A major life change often forces reexamination of even the most tried and true organizing strategies. The irony is that during a major life change we are likely to say to ourselves, “I don’t have time to get organized” or “things are too crazy right now”, even though organization is what you may need the [...]

I have been very disorganized lately. Gasp! Yes I said it and it’s true. Last week we closed escrow on a new house (our first!) and we are now officially in a whole house renovation. We have our work cut out. (The driveway is now empty so we can fully appreciate the all cement front [...]

Living in a small space always necessitates creative organizing solutions. And the need for organization becomes magnified when it’s a space used multiple times a day like in a kitchen. This is the case for Daniella. Recently, we took a closer look at possible solutions for her small pantry problem, specifically 5 Tips for a Small Pantry [...]

We have all been there before…we surround ourselves with disorganization, stepping over piles, and searching for one lost item after another until we finally say, “This is not working!” We know we have to do something before we officially go crazy! Daniella was feeling that way about her kitchen. She sent Space for Living pictures [...]

Have you even been greeted with a view like this?   If you have kids, this may be a familiar sight (actually, having it all contained in a tub could be a welcomed sight). In my case an organizing strategy I thought for sure would work was turning out to be more trouble than it [...]

Shelves are a fabulous way to make use of often unused vertical space. But if we are not careful shelves can begin to collect clutter. However with a little shelf stylin’ you can take a crammed bookshelf and turn it into a work of art. Let’s take a peek at a few creatively organized shelves. [...]

Do you ever feel like there are just too many projects on your plate? Are you overwhelmed and you don’t know where to start? You know what I am going to say, don’t you? Take small steps. Small steps are a common theme around these parts, because honestly I have to remind myself daily to take [...]

Through out this blog I have showed almost every nook and cranny of my home, (mostly in 10 minutes snippets) but I have never taken you on an home tour. It is about time to give a peek of the larger picture and put all the organizing show n’ tell into context. I will be [...]

It is no surprise that paper management is a constant struggle. Between the constant stream of paper coming into our lives and the decisions of what to keep and what to trash, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Just read a few comments from our last giveaway to know you are not alone if you struggle with paper! Here on Space [...]

I have 6 white tank tops hanging in my closet. I counted. And that might not be too bad if I actually wore them…but I don’t. I only wear 2 of them. I never grab the others- this one is too tight here, that one has a small stain there. Yet I still keep all [...]

I consider myself less than crafty, so when I do manage to create something (especially in less than half an hour), I just have to share it with you. This little table runner was a snap to make and if I can do it, you can do it.  Let’s call this the lazy girl’s guide to making a [...]

Ah closets, they are so easy to organize, right? Just pop in to one of those stores and let the pros plan the layout and even install the closet for you. Without lifting a finger, you are left with something looking like this: source BHG or like this. source BHG If only it was that simple! Although [...]

Why is it that trash seems to double each time you are in the car? And if you have kids it quadruples! There is a little hook built into a panel of my car. I don’t know if it is for purses or what, but it has been our handy dandy trash bag hook for [...]

I recently received a call for help from a lovely reader who needed an entry way overhaul. Her front area had become a dumping ground for clutter and she longed for it to function as a space for shoes as well as a workspace. Does this sound like a familiar problem? Whether your workspace is [...]

I was so thrilled to receive this letter from a reader. I can’t help it, I just love tackling clutter! Read on to check out some of the ideas I offered to help tackle this readers cluttered entryway. Dear Space for Living, Help! I long for an uncluttered entry way. We moved into our new [...]

Have you ever met someone that you are sure was “born organized”? They seem so put together and they make it look so easy! My daughter’s teacher seems to have it all together. Her systems are flawless and every paper has a home. I was a teacher and I know it takes a lot of [...]

I am delighted to introduce today’s guest poster, a fellow San Diego based organizer, Theresa Finnigin from Ready Aim Organize! Not only is she a fabulous organizer, but she is also an expert at relocating. She has moved from the east coast to the west coast by way of Illinois. Today she stopped by to share her [...]

I am loving these awesome guest posts! Today I get to share with you a fun, free download! Ashley from Evelyn Kate Designs created an adorable weekly cleaning checklist to help reach her goal of becoming more organized. Thanks Ashley! So many resolutions are flying around blog world. My resolution for this year…maybe a little [...]

I don’t usually squeal, but when I saw what my husband brought home last Friday, I couldn’t help myself! I squealed and then giddily asked, “Is that for me?” I’ve been pinning pictures of old crate and pallet projects, so his find was perfectly timed. I haven’t tackled any of those pinned projects on my own, [...]

Are you always switching your furniture around? I used to be addicted to rearranging. My college roommate would come home to find me moving around the furniture once again. I loved the big change just moving one piece of furniture could make. (Dusting and vacuuming all the hidden nooks and crannies is an extra bonus too.) Well [...]

Yup, you read that right, we are going to organize junk! Specifically all the junk kids collect. Decaying leaves, scraps of paper, tiny toys…things that seem meaningless to us (and may one day soon become meaningless to them), but for now they are treasures. We are not of course saying, that this gives free reign [...]

Do you have a junk drawer? Is it hard to imagine your home without one? Is it full of “what if I need this one day” junk or “I have no idea where to put this, I’ll stuff it in here” junk? There are different schools of thought on this hot topic. Some organizers say, [...]

When it comes to organizing, the name of the game I follow is ‘simple and cheap‘. In my own home organizing as well as in clients homes, I emphasize practicality over perfection. Fancy organizing gadgets are fun, but you don’t need them to get organized. Using items you already own, along with a good quality [...]

Do you have a closet that looks something like this? It starts out clean enough, but throw one thing in haphazardly and soon things begin to multiply on the floor, the shelves…. My parents have devoted a room to their very active grandchildren. Since the room serves as a grandkid’s guest room and playroom, it [...]

The Christmas supplies been put away. On to a new year and new goals. If you’re like me, you may have neglected your Christmas wrapping paper supplies. There are always those last minute gifts to wrap, and so somehow wrapping paper is the last item to find a home. In my house, the pre-Christmas wrapping frenzy [...]

It can feel hard enough to find a home for your household items. And how do you make sure items make it back to their home once you do? How do you get your family on board? And why do they think everything belongs on the kitchen table? Since these are questions I have certainly [...]

On Tuesday I shared a few tweaks that are making my laundry room more functional. Between the rolling cart overhaul, the bag storage, and the cleaning supplies reference, my laundry room is feeling almost like a place I don’t mind spending time in. Overcoming one of the many hurdles to my laundry room makeover came [...]

It is amazing what a simple piece of paper posted on the back of a door can do to make a space more functional. For the past four years or so, I have been slowly switching to homemade cleaning products (I am still not at 100% homemade, but I try as much as possible since it [...]

My laundry closet is slowly but surely getting in to tip-top shape. This project felt like a doozy and is one I put off for far too long. But finally, I am making it manageable by breaking the big project into smaller chunks. I started with purging, painting, and rearranging my white rolling cart which [...]

Anytime I see a laundry room makeover featured on a blog, I turn click away. It may sound strange, but while I usually love being motivated by makeovers, any inspiration in this case means I’d have to redo my own laundry room. It feels too overwhelming to even think about it. My laundry room, er, storage [...]

A trek across the desert? A house crashing? A long and winding road? Whatever you call the journey, the interview with my grandma was well worth the 6 hour drive. She’s the queen of all organizing and I loved hearing her tips. Plus we had fun on the way; gravel at the rest-stop kept the girls [...]

Wouldn’t it be nice if once you organized, your space stayed organized for good? If we are going to live in the space we all know perfection is not realistic. Organization requires some maintenance to keep your spaces up to snuff. Besides, the point is to organize so you can make space for living; even if that [...]

Thank you for the birthday wishes and for letting me indulge in my little birthday break. After a bit of celebrating, I was ready to conquer some cord clutter! I have been meaning to resolve this issue since this previous 10 Minute Tuesday Project. Although there are many options to wrangle pesky cords, my favorite solution [...]

One of the most important organizing systems in my home is a little file folder I keep all of my “action files” in. Incoming paper is sorted right next to this box and paper is immediately filed into its proper home. Since implementing the action file box, there are no more piles of paper on my [...]

  Are you missing one of the most important aspects in organizing your life? I know with a lead in like that this better be good! I’m talking about… Routines. Routines are perfect ways to infuse organization into your days. It’s like that saying come to life, “a place for everything and everything in its [...]

I love seeing the break down of projects, especially thrifty projects. I realized I forgot to share my own break down of Organizing by the Numbers where I share the price of everything. I wanted to complete my desk overhaul without breaking the bank.  Since I knew I wanted pops of color and function, I chose a few new accessories, plus [...]

  Have I mentioned I liked Pinterest?  I may have proclaimed my love a few times!  Today I have a prime example of why this site is just so addicting and fun.  Without Pinterest I would have never found this  brilliant  organizing  solution  by  Spunky Junky.   After seeing this contraption, I knew I could [...]

  There comes a time when you decide the best thing to do is to relocate.  That was the realization I came to recently when I wanted to do work at my desk but something kept hold me back. I’ve shared my newly functioning desk workspace. But I realized I never shared the biggest element [...]

I thought it would be fun to share a collection of organizing ideas found on Pinterest.  (This post may or may not have been written so that I can officially call my time spent on Pinterest “research.” ) There are so many clever organizing solutions to be found! Every time I log on to the site, I [...]

  It seems every time I start to clean up my makeup stash, I get distracted. 30 minutes later, I catch a glimpse in the mirror and my face resembles a 12 year-old who has experimented with all of her mother’s makeup. It’s like I’m living out the storyline from the children’s book If You Give a [...]

My long abandoned desk has undergone an organization overall.  After getting way too comfortable doing my computer work in a comfy (but non-ergo friendly) armchair; I knew it was time to reclaim my desk space!  The first stage of the desk overhaul is already a huge improvement. Since it was definitely much more functional, I [...]

  I have been hiding something… a big disorganized mess, and it is not pretty. My desk mess is so easy to hide, just close the doors. But even with the pretty doors shut, it still doesn’t take away what I know lurks inside. Truthfully, with all that mess, there wasn’t much work happening at [...]

I love it when organizing can happen without spending a fortune on cute containers. Low cost solutions are great and free ones are even better! I am always looking for ways to re-purpose items around my home. My friend sent me a picture of a magazine article with directions to make your own desk organizer [...]

  Instead the usual 10 Minute Tuesday Organizing Challenge, I am going to share my latest easy-peasy cord control discovery. Cords are a constant pain in my side. Check out the cord mess hiding behind my husband’s bedside table.   I honestly haven’t figured out the best way to handle them and I am always [...]

  After finding solutions for my dad’s cabinet clutter, it was time to turn my attention to my own disheveled cabinets. What I found was not pretty. After an unsupervised fort clean-up (meaning the girls just shoved the blankets in the cabinet) and a shelf now designated for bottle storage, the hall linen cabinet needed [...]

  The great office organization of 2011 (aka my dad’s office, which has been accumulating paper for 25 years) has made slow and steady progress. We started with paperwork and then moved on to establishing organizing systems throughout the office. My dad has systems in place, but they are no longer working. So the key [...]

  We are dealing with ground break stuff here on today’s 10 Minute Tuesday. Let’s start by looking at this good ol’ Ikea utensil holder I have had since college.   It doesn’t look too horrible in this picture, but if you look closely there are only about 4 usable pens in there; and only [...]

  We have all done it. Left an item or note out on the counter or table as a reminder of a task that needs our attention. Even with the best of intentions, I know I am not the only one who has left that same item undone and sitting out for weeks. Can it really [...]

  My friend, Bethany recently converted a large den-type space into her bedroom. It turned out fantastic with a big bay window to enjoy daily. The one problem is that since it was a former living room, there is no closet. She took a built-in bookshelf, removed the shelves, and added a closet rod. Clever [...]

  While helping a friend clean out her closet, I spied the top of her dresser and saw a perfect project for a 10 Minute Tuesday Challenge. I pictured her fishing through the clutter trying to find a simple item and being the slightly organizing obsessed friend that I am, I couldn’t let that happen. [...]

  I have this wacky narrow cabinet in my kitchen? It is almost useless. When I first attempted to use it as a pantry the front held two cans side by side and to reach anything else I had to empty out the contents of the cabinet to find it. Who designed this and thought [...]

  I am being adventurous this week and so I decided to capture my 10 Minute Tuesday organizing challenge on video! Crazy right? Don’t worry, I edited it down plus sped it up to spare you a full 10 minutes of bathroom drawer reorganizing. Ready? Watch it on YouTube

I have been slowly working my way through organizing my 2 and 4 year old daughters’ room. I organized the toys in their room with a craigslist find. Next, I organized the closet toys I rotate in every month or so. With all of the toys organized, I knew it was time to conquer the [...]

  I was honored when I found out Jill over at Mission Decorate gave Space for Living a shout-out on her blog. And I was even more thrilled to see the transformation she shared! Jill totally blew me away with what she and her husband accomplished in only one hour. She definitely took the idea [...]

  I might be setting myself up for ridicule by sharing this next piece of information but I don’t care. I have to share because I love it…I keep all of my spices in a drawer in alphabetical order. I’ll admit, when I first read this tip in some housewife book, I thought it sounded [...]

Organizing is all about taking into account your personality and your working style. I love taking a tip or a system and making it work for my home. If a system won’t work for the way you live, it will feel as if you have no system in place at all. Take a look at [...]

  When is the last time I read, watched, or listened to this? If I answer that question honestly about some of our books, movies, or music, I can move onto the next question which is a little harder to be truthful about. What is a reasonable amount of time to hang on to items [...]

Hold on to your seats, you are about to see an amazing transformation! I was there and I can hardly believe it myself. The small room in question has to serve multiple functions: as a pantry, a laundry room and a storage closet for four roommates! However, the room was hardly functioning at all. It [...]

  When my parents moved two years ago, I convinced my dad it was the perfect time to organize his garage. As a young girl, I always dreamed of having an organized garage (sounds weird, I know), and now I wanted to give my parents a new garage fit for their new home. My parents [...]

A few months ago our house was overwhelmed with toys until Toy Overhaul Part I saved the day! With a little help from the used Expedit bookcase from Ikea we found a toy storage solution. w The organized cubbies made such a huge difference in keeping the toys organized in the girls’ room, instead of all [...]

  My sisters closet/office had become a complete dumping ground for anything and everything “miscellaneous;” if it didn’t have a real home or if she wasn’t sure where it should live, it ended up in the office to be dealt with later. I should start by saying that my sister is very organized. She and [...]

Some days my house feels like one big giant toy box! Clutter Problem: Too many toys and books with nowhere to put them.       Here is an example of toys lacking a defined home also known as things everywhere!     Even though parts of my home felt organized, I was determined to [...]

I am going to be honest here. I was not looking forward to today’s 10 minute Tuesday project. Sometimes just looking at the “before” can be enough to make you put off a clean up. I was even nervous to share the before pictures here on the blog! So I gave myself a little pep-talk, [...]

  I love finding brand new ideas for organizing and problem solving, but sometimes the best ideas come from advice that stands the test of time. I found this bit of wisdom in a book I was reading.   Four Good Working Habits That Will Help Prevent Fatigue and Worry Clear your desk of all [...]

  One thing I struggle with constantly, is finding large chunks of time to work on a project. I end up putting things off until I have a good amount of time to sit down and start a project. Well with a 2 year old and a 4 year old, we all know that rarely [...]