Organizing and productivity

May 10

Style & Declutter Your Home for Spring

By Sherry Borsheim Blog, Home Organizing, Inspiration No Comments

You’ve made it through, take a deep breath in now. The sought-after sunshine is here to stay, spring has arrived, and the winter that felt two years long is finally fading.

But don’t get comfortable just yet! Now is the time to dive in, style, and declutter your space for spring.

Once the tulips bloom, we are only beginning to rake through last year’s leaves…

It’s easy to turn your head away from the accumulation of beloved “things” through the overcast months. However, the fun of our fresh start offered by this season is now to reinvent spaces in a gentle, inviting manner.

Why WOOD storage baskets and containers are the GREENEST options!

If you’re moving away from plastics and the breakability of glass makes you tense, wooden or woven organizers are your new best friends.

Wood is a beautiful, workable material with an array of shades and stains available to complement any room – no matter the size.

With the influx of small living spaces, smart storage is vital. This includes dual-function furniture, collapsible food containers, and space-saving items. These things can be easily folded or tucked away to maintain the room’s elegance.

We all deserve to surround ourselves with a beautiful home.But it is nearly impossible to conserve a calm mind when day-to-day messes are left just as that…. day to day.

Make your most-used products available for when you need them by arranging them to accentuate the natural space of your home. Not everything needs to be placed into bins out of sight; being organized is so much more than that, and easy access is too alluring.

A beauty vanity staged with a few perfumes, maybe a framed photo, and a small jewelry dish can give you a happiness boost just from seeing it every day! Who doesn’t want to improve their mood and performance passively?

How to Blend Function with Design to Declutter Your Space this Spring

As we swiftly move into an era of contemporary organizational styles, practicality is no longer the only main focus. We are shifting towards style and blending function with design.

“But with so many storage options at hand, how can you be sure to make the right decision?”

The most important things to consider when choosing your materials are;

a room’s color scheme
how much negative space you prefer to leave open
the feeling you’d like to offer to guests
how well the physical design works for your needs

Adopting your home’s vibe is a real thing. The easiest way to portray your best self is by connecting the most important areas of your life in similar ways.

An orderly, easily accessible home reflects a persona of so much compassion for yourself and others.

Let’s allow nature to take us into a better mind space this year and rejuvenate our senses.

Each of us makes about 35,000 conscious decisions each day, and if we can lessen the pressure by simply arranging things differently, why not?

Sometimes the only solace of a day comes from that moment of peace in between two deep breaths…

Let yourself enjoy it.

· · ◇ · ·
Inspired to freshen up your home for the new season?
We have curated a list of our spring must-haves for you below!

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Back to School: College Dorms

May 07

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7 Psychological Benefits of an Organized Home

By Sherry Borsheim Blog, Quick Organizing Tips, Simple Living 2 Comments

Untidy environments increase stress for most people. Do you declutter your mind while you declutter your home? Science says yes.

We all know the feeling after accomplishing that thing we’ve been putting off, and oftentimes that thing is tidying up. But where does that feeling come from, and how can we get more of it?

Is this you?

People who have a hard time to declutter your home often struggle with:

Time management and project motivation
Feeling overwhelmed easily, which can lead to procrastination
Perfectionism and finishing tasks
Holding attention and being distracted frequently
Saying “no” to others

Orderly environments are linked to more healthy choices.

Our surroundings shape our thinking. If you’re constantly looking at all the things you’re putting off, it’s going to reflect poorly on your mental health. It's more enticing to prepare healthy meals in an orderly kitchen with an easily accessible pantry, and most people sleep better in a tidy room with a made bed.

Pro Tip: Split your fridge, freezer, and pantry into sections that make sense to you, and put items back after use every time.

Improve focus.

Disarray makes it harder to find what you need and makes you more prone to frustration. It may also distract you while doing another task. Declutter your home by sorting through visual clutter can help your focus and attention span.

Pro Tip: Start with your most frequently used spaces. Clear off your kitchen and bathroom counters. Find a place for each item.

Alleviate depression and anxiety.

The only thing a messy home can add to your life is more burden to your mind. Clutter will make you feel worse and scatterbrained, and it is more challenging to want to clear up the space when you see piles accumulating. You may not feel like doing it, but any small steps you can take will improve your overall mood.

Pro Tip: Ask for support while organizing. Having someone around can make the task less dull and more fun.

Reduce dust and allergies.

You may think that your home is clean despite being disorganized. But you would be surprised at how much dust, pet debris, and mold can build up when hidden. It's important to regularly declutter your home, otherwise, it's harder to clean around piles of belongings.

Pro Tip: Give yourself 20 minutes a day to tidy up any piles laying around the house.

Enhance self-esteem.

Cluttered spaces erode your confidence because it causes you to feel less in control of your life. Feeling proud and at ease in your home gives you an automatic confidence boost. A living environment that looks more respectable can be extremely empowering.

Pro Tip: Find inspirational pictures and try to imitate them in your home.

Better relationships.

It’s a drain on your energy and for others in the home to keep clutter lying around. When a household can delegate organizational tasks to everyone, it creates a sense of teamwork and strengthens bonds. Plus, it gets everybody motivated when you can declutter your home together.

Pro Tip: Consider a “Homeless Things” basket for any items you find scattered around the house. Set a ritual once a week where each person checks the container to remove the items that belong to them.

Free up time and energy.

When you’re chasing mess after mess it’s impossible to mentally relax. There’s a reason insomnia is linked to disorganization and the accumulation of too many things. Having fewer things means making fewer choices throughout the day.

Pro Tip: Keeping a schedule for tidying up; maintaining a system is easier than creating a new one each time. Try to donate or sell items that you no longer need.

Decluttering can actually be quite therapeutic; play some relaxing music, visualize your desired “after” of the space, sort in a system that works for you, and simply enjoy the zen that comes with a tidied home.

Which room will YOU start in? Comment below!

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10 Day Decluttering Challenge

Don’t know where to start decluttering?

(and some freebies, too!)

Mar 16

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10 Day Decluttering Challenge

By Sherry Borsheim Blog, Home Organizing, Inspiration 2 Comments

10_day_decluttering_challenge

When times are changing, it’s a sign to re-evaluate what’s really important to us. You might be sitting in your comfy chair right now or sitting up in bed working from home and in the corner of your eye you can see those piles of stuff you’ve been meaning to deal with but never had the time until now.

We’ve spent years accumulating stuff that we don’t use, don’t need, and frankly, it’s just cluttering up space collecting dust. Stuff can weigh heavy on us and leave us with feelings of guilt, shame, and unhappiness and that’s the last thing you want to feel at this time.

I believe a home is an oasis to wake up in and come home to at the end of the day. A home is a place that is warm and inviting to have family and friends over. And if you work from home, you’re free to be creative and your space is inspiring to work in.

So for the next 10 days, let me help you transform your home with this mini decluttering challenge.

When you’re done this decluttering challenge, you’ll feel lighter, happier, and inspired!

Here’s three organizing steps to follow for fast, lasting results:

Step #1 – Start small with one drawer, one shelf, one cupboard or one area in ONE room at a time. No zig-zag organizing from one room to another otherwise you won’t see fast results and you’ll create a bigger mess.

Step #2 – Set a timer for 30-45 minutes and make quick and fast decisions on what to keep and what’s no longer of use to you. Touch each item on the shelf/drawer and decide if it’s staying or gotta go. Have a recycling bin, trash bag, and donation box within arms reach for items that you don’t want, don’t use anymore, are broken, doesn’t bring you joy, or is expired.

Step #3 – Group like things together into themes. You’ll see how much you have in each category and how much space you’ll need to contain it when you put it back.

After each 30-45 minute organizing sessions, take 10 minutes to deal with the recycling, trash, and donations items. You’ll be amazed at how much stuff you can get rid of!! Repeat the above three steps until you’re finished in the area you want decluttered.

If you get stuck or need a little extra help visit my Facebook or Instagram pages. For personalized solutions for your decluttering and organizing projects, I’m offering 50% off Virtual Organizing services till March 31, 2020. Check out details and bookings at simplyproductive.com/services

Day 1 Challenge – Declutter Your Kitchen Pantry

Start with one shelf, one cupboard, or one drawer. Take out anything that is expired, doesn’t belong, or you don’t want. Next, group like items together like breakfast foods, condiments, baking supplies, canned goods, spices, snacks, soups, drinks, and so on. Once you see how much you have in a category, you can designate a space that makes sense. If you have young kids, designate a breakfast zone, lunches zone, and snack zone that they can reach. When possible, label the area inside the shelf, drawer or cupboard and make sure to let family members know where things are so that they can put them back. The label becomes the organizing system for putting things back where they belong.

Day 2 Challenge – Declutter Your Closet

Start with the piles on the floor, then a shelf or hanging section. My best strategy for organizing anything is to organize your closet top to bottom, left to right (or reverse this if you can’t get to your top shelf yet) Pull the clothes out of your closet and onto the bed, if possible. If not, then make decisions by touching each item in your closet and sort into categories. Suggest categories are, laundry, mending, dry cleaning, donate, try on, and keep. Once you decided what you want to keep, put clothing back into your closet based on what you wear most during the week. If you work, your work clothes get prime real estate and easy access. Designate a place in your closet for each category of clothes. Category ideas are: work clothes, weekend clothes, party dresses, workout, comfy cozy clothes to lounge in, and so on. Getting dressed in the morning will be a lot less stressful!

Day 3 Challenge – Organize Your Passwords

Do you constantly reset your passwords or let your browser remember your login details? Hopefully you’re not using the same password over and over again 😉 Lastpass is a secure password manager that will remember all your passwords, travel point cards, vital information and login details so you don’t have to. It works on any platform. Install the app on all your devices. Next, start entering in three to five login details to test it out for a week. Inside the app you can add tags so it’s easier to find login details. You’ll be able to generate unique secure passwords on the fly. Lastpass is the one app I can’t live without.