October 7, 2025 • 50 mins
This week on Boulevard Beat Meghan and Krissa get real about Organization the behind-the-scenes systems that keep life and work flowing smoothly. From favorite calendar tools and meal prep routines to thoughtfully designed spaces that boost daily function, we’re sharing our personal go-to strategies for keeping it all together. It’s part practical, part inspiring, and fully rooted in how a little structure can make room for more creativity and joy.
Street Style Takeaways
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Street Style Takeaways
- Our favorite calendar + planning systems that keep the week on track
- Why meal prepping makes evenings feel calmer and less chaotic
- The spaces in our homes that are intentionally designed to keep things functional
- How small organizational habits create big impact over time
- Ways to tailor organization to your personal rhythm (no one-size-fits-all!)
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Or you can use this link- https://houseofblum.com/discount/beat15!
Connect with the Hosts https://www.instagram.com/boulevardbeatpodcast/
Connect with Meghan Blum Interiors https://www.instagram.com/meghanbluminteriors/
Connect with House of Blum https://www.instagram.com/shophouseofblum/
Connect with Krissa Rossbund. https://www.instagram.com/krissa_rossbund/
Connect with Liz Lidgett https://www.instagram.com/lizlidgett/
Episode Website https://www.blvdbeat.com/about
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to boulevard Beat, a podcast we're life and style intersect.
I'm designer Megan Bloom along with my co hosts, editor CHRISA.
Rossbunt and gallery owner Liz Logit. This podcast focuses on
the daily highlights instead of the hustle, interviews with taste makers,
and personal conversations on how to highlight achievable style. You
con stroll one street at a time, boulevard Beat proves
(00:29):
the one.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
You should take.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Well.
Speaker 4 (00:33):
CHRISA. Today we're diving into a topic that affects us all,
and that's organizing, from our homes to our lives. The
clutter is real. It sneaks up on all of us.
So the systems that save us time and even just
having aesthetics that are pretty and functional in your organization
is important to talk about too. So excited to dive
into this conversation.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Organizing is really interesting. It's transformed for something that we
maybe just did to keep ourselves in check and reduce clutter,
it went from that to being this major component of design.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
When you're talking about you know.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
All of the walk in spaces and the pantries and
the closets and the labels.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
And the match and all of that.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
I mean, those sort of didn't exist back in the day,
so that's a new ish layer to organizing and how
we look at it from a design perspective.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
You're so right. I mean, businesses have been created out
of this, both from just like having people do it
for you and even just stores that sell you all
the products and things that help you have an organized
home because accumulating we all accumulate clutter and it just
stacks up and ends up in different places, and so
having a system that can help you find the right
(01:42):
place to put everything is so important.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Oh gosh, accumulation of dare I use the word stuff.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
It's no joke.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
It happens overnight, and it's difficult to keep up with.
I think, just you know, the intentions are always good.
The intention is always I might need this someday, I
might use this someday, and thus it will save me time,
it will save me money because I have this, But
that doesn't always pan out. Sometimes it's good to just
get rid of.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
And I also think a big component of it is
the time management. You know, I think you waste so
much time searching for things when there's parts of your
home that aren't organized. I mean, how many times have
we been late because you can't find a pair of keys,
or kids shoe or just all those random things that
happens in your daily life.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
That is so true.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Time management is probably the number one benefit from being
organized is knowing where things are when you need them.
I recently really focused on my chest of drawers that's
in my foyer.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
That is my go to station.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
It's where the car key goes, where you know, that
hand sanitizer goes. When when we all needed that so much,
all of those little pieces, I would kind of throw
them in and finally a couple of years ago, I
just dove in and order organize that. And it's really
incredible how much time that has saved me. And I'm
(03:06):
a pretty organized person just in general. But it's like
that last fifteen percent that you never get to, that's
what trips you up so many times.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
Yeah, that's so true that that last fifteen percent does
kind of keeps the clutter in the way. Definitely, have
you kept that space organized since you've done it aive
years ago.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Yes, I'm pretty good at once I do it, keeping
up with it. It's when it gets out of hand,
finding the time, the energy to start it, to initiate it,
which is the problem with so many projects.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
And I think that when you have a good system
and it works, it usually does stay intact. It's when
it doesn't function for how you actually live your daily life,
but then it kind of almes apart.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
So I have a little interesting story to tell. I
always thought this was so endearing and sweet and incredible
and useful. On staff, we had two women who were older,
and then there was a third person who was in
their generation, and they were all very close friends and
had been friends for a few decades, I believe, and
(04:06):
they did something really interesting.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Twice a year.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
They would commit to three weekends in a row, and
they would start at one of their homes and then
move on to the other two and for that entire weekend. Basically,
if it was your house, you got to be the boss.
So it was let's go through my refrigerator, let's go
through all the condiments, let's go.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
They all very much.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Trusted each other, so paper stuff and tax forms and
things like that, they were comfortable. I just thought it
was so great because I think it goes so much
faster when you have another set of hands.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
That's the problem.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Like if you have a friend helping you, it's so
much easier than just tackling you know, drawers and cabinets
and Christmas stuff, all of that on your own. So
I always thought that was so sweet that they did that.
And then whoever's house it was that weekend, they had
to provide all.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
The food, So it was such a good thing.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
It's fun. That's a fun idea, and just even another
set of eyes to just kind of go through things too,
because sometimes that's what's hard, is to part with things
sometimes too and it's not as personal to them, so
it might be easier just to throw it away and
I would never know it still existed.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
So our challenge is defined the three weekends and our rest,
which it's difficult for you and difficult for me at
our stages in life.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
Yes, for sure, that would be a good winter project
when it's when it's cool. It's definitely well. And I
think the big thing is, like we talked about, it's
kind of decluttering first and then organizing. You kind of
have to go through everything and there's always different types
of clutter, you know. There's the sentimental kind of clutter
that you just aren't sure those special cards that you
(05:43):
hang on to, or things that you paid for and
you just can't get rid of because you know you
spent so much money on them, and even just kind
of like you. We've talked about before too, that aspirational clutter,
the craft closet you have that you never actually use
some of the stuff in. It's decluttering all of those
things and then organizing.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
I'm not decluttering my craft room. That's not how kind
of happen.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
It looks too pretty.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yeah, it's too pretty.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Okay, So I have to ask you, are you a
paper clutter person?
Speaker 4 (06:13):
Not especially I am. On I still am old fashioned
and I like to hang I tear rooms out of
magazines or recipes and I hang onto those still, which
I probably need to modernize that a little bit because
I don't go back through them very often, but when
I do, I enjoy it, like just to see those
pictures again. But as far as like office paper clutter,
(06:36):
I'm not a big one on that.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
I'm pretty good. I have a great system for the mail,
and that is I open the mail over the garbage,
so any junk mail goes right away. I don't have
junk mail sort of looming around. I'm pretty good with paper.
I don't like a lot of paper, but that to accumulate,
(06:58):
So there are the you know, it's a good activity
when you're binge watching something mindless to go through paper.
And it's really incredible how quickly you can fill up
a garbage bag. Sometimes for sure, Wow, where did all
of that come from? Because I think I'm pretty decent
at keeping up with it.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
And I have a good system too. Every day when
the kids come home from school, I open the folder,
look at what I need to and then if it's
something that I want to save or a piece of artwork,
I have little file bins up in a cabinet kind
of right off of our back mudroom that then I
can just file those away. And then when that gets full,
I have somewhere that I put all of that stuff
(07:40):
and go through.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Well. I think that again, you know, our intentions are
usually good, and I think that is the case of
most people. But you hang on to cards and you think,
and it's like, I don't ever really go back and
look at cards from anybody. Maybe my grand my grandparents,
you know, I like to see their handwriting, but other
than that, I don't ever really do that, and I
(08:04):
saw a tip years ago. I don't know if this
was an early Pinterest thing or where I saw it,
but at Christmas time, I would whole punch all the
cards and then put one of those rings around them
because I thought, oh, I can.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Go through over the years and look through.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
And now the problem is now I have like twenty
of them and they're this thick, and it's like, I like,
what is the point? And so I think that this
Christmas those might go away. I just I don't ever
really look at them. And it's fun to look at
people's pictures and see how kids have changed and grown
and all of that, but at some point it's gotta go.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Because what you think at.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
The time, you know, at the time it was a
kind of cute idea because I had a huge bowl
that I would put them in and it looked.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Sort of stylish.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Now it's just a lot of cards with a metal
ring around them, and it's doesn't look so.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
Good hard well, and it just gets hard because that
then twenty years of that is where do you store that?
You know, so it just becomes extra stuff in your home.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
That's when you go to the families you need to
be invited to the family home, so you can just
look at their pictures over the years and it's like, oh,
that's what.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
You still look like.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
But I do need to keep I don't need to
keep evidence of every family in my home.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
Well, Chris, one of the things too, I think interesting
about organizing is.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Just the aesthetics of it.
Speaker 4 (09:22):
We talked about how these some of these stores have
popped up and how pantries and all these spaces now
are just beautifully organized and they just look very clean
and have all matching containers and the labels and all
the things that go with it, which sometimes that can
be overwhelming to people too, because like sometimes when they
(09:43):
look perfect, you still don't have room to store everything
or you need a lot of space to do that,
and so I think that that can sometimes be overwhelming
too for people. Is just having it look perfect and
function for your family.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
Oh absolutely, And this whole you know news genre of
design that is organizing and all of the koutra mob
that goes with that. It's so generational because my parents,
for instance, they would never go to that trouble right. Oh,
you can just see everything how it is like why
do I need another container? For it. It's like because
(10:17):
it looks better, but it's definitely a generational thing. I
think it's good. I think you and I are lucky
that we didn't grow up in a time where there
was a depression or anything like that and people were rationing.
You know, we've always sort of had what we needed,
and then you have the opportunity to buy things in
bulk to cost save or things that you know that
(10:38):
you're going to need readily all the time. It's great
that we have a little more space now and can
accommodate all of our things in the backstock of those
daily you know, paper napkins and snacks and all of
that good stuff. I think it feels good to go
(10:58):
into a space that's very linear, that's really organized and
again just super structured. I think that there's a sense
of calm wherever that is. And there aren't a whole
lot of opportunities in the livable spaces in the house
where that happens. So to go into a pantry or
(11:18):
a closet where you have lots of shelving and lots
of bins and boxes and you just have all of
those strip lines, I think it just you know, it
gives order to the day, it gives order to your life,
and it just is a moment of calm, even if
the rest of your life is completely chaotic.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
I think you bring up a good point because I
think we probably I know I have. I feel like
my cleaning closets like that right now, I open it
up in the toilet paper if it's not sitting in
the right spot, and the extra batteries and the brooms
are kind of tipping over, and it's just like, oh,
I don't want to have to open this right now.
And I think that's a good example of when things
function well, it can create more of a stress free
(11:57):
day as well for you. So organization is important for
that reason of just having more calm in your life.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Like you mentioned, this is the question that I always
have though, because Instagram and pinterest have you know, made
this phenomena of organizing just explode, and when we see
it and on the television shows and all of that,
you know, they do the big unveiling and everything to
use your word is in fact perfect, the perfect label.
(12:25):
The snacks are all lined up. What happens when you're
four days into the snacks like it doesn't always look
that way, because you're not eating three granola bars and
then necessarily replacing them right away. So I'm always intrigued
by people who are that strict with themselves. It's like,
(12:46):
how much do they really keep up with that? I'm
always curious.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
Well even just yeah, like pouring the cereal into plastic containers,
and you know it's an extra step when you come
home from the grocery store to do as well. And
it's in all those pretty fancy organizations are expensive too,
you know, it's it's not cheap just to kind of
have everything matchy matching.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Oh, that's so true. I mean it is. It's an investment.
You have to commit to a system, right if you're
buying bins, you can buy round ones or you can
buy square ones that nest into each other. But you
have to decide this is what I'm committing to for
the canister size or the canister shape. But yes, you
can spend thousands of dollars outfitting a space with all
(13:32):
of the appointments, and you know, it's it's something to consider.
You know, do you do you need that? Or are
the golden gram spine in the box they come in? Right?
Speaker 4 (13:43):
Yeah? But I mean I think there are some systems
in the kitchen that are really necessary and aren't really
a glamorous thing you think of, like just drawer dividers
for your utensils or your silverware and things like that.
I mean, how many times have you cleaned out a
drawer like that and all of a sudden you've got
like three spats. Like, no one needs all the extra
supplies either. So I think there's some functional ones in
(14:05):
a kitchen for sure that I think help you live better.
You know, spice dividers, the trade dividers that happen as well,
and can kind of keep things organized for you so
nothing's kind of getting lost.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
I saw a meme recently that said, you know you're
an adult when you have a favorite spatula. It's so true.
I have a favorite. I am sorry to the other spatulas,
but the one with the colbalt blue tip is my favorite.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
It's my go to.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
And the kitchen I think really demands great organization, because
especially for those things that you don't use all the time,
there is nothing more frustrating than going to, you know,
make a special dish and then a little tool that
you need that you may only use for a certain
(14:55):
type of ingredient is missing.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
There's nothing more frustrating.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
And I will admit there have been a handful of
times in my life when it's like seven o'clock on
a Saturday night and I'm rushing to Williams Sonoma or
when it existed bed Bath and Beyond to buy a
thing that I cannot find.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
That's happened to me.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
I did recently, and I know that we're going to
have a separate episode at some point about kitchens, but
one thing that I did recently is I did create
a baking station because I am not a avid baker.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
I'm an avid cook, but not an avid baker.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
And that's really reserved for the holiday times during the year,
so I don't need the candy thermometers for nine other months.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
So it's like, why is it in my main drawer?
Speaker 3 (15:45):
So I did in my kitchen create a cabinet in
a drawer, and that's really.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Where the brown sugar goes.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
I don't ever use those things really at any other time,
and so that's helped a lot because I just know
the last few years that's for all of my stuff
is and I don't have to wonder. So that's been
a good addition for me.
Speaker 4 (16:08):
I think you bring up a good point with that,
with you know, your kitchen design and things like that too.
I also have a little baking drawer, but it's kind
of grouping like things together, you know. I also have
all the kid snacks together, and it's been helpful for
me to put those in clear binds and have them
all in one drawer, so the kids can open the
drawer up and decide what they want to have as
a snack that day and they're not looking all over
(16:30):
the kitchen, you know, or you think of like a
coffee station too, that then the mugs are just right
there with the coffee beans by the coffee maker and
just having it. It simplifies your routine and your day
when you're not like going back and forth and back
and forth. And so that kitchen layout is so important
in the space.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
Oh when I am so jealous of the back kitchen,
so jealous. And again we can maybe talk about that
when we have our kitchen episode.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
But that, yes, is my dream for sure.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
And you know, Chris A two in the kitchen. I
know there's some apps as well that people use for
recipe organization. I don't know if you've gotten into that.
I think that papa Rika is a popular one or
grocery lists apps as well that kind of help them
simplify their grocery lists or with a family and things
like that too.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
So I think I've been paying for Paprika for three
years and I have not used it yet. That maybe
could be a winter activity this year, because in theory,
I would like to have all of my recipes corralled,
and especially the ones I find online because I'm a
cookbook I'm a physical cookbook girl as well, so I
(17:40):
don't always go to online, but I have so many
recipes from so many different sources. So in theory, I've
made that first step with Paprika, but I have not
used it. And I will say when it comes to
kitchen organization, I'm still very old school, so I like paper.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
I like to have.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Print outs of my recipes. Also, I have them in
plastic sleeves, the ones.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
That I print from the Internet.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
I don't use an iPad on a stand to look
at recipes because I had a screen once that protected
it from all of the grease and whatever, and I
don't know what happened to it. It probably broke or
I got an upgraded model or something. But anyway, I
don't use technology for cooking in that regard while I'm cooking,
(18:31):
unless it's to look something up if I need a
substitute for something or that sort of information. So I
still need the place in the kitchen for the cookbooks,
for paper versions of the online recipes, and I don't
really use those apps. I always my question with apps is,
(18:52):
and I'm fascinated because I have a few friends who
are committed to apps.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
They have an app for everything.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
It's on their phone, they know where it is, they
go to what they use it religiously. Apps to me
are not useful if they don't save me time.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
So when it comes to the.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Grocery list, I can go to the app and type
in that you know, I need eggs, bread froze and
strawberries whatever, or I can write it down on a
sticky note and it takes like ten seconds. Then the
problem is I can't lose a sticky note. But life
is not perfect, So I yeah, when it comes to apps,
(19:31):
that's my one criteria is will it save me time?
Speaker 4 (19:37):
I think that you bring up a good point with
that too, And the only thing that's nice sometimes about
the apps too? Is that, like you said, when you
forget the sticky note or or you kind of have
an ongoing one and then you just decide to bop
in the grocery store and you're like, wait, what did
I need again? You know, so at least it's all
there on your phone, or if you're sharing it with
a spouse or family member, that then you that can
(19:57):
kind of be an ongoing list of like oh we're
out a toilet paper and that sort of a thing too,
which is nice?
Speaker 3 (20:02):
It is?
Speaker 2 (20:03):
That is nice?
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Yeah? I mean there are certainly benefits to the apps.
I just I'm not the person who's gotten into the
habit of using a bunch of apps religiously.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
There are a few that I use for certain things, but.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
I don't necessarily rely on them.
Speaker 4 (20:19):
So I have a.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Question for you.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Are your kids organized? Aren't they at that stage yet?
Or do you see the personality differences in them?
Speaker 4 (20:27):
I see the personalities in them for sure. My younger
two are maybe still a little small that I don't
see it yet, or maybe they should. But my older
one likes an organized space. He will on a boring
Saturday will go through his clothes and clean things up
or organize his closet. He likes his bookcase to look
(20:49):
very put together and isn't just messy. And then my
younger two are just little hoarders that keep everything and
there's spots for it everywhere in their room and and
things like that too. I didn't ever think i'd have
so many unicorns and headbands and all the stuff in
Lily's room that just is on the floor and it's
(21:10):
a chore that's part of our weekly cool you're oldest.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
That could be an oldest child thing too.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
I think I would agree with that.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
Yeah, yeah, I think that's a system of being an oldest.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
I'm an oldest, So there's that. Okay.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
My other question for you is do you organize within
the organizational system or is the system good enough? And
what I mean by that is because time is always
a problem with me. I have a lot of bins
for different categories, and as long as the thing gets
thrown into that bin, that's good enough. The bin itself
(21:46):
doesn't have to be organized, usually depending on what the
category is, but just in general, so what kind of
person are you?
Speaker 4 (21:53):
I am probably a little mixed too. I have the
bin that the thing goes in. But then I'm not
like meticulously having making sure every one of the snack
bars is lined up perfectly, just as long as the
snack's in the right bin, separate from everything else. But
then I think it does depend like a few things
like I have a little craft closet too, and like
the ribbons I have all lined up together and they
(22:15):
look nice when you open the top, and that always
makes you feel good too, right.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
I think that there are you know, like I said,
there are categories of products that I it's like, oh,
I want this to look really nice all the time.
That's probably my bathroom. There's something about a bathroom. I
want it to look clean and be clean always, and
so it's important for me to have it be super
organized in that space, probably more so than anything else.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
But then there are other places.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
Where you know, the light bulbs, I don't really care
that they're all lined up as as they're all there
when I need them.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
Yeah, And I think you bring up a good point too.
In the bathroom, there's nothing better than like just you know,
with your makeup and your products and things like that,
of opening the cabinet and it all looks nice together.
I struggle with kind of product overload that I end
up buying and trying another product or lotion or face cream,
and all of a sudden it's full and you know,
(23:09):
you use twenty percent of what you have, and so
I think, I think that's an important thing to edit
that and go through like, oh, I'm actually not using
five of these eyeshadows, like let's get rid of it.
And that's always the hard part.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
I have really tried.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
I'm not one hundred percent yet, but I am in
the mode now where I'm trying to reduce and reduce
and reduce. And so I was a cosmetics queen, and
I mean I still am in theory. I would love
to go every day go buy a new look Glossn't
I'm trying to. I've been trying to be better about,
(23:48):
you know, waiting until the eyeshadow hits the pan before
you go buy a new one and things like that,
because similarly, I was just I just had too much
and at some point you just it affects you, like
you don't even realize as you're building, but one day
it just smacks you in the face and it's like,
oh my gosh, I want to get rid of so
much of this, but then you also don't want to
(24:09):
be wasteful. So in the case of cosmetics and skincare products,
you really have that slow burn of using things day
after day after day after day to get into the
point where you can toss them then, so that that
becomes a bit.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Of a problem.
Speaker 4 (24:26):
Well, And I think along with that too is just
like hair products or things like that too, just like
wanting to try, like how many headbands do I really
need when I only wear a headband once a month?
You know that type of thing too, So I.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Can never have too many scrunchies.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
They're all over my house because I do you know,
when I'm home up, my hair goes into a.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
Ponytail or a bun.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
So those are pretty prolific in my confines. But I've
been better, and I try to improve always just to
reduce the amount of what I need, because I definitely
don't need as much as I have or as much
as I thought I once needed. So yeah, it's overwhelming.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
It is overwhelming. And I think another one that can
be overwhelming too is your closets because of just the
amount of clothes you have and what you wear, and
you know how you store it and your organization system
in there too. I've always liked the little flip method
with the hangar as an idea to kind of really
see what you're wearing and you know, flip it around,
(25:28):
and then you know, six months later or a year
and you notice you're not wearing the majority of your clothes,
like why are we hanging on to them? But then
it's the chore of actually getting rid of it.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
Such a chore, and what do you do with the clothes?
So that was the one place in my house during
the pandemic that I couldn't address right then because I
don't know if you remember, but you couldn't donate clothes
at that time. A lot of places wouldn't take them
just because I guess of the possible contamination. So finally,
(26:00):
about six months ago, because I hadn't tackled my closet
that entire time, and I realized that was five years
ago already. But finally about six months ago sort of
the end of last winter is when I started really
going through things and just did this mass exodus of
just elimination because the clothes, and the thing is, clothes
(26:21):
are heavy there when you take them out and throw
them in a pile. It's like, I'm getting rid of
all of these you realize as you're lugging them out
to your car to take to Goodwill or Saint Vincent
DePaul or you know, consignment, whatever you're doing with them.
They're so heavy. So clothes are a big problem. And
I wish that I could say that I was trying
(26:43):
to improve with that, but I that's a tough one
for me. It's a tough one.
Speaker 4 (26:48):
One that helped me a little bit when I cleaned
out my closet this last year was I had had
my colors done, and then knowing what my colors were,
and then I also still wasn't wearing If it wasn't
my color and I wasn't wearing it, then it was
like why am I holding onto this? Like it just
was a double whammy to be like, let's get rid
of it. So that was helpful for me. I also
really like in the closet, I do all of mine
(27:10):
by color, So I put all of the colors together
so you kind of know what you're looking for when
you're getting dressed, so you're not like searching for that
random black shirt because you then know it's not stuck
between two other clothes that don't match. You kind of
can go to that black section.
Speaker 3 (27:25):
I do category, and then color so all of my
pants are together. And then within the pants, I do
them light to dark. Yes, thing with dresses, and then
I do you switch things out seasonally.
Speaker 4 (27:38):
I am fortunate enough and have a decent sized closet
right now that I don't have to, but I have
in the past in other houses.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Yes, I do too.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
I have a cedar closet, and so I put I
do exchange things just so they're not necessarily in my face.
I just again it's the visual reduction too. So during
those long winter months that we have the summer stuff
just makes me sad more than anything. So I just
(28:07):
I take that and I put it into a different
closet just so it's out of the way. And then
if I need warm weather clothes during the winter months,
if I'm traveling or you know, going to a warm
weather destination, then I know exactly where they are. But
I'm lucky enough to to have good closet space for that.
But I just I don't. I still, I just want
(28:29):
to see fewer and fewer.
Speaker 4 (28:30):
Pieces, you know, And as we talk about clothes too.
I know there's some apps that also help with your
style and your wardrobe as well, that can help you
plan different outfits. Like have you dove into any of
those type of things like stylebook or anything.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
I haven't.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
I mean, I love clothes, I love fashion. I sort
of on Sunday nights, I think to myself, what you know,
I take a look at the weather. I feel like
an old man. I feel like my dad, Like I'm
always looking at the weather. But you have to here
and I have to because I'm traveling all the time.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
But I kind of have it in.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
Mind what I'm going to wear for the week. I
make sure everything's ironed and that sort of thing, so
they're ready to go. So at seven o'clock in the morning,
I'm not rushing around upset because I can't find the
right keys. So I kind of have that in mind already. No,
(29:26):
I have not ever used any of those apps.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
You know, again, I should. I should look into it.
Speaker 3 (29:31):
I think it would just be fun to see what
they say.
Speaker 4 (29:34):
Right they do you use one or we don't? Either?
And I wish I was a little more organized in
my daily attire. But I kind of go with the
vibe of how I'm feeling in the morning and when
I get dressed too, versus just kind of planning the
whole week out. But I mean, I definitely lay the
kids clothes out the night before, so that way that's
kind of ready to go. Thankfully, they were uniforms the
(29:56):
majority of the year, but still becomes a little bit
of a conversation of what we're going to wear and
how we're going to do that. So that does help
with the weekly schedule.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
Okay. But I will say I've known a few people,
not a lot, but a few people over the years
who sort.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Of have their own uniform.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
Yeah, keep it simple, you know, they don't stray far
from what their uniform is, and it simplifies their life.
I you know, I read about these people who have
the capsule wardrobes.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
I just I'm not feeling it.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
Yeah, I mean, I like the idea of having like
a good quality white shirt, a good quality pair of
black trousers, that sort of thing, and having capsule that
way so you don't have nine pairs of not great
black pants.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
That makes sense to me.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
But those people who are like it can go a
whole year with only fifteen garments. Including the accessories.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
It's like, well, good for you.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
Challenge not accepted.
Speaker 4 (30:56):
Yes, I'm with you on that one.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Challenge not accepted.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
Like my pretty things, and I like my accessories and
the scarves and all of it, so I am not
interested in that. Although, okay, I will say I have
tried to reduce the amount of jewelry because I feel
like you go places and you're like, oh, I need that.
I love a good statement earring. That's the piece that
(31:20):
I love the most, and so it's difficult for me
to pass up really great earrings. But I've been trying
to maybe stop that a little bit because they're just
too many.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
Well there are too many, and then you know, you
kind of look through your jewelry drawer and you don't
have that many things that you're always going to that
you need all the statement jewelry every time too as well,
and then you end up still going with your favorite
one and not ever using the other one.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
I've gotten rid of a ton of necklaces because for
a while, again, I was buying all of these necklaces,
and I really just now most of the time I
have a little cross that I wear, and unless it's
a special occasion where you want that big thing, but
too many necklaces, too many, too much, too many, too many.
Speaker 4 (32:06):
So well, and I know we've talked about that before,
and I think it's that fast fashion that it's easy
just to like pick up a new necklace even at
Target or somewhere like that too, that's not even very expensive,
but just has a little of the trends that are
going on, and so it's just easy to accumulate a
lot of things.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
Usually my jewelry purchases are I justify them as a
souvenir when I travel, so that's when I do most
of my shopping, and that's where most of them come from.
But even then, over time, it's just like, ugh, I'm
not interested in that anymore, and I just I just
that's not going to be something I necessarily look for
(32:43):
or bring back as a souvenir moving forward, because it's
just a lot.
Speaker 4 (32:47):
Hmm, it doesn't become a lot. But I do love
a good souvenir jewelry piece too, because you do remember
where you were and what you were doing and just
the moment and time of your life. For sure, absolutely
speaking of even just travel, because as we travel, we
accumulate a lot of photos, both digital and real photos,
and I think that that brings up an overwhelming thing
(33:09):
to organize, is photos in general or just digital organization,
and how that relates to our life to keep things
clean in the digital world.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
Okay, the digital world is where I am a hot mess.
And as we speak, I am going to see how
many images are on my phone. Thirty seven thousand images
are on my iPhone. I always play this game with myself.
It's like, Okay, if every day I go through two
(33:39):
hundred pictures, I'll be done at a certain time and
I will have gone through my whole and everything will
be that's never going to happen. It's just never going
to happen. And then in addition to taking nice photos
of the grand canyon or of children, there are also
all of the screenshots. I constantly screenshots something I see
(33:59):
on instead because I don't have time to write it
down or I don't And it's like, that's the beauty
of the phone, right you can just screenshot it's right here.
Or if you're at the grocery store and you want
to take a picture of a nutrition label, it's right there.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
I can do it. So I have all.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
Of those photos, and I know there are apps that
you know will clean up your photos. Well, that's great
for duplicate pictures, but it's not great for what I
just described, all of those screenshots that are sort of
informational things that you quickly snap. So it just is
what it is for me for pictures anyway.
Speaker 4 (34:39):
That is a challenge for me as well. Maybe we
need to challenge our listeners if anyone has a really
good organization idea, to share it so we can share
with the world as well. Because I'm the same way.
I screenshot a ton of stuff, recipes, quotes, pictures, all
the things, and then every once in a while I
do go back through and kind of put them in
a little like organization or get rid of it. But
(35:00):
that doesn't happen very often either. It's overwhelming for sure.
Speaker 3 (35:04):
I will take physical organization over digital organization any day.
Staring at a screen moving things into folders, trying to
remember if you already created a folder for something that
is just the thought of it is just so cringey
to me, and it makes my eyes hurt and my
brain hurt.
Speaker 4 (35:24):
But it does when you do. I'm like that too,
because I drag step to my desktop, and all of
a sudden the desktops fall, and so it's like, all right,
let's clean it up. But when you do finally clean
it up, you're like, oh, that does feel better.
Speaker 3 (35:35):
It does feel better, It does feel better.
Speaker 4 (35:37):
I do love the iPhone now has a little spot
where it detects duplicates and you can easily clean it
up so you don't even have to pay for a
nap anymore to get that done, which is super nice.
Speaker 3 (35:50):
And I do like the search function on iPhone too,
so you can search location, location, so that makes it
a little easier if memory he does not serve.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
The photo thing.
Speaker 3 (36:03):
Yes, anybody who's listening, if you have a really great tip,
I am all ears. Maybe we should do some research
after this and come back to our listeners with what
we find.
Speaker 4 (36:14):
I do think though, the one thing with like digital
organization that is helpful is kind of if you stick
if you find a platform and you kind of stick
with it, you know, if you're going to go the
all Google route or the Apple or Microsoft, but not
trying to intertwine with all different types of systems there,
it does help your networking. All of that together well.
Speaker 3 (36:34):
That's another problem for anybody who's a hoarder out there.
I mean, for a while I turned into an app order,
like it's like download for free. It's like, okay, try it,
why not, let's try it out. And I think that
when it comes to organizing, simple is always better. I
think that there is a point when things can be
(36:57):
overorganized to where they're no longer functional. And that's kind
of what I was referencing a little bit earlier when
I said, you know, is the bin just throwing the
thing into the bin good enough? Or do you organize
on top of that? And I think that when you
deep organize too much, especially with paper things or on
(37:19):
digital things, it's like maybe you don't need a real
folder for that, Like maybe that that document doesn't need
its own individual folder. Maybe it's okay, digital or physical
just with you all of the tax documents. Or I
think you can go too deep too to where it's
you don't remember then it's like is this just in
(37:40):
the folder with general tax things? Or did I create
a subcategory for restaurant receipts for business meals?
Speaker 4 (37:48):
Yeah, you kind of have to retrace what was my
brain thinking that day to like organize that or how
was it going to put it in its folder in
that time.
Speaker 3 (37:57):
I know somebody who is a professional organized and once
she's finished with a client, she creates a written document
that lives sort of in a three ring binder kind
of situation. That's a guide to everything they did. It's
sort of a key to the home. Where is everything
that these are for large scale homes usually, but where
does everything live? So the homeowner the client knows, because
(38:21):
it's difficult sometimes when you have done the organization, it's
like where did that go?
Speaker 2 (38:26):
And you know, occasionally this.
Speaker 3 (38:29):
Is my office desk because my office desk I sort
of don't care so much. And you know, the papers
come in just because of what I do. They're not
eight and a half by eleven sheets. They're all sorts
of weird sizes and fabric samples I don't have to
tell you, and while paper samples and you know, knobs
and polls of new finishes and so there is that,
(38:52):
you know, justification validation I have sometimes when it's like,
you know, my desk was more functional to me when it.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
Was just messier.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
I could see everything then I knew where everything was.
When everything's put away sometimes I think to myself, did
I put that away? And what was the system? So
I think that's interesting. The person I know who's the
professional organizer when she said, you know, she has to
create this guide than to the home when she goes
into a family and really organizes their house so they
(39:25):
know where things are because sometimes that can become a.
Speaker 4 (39:28):
Problem, and then know how to put it all back too,
so then that system stays together too. Yeah, Chris, So
we've talked about several different areas of the home and
different computer and how we digitalize things and things like
that too. But everyone has their personal systems, So do
you have any good ones that you want to share
that you use in your own life.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
I talked about the mail already, and that's a big
one for me because I just don't understand that a
lot of people will complain like, oh, I have to
go through all the junk mail.
Speaker 2 (39:59):
It's like, well, why do you have to go through
all the junk mail? Go through the junk mail.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
When it comes every day? So putting like things together
is a big deal for me. And then what the
professional organizers say is true. You really have to outline
and take inventory of what you are trying to organize
before you go and buy the organizational pieces that they
(40:24):
go into because otherwise it's just you're really attracted to,
you know, wicker over acrylic. It becomes more about that
and do you really need that piece and will it
fit into your home. So taking those measurements have really
helped me. You know, before I was so guilty, like
I think so many people are, of just going to
(40:46):
the container store or Target and buying bins. And I
stopped doing that and then I went and did it
the right way, and that has made a difference for me.
Speaker 4 (40:56):
Yeah, it's nice when you figure out something that works
for you and you're able to just really take it
into your daily life and make it stick for you too.
I know for our family, one thing that we really
try and do is kind of just that Sunday reset,
you know, kind of make sure we've got the grocery
store done, the laundry done, even just that little quick
conversation between David and I for what our week looks like.
(41:17):
Just because now in the heat of fall, we've got
multiple soccer practices and dances and gymnastics and football practice,
so the evenings just fly by. So if we don't
get our week set up. We definitely are kind of
scrambling all week long, and just that time to reset
on a Sunday.
Speaker 3 (41:34):
That brings me to the ten or twenty minute tidy.
That is something that I do nightly. I guess not daily,
but nightly, and I think you can get so much
done in ten or twenty minutes, depending on what you
have at the end of the day. You know, you
can unload a dishwasher. It doesn't really take all that
(41:55):
long to do that, and so you can do that
and maybe fold it's some clothes that just came out
of the dryer and they're just a you can get
a lot done in ten or twenty minutes. And so
I'm a big believer of the ten or twenty minute
tidy and I do do that every night. Set the
timer on my iPhone and if ten minutes have gone
by and I feel like I can do ten more,
I do ten more. And I will say, speaking of
(42:18):
the apps that I do use, I guess this isn't
an app, it's a podcast. But I do listen to
several productivity podcasts and they're good for business and for life.
And on one of them, they made their recommendation that
every night, when you are done, when you are ready
to go to bed, just give ten more minutes, ten
(42:39):
more minutes to whatever, whether it's reading, whether it's making
a list, whether it's tidying up, whatever it is, just
give it ten more minutes and you'll be amazed by
what that just extra last leg of the marathon of
life does at the end of each day. So I
have tried to put that into practice. I'm a night owl,
(43:01):
so it's pretty easy for me to do that, but
I'm a big believer of the ten or twenty minute
tidy yup at night.
Speaker 4 (43:08):
I'm a big believer in that as well too, And
it just helps so much when you come down in
the morning and the pillows all are all picked up
back on the sofa. My kids love to throw the
pillows on this thumb floor right now or in just
this bad pace. They should, but it just gets like
every time you walk in the room, you're like ough.
So it's comforting to have things tidied back up. And
(43:29):
I've always been big on the kitchen too. I never
leave dishes in the sink overnight. Everything's always picked up,
and the kitchen is clean when I come back down
in the morning too, and that's a big one to
help for sure.
Speaker 3 (43:40):
Yes, I have to ask were you We didn't really
talk about this earlier, but were you ever into the
Marie Condo peace.
Speaker 4 (43:48):
I didn't. I never. I actually never really even read
the book or or participated in any of it. And
I think as designers and people that like just pretty
things all over, it's hard to get rid of things.
I'm kind of always one that, like I enjoy getting
that vase back out, or the different stack of books
(44:09):
and accessories and things like that too. So I never
got into it. Did you.
Speaker 3 (44:15):
I read the book? I thought it was life changing,
to be honest.
Speaker 5 (44:19):
I look, the theory is good in general because I
think it makes people think about what they're It makes
them consider a little more what they're purchasing, what they're
bringing into their home to begin with, and then again
maybe letting go of things.
Speaker 3 (44:39):
I don't think it's meant to be used or I
don't know that it should be used literally, so great
to put into practice when again you're talking about cosmetics
and skincare. And yes, I did a handful of times
put a white sheet out like she recommended, through all
my stuff there and went through all of it. And
(45:00):
you know, it's a good exercise to get rid of things,
and things like cosmetics that are consumables.
Speaker 2 (45:06):
It's easy to ditch.
Speaker 3 (45:07):
It's like, oh, there's this much left in the lip gloss,
now it's time to toss it.
Speaker 2 (45:10):
That's easy.
Speaker 3 (45:12):
But when, like you just said, when you're talking about
decorative objects and things like that, those can be a
little more difficult to use that theory on because and
I'm kind of joyed out to be honest at the moment.
It's sort of an overused word right now. And that's fine.
(45:32):
It's a happy word, so that's okay. But I don't
know that things should necessarily be looked at that way. Again,
her book was brilliant, and I think anything that ignites
a conversation in society is wonderful, and it did, and
this is a problem that so many people have, this
(45:54):
challenge of accumulating so much stuff and over consumption and
all that. It was good as sort of an overarching
thought to put in your head.
Speaker 2 (46:04):
I don't think it's applicable to.
Speaker 3 (46:09):
Decorative pieces always because and I mean a wrench, A
wrench doesn't bring me joy, but I can actually probably
have one.
Speaker 2 (46:17):
In my garage.
Speaker 3 (46:18):
I don't know what to do with the wrench, but
I'm just saying there are certain things that it doesn't
apply to. But I agree in our world of design,
it is difficult. And I will say I think I'm
not blaming her at all, But we went through that
decade sort of, you know, twenty ten to twenty twenty,
(46:41):
where everything was so edited, super streamlined, everything was gray,
and we definitely I saw the types of projects that
we were submitted really changed and they weren't as layered.
We missed out, like on a whole decade of layer
all of those interesting pieces and for a look that
(47:03):
was super clean and super edited. And now I think
that people are adding those elements back in because they
missed those They missed those moments that were more personable
and that were really specific to them.
Speaker 4 (47:17):
Well, it's the things that tell the story of who
you are and what you love, and that's probably why
people wanted to bring all of that back into their life.
I yeah, and I think kind of even with that,
you bring up a good point too that I think
and for our listeners to keep in mind too, is
organization doesn't mean perfection. I mean you can start small.
It doesn't mean that everything in your house is always
(47:39):
perfectly organized. It's just that you know, making a step
to have areas of your home that function a little
bit better and that make you feel better because they're
organized better. So I think as a good challenge to
our listeners is don't feel like it all has to
be perfect either.
Speaker 2 (47:57):
I agree.
Speaker 3 (47:57):
I think the biggest takeaway from organizing and it's purpose
number one is time management is the ease of needing
something and knowing exactly where it is, so you know.
From that perspective, that should probably be the number one goal.
How it looks and is it Instagram or pinterest perfect,
(48:21):
I think is somewhat irrelevant. It's like good for you,
but it's not it. That's not the most necessary piece
of it. And the other thing about organizing too, and
oh geez, this is the problem when you're in your
twenties and maybe don't have the space that you want.
You end up buying things that you already have when
(48:42):
you can't see them. It's a money saved too when
things are organized because you can see I don't need
another bottle of mustard.
Speaker 2 (48:52):
Mustard doesn't go back.
Speaker 3 (48:53):
That's a bad example, but for lots of things, you know,
cold medicine, I mean things like that that you need
but you don't need always, but you want to make
sure you have them when you need them. It's like, oh, well,
if the bottle fell over in the back of the
bathroom cabinet, then you've got a rush to go get
more cough sharp or whatever it is.
Speaker 4 (49:15):
So yeah, having everything visible and out where you can
see it is super important to just ease of everyday
life and being able to save you time. Like you
mentioned too well, Chris, it was fun to hear all
of your organizational hacks and just have some good conversation
on this. It'd be fun too if our listeners have
any good tips for us that we can share as
(49:36):
well too. We'd love to hear that share it with
us and hope everybody can have a more functional and
organized home exactly.
Speaker 3 (49:44):
I think that we can probably do a follow up
episode to this one, yes, as we learn more and
maybe deep dive into specific rooms. But I'm inspired now
I'm going to go find a drawer.
Speaker 4 (49:56):
To organize now, me too. Thank you for listening to
this week's episode of Boulevard Beat. If you enjoyed this episode.
Please follow along and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
or wherever you listen so you never miss an episode,
And of course, follow your host on Instagram at Megan
bloom Interiors, at CHRISA. Rossbund, and at Liz Legit. We'll
(50:19):
be back next week as we take a stroll down
another boulevard
Welcome to boulevard Beat, a podcast we're life and style intersect.
I'm designer Megan Bloom along with my co hosts, editor CHRISA.
Rossbunt and gallery owner Liz Logit. This podcast focuses on
the daily highlights instead of the hustle, interviews with taste makers,
and personal conversations on how to highlight achievable style. You
con stroll one street at a time, boulevard Beat proves
(00:29):
the one.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
You should take.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Well.
Speaker 4 (00:33):
CHRISA. Today we're diving into a topic that affects us all,
and that's organizing, from our homes to our lives. The
clutter is real. It sneaks up on all of us.
So the systems that save us time and even just
having aesthetics that are pretty and functional in your organization
is important to talk about too. So excited to dive
into this conversation.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Organizing is really interesting. It's transformed for something that we
maybe just did to keep ourselves in check and reduce clutter,
it went from that to being this major component of design.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
When you're talking about you know.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
All of the walk in spaces and the pantries and
the closets and the labels.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
And the match and all of that.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
I mean, those sort of didn't exist back in the day,
so that's a new ish layer to organizing and how
we look at it from a design perspective.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
You're so right. I mean, businesses have been created out
of this, both from just like having people do it
for you and even just stores that sell you all
the products and things that help you have an organized
home because accumulating we all accumulate clutter and it just
stacks up and ends up in different places, and so
having a system that can help you find the right
(01:42):
place to put everything is so important.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Oh gosh, accumulation of dare I use the word stuff.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
It's no joke.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
It happens overnight, and it's difficult to keep up with.
I think, just you know, the intentions are always good.
The intention is always I might need this someday, I
might use this someday, and thus it will save me time,
it will save me money because I have this, But
that doesn't always pan out. Sometimes it's good to just
get rid of.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
And I also think a big component of it is
the time management. You know, I think you waste so
much time searching for things when there's parts of your
home that aren't organized. I mean, how many times have
we been late because you can't find a pair of keys,
or kids shoe or just all those random things that
happens in your daily life.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
That is so true.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Time management is probably the number one benefit from being
organized is knowing where things are when you need them.
I recently really focused on my chest of drawers that's
in my foyer.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
That is my go to station.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
It's where the car key goes, where you know, that
hand sanitizer goes. When when we all needed that so much,
all of those little pieces, I would kind of throw
them in and finally a couple of years ago, I
just dove in and order organize that. And it's really
incredible how much time that has saved me. And I'm
(03:06):
a pretty organized person just in general. But it's like
that last fifteen percent that you never get to, that's
what trips you up so many times.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
Yeah, that's so true that that last fifteen percent does
kind of keeps the clutter in the way. Definitely, have
you kept that space organized since you've done it aive
years ago.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Yes, I'm pretty good at once I do it, keeping
up with it. It's when it gets out of hand,
finding the time, the energy to start it, to initiate it,
which is the problem with so many projects.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
And I think that when you have a good system
and it works, it usually does stay intact. It's when
it doesn't function for how you actually live your daily life,
but then it kind of almes apart.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
So I have a little interesting story to tell. I
always thought this was so endearing and sweet and incredible
and useful. On staff, we had two women who were older,
and then there was a third person who was in
their generation, and they were all very close friends and
had been friends for a few decades, I believe, and
(04:06):
they did something really interesting.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Twice a year.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
They would commit to three weekends in a row, and
they would start at one of their homes and then
move on to the other two and for that entire weekend. Basically,
if it was your house, you got to be the boss.
So it was let's go through my refrigerator, let's go
through all the condiments, let's go.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
They all very much.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Trusted each other, so paper stuff and tax forms and
things like that, they were comfortable. I just thought it
was so great because I think it goes so much
faster when you have another set of hands.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
That's the problem.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Like if you have a friend helping you, it's so
much easier than just tackling you know, drawers and cabinets
and Christmas stuff, all of that on your own. So
I always thought that was so sweet that they did that.
And then whoever's house it was that weekend, they had
to provide all.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
The food, So it was such a good thing.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
It's fun. That's a fun idea, and just even another
set of eyes to just kind of go through things too,
because sometimes that's what's hard, is to part with things
sometimes too and it's not as personal to them, so
it might be easier just to throw it away and
I would never know it still existed.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
So our challenge is defined the three weekends and our rest,
which it's difficult for you and difficult for me at
our stages in life.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
Yes, for sure, that would be a good winter project
when it's when it's cool. It's definitely well. And I
think the big thing is, like we talked about, it's
kind of decluttering first and then organizing. You kind of
have to go through everything and there's always different types
of clutter, you know. There's the sentimental kind of clutter
that you just aren't sure those special cards that you
(05:43):
hang on to, or things that you paid for and
you just can't get rid of because you know you
spent so much money on them, and even just kind
of like you. We've talked about before too, that aspirational clutter,
the craft closet you have that you never actually use
some of the stuff in. It's decluttering all of those
things and then organizing.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
I'm not decluttering my craft room. That's not how kind
of happen.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
It looks too pretty.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yeah, it's too pretty.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Okay, So I have to ask you, are you a
paper clutter person?
Speaker 4 (06:13):
Not especially I am. On I still am old fashioned
and I like to hang I tear rooms out of
magazines or recipes and I hang onto those still, which
I probably need to modernize that a little bit because
I don't go back through them very often, but when
I do, I enjoy it, like just to see those
pictures again. But as far as like office paper clutter,
(06:36):
I'm not a big one on that.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
I'm pretty good. I have a great system for the mail,
and that is I open the mail over the garbage,
so any junk mail goes right away. I don't have
junk mail sort of looming around. I'm pretty good with paper.
I don't like a lot of paper, but that to accumulate,
(06:58):
So there are the you know, it's a good activity
when you're binge watching something mindless to go through paper.
And it's really incredible how quickly you can fill up
a garbage bag. Sometimes for sure, Wow, where did all
of that come from? Because I think I'm pretty decent
at keeping up with it.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
And I have a good system too. Every day when
the kids come home from school, I open the folder,
look at what I need to and then if it's
something that I want to save or a piece of artwork,
I have little file bins up in a cabinet kind
of right off of our back mudroom that then I
can just file those away. And then when that gets full,
I have somewhere that I put all of that stuff
(07:40):
and go through.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Well. I think that again, you know, our intentions are
usually good, and I think that is the case of
most people. But you hang on to cards and you think,
and it's like, I don't ever really go back and
look at cards from anybody. Maybe my grand my grandparents,
you know, I like to see their handwriting, but other
than that, I don't ever really do that, and I
(08:04):
saw a tip years ago. I don't know if this
was an early Pinterest thing or where I saw it,
but at Christmas time, I would whole punch all the
cards and then put one of those rings around them
because I thought, oh, I can.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Go through over the years and look through.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
And now the problem is now I have like twenty
of them and they're this thick, and it's like, I like,
what is the point? And so I think that this
Christmas those might go away. I just I don't ever
really look at them. And it's fun to look at
people's pictures and see how kids have changed and grown
and all of that, but at some point it's gotta go.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Because what you think at.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
The time, you know, at the time it was a
kind of cute idea because I had a huge bowl
that I would put them in and it looked.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Sort of stylish.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Now it's just a lot of cards with a metal
ring around them, and it's doesn't look so.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
Good hard well, and it just gets hard because that
then twenty years of that is where do you store that?
You know, so it just becomes extra stuff in your home.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
That's when you go to the families you need to
be invited to the family home, so you can just
look at their pictures over the years and it's like, oh,
that's what.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
You still look like.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
But I do need to keep I don't need to
keep evidence of every family in my home.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
Well, Chris, one of the things too, I think interesting
about organizing is.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Just the aesthetics of it.
Speaker 4 (09:22):
We talked about how these some of these stores have
popped up and how pantries and all these spaces now
are just beautifully organized and they just look very clean
and have all matching containers and the labels and all
the things that go with it, which sometimes that can
be overwhelming to people too, because like sometimes when they
(09:43):
look perfect, you still don't have room to store everything
or you need a lot of space to do that,
and so I think that that can sometimes be overwhelming
too for people. Is just having it look perfect and
function for your family.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
Oh absolutely, And this whole you know news genre of
design that is organizing and all of the koutra mob
that goes with that. It's so generational because my parents,
for instance, they would never go to that trouble right. Oh,
you can just see everything how it is like why
do I need another container? For it. It's like because
(10:17):
it looks better, but it's definitely a generational thing. I
think it's good. I think you and I are lucky
that we didn't grow up in a time where there
was a depression or anything like that and people were rationing.
You know, we've always sort of had what we needed,
and then you have the opportunity to buy things in
bulk to cost save or things that you know that
(10:38):
you're going to need readily all the time. It's great
that we have a little more space now and can
accommodate all of our things in the backstock of those
daily you know, paper napkins and snacks and all of
that good stuff. I think it feels good to go
(10:58):
into a space that's very linear, that's really organized and
again just super structured. I think that there's a sense
of calm wherever that is. And there aren't a whole
lot of opportunities in the livable spaces in the house
where that happens. So to go into a pantry or
(11:18):
a closet where you have lots of shelving and lots
of bins and boxes and you just have all of
those strip lines, I think it just you know, it
gives order to the day, it gives order to your life,
and it just is a moment of calm, even if
the rest of your life is completely chaotic.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
I think you bring up a good point because I
think we probably I know I have. I feel like
my cleaning closets like that right now, I open it
up in the toilet paper if it's not sitting in
the right spot, and the extra batteries and the brooms
are kind of tipping over, and it's just like, oh,
I don't want to have to open this right now.
And I think that's a good example of when things
function well, it can create more of a stress free
(11:57):
day as well for you. So organization is important for
that reason of just having more calm in your life.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Like you mentioned, this is the question that I always
have though, because Instagram and pinterest have you know, made
this phenomena of organizing just explode, and when we see
it and on the television shows and all of that,
you know, they do the big unveiling and everything to
use your word is in fact perfect, the perfect label.
(12:25):
The snacks are all lined up. What happens when you're
four days into the snacks like it doesn't always look
that way, because you're not eating three granola bars and
then necessarily replacing them right away. So I'm always intrigued
by people who are that strict with themselves. It's like,
(12:46):
how much do they really keep up with that? I'm
always curious.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
Well even just yeah, like pouring the cereal into plastic containers,
and you know it's an extra step when you come
home from the grocery store to do as well. And
it's in all those pretty fancy organizations are expensive too,
you know, it's it's not cheap just to kind of
have everything matchy matching.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Oh, that's so true. I mean it is. It's an investment.
You have to commit to a system, right if you're
buying bins, you can buy round ones or you can
buy square ones that nest into each other. But you
have to decide this is what I'm committing to for
the canister size or the canister shape. But yes, you
can spend thousands of dollars outfitting a space with all
(13:32):
of the appointments, and you know, it's it's something to consider.
You know, do you do you need that? Or are
the golden gram spine in the box they come in? Right?
Speaker 4 (13:43):
Yeah? But I mean I think there are some systems
in the kitchen that are really necessary and aren't really
a glamorous thing you think of, like just drawer dividers
for your utensils or your silverware and things like that.
I mean, how many times have you cleaned out a
drawer like that and all of a sudden you've got
like three spats. Like, no one needs all the extra
supplies either. So I think there's some functional ones in
(14:05):
a kitchen for sure that I think help you live better.
You know, spice dividers, the trade dividers that happen as well,
and can kind of keep things organized for you so
nothing's kind of getting lost.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
I saw a meme recently that said, you know you're
an adult when you have a favorite spatula. It's so true.
I have a favorite. I am sorry to the other spatulas,
but the one with the colbalt blue tip is my favorite.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
It's my go to.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
And the kitchen I think really demands great organization, because
especially for those things that you don't use all the time,
there is nothing more frustrating than going to, you know,
make a special dish and then a little tool that
you need that you may only use for a certain
(14:55):
type of ingredient is missing.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
There's nothing more frustrating.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
And I will admit there have been a handful of
times in my life when it's like seven o'clock on
a Saturday night and I'm rushing to Williams Sonoma or
when it existed bed Bath and Beyond to buy a
thing that I cannot find.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
That's happened to me.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
I did recently, and I know that we're going to
have a separate episode at some point about kitchens, but
one thing that I did recently is I did create
a baking station because I am not a avid baker.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
I'm an avid cook, but not an avid baker.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
And that's really reserved for the holiday times during the year,
so I don't need the candy thermometers for nine other months.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
So it's like, why is it in my main drawer?
Speaker 3 (15:45):
So I did in my kitchen create a cabinet in
a drawer, and that's really.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Where the brown sugar goes.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
I don't ever use those things really at any other time,
and so that's helped a lot because I just know
the last few years that's for all of my stuff
is and I don't have to wonder. So that's been
a good addition for me.
Speaker 4 (16:08):
I think you bring up a good point with that,
with you know, your kitchen design and things like that too.
I also have a little baking drawer, but it's kind
of grouping like things together, you know. I also have
all the kid snacks together, and it's been helpful for
me to put those in clear binds and have them
all in one drawer, so the kids can open the
drawer up and decide what they want to have as
a snack that day and they're not looking all over
(16:30):
the kitchen, you know, or you think of like a
coffee station too, that then the mugs are just right
there with the coffee beans by the coffee maker and
just having it. It simplifies your routine and your day
when you're not like going back and forth and back
and forth. And so that kitchen layout is so important
in the space.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
Oh when I am so jealous of the back kitchen,
so jealous. And again we can maybe talk about that
when we have our kitchen episode.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
But that, yes, is my dream for sure.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
And you know, Chris A two in the kitchen. I
know there's some apps as well that people use for
recipe organization. I don't know if you've gotten into that.
I think that papa Rika is a popular one or
grocery lists apps as well that kind of help them
simplify their grocery lists or with a family and things
like that too.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
So I think I've been paying for Paprika for three
years and I have not used it yet. That maybe
could be a winter activity this year, because in theory,
I would like to have all of my recipes corralled,
and especially the ones I find online because I'm a
cookbook I'm a physical cookbook girl as well, so I
(17:40):
don't always go to online, but I have so many
recipes from so many different sources. So in theory, I've
made that first step with Paprika, but I have not
used it. And I will say when it comes to
kitchen organization, I'm still very old school, so I like paper.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
I like to have.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Print outs of my recipes. Also, I have them in
plastic sleeves, the ones.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
That I print from the Internet.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
I don't use an iPad on a stand to look
at recipes because I had a screen once that protected
it from all of the grease and whatever, and I
don't know what happened to it. It probably broke or
I got an upgraded model or something. But anyway, I
don't use technology for cooking in that regard while I'm cooking,
(18:31):
unless it's to look something up if I need a
substitute for something or that sort of information. So I
still need the place in the kitchen for the cookbooks,
for paper versions of the online recipes, and I don't
really use those apps. I always my question with apps is,
(18:52):
and I'm fascinated because I have a few friends who
are committed to apps.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
They have an app for everything.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
It's on their phone, they know where it is, they
go to what they use it religiously. Apps to me
are not useful if they don't save me time.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
So when it comes to the.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Grocery list, I can go to the app and type
in that you know, I need eggs, bread froze and
strawberries whatever, or I can write it down on a
sticky note and it takes like ten seconds. Then the
problem is I can't lose a sticky note. But life
is not perfect, So I yeah, when it comes to apps,
(19:31):
that's my one criteria is will it save me time?
Speaker 4 (19:37):
I think that you bring up a good point with
that too, And the only thing that's nice sometimes about
the apps too? Is that, like you said, when you
forget the sticky note or or you kind of have
an ongoing one and then you just decide to bop
in the grocery store and you're like, wait, what did
I need again? You know, so at least it's all
there on your phone, or if you're sharing it with
a spouse or family member, that then you that can
(19:57):
kind of be an ongoing list of like oh we're
out a toilet paper and that sort of a thing too,
which is nice?
Speaker 3 (20:02):
It is?
Speaker 2 (20:03):
That is nice?
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Yeah? I mean there are certainly benefits to the apps.
I just I'm not the person who's gotten into the
habit of using a bunch of apps religiously.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
There are a few that I use for certain things, but.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
I don't necessarily rely on them.
Speaker 4 (20:19):
So I have a.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Question for you.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Are your kids organized? Aren't they at that stage yet?
Or do you see the personality differences in them?
Speaker 4 (20:27):
I see the personalities in them for sure. My younger
two are maybe still a little small that I don't
see it yet, or maybe they should. But my older
one likes an organized space. He will on a boring
Saturday will go through his clothes and clean things up
or organize his closet. He likes his bookcase to look
(20:49):
very put together and isn't just messy. And then my
younger two are just little hoarders that keep everything and
there's spots for it everywhere in their room and and
things like that too. I didn't ever think i'd have
so many unicorns and headbands and all the stuff in
Lily's room that just is on the floor and it's
(21:10):
a chore that's part of our weekly cool you're oldest.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
That could be an oldest child thing too.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
I think I would agree with that.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
Yeah, yeah, I think that's a system of being an oldest.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
I'm an oldest, So there's that. Okay.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
My other question for you is do you organize within
the organizational system or is the system good enough? And
what I mean by that is because time is always
a problem with me. I have a lot of bins
for different categories, and as long as the thing gets
thrown into that bin, that's good enough. The bin itself
(21:46):
doesn't have to be organized, usually depending on what the
category is, but just in general, so what kind of
person are you?
Speaker 4 (21:53):
I am probably a little mixed too. I have the
bin that the thing goes in. But then I'm not
like meticulously having making sure every one of the snack
bars is lined up perfectly, just as long as the
snack's in the right bin, separate from everything else. But
then I think it does depend like a few things
like I have a little craft closet too, and like
the ribbons I have all lined up together and they
(22:15):
look nice when you open the top, and that always
makes you feel good too, right.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
I think that there are you know, like I said,
there are categories of products that I it's like, oh,
I want this to look really nice all the time.
That's probably my bathroom. There's something about a bathroom. I
want it to look clean and be clean always, and
so it's important for me to have it be super
organized in that space, probably more so than anything else.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
But then there are other places.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
Where you know, the light bulbs, I don't really care
that they're all lined up as as they're all there
when I need them.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
Yeah, And I think you bring up a good point too.
In the bathroom, there's nothing better than like just you know,
with your makeup and your products and things like that,
of opening the cabinet and it all looks nice together.
I struggle with kind of product overload that I end
up buying and trying another product or lotion or face cream,
and all of a sudden it's full and you know,
(23:09):
you use twenty percent of what you have, and so
I think, I think that's an important thing to edit
that and go through like, oh, I'm actually not using
five of these eyeshadows, like let's get rid of it.
And that's always the hard part.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
I have really tried.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
I'm not one hundred percent yet, but I am in
the mode now where I'm trying to reduce and reduce
and reduce. And so I was a cosmetics queen, and
I mean I still am in theory. I would love
to go every day go buy a new look Glossn't
I'm trying to. I've been trying to be better about,
(23:48):
you know, waiting until the eyeshadow hits the pan before
you go buy a new one and things like that,
because similarly, I was just I just had too much
and at some point you just it affects you, like
you don't even realize as you're building, but one day
it just smacks you in the face and it's like,
oh my gosh, I want to get rid of so
much of this, but then you also don't want to
(24:09):
be wasteful. So in the case of cosmetics and skincare products,
you really have that slow burn of using things day
after day after day after day to get into the
point where you can toss them then, so that that
becomes a bit.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Of a problem.
Speaker 4 (24:26):
Well, And I think along with that too is just
like hair products or things like that too, just like
wanting to try, like how many headbands do I really
need when I only wear a headband once a month?
You know that type of thing too, So I.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Can never have too many scrunchies.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
They're all over my house because I do you know,
when I'm home up, my hair goes into a.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
Ponytail or a bun.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
So those are pretty prolific in my confines. But I've
been better, and I try to improve always just to
reduce the amount of what I need, because I definitely
don't need as much as I have or as much
as I thought I once needed. So yeah, it's overwhelming.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
It is overwhelming. And I think another one that can
be overwhelming too is your closets because of just the
amount of clothes you have and what you wear, and
you know how you store it and your organization system
in there too. I've always liked the little flip method
with the hangar as an idea to kind of really
see what you're wearing and you know, flip it around,
(25:28):
and then you know, six months later or a year
and you notice you're not wearing the majority of your clothes,
like why are we hanging on to them? But then
it's the chore of actually getting rid of it.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
Such a chore, and what do you do with the clothes?
So that was the one place in my house during
the pandemic that I couldn't address right then because I
don't know if you remember, but you couldn't donate clothes
at that time. A lot of places wouldn't take them
just because I guess of the possible contamination. So finally,
(26:00):
about six months ago, because I hadn't tackled my closet
that entire time, and I realized that was five years
ago already. But finally about six months ago sort of
the end of last winter is when I started really
going through things and just did this mass exodus of
just elimination because the clothes, and the thing is, clothes
(26:21):
are heavy there when you take them out and throw
them in a pile. It's like, I'm getting rid of
all of these you realize as you're lugging them out
to your car to take to Goodwill or Saint Vincent
DePaul or you know, consignment, whatever you're doing with them.
They're so heavy. So clothes are a big problem. And
I wish that I could say that I was trying
(26:43):
to improve with that, but I that's a tough one
for me. It's a tough one.
Speaker 4 (26:48):
One that helped me a little bit when I cleaned
out my closet this last year was I had had
my colors done, and then knowing what my colors were,
and then I also still wasn't wearing If it wasn't
my color and I wasn't wearing it, then it was
like why am I holding onto this? Like it just
was a double whammy to be like, let's get rid
of it. So that was helpful for me. I also
really like in the closet, I do all of mine
(27:10):
by color, So I put all of the colors together
so you kind of know what you're looking for when
you're getting dressed, so you're not like searching for that
random black shirt because you then know it's not stuck
between two other clothes that don't match. You kind of
can go to that black section.
Speaker 3 (27:25):
I do category, and then color so all of my
pants are together. And then within the pants, I do
them light to dark. Yes, thing with dresses, and then
I do you switch things out seasonally.
Speaker 4 (27:38):
I am fortunate enough and have a decent sized closet
right now that I don't have to, but I have
in the past in other houses.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Yes, I do too.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
I have a cedar closet, and so I put I
do exchange things just so they're not necessarily in my face.
I just again it's the visual reduction too. So during
those long winter months that we have the summer stuff
just makes me sad more than anything. So I just
(28:07):
I take that and I put it into a different
closet just so it's out of the way. And then
if I need warm weather clothes during the winter months,
if I'm traveling or you know, going to a warm
weather destination, then I know exactly where they are. But
I'm lucky enough to to have good closet space for that.
But I just I don't. I still, I just want
(28:29):
to see fewer and fewer.
Speaker 4 (28:30):
Pieces, you know, And as we talk about clothes too.
I know there's some apps that also help with your
style and your wardrobe as well, that can help you
plan different outfits. Like have you dove into any of
those type of things like stylebook or anything.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
I haven't.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
I mean, I love clothes, I love fashion. I sort
of on Sunday nights, I think to myself, what you know,
I take a look at the weather. I feel like
an old man. I feel like my dad, Like I'm
always looking at the weather. But you have to here
and I have to because I'm traveling all the time.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
But I kind of have it in.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
Mind what I'm going to wear for the week. I
make sure everything's ironed and that sort of thing, so
they're ready to go. So at seven o'clock in the morning,
I'm not rushing around upset because I can't find the
right keys. So I kind of have that in mind already. No,
(29:26):
I have not ever used any of those apps.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
You know, again, I should. I should look into it.
Speaker 3 (29:31):
I think it would just be fun to see what
they say.
Speaker 4 (29:34):
Right they do you use one or we don't? Either?
And I wish I was a little more organized in
my daily attire. But I kind of go with the
vibe of how I'm feeling in the morning and when
I get dressed too, versus just kind of planning the
whole week out. But I mean, I definitely lay the
kids clothes out the night before, so that way that's
kind of ready to go. Thankfully, they were uniforms the
(29:56):
majority of the year, but still becomes a little bit
of a conversation of what we're going to wear and
how we're going to do that. So that does help
with the weekly schedule.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
Okay. But I will say I've known a few people,
not a lot, but a few people over the years
who sort.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Of have their own uniform.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
Yeah, keep it simple, you know, they don't stray far
from what their uniform is, and it simplifies their life.
I you know, I read about these people who have
the capsule wardrobes.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
I just I'm not feeling it.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
Yeah, I mean, I like the idea of having like
a good quality white shirt, a good quality pair of
black trousers, that sort of thing, and having capsule that
way so you don't have nine pairs of not great
black pants.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
That makes sense to me.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
But those people who are like it can go a
whole year with only fifteen garments. Including the accessories.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
It's like, well, good for you.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
Challenge not accepted.
Speaker 4 (30:56):
Yes, I'm with you on that one.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Challenge not accepted.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
Like my pretty things, and I like my accessories and
the scarves and all of it, so I am not
interested in that. Although, okay, I will say I have
tried to reduce the amount of jewelry because I feel
like you go places and you're like, oh, I need that.
I love a good statement earring. That's the piece that
(31:20):
I love the most, and so it's difficult for me
to pass up really great earrings. But I've been trying
to maybe stop that a little bit because they're just
too many.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
Well there are too many, and then you know, you
kind of look through your jewelry drawer and you don't
have that many things that you're always going to that
you need all the statement jewelry every time too as well,
and then you end up still going with your favorite
one and not ever using the other one.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
I've gotten rid of a ton of necklaces because for
a while, again, I was buying all of these necklaces,
and I really just now most of the time I
have a little cross that I wear, and unless it's
a special occasion where you want that big thing, but
too many necklaces, too many, too much, too many, too many.
Speaker 4 (32:06):
So well, and I know we've talked about that before,
and I think it's that fast fashion that it's easy
just to like pick up a new necklace even at
Target or somewhere like that too, that's not even very expensive,
but just has a little of the trends that are
going on, and so it's just easy to accumulate a
lot of things.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
Usually my jewelry purchases are I justify them as a
souvenir when I travel, so that's when I do most
of my shopping, and that's where most of them come from.
But even then, over time, it's just like, ugh, I'm
not interested in that anymore, and I just I just
that's not going to be something I necessarily look for
(32:43):
or bring back as a souvenir moving forward, because it's
just a lot.
Speaker 4 (32:47):
Hmm, it doesn't become a lot. But I do love
a good souvenir jewelry piece too, because you do remember
where you were and what you were doing and just
the moment and time of your life. For sure, absolutely
speaking of even just travel, because as we travel, we
accumulate a lot of photos, both digital and real photos,
and I think that that brings up an overwhelming thing
(33:09):
to organize, is photos in general or just digital organization,
and how that relates to our life to keep things
clean in the digital world.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
Okay, the digital world is where I am a hot mess.
And as we speak, I am going to see how
many images are on my phone. Thirty seven thousand images
are on my iPhone. I always play this game with myself.
It's like, Okay, if every day I go through two
(33:39):
hundred pictures, I'll be done at a certain time and
I will have gone through my whole and everything will
be that's never going to happen. It's just never going
to happen. And then in addition to taking nice photos
of the grand canyon or of children, there are also
all of the screenshots. I constantly screenshots something I see
(33:59):
on instead because I don't have time to write it
down or I don't And it's like, that's the beauty
of the phone, right you can just screenshot it's right here.
Or if you're at the grocery store and you want
to take a picture of a nutrition label, it's right there.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
I can do it. So I have all.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
Of those photos, and I know there are apps that
you know will clean up your photos. Well, that's great
for duplicate pictures, but it's not great for what I
just described, all of those screenshots that are sort of
informational things that you quickly snap. So it just is
what it is for me for pictures anyway.
Speaker 4 (34:39):
That is a challenge for me as well. Maybe we
need to challenge our listeners if anyone has a really
good organization idea, to share it so we can share
with the world as well. Because I'm the same way.
I screenshot a ton of stuff, recipes, quotes, pictures, all
the things, and then every once in a while I
do go back through and kind of put them in
a little like organization or get rid of it. But
(35:00):
that doesn't happen very often either. It's overwhelming for sure.
Speaker 3 (35:04):
I will take physical organization over digital organization any day.
Staring at a screen moving things into folders, trying to
remember if you already created a folder for something that
is just the thought of it is just so cringey
to me, and it makes my eyes hurt and my
brain hurt.
Speaker 4 (35:24):
But it does when you do. I'm like that too,
because I drag step to my desktop, and all of
a sudden the desktops fall, and so it's like, all right,
let's clean it up. But when you do finally clean
it up, you're like, oh, that does feel better.
Speaker 3 (35:35):
It does feel better, It does feel better.
Speaker 4 (35:37):
I do love the iPhone now has a little spot
where it detects duplicates and you can easily clean it
up so you don't even have to pay for a
nap anymore to get that done, which is super nice.
Speaker 3 (35:50):
And I do like the search function on iPhone too,
so you can search location, location, so that makes it
a little easier if memory he does not serve.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
The photo thing.
Speaker 3 (36:03):
Yes, anybody who's listening, if you have a really great tip,
I am all ears. Maybe we should do some research
after this and come back to our listeners with what
we find.
Speaker 4 (36:14):
I do think though, the one thing with like digital
organization that is helpful is kind of if you stick
if you find a platform and you kind of stick
with it, you know, if you're going to go the
all Google route or the Apple or Microsoft, but not
trying to intertwine with all different types of systems there,
it does help your networking. All of that together well.
Speaker 3 (36:34):
That's another problem for anybody who's a hoarder out there.
I mean, for a while I turned into an app order,
like it's like download for free. It's like, okay, try it,
why not, let's try it out. And I think that
when it comes to organizing, simple is always better. I
think that there is a point when things can be
(36:57):
overorganized to where they're no longer functional. And that's kind
of what I was referencing a little bit earlier when
I said, you know, is the bin just throwing the
thing into the bin good enough? Or do you organize
on top of that? And I think that when you
deep organize too much, especially with paper things or on
(37:19):
digital things, it's like maybe you don't need a real
folder for that, Like maybe that that document doesn't need
its own individual folder. Maybe it's okay, digital or physical
just with you all of the tax documents. Or I
think you can go too deep too to where it's
you don't remember then it's like is this just in
(37:40):
the folder with general tax things? Or did I create
a subcategory for restaurant receipts for business meals?
Speaker 4 (37:48):
Yeah, you kind of have to retrace what was my
brain thinking that day to like organize that or how
was it going to put it in its folder in
that time.
Speaker 3 (37:57):
I know somebody who is a professional organized and once
she's finished with a client, she creates a written document
that lives sort of in a three ring binder kind
of situation. That's a guide to everything they did. It's
sort of a key to the home. Where is everything
that these are for large scale homes usually, but where
does everything live? So the homeowner the client knows, because
(38:21):
it's difficult sometimes when you have done the organization, it's
like where did that go?
Speaker 2 (38:26):
And you know, occasionally this.
Speaker 3 (38:29):
Is my office desk because my office desk I sort
of don't care so much. And you know, the papers
come in just because of what I do. They're not
eight and a half by eleven sheets. They're all sorts
of weird sizes and fabric samples I don't have to
tell you, and while paper samples and you know, knobs
and polls of new finishes and so there is that,
(38:52):
you know, justification validation I have sometimes when it's like,
you know, my desk was more functional to me when it.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
Was just messier.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
I could see everything then I knew where everything was.
When everything's put away sometimes I think to myself, did
I put that away? And what was the system? So
I think that's interesting. The person I know who's the
professional organizer when she said, you know, she has to
create this guide than to the home when she goes
into a family and really organizes their house so they
(39:25):
know where things are because sometimes that can become a.
Speaker 4 (39:28):
Problem, and then know how to put it all back too,
so then that system stays together too. Yeah, Chris, So
we've talked about several different areas of the home and
different computer and how we digitalize things and things like
that too. But everyone has their personal systems, So do
you have any good ones that you want to share
that you use in your own life.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
I talked about the mail already, and that's a big
one for me because I just don't understand that a
lot of people will complain like, oh, I have to
go through all the junk mail.
Speaker 2 (39:59):
It's like, well, why do you have to go through
all the junk mail? Go through the junk mail.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
When it comes every day? So putting like things together
is a big deal for me. And then what the
professional organizers say is true. You really have to outline
and take inventory of what you are trying to organize
before you go and buy the organizational pieces that they
(40:24):
go into because otherwise it's just you're really attracted to,
you know, wicker over acrylic. It becomes more about that
and do you really need that piece and will it
fit into your home. So taking those measurements have really
helped me. You know, before I was so guilty, like
I think so many people are, of just going to
(40:46):
the container store or Target and buying bins. And I
stopped doing that and then I went and did it
the right way, and that has made a difference for me.
Speaker 4 (40:56):
Yeah, it's nice when you figure out something that works
for you and you're able to just really take it
into your daily life and make it stick for you too.
I know for our family, one thing that we really
try and do is kind of just that Sunday reset,
you know, kind of make sure we've got the grocery
store done, the laundry done, even just that little quick
conversation between David and I for what our week looks like.
(41:17):
Just because now in the heat of fall, we've got
multiple soccer practices and dances and gymnastics and football practice,
so the evenings just fly by. So if we don't
get our week set up. We definitely are kind of
scrambling all week long, and just that time to reset
on a Sunday.
Speaker 3 (41:34):
That brings me to the ten or twenty minute tidy.
That is something that I do nightly. I guess not daily,
but nightly, and I think you can get so much
done in ten or twenty minutes, depending on what you
have at the end of the day. You know, you
can unload a dishwasher. It doesn't really take all that
(41:55):
long to do that, and so you can do that
and maybe fold it's some clothes that just came out
of the dryer and they're just a you can get
a lot done in ten or twenty minutes. And so
I'm a big believer of the ten or twenty minute
tidy and I do do that every night. Set the
timer on my iPhone and if ten minutes have gone
by and I feel like I can do ten more,
I do ten more. And I will say, speaking of
(42:18):
the apps that I do use, I guess this isn't
an app, it's a podcast. But I do listen to
several productivity podcasts and they're good for business and for life.
And on one of them, they made their recommendation that
every night, when you are done, when you are ready
to go to bed, just give ten more minutes, ten
(42:39):
more minutes to whatever, whether it's reading, whether it's making
a list, whether it's tidying up, whatever it is, just
give it ten more minutes and you'll be amazed by
what that just extra last leg of the marathon of
life does at the end of each day. So I
have tried to put that into practice. I'm a night owl,
(43:01):
so it's pretty easy for me to do that, but
I'm a big believer of the ten or twenty minute
tidy yup at night.
Speaker 4 (43:08):
I'm a big believer in that as well too, And
it just helps so much when you come down in
the morning and the pillows all are all picked up
back on the sofa. My kids love to throw the
pillows on this thumb floor right now or in just
this bad pace. They should, but it just gets like
every time you walk in the room, you're like ough.
So it's comforting to have things tidied back up. And
(43:29):
I've always been big on the kitchen too. I never
leave dishes in the sink overnight. Everything's always picked up,
and the kitchen is clean when I come back down
in the morning too, and that's a big one to
help for sure.
Speaker 3 (43:40):
Yes, I have to ask were you We didn't really
talk about this earlier, but were you ever into the
Marie Condo peace.
Speaker 4 (43:48):
I didn't. I never. I actually never really even read
the book or or participated in any of it. And
I think as designers and people that like just pretty
things all over, it's hard to get rid of things.
I'm kind of always one that, like I enjoy getting
that vase back out, or the different stack of books
(44:09):
and accessories and things like that too. So I never
got into it. Did you.
Speaker 3 (44:15):
I read the book? I thought it was life changing,
to be honest.
Speaker 5 (44:19):
I look, the theory is good in general because I
think it makes people think about what they're It makes
them consider a little more what they're purchasing, what they're
bringing into their home to begin with, and then again
maybe letting go of things.
Speaker 3 (44:39):
I don't think it's meant to be used or I
don't know that it should be used literally, so great
to put into practice when again you're talking about cosmetics
and skincare. And yes, I did a handful of times
put a white sheet out like she recommended, through all
my stuff there and went through all of it. And
(45:00):
you know, it's a good exercise to get rid of things,
and things like cosmetics that are consumables.
Speaker 2 (45:06):
It's easy to ditch.
Speaker 3 (45:07):
It's like, oh, there's this much left in the lip gloss,
now it's time to toss it.
Speaker 2 (45:10):
That's easy.
Speaker 3 (45:12):
But when, like you just said, when you're talking about
decorative objects and things like that, those can be a
little more difficult to use that theory on because and
I'm kind of joyed out to be honest at the moment.
It's sort of an overused word right now. And that's fine.
(45:32):
It's a happy word, so that's okay. But I don't
know that things should necessarily be looked at that way. Again,
her book was brilliant, and I think anything that ignites
a conversation in society is wonderful, and it did, and
this is a problem that so many people have, this
(45:54):
challenge of accumulating so much stuff and over consumption and
all that. It was good as sort of an overarching
thought to put in your head.
Speaker 2 (46:04):
I don't think it's applicable to.
Speaker 3 (46:09):
Decorative pieces always because and I mean a wrench, A
wrench doesn't bring me joy, but I can actually probably
have one.
Speaker 2 (46:17):
In my garage.
Speaker 3 (46:18):
I don't know what to do with the wrench, but
I'm just saying there are certain things that it doesn't
apply to. But I agree in our world of design,
it is difficult. And I will say I think I'm
not blaming her at all, But we went through that
decade sort of, you know, twenty ten to twenty twenty,
(46:41):
where everything was so edited, super streamlined, everything was gray,
and we definitely I saw the types of projects that
we were submitted really changed and they weren't as layered.
We missed out, like on a whole decade of layer
all of those interesting pieces and for a look that
(47:03):
was super clean and super edited. And now I think
that people are adding those elements back in because they
missed those They missed those moments that were more personable
and that were really specific to them.
Speaker 4 (47:17):
Well, it's the things that tell the story of who
you are and what you love, and that's probably why
people wanted to bring all of that back into their life.
I yeah, and I think kind of even with that,
you bring up a good point too that I think
and for our listeners to keep in mind too, is
organization doesn't mean perfection. I mean you can start small.
It doesn't mean that everything in your house is always
(47:39):
perfectly organized. It's just that you know, making a step
to have areas of your home that function a little
bit better and that make you feel better because they're
organized better. So I think as a good challenge to
our listeners is don't feel like it all has to
be perfect either.
Speaker 2 (47:57):
I agree.
Speaker 3 (47:57):
I think the biggest takeaway from organizing and it's purpose
number one is time management is the ease of needing
something and knowing exactly where it is, so you know.
From that perspective, that should probably be the number one goal.
How it looks and is it Instagram or pinterest perfect,
(48:21):
I think is somewhat irrelevant. It's like good for you,
but it's not it. That's not the most necessary piece
of it. And the other thing about organizing too, and
oh geez, this is the problem when you're in your
twenties and maybe don't have the space that you want.
You end up buying things that you already have when
(48:42):
you can't see them. It's a money saved too when
things are organized because you can see I don't need
another bottle of mustard.
Speaker 2 (48:52):
Mustard doesn't go back.
Speaker 3 (48:53):
That's a bad example, but for lots of things, you know,
cold medicine, I mean things like that that you need
but you don't need always, but you want to make
sure you have them when you need them. It's like, oh, well,
if the bottle fell over in the back of the
bathroom cabinet, then you've got a rush to go get
more cough sharp or whatever it is.
Speaker 4 (49:15):
So yeah, having everything visible and out where you can
see it is super important to just ease of everyday
life and being able to save you time. Like you
mentioned too well, Chris, it was fun to hear all
of your organizational hacks and just have some good conversation
on this. It'd be fun too if our listeners have
any good tips for us that we can share as
(49:36):
well too. We'd love to hear that share it with
us and hope everybody can have a more functional and
organized home exactly.
Speaker 3 (49:44):
I think that we can probably do a follow up
episode to this one, yes, as we learn more and
maybe deep dive into specific rooms. But I'm inspired now
I'm going to go find a drawer.
Speaker 4 (49:56):
To organize now, me too. Thank you for listening to
this week's episode of Boulevard Beat. If you enjoyed this episode.
Please follow along and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
or wherever you listen so you never miss an episode,
And of course, follow your host on Instagram at Megan
bloom Interiors, at CHRISA. Rossbund, and at Liz Legit. We'll
(50:19):
be back next week as we take a stroll down
another boulevard
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