...just need a stinkin hair tie by day too!!

OMG!!! So I swear my plan was to re-organize my master bedroom closet and show you how I methodically put everything away so nice and neatly and it completely changed my life, and I'm so in love with my new closet...blah blah blah. I've been wanting to do this since we moved in over a year ago and I had butterflies dancing through my happy thoughts as to what it was going to look like. Butt...when I went to go grab a hair tie to pull up my mop and get to the closet, this is what I saw:

Bleegh!! I couldn't get over how messy it was down there. So I put the closet on hold, again, and decided to focus on down here. I cleared the space first and foremost. Then I organized everything in to piles. One for hair stuff, one for makeup, one for all the things I use the most. 

**side note** 

I told you guys last night that there has been a lot going on this week with me. Well, one of those things is getting out of debt!! Woo to the Hoo I'm so flippin' excited I can't even take it! I've been following the amazing and wonderful Mr. Dave Ramsey:

He's changed my life as well as thousands of others! Look him up people. I swear you won't regret it. 

Anyhoo...since I've been so focused on getting out of debt, I haven't been able to spend money on any extra things. This will hopefully be my last organization project where I have to use what I already have. I'll now have the money available to purchase things that suite my spaces so much better than the things I use from old apartments that I'm forcing to work now.

**side note over**

I used all of the storage objects I already had to help me organize this spot:

I forgot I had this cute little guy:

 Once everything was sorted I threw it all into these bags/bins/boxes and made sure to put the things that I used the most into the most convenient storage. All of my things I couldn't live without hair and makeup stuff went into the nice big open bin...

And I put all of my favorite stuff front and center (kinda) so that I can finally find them in all this crap access them easier:

And now it looks like this:

I'm ohhhing and ahhhing right now at the difference. I love that everything has a place now and everything down there is something I'll use or need. You wouldn't believe how many travel size thingys I threw away that have just piled up over years of vacations. So even though you might not want to, suck it up, and get down on the ground and clean out that sink. You'd be surprised what you'd find.

Which brings me to this question: Do you have tons of old jewelry boxes with nothing to do with them? Cause I do. Should I get a jewelry box instead? Is it unsafe to store jewelry in the case? I'm not sure what to do with all of these. Gimme some ideas...please!

Have a great weekend!!

**I am available for hire in the northern Indianapolis area. Please feel free to email me at organizerbyday(@)gmail(dot)com for further information. I look forward to organizing with you!

...lazy by night

So I'm just checking in. Things have been sooo crazy around here this week. I've had work training, a concert, homework!! (for the first time in years...I tell ya' it's weird), and what feels like a bajillion other things come up lately. I'll fill you in more tomorrow. And because of all that, I'm going to be lazy tonight and enjoy time with boyfriend:

...that's us in Florida. Amazing dinner!! Amazing guy!

Don't worry, don't worry. I'll be back tomorrow to show you a wonderful organizational redo. Have a great Friday!!

**I am available for hire in the northern Indianapolis area. Please feel free to email me at organizerbyday(@)gmail(dot)com for further information. I look forward to organizing with you!

...Chef Boyarewe organized by night!

Well I hope everyone is having an amazing weekend! We were lucky and got to have tons of family time yesterday at my sister's farm. It was incredibly hot, but it was worth it to see my family. I love spending time with all of them. I still can't get over the fact that my little brothers are bigger than me!! It's crazy!

Anyhoo...so tonight I decided to tackle my "junk" closet in the kitchen. It has all of my baking needs in it, and just about everything else too...

That's a little hard to see...

That's better. So we've got a pumpkin carving kit (I'm either a little too early, or way too late for that), egg dying kit (see previous parentheses), ping pong balls, two rolls of duct tape, and just a few seasonings. I'm still learning how to cook well and my pile of baking accessories is growing slowly but surely. 

So once I cleared the space, I decided how I would separate the shelves to allow the most functionality. I always hated that I couldn't see what was on the top shelf. I always ended up with several bags of chocolate chips and tons of muffin holders because I couldn't ever see up there. It was maddening I tell you. And now that little effort it took to drag a chair over and look up there is no longer needed. Awesome. The ping pong balls went to the top shelf and the baking goods went to the middle. Now I can see what all we have and can't see all the random stuff that has no other place to go and lives on the top shelf!

I actually think I see everything I need to make chocolate chip cookies...yummy!

And I did something fun and FUNctional (sometimes I'm too big of a dork even for me to handle) with our big honkin' grilling tools that are too large to fit in our utensil drawer.

They're just up with push pins. It makes such a difference. And they're super easy to get to now. Double awesome! So now here's what the closet looks like.

I know it is a crappy picture, but I promise it's much more organized. All the baking is in the middle, and all the randomness is at the top where no one will ever see it's nicely and neatly organized. ;) It only took about 20 minutes to do and I did it while dinner was cooking. So just remember it doesn't take much time to gain back some sanity organization in your life. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and have a happy Monday!!

**I am available for hire in the northern Indianapolis area. Please feel free to email me at organizerbyday(@)gmail(dot)com for further information. I look forward to organizing with you!

...apparently I have a secret bowl obsession at night!

Who knew? Not me! Well not until I started cleaning out our kitchen cabinets. I know I said my next post was going to be about closets, but the other day I was cooking and I banged my elbow for the bajillionth time trying to pull something out of this awkward cabinet in our kitchen and my mind was made up!

I realized there were three cabinets in the kitchen that I used a lot, but were extremely inconvenient for me. So I decided I was going to finally start making my kitchen more normal functional. In each cabinet there were so many random things that I couldn't ever remember where what was and what we even had!

Has that ever happened to you? You'll come across something in your cabinets and go "Oh yeeaaahhhh..." No? Anywho! Here's what they looked like to start off:

I gotta lotta stuff in there!

First things first...Clear the space! And so I did...

Now the second major step is "Find the functionality". Realize what you want to use the space for before filling it back up with the same crap you had jammed in there. Ask yourself: "Self, could I use this area in a more functional way?" If the answer is yes, then great! Figure out what else you want to use it for and fillerup! If the answer is no, great! Sort through everything and make sure you only keep in that area what it's function is for.

For example, stay away from putting all your leftover containers in one cabinet along with a cheese grater and a rolling pin and a dip bowl and a flower vase. Or putting all of your scarves in a closet with vacuum bags and extra pillows and tennis rackets. Unless...that closet is where the winter clothes are and the vacuum and it's in the guest room/workout room. See what I'm sayin? As long as what you put in the space serves functionality,then you are less likely to get unorganized.


So in one cabinet I put my massive pile of strainers (this household eats a whole lotta pasta) and the kitty food.

Why you ask did I put two random things together? Because that cabinet is right next to the kitty bowls and the sink. Great functionality!!

Next I put my 98something bowls all in the same cabinet because that is right in front of where I usually cook and I use the things in there the most and it's the most convenient cabinet!! I had NO idea how many bowls we had. It's weird...

There's even more bowls behind those bowls...I just felt weird showing them all.

Finally was the island of misfit toys cabinet of not-so-oftenly-used kitchen appliances. There isn't really anything in here that I use regularly, and so it all goes in the awkward cabinet so I don't have to bang my dang elbow mess with it as much anymore!

Birds are chirping, the sun is shining, and there's a big fat smile on my face. Is there a closet or cabinet in your house that has the ironing board and the watering can and the sleeping bags and the old video game system stowed away? Don't be afraid! There can be functionality again!

P.S. I did this to our cat and bird food to remove their chunky bags...it's an old tea pitcher and a bucket we weren't using from the garage. Love!

**I am available for hire in the northern Indianapolis area. Please feel free to email me at organizerbyday(@)gmail(dot)com for further information. I look forward to organizing with you!

...spider killer by night

I have a HAUGE fear of spiders...it's huge! I think I saw about 45 hanging out in my basement today. Thanks to my trusty dusty Shark vac, they no longer dwell in my downstairs! We moved into our house a little over a year ago, and we still had boxes to unpack. I hate to admit that, but the basement was one of those places that got let go. One day Boyfriend's plan is to make it into his "man cave". I kept putting things down there saying "Well I'll just clean it up when we start finishing the basement." Turns out, we won't be finishing the basement anytime soon...so it was time to start cleaning.

Here's what the basement looked like before:

That's all of the holiday stuff...

That's all the random furniture that we don't know what to do with...

And this is the "I have no idea what to do with this stuff" stuff.

So I rolled up my sleeves, put in my favorite CD and got to work. The first rule of thumb for me with organizing is: Clear the space. It's so frustrating and hard to organize an area that is full of piles of stuff. So the first thing you should do is clear it out completely. I decided to try something new down there too. I didn't like how ugly the walls were, so I covered them with some sheets that we don't use anymore. Now, when I go down there to get decorations, I have a clean looking and feeling area to dig look through.

The picture makes it look smaller, but really there's tons more room. And now that ugly sump pump is covered up. (I didn't show it earlier cause it's just that ugly) GLEE!!

So once the area was cleared out, I went through all of our bins and made sure we still needed everything in them. Also...clever me realized that the dresser we had residing down there was great for storage! I'm a flippin' genius. So I dug through the bins and pilled stuff in drawers. And before you know it, the area finally came together.

One thing I did here to help my sanity make it easier to find decorations was to place a clear bin on top of each pile to signify which season was in each row. That way, I know right where to go to find Christmas and Fall and any other season. I'm so dang giddy! This also means less digging around spiders! Awesome!

I also put all of the furniture in one spot together:

And the stuff pile minimized greatly...which also increased our Goodwill/garage sale pile:

I do realize we don't have as much stuff as most families out there, but the fundamentals are the same. Just clear the space first and foremost, and then go from there. I'll give out other tips soon, but this is by far the most important. Stop trying to play Tetris with your closets, give up the fight of cramming one last bowl into that cabinet. Take everything out and start from there. I promise you it will help with the organizing.

I have a funny question to ask...does anyone else out there still have their VHS tapes from when they were younger? I do, and for some reason I just can't part with them.

Some I have on DVD as well, but I just can't throw away that smushed down white plastic video case. Does anyone else feel the same way, or do I just need to cut the cord and get rid of them? Let me know!!

Share some of your basement organizing redos too! Be back soon with some advice on those pesky closets. Have a happy Monday!

...Blogger by night

Hello Hello! Welcome to the wonderful world that is organization! Boring, I know. But seriously...who out there doesn't need a little help with the decluttering of a closet, or sorting of a basement, or purging of a backyard shed? Why haven't you gone to the store already and picked up those extra storage bins, or plugged in that fancy-schmancy (sp?) shredder, or put the goodwill load in the trunk and taken it the two miles down the road? I know why...because you do't have me!


My name is Elie and I am a professional organizer. I know many of you out there are thinking "Why would anyone need a professional organizer?" After you ask yourself that question, I want you to take a look around your house, your garage, your basement, and even your closets. You're saying there isn't a place in your house that isn't completely organized and you have no trouble getting things in and out of that space? Well, then, I applaud you! You are unlike the other 99% of the population, myself included, who needs to do some serious organizing.


The reason I'm here is to show you easy, fun and creative ways to get your house decluttered. I promise you, anyone can do it. I'm recently a professional at this, but I've been organizing my entire life. Things always make more sense to me when there isn't clutter and I always know where things are. It's like a comfort to me in some way. Does that make sense? Or am I just completely OCD?


Anyway, I hope you come along with me on this journey of discovering how to reclaim your closets, and basements, and anywhere else that should be used for living in and not just storing things in. My next post will be to show off my transformation of my very let-go-through-every-season-since-Christmas basement. I will promise you that I am not perfect when it comes to organizing, and I'll never claim to be. It's just something I love to do and I want to share with others how they can do it too...no matter how busy or hectic a lifestyle. Have a happy Friday and I'll see you this weekend!


Elie