. I also knew I wanted the next shelf up to provide easy access to some of Adie’s messier art supplies (like glue and paint). The shelf directly above holds some games, my extra picture frames, and a whole bunch of paper. The top shelf will be a place to store Adie’s school art.

Start to finish, this initial purge and build took around 4 hours. What I’ve done today is not the end of this project, but its an awesome start. We plan to add more shelving, matching baskets and other helpful organizing tools. Most importantly it feels AMAZING to have it looking this good at the end of phase one.

I’ll be sure to post updates as we build out this beauty even more!

01/23/2018

Good morning beautiful.

01/22/2018

Hey there friends!

is now on IG!! Follow us for Organizing tips, tricks and pics!!

xo Jess