Garage Craft Area

Are you short on space inside your home?  Could you spare some room in your garage?  Well its easy to carve out a craft area just about anywhere.  I took all the craft items from all over the house and made a little spot in our garage to do some creating!  This is just phase one for now.  I thought we would live with the space a little while before we decide to crank it up to the next level! ;)

I already had this shelving unit from our last house stored up in the attic.  It's from container store and has shelf liners to go on each shelf.  It also has handy hooks.  I had left over PVC from a project and decided to use that for my ribbon.  I also had this MDF board from a closet office (I made) in my old house.  I used it over 2 saw horses we had in the garage.   Not to shabby for a 2 hour project!

DVD storage

Don't let DVD's take up valuable real estate in your house!  

Condense them down to cases like these. 

Now when you are going on a road trip you will be one step closer to being packed.

Master closet

This master closet transformation took several hours.  It was a multi-step process that entailed trying on clothes, buying a new double rod and moving everything around.  At least 6 bags to Goodwill and $130 made at the consignment store www.buffaloexchange.com now the female side of this closet is complete!

BEFORE shoes were hidden under clothes and hard to find.

AFTER we added a new shoe organizer up top and a double rod from container store.

BEFORE (sorry I guess I didn't take a good" before" shot all the way to the ceiling)

AFTER!

Home office transformation

This office was so fun to do! My client doesn't have an actual study, so instead of her mom desk being out for everyone to see we moved it to an old storage and game closet in the family's den. Now Mom feels like she can work and still be in the room with the rest of the family watching TV or playing a game. 

office space BEFORE

closet space BEFORE

AFTER!

After

This is my favorite way to get desks organized.  Putting the files this direction helps for speedy filing and quick access to find things.

This hanging pocket is a great way to see things at a glance.

Organized Style by Kari FAN project!

Wow my FAVORITE thing to hear is "YOU INSPIRED ME to do _____!"  I love love love it!  Some people just need a little encouragement and visuals to get their creative juices flowing.  I was contacted by my 2nd grade Teacher.....yes you heard it right MY 2nd grade Teacher who was following my Facebook page and said her and her husband were finally going to get their garage organized after 40 years!  Now being a Teacher she is naturally organized, but getting the hubby on board was the final piece to the puzzle.  She sent me this photo to let me know that I INSPIRED THEM!  Imagine that, the STUDENT finally gets to inspire the Teacher! 

 Join me in saying....JOB WELL DONE Mrs. Reynolds!!

It is stories like this that keep me motivated to keep doing what I do.

What will you get ORGANIZED today??

One hardworking closet!

Do you have a hardworking closet like this one?  One that needs to be so many things?  This closet needed to be a linen closet, a scrapbook supply closet, an overflow of toiletries closet, a medicine cabinet, kids artwork closet, and art supplies closet.  Even though you are short on space it is possible to make a small closet work!

 The medicines are separated by adult, children, and first aide.  Sheet sets are folded inside it's matching pillow case to save room and keep from falling all over the place.  Shelves within the shelf help make room for easy access and stacking.

I love using these art portfolios for my kids large artwork year after year.  The clear and green bins you see house markers, crayons, pencils/pens, and craft supplies.  One type for each bin.  That way when my boys have homework after school they grab the appropriate bin and take it to the table to work.  Afterwards it gets put back in its spot.

Organized School Lunches and After School Snacks

 7 Tips for making lunches smooth sailing in the mornings:

 1.) Designate a drawer in the freezer for all the ice packs for lunches.

 2.) Create a spot in the fridge for all lunch supplies ( ie: bread, turkey, cheese, yogurt, hummus, etc.).

 3.) Concoct a cold pasta, chicken salad, tuna salad, etc. ahead for the week.

 4.) If you use a lunch divider like my favorite, laptop lunchbox (www.laptoplunches.com) make sure    you buy 2 so one is always clean.

 5.) Have a clear bin in the pantry to house all the lunch snacks and treats for easy access.

6.) Talk to your kids about what is an appropriate snack to eat after school.   Then have them at kid level in the pantry or fridge for easy access.

 7.) MOST IMPORTANT TIP: get up at least 10 minutes earlier to allow time for your cup of coffee before starting the crazy job of making lunches and getting kids out the door!

Budget friendly changes:

 Take a Costco or family size chip/cracker bag and portion out into snack size ziplocs for the month as opposed to pre-packaged chips.

Buy bags of carrots wash/slice yourself and separate into snack size ziplocs instead of pre-packaged carrots.

Instead of packaged drink boxes, use a reusable thermos with water, juice, crystal light, etc.

Happy Lunch Making!

Hall Toy Closet

Hall Toy Closet Make-over! 

This project took no time at all from start to finish.  We took everything out to the kitchen table for a staging area.  Sorted through each toy and decided whether it was still age appropriate for her kids.  Then sorted pieces to each game together (ex: block game, play tools, army guys) and put them in see through containers at the boys eye level.  We still needed the top couple of shelves for mom's linens, photo storage, etc.  This mom was already pretty organized with boxes so it was really a matter of tweaking and putting all like things together.

Junk Drawers!

Let's talk about Junk Drawers!  All this junk came out of these 6 kitchen drawers!  I wanted a good visual for my client and my followers to see it all dumped out in one spot!  Most of my clients worst nightmare is to see me dump stuff into a pile.  But for me it is my favorite thing!  I love to sort through the mess one piece at a time.  Half the stuff in these drawers was trash!  

Pantry/Storage Room

This room is any mom's idea of storage heaven!  This client bumped out a garage to add more storage and a bigger laundry room.  This space is meant to be overflow from the pantry, Costco supplies, and extra appliances that are used once a year.  She had set up a "making school lunch station" for her 10 year old to come pack his lunch from.  I thought that was genius!  This area had good intentions just needed a little tweaking! 

July is Garage Month!

6 Steps to Make Organizing Your Garage Seem Easy

1.) You need to pick a shelving system of some kind.  One that is sturdy and can hold boxes     on the top shelf to maximize vertical space.

2.) Pick matching containers.  I say go simple with these, you want to be able to add more as time goes on.

3.) Take everything out of that area and clean.

4.) Sort, sort, sort!  Take everything out to the driveway, sort "like" things together and put them in the proper size container.

5.) Put everything back on the shelves with a label.

6.) Sit back and take a look at your newly organized garage with style!

Kitchen/Pantry

 This Kitchen was a TOTAL re-organization project!  The flow was not working out for this family.  This house was not built with a walk-in pantry.  It did have 2 big cabinets that would work though.  This family loves to bake so they needed extra room for baking supplies.  The client also asked me to label in English and Spanish for when the kids were helping out and the cleaning ladies where putting stuff away.

This was the original food pantry and now it is the bowls/pitchers cabinet.

This was the pantry space before and as you can see held most of the bowls.

Now all the food is on one place and since I added tiered can storage and shelves everything is visible. 

Cereal is now in containers for the kids to get themselves, snack foods are within the kids reach, and pastas/rices/etc. are all grouped together.

Baking cabinet "before"

baking cabinet "after"

An example of one of the drawers.

Style Shoot Collaboration

Oh how I love to work with other inspiring business women!  This photo shoot came out of a personal shopping trip with a client of mine.  She looked too cute not to photograph.  So I came up with a brilliant idea, why not get one of my best girl friends (who is a beautiful photographer) and another wildly creative friend of mine (who designs belts for boutiques) and put together a fabulous photoshoot!  

And Voila' here you have an example of a fun, spunky way to dress up an outfit! 

 So many of my clients struggle with how to put together what I call "everyday outfits" that aren't frumpy.  I totally understand those days when you don't get out of your gyms clothes, but that should only be on occasion.  I believe that if you care a little bit more about your outfit, put some make-up on, and fix your hair, you will feel so much better about yourself.  Even if it is just to run errands for the day.  And part of what I like to show my clients is how to accomplish this without having to spend a ton of money.  Part of my services is organizing your closet, but the other part is going through your clothes and helping you find a style that is right for you.  Then we can go on a shopping trip to local stores and fill in what your wardrobe might be missing.

Here is how that client might dress on a random weekday before:

Now, she dresses like this!

Here we have the same outfit worn 2 different ways with a change in belts (from Too Much Sugars) and accessories.

Photos by Michelle Ellisor Photography

https://www.facebook.com/michelleellisorphotography

Belts can be found through Etsy

http://www.etsy.com/shop/toomuchsugars

Tulsa spring break- Pantry

 This pantry wasn't too bad when I got there it just needed some tweaking.  I took EVERYTHING out and wiped it all down.  Then grouped "like" items together and got rid of as many boxes as I could and put into containers for easy access for the kids. Also, moving all the snacks and cereals to the kids level helps them be self sufficient.  Then I got everything off the floor since they had plenty of room.  The client is so happy with her newly organized pantry!