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When I started my business 8 years ago, I take a good hard look at my plate. I have always been a committee type gal. I love charity and have been involved in many different wonderful things in my life. From fundraisers, to childrens centers, I have done it all.

After realizing that in the organizing biz, you don’t have a regular schedule, I decided to scale back. Instead of doing volunteer work with regular organization, I volunteer for several events per year.

I needed to free my time up to effectively run my business. I also needed to be flexible for my clients. By making these changes, I was able to have a better balance.

Is part of the reason you are disorganized because your plate is too full? Think about it!

This initiatve is to help make our homes safe and good for the environment. They are many cases each year in which kids/adults take medicine that they should not have taken resulting in illness or death.

From an environmental aspect, you should never flush your drugs down the toilet. This puts them in the water system. Yes there are some people that could benefit from some happiness pills, but its not healthy. The proper disposal of drugs is the mash them up( a potato masher works great) and mix them in with coffee grounds or cat litter.

So why do you ask are their homes still full? In many instances, the homes are so backlogged with items that need to be recycled. One small trash can won’t do it for these homes. I can’t tell you how many times I have walked down alleys and distributed recycling among several bins. In one home, I filled up an entire garage with items for recycle.

When I am working in a high rise, I go floor to floor! Nothing like riding an elevator with a bag of recycling. Some of the high rises now have large dumpsters in the garages. How I love working in those buildings.

Not every place has recycling. There are still alot of neighborhoods and buildings that don’t recycle. In one of the buildings I worked in, I had to take car loads of recycling to a recycle center.

Another reason for the “build up” is not knowing where to recycle certain items such as paint or electronics. I am a big fan of the goose island recycle center in Chicago. I have made many a trip to their North Branch location.

For those of you that are getting your “green” on, check out the website www.earth911.com/recycling. This site will help you learn to recycle.

So keep it clean and clear!

I decided to embrace the newness and give it a try. BIG DISLIKE. When I clicked on my page,  I could not focus. I felt like I had ADD! Everything that was nice and neat and organized in columns, was now splashed across the page! Wow! Overload and overwhelm!!

When I look at someones facebook page, its usually to catch up with an old friend or check out a prospective date(at least I am honest). With the timeline set up its more difficult to see the updates. You have two columns of updates on either side. The status updates are rather huge and limited.

I don’t see a reason for the map function. Do people really care where I have been?  Having my friends list in a huge block also doesn’t make sense to me! It was perfectly fine on the side!

The cover at the top is also kind of strange. You really need a group picture of scene for that one. Do I really have the time for another project? Not!

One thing that I do like is the “likes” area. I do tend to go on business partners likes to see if there are any new groups.

Oh well, its just like when they rearrange the grocery store, I will adapt!

Since my closet is organized by style and color, the process is very easy. I simply take one category at a time and quickly evaluate each piece.  Do I like it? Is it still stylish(probably since my taste is classic not trendy)? Is it faded or stretched out?

Yes, I finally gave up my last mini skirt. I also eliminated a few favorite shirts that my friends jokingly call my “uniform.” Its scary when people know your wardrobe better than you do! Even though they were in good shape, I was tired of them and they had served me quite well.

A stylist once told me that if its not your “A” game, it doesn’t belong in your closet. I agree with her wholeheartedly. I only buy things that I love and that make me feel good!

By organizing your clothes by style and color, it saves your not only time but money. If you can see that you have 10 black shirts, then you know not to buy another one!

Happy Spring!!

So where did this term come from and why do we all feel the need to follow it like junior high gals following the latest trend??

According to Wikipedia, spring cleaning refers to “the yearly act of cleaning a house from top to bottom which would take place in the first warm days of the year, typically in the spring.”
It has been suggested that the orgins date back to the Iranian Norouz, the Persian new year which falls on the first day of spring. Iranians continue the practice of “khooneh tekouni” which literally means “shaking the house” just before the new year.

Other cultures which participate in full house cleanings are:

1. The Jewish culture cleanses the home in preparation of Passover(I don’t remember my Kessler family doing this one!!)

2. The Greek call the week before lent “Clean Week” and clean their homes throughly inside and out.

3. “New Years Cleaning” is a tradition that the Scottish practice on Hogmanay which falls on December 31st.

So there you have it. “Spring Cleaning” does have a history among several different cultures.

If you are unsure how to start or what needs to be done to make your home sparkle, both Real Simple and Martha Stewart have a spring cleaning checklist!

Happy Cleaning/Organizing!!

For this month only, Arranged By Erin will be offering a special. If you purchase a 4 hour session, you will get your fifth hour free. You must use all 5 hours at one time.

So start your year off right!! Get organized! Give us a call!

It kills me when I see all these plastic bags. The grocery stores have even set up recycling bins for them. An average reusable bag costs .99 cents. So buck it up people!! Get some reusable bags!! 

I drive to most places, so I keep my stash in my trunk. I also keep a small foldable bag in my purse for small purchases. I have also noticed that alot of stores  even ask if you want a bag.

The reason most people I have  talked with don’t bother with reusable bags is that they forget them. I too, at first forgot mine. Its all about making it a habit!

So save the earth and use resuable bags for your shopping! Its easy.

Erin