Professional Organizer and Lifestyles Concierge in Calgary

Living with someone isn’t always easy. This year’s pandemic has forced many of us to spend more time at home. For some couples and families this has been very hard on relationships, and we are often seeing more friction and even higher rates of domestic violence in Calgary and around the world (see CTV article of April 20, 2020).

So anything we can do to ensure harmony at home is a benefit to all of us. Keeping the home clean and organized is one way to help reduce stress. It also helps our mental health and keeps our minds clear. According to Psychology Today, “research shows that excessive clutter and mess is distracting and inhibits our ability to concentrate and focus” (see Psychology Today).

Keeping everything clean is especially important now as it will help reduce the spread of bacteria, viruses like Covid, and other diseases. And of course it’s much easier to clean a home that maintains a low level of clutter.

Here are a few things we can do to keep our homes organized when living with others

Set ground rules

1. Division of labour – divide the work and make sure everyone knows their tasks

2. Create a schedule for decluttering and cleaning – almost everything else in our lives is scheduled, and these important tasks should be, too

3. Break the work into smaller pieces; start with just 5 minutes per day

4. Put a copy of the schedule and tasks on the fridge for everyone to see

5. Clean up after yourselves

6. Do a bit of decluttering every day

Stick with your new plan!

Experts say it takes about 21 days to form new habit, so it’s important to get started and remain committed … and pretty soon organizing, decluttering and cleaning will be a natural part of your daily routine.

Tips for families to organize the home

1. Add extra bins to your fridge to keep things from becoming a disorganized mess.

2. Keep an inventory on top of your freezer.

3. Declutter your counter and move all of your utensils over to the wall.

4. Put together a homework station for your son or daughter to study at.

5. Drawer knobs are one of the easiest ways to add storage to your entryway. You can add them to the back of a door and hang bags, purses, jackets.

6. Use a separate laundry bag for each member of the family.

7. Print out labels for your children’s dresser drawers and get them help you put their clean clothes away.

Consult a professional organizer

Professional organizers have seen it all. They can really put you at ease and help you get and keep your home in order. Renaissance Lifestyles is committed to ensuring a stress-free experience for you. Let us help you make your life easier so that going forward you spend less time managing your possessions and more time enjoying your life. We are fully equipped with the storage solutions and decluttering techniques that will work for your unique needs and living space. Contact us today.

 

 

 

The amount of paper we all collect and end up storing can really take up a lot of physical and emotional space in our lives. Fortunately, there are many traditional and digital solutions that can help us streamline and simplify our paper interactions.

The process of eliminating and reducing paper to help keep your home more organized begins with purging the papers you don’t need.

Start by getting three large boxes or bins and label them as:

1 Recycle

2 Shred and Recycle

3 Keep

Then gather every bit of paper in your house. Magazines, flyers, bills, bank statements, old menus, tax documents, etc. You’ll begin to sort them into their appropriate bins.

1) Recycling

Put a recycling bag or bin near your front door. Before you even bring mail into the house, pause by your front door to toss everything you know you don’t need — like flyers, advertisements, coupons, and junk mail.

You can unsubscribe from paper magazines and newspapers and get most of them online. In fact, the Calgary Public Library has free services such as Press Reader and Flipster that gives you access to online newspapers and magazines from around the world.

2) Shred and recycle

This bin is for documents that you are purging that contain your personal information such as name, address, phone number, social insurance number. If you don’t have a shredder, you can purchase a high quality shredder or for really big shredding jobs you can get a paper shredding company to come to your home.

3) Keep

Tax returns, medical files, insurance papers, and leases into a pile to be scanned onto your computer for safekeeping.

Photos can go into an album, you can frame them, or hang them on a cork board so you can enjoy them every day.

Other tips for dealing with papers and keeping your home organized like a professional

Go paperless with bank statements and bills

All regular bills such as for phone, Internet, cable TV, and banking can be sent to you via email. This immediately reduces the paper clutter in your home.

Transfer everything online. Most banks and major utility companies offer the choice to stop receiving statements and notifications in the mail .

You can also eliminate having to send hand-written cheques, which further reduces paper because you don’t need to envelopes and stamps. Bills can be paid online with credit cards or by bank etransfer.

Create a filing system

There are so many different types of filing systems, but the best ones have the following features: they are logically organized, easy to access, and spacious enough or expandable to take in new documents as required.

Consider your available space before you buy new filing equipment. If you have open desk drawers, metal file rails work great. If you have tons of closet space, go for portable file bins.

If you prefer to keep your files in plain sight, then a desk organizer is a good solution.

Next, stock up on file folders and separate everything into categories. Make sure you cover all the topics (pet, home, medical, work, etc.) and be as specific as possible with your labels.

You can give big categories like “Finances” their own folders with additional files for specific types of documents like “Tax Returns” or “Bills.”

Create a “Take Action” station for papers that need to be dealt with

Designate one convenient spot in your home for all those papers that require action. This might include forms to be signed, letters to send, RSVP cards to be mailed. You could stack these papers in a mail organizer on your entryway table, or place them in a shallow tray on your desk. Whatever works best for you.

schedule a regular time each week to focus on these papers and clear this space.

Store important receipts in a binder

All your receipts can be organized in a small binder. Make sure you store the binder in a convenient place so you can easily add new receipts to it on a regular basis.

Use a calendar

You don’t need to save papers such as event flyers or invitations if you have a calendar where you can record all your upcoming activities.

A digital calendar such as the one in Gmail, Yahoo, or Outlook is great, but a desk or wall calendar may be preferred if you want to see your schedule without having to unlock your phone. Whenever you receive a new piece of paper that details an upcoming event, just transfer the information to your calendar and recycle the paper.

Store your paper items in the right places

The key to using and enjoying your stuff on a regular basis is to store it in a place that makes sense. Here are three simple and highly-effective ideas:

Keep the paper items you use every day in plain sight. Put new magazines on your coffee table, stationery on your desk, and so on.

Store sentimental items like cards, school papers, and souvenirs in pretty boxes or baskets to display on bookcases and shelves. You’re more likely to look through your mementos every now and then if they’re not tucked away in a closet.

Keep all your craft and office-related paper goods (like extra printer paper, notebooks, and sticky notes) in the same area.

Get help from a professional oganizer

Renaissance Lifestyles is a professional organizer that is fully equipped with the storage solutions and decluttering techniques to devise a decluttering and organizing plan that works for you. We treat you as an individual and take a customized approach that best matches your personality, lifestyle, timeline and goals. We are also committed to ensuring a stress-free experience for you. Let us help you make your life easier so that going forward you spend less time managing your possessions and more time enjoying your life.

Your efforts to declutter and organize your home will be greatly enhanced by choosing the right storage solutions to keep your possessions well organized and easy to find.

Before you run out and buy a bunch of storage containers

We find that it’s best not to introduce storage containers too early in the decluttering process because people often to try to determine how much stuff they can keep based on the size of their containers. It’s better to do the hard work of decluttering, then choosing storage solutions based on what remains. Also, simply hiding the clutter in storage containers and packing it away somewhere instead sorting through things and letting go of excess possessions doesn’t bring the peace of mind that results from thorough decluttering.

Storing items to be accessed seasonally

Organize your items to be stored according to their seasonal use. For example, all of your Christmas decorations can go together into a large plastic box or boxes. Using clear plastic boxes will make it easy to see what’s stored in them without having to open them and search through. These can be stored in a garage or basement. Other categories might be items for camping, outdoor decor, costumes, travel items, and seasonal clothing.

Storing frequently used items

Frequently used items should be placed in areas that provide quick and easy access – such as the front of a drawer, cupboard, or pantry. Grouping and storing these items into containers brings an added level of organization.

Storing memorabilia safely

Sentimental items such as old photos and memorabilia from childhood can be safely stored in large plastic containers that will keep them safe and dry. An acid free box can help maintain the longevity of your photos and other printed materials. Acidic materials can damage photos, paper, and textiles and lead to permanent damage and decay, so archive your precious items in an acid free box. The term “archival quality” refers to materials have undergone laboratory analysis to determine and confirm that their acidic and conservation properties are within safe levels.

Types of containers to help you stay organized

• open baskets – for items like laundry, blankets, pillows, snacks, pet supplies and mail. Baskets without lids sometimes make it more likely for people to actually use them
• filing cabinets
• stacking shelves for cupboards
• small, open, stackable bins are great for storing small items like nails, screws, nuts and bolts, pens, crayons, erasers, hair ties, paper clips, etc
• Organizers for Inside Drawers and Cabinets – available in many sizes so that you can create combinations to fit a drawer, cabinet or refrigerator.
• Clothing Storage Bags for Seasonal Clothes – Fabric clothing bags are for seasonal clothing or children’s clothing that needs to be saved for another child. Organize and label the bags in categories so you can easily access clothes as you need them.
• Plastic Containers – They are stackable, durable and lightweight and can keep your items dry and free from pests. They are transparent, so you can easily see their contents.
• square containers are more efficient than round ones as the utilize more space
• cabinets

Get help from a professional organizer

Renaissance Lifestyles is a professional organizer that is fully equipped with the storage solutions and decluttering techniques to devise a decluttering and organizing plan that works for you. We treat you as an individual and take a customized approach that best matches your personality, lifestyle, timeline and goals. We are also committed to ensuring a stress-free experience for you. Let us help you make your life easier so that going forward you spend less time managing your possessions and more time enjoying your life. We serve the greater Calgary community.