How to Organize Anything

Posted on January 26, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

For real. After 16 homes and an untold number of Mission Organization and Clean Sweep episodes under my belt I feel certain it's this simple. (remember my motto – simple, not easy)

Sort

Stack

Toss

Store

lather, rinse, repeat.

This chant is on my lips as I move through my days right now. It's how you go from this:

to this:

I would have added "fast" but we try to stick to non-fiction writing over here. Speed is dependent on a lot of variables – energy level, interuptions/distraction possibilities, and how much cr@p you actually have to work through. When you see the shows on tv move through areas in record time you have to consider how much man power they have. If you are doing all the lifting and hauling and labeling yourself it will take longer. If you have to stop to tie small shoes, nurse babies, or referee tween disagreements this will impact.

Still, it all works the same way process wise. You'll need a pile to keep, to give away, and a big bag or box for stuff to toss for the first round. Divvy up all the items into those piles. Get rid of the tossers and the giveaways. Then store the keepers appropriately. If we had more time and materials I would have printed coordinating labels here. (and am determined to do this when stateside again!) Truth is, index cards and a pen do the job for now so it is what it is. This is about getting the job done, even if it flies in the face of my aesthetics loving self.

Ziplock storage bags and clear packing tape are my staple items. I put all puzzles, manipulatives, and games into the 2 gallon size bags. Another buzz phrase – "like with like". Office supplies in smaller size bags. Flash cards, sewing supplies, you name it, they all get bagged and then boxed. On the other end I can grab the bags easily and distribute them to whichever rooms work best in the new house. Again, I hope to have some lovely storage containers when that happens but truth is, the school supplies (pencils, pens, ruler, scissors, glue) are contained and totally functional right now with them all in one gallon sized bag. So some of that is to impress ourselves and other moms vs an absolute need. Save your cash for when you truly have things pared down and functioning super well.

Some boxes got a purge and restock. Here is the gift wrap/party box. We have worked out of this while in England. We save gift bags (yes, they aren't cheap) and have tissue paper, scissors, bows tossed in along with party items like streamers and candles. All right there. Not a huge variety. In fact, I think it would be even wiser to pick neutrals like metallics or black and white or whatever that would work for any event. Then you certainly can grab and go from the box on short notice. Wrapping stuff is pricey.

Alright, back at it. Will be honest – we are not machines. As Clutter Diet explains here, one of the hardest parts of sorting, tossing, storing is how inevitably you are drawn back to where you were when you got or used the items first. It's that emotional work that is exhausting, not the physical part. As I mentioned before it is perfectly ok to decide you are not ready to deal with momentos. If so, go straight to logical storage and tackle more practical messes first. Those go quickly.

Sort, stack, toss, store.

If you want some hand holding I highly recommend Peter Walsh's 31 Day Challenge with video coaching. (free!) You work in small chunks and get solid habits established.

Pinterest fan? Join me over here. I am planning the infrastructure of the next house. Very excited.

the tile story

Posted on January 22, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

It's a story, short but sweet. Truly both. I was talking to a mom a couple weeks ago about my tendency to strike up conversations with strangers and to become engrossed in their stories. At a Christmas party a year ago that happened. There was a man who had the same condition as our son and had played wheelchair basketball. As we talked about all that he shared how he grew up in Africa but as a young adult his host nation had a revolution. Europeans were deported back to their countries of origin and for his family that was Portugal although it had been generations since they lived there.

We had just been to Portugal and I was saying how taken I was with the local tile art and so sad I couldn't bring any back. We had only carry on suitcases however on that trip.

This is where the story gets really wonderful. : )

So as I was encouraging this younger mom to take time to listen even to perhaps eccentric, chatty people my husband mentions that this young man messaged him. Turns out he had come back from a visit to Portugal and lugged this set of tiles back with him for me.

Moral of the story, no bit of warmth you send out into world and no bit of investing you do in other people is forgotten. Everyone has a story. The tiles will forever remind of his.

Invest. Listen. Care. It matters and it is noticed.

House tour – living room

Posted on January 22, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

Mmmkay. Living room is ready to go. So I quick got pics before anyone messed it up again. It's a rare thing to photograph a room in this house with no people in it. You can see the dog wasn't playin'. Like go ahead lady but I live here and I'm sitting right where I am.

The main part of the house is set up much like a midwestern American four square. There is a central entry, hall and staircase with a set of rooms on either side. This room has no divider making a long rectangle. Since the furniture all coordinated we opted to put the dining set in here instead of the separate dining which is now the schoolroom. (ie where all the white bookcases had to live since there were no radiators in there)

The small table was salvaged from an architects office locally and was used to store blueprints. Atop are a vintage suitcase and picnic sets. On top of the center are apothecary jars from Germany.

The leather couches are consignment store finds from a half dozen years ago. The leather is getting worn but they have held up remarkably well. The crazy quilt was in my home growing up. British flag canvas? Two bucks ish at a local garage sale thankyouverymuch. Under it is a golden oak cake stand. It folds flat. I saw several at an antique sale last fall. Then found one closer to home at a thrift shop.

The dining set was from a closeout sale a dozen years ago. I dont necessarily love the mission style but it will likely last forEVAH. It's solid wood and heavy. And it houses my possible excessive collection(s) of transferware. Some people collect shoes. I have like three pairs. China is another story… As in, that basket in the bottom of the entertainment center may have more plates inside. On top of this china cabinet are green glass wine bottles from Germany. And a rooster. Just because.

The antique china cabinet is from here. Turns out we need to have it appraised and certified free of wood worm in order to ship it back. Project for tomorrow. Hopefully that will go better than having the car test free from all British soil went today. Sigh. Inspection re-do scheduled.

Green Art Deco vase is from a local charity shop (junk shop). Gnomes from Germany as is the big stoneware crock with the twigs standing inside. Mission style table and British crystal fixture. Good thing no one is paying me to set this up lol.

We do alot of living in this space. It is sort of like Donny and Marie – a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll. Ok not really. A little bit formal though but not quite there in either direction. No idea where that will end up as furniture gets divided up to adult children in coming years. But it's an adventure for me to reinvent at each home.

half way there

Posted on January 21, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

This was like, last week, right? Or not. Baby Moira whose neonatal nurse sang to her, "Moira, Moira, more-a beautiful than all the other babieeeess." (Hey, true story. I don't make the news, I just report it.) My girl who was game for anything from day one. Brave, adventurous, caring. And always smiling. Always smiling.

She was her sister's little shadow and our best ranch hand. She has climbed mountains (on two continents) and milked goats and bottle fed kittens and road ponies over the plains. She has competed all over Europe and played the piano and stood looking out from atop the Eiffel Tower. She has renested baby birds and taught tiny people to dance. And take selfies. 'Cause this is the twenty tens or whatever. and now…..

She's all grown up, folks. It happened. 18. Which means that fully half our big, crazy group of kids are now adults. Or alternately, that we have a whole 'nuther set to raise up. I prefer that last interpretation, though honestly every step has been fascinating in it's own right, watching them unfold and grow.

She came to Europe as a very new teen. She leaves a high school senior with a whole new life ahead in a new country. Plans for the next year are still coming together. Whatever they are they will definitely be sparkly and exciting and big.

She will always be my baby Moira though. Always. The girl with the smile.

Dear Abbie,

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

Weekending

Posted on January 19, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

It's been about…

Remembering to leave time to scrape the windshield

Passing out sweets sent home from mass by Josephine

Goodbye hugs from our kiwi friends, now Brits, with promises to meet in the US next time

Hauling worn out stuff to the 'skip'

Reading in bed

Boys basketball

Roast in the crock pot.

thinking over the importance of a truly gentle spirit and all the implications of that for our children, our husbands, our friends

good eats – paleo muffin in a mug

Posted on January 17, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

recipe here

Water’s edge, Clovelly

Posted on January 17, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

So just when you think you are never reaching bottom, you turn a bend and there it is right beneath you.

The reward

and your's truly, all wild haired and old lady arm-ed, but hey, I was there and in the frame.

Clovelly by the Sea

Posted on January 15, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

Without a doubt I will run out of time in England long before I run out of stories to tell. This was a good one. We found Clovelly late in the day and decided rather ambitiously to hike down its cobblestones to the Bristol Channel. We saw the maps and elevations. It still seemed like a must do.

Clovelly clings to the cliffsides of the bay. Wattle and daub cottages clutch the hillside with no two on the same level. In fact, you cannot find a place to stand where your two feet are level.

Because of this there is no car or bike traffic permitted in the village and historically donkeys have been used to transport people and goods up and down. Donkeys or other ingenuity…

Charles Kingsley of Water Babies fame spent part of his childhood in the village. Rumor had it a band of cannibals once hid out in the hills nearby. My beloved Turner painted the harbor. And idyllic spot for sure.

Tomorrow I will show you around the harbor.

Master bedroom tour and the organization snowball

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

Or…what's Dave Ramsey got to do with cleaning my room? He came to mind as we are tackling a major whole house clean and purge. If you aren't familiar with Dave Ramsey's debt snowball method he recommends that you list your bills from largest to smallest. Then you make minimum payments on all but the smallest and throw all you've got on that one til it's paid off. Then you take that monthly allotment plus the amount you were spending on that smallest debt and apply it all to the next larger bill. And so on and so on. Well it occurred to me that it can be a big morale boost to clean that way. I am hitting the rooms that are easily managed and rolling from there.

The master bedroom has always been one of my favorite rooms in this house. The bed linens are from Martha Stewart's Water Garden set we found discounted several years ago and have held up very well. Coincidentally the heavy butter yellow English drapes that were here when we arrived matched perfectly so I bought zero things for this room. Nada. The side table is actually a sewing machine table with another drape thrown over. Since I didn't actually use the sewing machine you see.

Old friends will remember we found the bed our first day in Germany from a local vendor. Some weeks later we found the matching armoire at a junk shop. That story is here. The two pieces are living happily in this old house in England now.

So, organization snowball. That's what's happening over here. Auntie Leila explains exactly how we do things so there is no need to repeat. If it's been a while since you have really deep cleaned or you don't know where to begin please go directly there. Read, be inspired. Like her, I began with the master bedroom. My husband's work clothes are in the armoire. The rest of our things are in two particle board type wardrobes in the closet behind the door. Shoes are hung in bags on the other side of the doors. All my small jewelry is kept in one of these. My necklaces are hung over a couple command hooks inside the wardrobe door. Scarves are wrapped over a hanger like this.

So there you have it. More rooms to follow because ready or not the move is happening.