Simply Put

A blog for people who like to be organized.

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A Bright Room has relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area, just in time for Spring! Contact us for help with your Spring cleaning projects!

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Car Travel Season is Upon Us! Is your Car Ready?

Millions of Americans will hit the roads this Summer and Memorial Day weekend officially kicks off the Summer travel season.  While it looks like most of us live in our cars these days, make sure your car is clutter-free, prepared and well-organized before heading out on the great open highways. 

Here are some tips to get your car road ready:

Maintenance! Maintenance! Maintenance!  Be sure to check that your car is running properly by checking the fluids, brakes, tires (don’t forget the spare!) hoses, belt, and of course, air-conditioning prior to departure.

It is important to make sure your car is equipped with an emergency kit.  Items in this kit should include flares, a flashlight, jumper cables, ice scraper, first-aid kit and a blanket. You may also want to keep a small supply of facial tissues, a roll of paper towels and bottled water. If you are traveling with pets, make sure you pack extra water and pet food.

Keep the driver’s side clutter-free and make sure maps or GPS is easily accessible.  Store these items in the glove box or in the side door pocket. 

Buy a travel-sized trash can and keep it in your car. This will keep your car litter free and when you stop for gas, simply throw out the bag of trash.

Invest in back of the seat organizers to house young children’s supplies and toys.  The children can easily reach in and grab what they want without distracting you- the driver, to get it for them.

Prevent items from sliding around in the trunk with trunk trays or crates.  This will also come in handy when transporting items from the car into your home or final destination.

Lastly, have fun! Road trips are a great time to bond with your friends or family. Car travel is a great way to experience an adventure and see the beauty of the open road.  

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Got a big home improvement project coming up? Or just a whole lot of junk that you want gone? Check out this simple and easy to use product called "The Bagster." It's like a dumpster in a bag! 

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Good Bye Basket

What is a good bye basket, you may ask? Well, let me tell you! When you have items that are leaving the house you place them in your good bye basket. The basket (a decorative box or bag will work just as well) is kept right beside the door that gets the most use in your home. As you're leaving the house each day, take a peak in the basket and grab anything out of it that can be brought to the car and dropped off at its destination throughout the day. This could be anything from dry cleaning, a muffin tin that you borrowed from your sister, an overdue library book or a pair of pants that you want to return at the store.  If your basket, bag or box has handles, you can easily grab the whole container and place it in your car. 

Try it out for a week and see how keeping a good bye basket and using it daily will easily help you clear clutter from your home. 

Photo credit: West Elm

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My Favorite Chair

Sometimes while organizing with a client we will come across an item that appears to be seemingly useless and taking up precious space. However, when I dig a little deeper I find that this item also comes loaded with emotional attachment and it becomes a challenge to convince the client to let it go.

I recently have had an experience of this nature with one of my personal treasures that I had to let go of. My beloved Danish Modern chair. Let me give a little background on ‘Chairy’ as I have come to know her in the last few years. I bought Chairy from a furniture dealer in Brooklyn, NY about 3 years ago. She was a craigslist find and one of the first ‘real’ pieces of furniture that I bought when I moved into my very own studio apartment. She was comfy, nice to look at and really tied the room together. I was sure that she would be with me forever, no matter where I moved or lived. When I relocated to Boston last December she was the first thing to get loaded into the moving van. I told the movers, “be extra careful with that one” and they handled her like she was a newborn baby. I was moving into a fully furnished apartment so there was no room for her in the living room so she was exiled to the bedroom.

As the months went on, Chairy became a catch all for everything from extra bed pillows to dirty gym clothes and pajamas. On some days, her colorful orange cushions could barely be seen from underneath the stockpile of clothes that covered her. She surely was not being used as she intended. I started to feel bad. I thought that Chairy belonged in a beautifully appointed living room with other Danish Modern furnishings that would complement her dark cherry wood frame.

Before I knew what was happening I had listed her on craigslist and was fielding emails from interested buyers. Soon enough, I had scheduled a time for a couple to come see her. As soon as I opened the door I knew that they were going to be Chairy’s new owners. They were stylish, young and modern. The woman instantly remarked “I love it, I want it!” I immediately felt better. They bought Chairy at the exact price I had asked for and within 5 minutes she was being loaded into the back of their Volvo 240.

Although I was sad to see her go, she had served a great purpose in my life and was now making someone else just as happy. I picture her now in a modern living room, set apart to make her stand out. A Danish Modern coffee table sitting before her, tying the room together.

The point of the story is, there are some things in your life that make you happy when you look at them but if they are not performing their intended function, taking up space and creating clutter, it’s time to let them go. Hopefully someone else will come along and see the value the item holds and renew its purpose. I made sure I kept a photo of Chairy so I will never forget the time I moved into my first apartment, lived alone for the first time and grew into a more independent person.

So Chairy- if your new owners happen to be reading this blog, I’m pouring one out for you and you will forever be in my thoughts.

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Tools of the Trade

Imagine trying to bake a cake without the proper mixing bowl. You could probably get by, but having the right tools will make baking that cake so much easier.

Every organizer operates differently but here are some of my favorite tools of the trade that I take with me on every client visit. 

·         The almighty label maker (organizers LOVE to label EVEYTHING)

·         Extra label tape (nothing worse than running out of label tape in the middle of a project!)

·         A head lamp (provides extra light in a dark closet while keeping your hands free!)

·         A sturdy tape measure

·         Rubber bands (for securing loose cords, gift wrap and ribbons)

·         Post-it Notes (I like using different colors rather than the boring yellow ones)

·         Clip board (for taking notes during a client session)

·         Sharpies (for labeling boxes during the sort & purge process)

·         Large trash bags (for trash! Duh. I also use these for items that will be donated)

·         Small plastic sandwich baggies (for catching the small stuff that can get lost easily)

·         Scissors, box cutter

·         Packing tape

·         Camera (for documenting before & after pics)

·         Tool Kit (hammer, nails, extra screws, binder clips, screwdriver, leveler, etc – you never know when you might need to hang a shelf!)

·         Gloves (to protects my hands when working in dusty or dirty areas)

So what other tools do you use that are essential to your organizing jobs?

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Perhaps the best invention of the last decade! Boy. I wish I had come up with this idea. The Pliio Clothing Filer  (pronounced plee-o) is finally available to the public and makes folding laundry fun. (Laundry? Fun? Yeah that's right) You'll look forward to putting away your clothes every night. 

Just fold and file!