De-Cluttering the Bathroom

Isn't it amazing how the smallest room in most homes, the bathroom, can become the most cluttered?

Most of my clients have multiple bathrooms including a master bath, a guest bath and often a separate bath that is designated to the kids or spouse. (I hear that one of the secrets to a happy household is separate bathrooms.)

Ladies, I must say that we normally cause most of the clutter in a master bath. With our razors, soaps, gels, lotions, body sprays, and makeup that make us smell fabulous and look pretty, we can quickly clutter up a shower stall and vanity top.

Following are some of the ways to minimize bathroom clutter:

• Bottles of Shampoo and Conditioner: If you have several bottles in your shower caddy, either use them up, give them away, or throw them out. Are you saving them because they were expensive and you don't want to use them up? Did they just not provide the results you expected? Remember that hair conditioner can also be used as shaving lotion and shampoo can be used to clean your makeup brushes and hair brushes.
  

• Old towels and wash cloths: Life is too short to use scratchy, dingy towels on your squeaky-clean body. Almost everyone has too many mismatched towels on hand. Consider re-purposing your old towels as car/pet towels or donate them to your local animal shelter. Most households only need two-three towels per family member.

• Blowdryers, diffusers, and curling irons: The first question to ask is, "Do I use this?" If not, donate it. I would make one exception, however. You may want to keep one travel size blowdryer on hand for overnight guests.
  

• Makeup: If the makeup is old and expired, throw it out. Pink eye is not pretty, people. Most women have a core set of makeup for everyday use with a few extras thrown in for dramatic evening flair. Gather all of your non-core makeup in one bag or basket and then be relentless as you decide what to keep and what to toss. If it's the wrong color, made you break out, or is no longer age-appropriate (should you still be using party glitter once you're over 40? I'm just saying...), then toss it.
  

• Medicine cabinet: Go through your medicine cabinet and throw out expired meds. A couple of years ago I cleaned out a client's medicine cabinet that contained Chloraseptic throat spray that expired in the 80s. Yikes! And to entertain your nosy friends, put some kind of zany picture on the inside of your medicine cabinet door. It will make them laugh, but they won't be able to comment about it without divulging that they were snooping.
  

• Under-sink cabinet. Occasionally pull everything out from under your bathroom sink to determine whether it still deserves to stay. If you can afford to have pullout drawers installed in this area, they are wonderful! If not, you can always use a couple of plastic sweater boxes or shoe boxes as makeshift drawers.
  

I have only one bathroom in my little fifties ranch house which I, of course, share with my husband. And this tiny bathroom does not have a sink cabinet. Needless to say, we have learned to really streamline our personal toiletries. I installed a small wall cabinet for my toiletries and my husband uses the medicine cabinet for his. I fit all of my makeup into two little cosmetic bags. To be happy and functional in our shared little bathroom, less is definitely better.

Time and Money Saver: The Six O'Clock Scramble

There was recent discussion amongst NAPO organizers about an on-line dinner planning service called The Six O'Clock Scramble (www.thescramble.com) that I wanted to share with you. It sounds like a time AND money saver. And who couldn't use more time and money, right?

Each week Six O'Clock Scramble subscribers receive:

• Five family-tested, healthy, delicious, and quick dinner recipes that take 30 minutes or less to prepare
• An organized grocery list so you can grocery shop just once per week
  
• A searchable database where you can customize your weekly dinner plan
• Your own recipe box where you can save you family's favorite 30-minute meals
• A newsletter with useful tips for easier mealtime, snacks, and lunches
• Nutritional information for each recipe to help you take charge of your health

Several NAPO organizers said that their lives have been so much easier since subscribing to this service. And it's not just for busy moms! I saw a testimonial on the site from a couple who are recent empty-nesters, and they described how they have been able to save money on groceries because they are only buying what they know they will use in a given week.

Plus it's healthier than eating out because The Scramble emphasizes whole grains, lean proteins, and lots of fruits and vegetables. And if you have special dietary needs such as vegetarian or Kosher, you can swap out any meal with a selection from the Scramble database.

Finally, I love their recipe box feature too. They say on the FAQ section that they will even keep your recipe box for up to a year after your subscription ends.

You may also want to pick up The Six O'Clock Scrambler book at Barnes & Noble.

Simplify Your (and Your Kid's) Wardrobe

Fellow organizer and blogger, Jeri Dansky, recently wrote in her fabulous blog about the trend toward simplifying your wardrobe by finding a uniform that works for you.

This reminded me of a conversation that I had last week with a client while we were organizing her second-grader's room. Mom told me that, after realizing that her daughter only wore about 20% of her clothes with any regularity, she decided to only buy what the daughter liked to wear. It's sounds so simple, yet so perfect! Mom donated the 80% of the clothes her daughter never wore and bought a few new core pieces (in her daughter's case, that meant more pants and cute t-shirts). Now she has tons more closet and drawer space. Plus, mom says that her daughter still gets complemented all the time on the 6 or 7 outfits that she mixes and matches.

My own wardrobe follows a similar path. I tend to invest in well-made basics with colorful tops and jackets to jazz things up. My mother-in-law taught me years ago to stick with the classics, find colors that flatter you, and invest in quality clothing. She always looks smashing, so I try and take her advice.

When it comes to developing a practical, signature look, I think Jamie Lee Curtis said it best in this May/June 2008 AARP magazine interview:

"My style is a distillation. I've etched out who I am through myriad haircut attempts, outfit attempts, beauty attempts, diet attempts. It's been an evolution. I've let my hair go gray. I wear only black and white. Every year I buy three or four black dresses that I just keep in rotation. I own one pair of blue jeans. I've given away all my jewelry, because I don't wear it."

Wow, now that's a woman who's comfortable with her uniform!

Photo from alllovelpy-2' flickr account

Mother's Day Gift Ideas

Mother's Day is just around the corner (Sunday, May 11th), and I'm willing to bet that a few of you have procrastinated and are still wondering what to get mom for Mother's Day. Allow me to make some suggestions that will keep you out of the dog house and won't clutter mom's house up.

• Flowers are ALWAYS appropriate as far as I'm concerned. What gal doesn't love to see the flower delivery guy on her doorstep? And if you're feeling really generous, you could get her a blooming outdoor plant and offer to plant it in her garden. Then she can appreciate it for years to come.

• Spa gift certificates are also a big hit for the busy mom who could use a bit of pampering. While you're at it, go ahead and pick one up for yourself. The two of you can follow the spa treatment with lunch and make an afternoon of it.
  

• Give mom the day off by letting her sleep late, making her breakfast, and giving her a juicy new novel to read or a DVD of the latest chick flick.
  

• For the food-loving mom, a box of decadently good chocolate is always a winner. Or if sweets aren't her thing, how about a cheese-0f-the-month club, a wine-of-the-month club, or a fruit bouquet?
  

• For the fitness conscious mom, you could give her a pedometer or a heart rate monitor to help her track her workouts. If it's motivation she needs, consider giving her a couple of sessions with an exercise trainer or getting her one of those cute little MP3 players with some of her favorite tunes already downloaded onto it.

• And, of course, if she's looking for a little help getting organized, you could offer to help her clean out her closet, basement, or garage or give her a gift certificate for a professional organizer that can help her clear her clutter.
  

My step-mom is a practical kind of gal, so each year I use the novel approach of asking her what she'd like as a gift. That way I at least know that she's getting something she really wants and will use. She's in the process of organizing some rooms in their house, and she requested some nifty items from The Container Store. So essentially, we're both getting gifts, mine being the opportunity to shop in my favorite store on the planet.

For those of you whose moms have passed on, you can still honor her on Sunday by lighting a candle for her, writing her a love letter, or talking to her through your own version of prayer. I'll bet she'll know that you're thinking about her.

Mom's Favorite Organizer

This is the time of year when many of you pick out a new calendar or organizer to help you plan your days, weeks and months. Wait, let me rephrase that. This is when the paper calendar lovers pick up a new calendar. Amongst my Professional Organizing clients, I've found that there are old-school paper calendar fans and there are electronic calendar fans. I'm one of the technology converts (some call us geeks) who keeps my schedule on my hand held iPhone and Google calendar.

If you like to use a non-electronic, paper organizer and you're a mom with kids, let me recommend a calendar created just for moms by moms. The Mom Agenda is a unique calendar that begins in August 2007 (the month school starts for most kids) and runs through December 2008. It features pages for planning your month, and pages for planning your week. But best of all, it has separate spaces for each kid and even has a place to plan each day's menu. Plus it comes in the cutest colors and has the prettiest fonts. If I ever ditch the iPhone (AS IF!!!), I'd use this calendar even though I don't have wee ones. I'd just use the bottom section for biz-related stuff and the top for my personal life.

The Mom Agenda is on sale right now at See Jane Work for $31.50, a savings of over ten bucks.

What calendar do you love and why? Leave us a comment to spread the word on your fave.

Creating Morning Routines For Kids

The new school year brings with it the need to get kids back into a normal daily routine. Gone are the lazy summer days of sleeping late and splashing around in the pool all day. Here are some suggestions to help simplify your morning routine with the kids:

• Get up about 20-30 minutes earlier than you would need for a "perfect-world" morning. This leaves you some wiggle room for the occasional kiddie meltdown, lost school work, and dressing dilemma, not to mention mom misplacing her keys.
  
• Stagger wakeup times if you have a shortage of bathrooms in your home. Also consider having kids bathe the night before.
• Eliminate distractions such as television to keep kids focused on getting dressed, fed, and out the door on time.
• Pre-pack school lunches the night before or have the kids make their own lunches in the morning or night before.
• Select outfits the night before. Lay out or hang everything needed for the outfit including underwear, socks, shoes, and accessories. This little tip works well for mom and dad too!
• Create checklists of chores or tasks that the kids should do before leaving the house in the morning (i.e. make bed, brush teeth, feed pets, gather up lunch, backpack, musical instrument, gym clothes, library books, etc.)
• Set a kitchen timer to go off ten minutes before it's time to head out the door.
• Create a "launching pad" next to the door for backpacks, jackets, musical instruments, gym clothes and mom and dad's briefcases and keys. Make sure cubbies and hooks are low enough for young kids to reach them.
• For those really hectic mornings, grab breakfast foods that can be eaten in the car such as fruit, cheese sticks, squeezable yogurt packets, muffins or bagels with cream cheese or peanut butter, and the trusty old standby of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

With a little bit of pre-planning, you and your kids can leave home feeling less stressed and better prepared to face the day ahead.