Room switching and life changes

A little over two years ago, when my husband and I were still living in our previous apartment, we spent a couple of days switching most of the furniture between our upstairs and downstairs rooms and changing the configuration of my desk area and some of our other spaces. We did this a couple of months before we got married, and I documented it with this blog post.

A few weeks ago, shortly before the birth of our son, we did something similar in our current apartment. We moved my husband's office configuration to a different part of the house and moved a bunch of furniture around, repurposing some of it. The result is a dedicated baby room and a new set up in our living room/dining room area. 

Empty bookcases -- look familiar?

Books everywhere during the move.

The resulting baby room. Pretty cute!

New bookcase configuration.

One of my favorite observations about organizing is by Julie Morgenstern who says, "Every time we go through a major change, we experience a breakdown in our organizational systems." Last time that change was marriage, this time it was a baby, and each time reorganizing our space and shedding some of our stuff was a huge help in preparing us for those major life changes.

 

New shower head

Due to the old one shooting off randomly one afternoon, my husband and I were compelled to install a new shower head in our shower last week. Here's the photo diary.

Rubber bands hold the front of the head on so we could shower before the new one was installed. It worked really well!

We had a really hard time getting the old head off. Who knows how long it had been on there? First, we soaked it in CLR.

We then resorted to the foul-smelling but effective Liquid Wrench and powerful pliers.

An hour later, success!

The new one screwed right on and works great. The CLR also worked wonders on the lime scale, so I used it to spruce up the rest of the tub fixtures.

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com. Sign up for Lelah's News, a once-monthly newsletter.

A little painting project

One of things I love about my apartment is two glass-front cabinets that separate the kitchen from the dining area (which I turned into my office). They are the perfect storage place for all the beautiful glassware my husband and I received as wedding presents. A few days ago an idea just popped into my head. The glassware is so pretty, but it sort of blends in to the cabinet since it's clear. What if I painted the back of the cabinets the same robin's egg blue (actual name of the color) that my office is painted? I thought it would show off the glassware nicely and add a spot of color to that part of the room. Here's the photo diary of my project:

Before through the glass door.

See how the glasses are barely visible?

First I taped the shelves with painters tape and newsprint. I didn't bother doing the undersides of the shelves, because you can't really see those edges and I have a fairly neat painting hand.

I gathered my tools. The paint, leftover from last September when we painted the office room in the apartment, a stir stick (also leftover), a paint can opener, a paintbrush - new (I left our old one in Ojai when I painted my desk white in December, oops), a rag for catching drips, which I didn't end up using, and more painters tape.

Painting in progress...it goes on so much lighter than it dries!

Paint drying.

Once it had thoroughly dried, I removed the tape and paper carefully. Not all the edges are perfect, but that's okay by me.

With the glassware added back in. I think it looks much better, don't you?

The finished project through the cabinet door. Pretty!

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com. Sign up for Lelah's News, a once-monthly newsletter.

Spring organizing

In preparation for my in-laws' spring visit, I did a fair bit of spring cleaning and some organizing, too, of course. I decluttered a bunch and also took the opportunity to spruce up my hall closet. Here are the before and after pictures. As you can see, I love labels and Really Useful Boxes. Not necessarily in that order.

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com. Sign up for Lelah's News, a once-monthly newsletter.

Checking in: Lelah's plants

So, I have good news and I have bad news. In January, I wrote about my goal of keeping some new plants alive this year. Well, the succulents were as hearty as advertised and seem to be thriving. Yay!

But, my rosemary bush burned to a crisp. I didn't water it enough and it was getting too much sun. It seemed like all of a sudden it just turned crispy and I tried to move it to a more shaded area and give it more water, but it was no use. Sad.

I'm not gifted with plant insight. However, I do feel that I have learned from this experience and would do a better job of tending a rosemary plant in the future, should I get up enough nerve to try it again.

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com

A year ago: Reviews and resolutions

February just zipped by, didn't it? Here's a selection of past posts from around this time last year.

A year ago today I reviewed Unclutter Your Life in One Week by Erin Rooney Doland of the blog Unclutterer. This book is out in paperback now, and a great, simple approach to restructuring your life in a more streamlined way.

I tend to use and reuse plastic bags. After my trip to the Burbank Recycle Center, I'm even more conscious about bringing stuff into my house that will ultimately end up in the garbage, no matter how many times I reuse it, so I've been buying less and less over time.

Last year, still in my old apartment, I undertook a major rearranging of furniture. It was sort of the last attempt to make a space that I had been slowly outgrowing work. Now in a new apartment, it's fun to look back at the pictures from this time, but I'm glad I made an even bigger change by moving.

And, belatedly, my Valentine's Day post from last year in which I talked about the things I love, including being a professional organizer. Awww. It's still true, and as I continue with my third year of organizing, I'm grateful that I'm able to grow along with my business.

Creative Commons photo posted to Flickr by suavehouse113
Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com

Helpful hooks

Last weekend my husband and I did a small DIY project. We installed new hooks on the back of two doors in our apartment. If you don't count the three times my husband went to the hardware store to exchange our original choices for the ones we ultimately installed, it didn't take any time at all.

We got bright brass (ie: gold colored to match the rest of the hardware in the rooms) Stanley hooks. They are sturdy and well designed with screw holes offset so you can easily screw them in without battling the hook itself.

We measured and marked where we wanted to put them, and drilled pilot holes with our drill.

Then I held the hook in place while my husband installed the screws.

Ta-da. Very simple and they will be very useful for guests towels and robes. We did this project together, but if you have a modicum of dexterity, you could easily do it alone.

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com

Keeping stuff alive in 2011

I love plants and gardens and flowers and all kinds of greenery. My family is blessed with an abundance of green thumbs. My grandfather's garden is a beachside paradise that I've played in since birth. My father manages roses, palms, lavender and fruit trees all in the same beautiful space. My brother not only professionally landscapes and works at a nursery, he did the flowers and plants at my wedding, for heaven's sake.

Wedding centerpiece. Photo by Attasalina Photography.

My track record with plants is not that great. I can water things when told to, but I can remember every plant I've ever been in charge of...and what happened to it. I either killed it, or gave it to someone who could give it a better home.

This year, I'm attempted to keep a few plants alive. This will require a little attention paid on my part. Fortunately, the plants I'm starting out with are hearty. I have two gorgeous succulents that will survive the summer heat of Glendale with minimal care (so I'm told), and a rosemary bush that can also tolerate the heat. I've had these three plants for just over a week, and they still look like they are thriving.

My plan is to keep them on my calendar and make a routine out of checking on them, just like I make a routine of backing up my hard drive and vacuuming my floors. And if I get worried, I can always call for help. Wish me (and the plants) luck!

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com

2010 resolutions in review

Last year at this time I made four resolutions for the new year. Here's what they were and how I did. 

• Refresh my apartment by de-cluttering and rearranging the space (even professionals have to make a point to do this once in while). I definitely did this quite a bit in my old apartment early on in the year. Then my husband and I took it once step further by moving in September to an entirely new space, which was really wonderful from a decluttering and use of space standpoint. Not only do we have more room in the new place, but more storage area and I no longer feel like we live in a closet, as in, living side by side with all our stuff all day. Here, we can put our stuff in drawers and cupboards and just live in the space. Plus, we got rid of tons of stuff during the move, which always feels nice.
• Learn about and use more of the features of my digital camera and look into editing the images in some kind of effects program. I did learn to use my digital camera quite a bit better, but I haven't experimented with editing my photos.
• Revise a piece of writing to a point where I'd let other people besides my sister read it. I did this, sort of. I finished and revised the novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo last year, and let a few people (including my sister) read it. But, I have yet to revise a second time incorporating the readers' notes. But I still plan to...in 2011!
• Buy more produce from the farmer's market and less from Ralphs. This goal was successfully completed in the first half of the year, when I bought most of my produce from the farmer's market. After we moved, however, the fact that the closest farmer's market is on Thursday mornings, and the fact that we live very close to Whole Foods, with its expensive but gorgeous produce, has meant less farmer's market shopping for me.

Last year I wrote, "Even if we plan out the year and what we want to get done in it, there are still surprises along the way, and we may end up in a place in December that we couldn't have imagined in January." That is definitely true, as the year end finds me in a new apartment, with new goals for my business and wonderful new clients. I can't wait to see what next year brings.


Creative Commons photo posted to Flickr by Masahiro Ihara

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com

DIY desk

I have a much bigger space for my desk area in my new place than in my old. The desk I've been using for over five years swims in this space, and I have plastic file boxes just hanging out beside it, looking ugly, that hold the majority of my business papers and office supplies. I also have a lot of books that became homeless when the most of the bookshelves landed in my husband's office, and he decided, quite understandably, that he didn't want a ton of romance novels in his work area. 

I decided I wanted to upgrade my desk and incorporate bookshelves. I've often wanted just a simple large surface for my computer, inbox and printer with some space for writing or other small projects. I sketched a design and ran it by my dad and my brother, who are pretty handy. They also have saws and other tools and a workspace; I have a semester of woodshop under my belt. Granted, that was in 1996, but I think the principles still hold. By the way, practical classes in junior high and high school are not always required, but they are really invaluable, especially for kids who read a lot. Anyway. Here's my sketch of the bookshelves, which will support desk surface. We're going to take a team approach to building this thing when I'm home for Thanksgiving. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com

Taking the time, saving the stress

Sometimes life presents you with inconveniences. The check engine light comes on in your car. The hall lightbulb burns out. A bill arrives and it is for completely the wrong amount. Since we aren't expecting these things to happen right when they do, usually our reaction is to fix them later "when we have time." We don't want to fix the problem now, because what if the car needs an expensive repair, or we find out we don't have any lightbulbs and have to make a special trip to get them, or we simply don't have the energy to get a customer service representative on the phone and get the company to fix the bill. We tell ourselves that in some future time, maybe tomorrow or next week, we will have the time, energy, money to fix these problems. In the meantime, we live with a nagging check engine light (and the worry), we stumble around in the dark, and we add the bill to a stack of papers already waiting for our attention.

I had something like this happen to me on Sunday afternoon. The plastic lever that connects the toilet handle to the flush valve snapped in half. We could still technically flush the toilet by opening the flush valve by hand every time. I was just about to relax and watch a Netflix when I was notified about the problem. I thought, hmmm, I won't be able to fix this tomorrow, but maybe I'll have time Tuesday...wait a minute, I can just go get a replacement part right now and fix it. Luckily, we live within walking distance of a great independent hardware store. So I figured out how to unscrew the old handle, took it with me to the hardware store, found the $5 part in 30 seconds, and was back and had the thing installed in about 4 minutes. Then I started the movie and watched it in peace, not worried about figuring out how to fix this problem, but rather proud of myself that I'd figured it out.

More often than not, these inconvenience can be attended to very quickly. If you look under the sink, maybe the right lightbulb will be there and you can replace the old one. The check engine light might mean nothing, and you'll have the peace of mind that comes from knowing your car isn't going to fall apart on the 405. Sometimes these problems seem insurmountable, but they aren't. You can save yourself the mental stress caused by putting off dealing with them by taking action now.

Creative Commons photo posted to Flickr by thetejon

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com

Moving, stage six

Well, the move happened. The movers came, were awesome (here they are on Yelp, if you need a recommendation in the LA area), and in eight short hours all of our stuff was moved from one place to another. We turned in the keys to our old apartment yesterday. I feel a sense of achievement that all the preparation paid off, as the move itself was pretty stress free. Unfortunately, I didn't really anticipate how much work there would be to do once we were in the new space.

My husband and I are calling this apartment our "house with training wheels" because it's on the older side and our landlord isn't that hands on. He doesn't mind if we make improvements or changes, but if we want something done, we have to do it ourselves.

A sampling of the things we have done or would like to do to get our living space the way we want it:

• We had all the locks changed, and a single key fits them all. My key ring is very minimalist now, yay!
• We bought a lightly used washer and dryer. We hired someone to install them, but with a couple of Internet searches we could have probably done it ourselves. Next time, we'll know.
• We've blown a fuse a few times already by using too many appliances at once. Not sure how to address that issue, but for now, we're trying to use things one at a time.
• Right now we have vertical blinds, and we'd like to make (or convince my sister-in-law to "help" us make) curtains for our many lovely windows.
• We have hardwood floors for the first time, and we're going to apply felt pads to the bottoms of our furniture to avoid scrapes.
• We have lots of wonderful storage spaces, but deciding where to store what things is harder than I thought. I'm reminding myself that we have to live in the space for a while before we'll know what makes the most sense.

I could go on, but that would just be a to do list for me and you probably aren't very interested in that. Suffice to say, even though the moving part is over, the work of setting up house is definitely not. And for better or worse, there's no deadline (yet! I'm considering scheduling a housewarming party to create one.) and we can take our time setting things up the way we want them.

Thanks for listening throughout this process. If you're contemplating a move, getting a professional organizer in to help you shed things before you pack stuff you don't need, use or like is a great first step!

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com

Moving, stage one

My husband and I have decided to move. After five years, we've finally outgrown our apartment and are looking for something a bit bigger, with a few amenities we've come to care about over the years we've lived together in Los Angeles.

I'm lucky to be married with someone who appreciates going about such things in an organized way. We made a list of our non-negotiable items (two parking spaces, gas stove, hardwood floors, etc.) and printed it out so we can take it when we go to look at apartments. He's mapping out neighborhoods that we'd want to live in and cross referencing them with online apartment listings, so we can see two or three apartments at a time. Plus, we aren't really in a hurry, so we can take our time finding the right place, and in the meantime we've thought about how to pack and what we are definitely not taking with us (goodbye hand-me-down dining room chairs). Now is a stellar time to get rid of stuff we no longer need.

I'm looking forward to my first move with movers, and hope that we can maintain this non-stressed-out attitude throughout all the stages of the move!

Creative Commons photo posted to Flickr by Bob B. Brown

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com

Resolution in progress

One of my 2010 resolutions was to "refresh my apartment by de-cluttering and rearranging the space." As a professional organizer, I naturally go through my life enacting those organizing principles that I find to be the most helpful, so my apartment wasn't a complete disaster area, but, after having lived in the same one bedroom townhouse for four and half years without significantly changing the layout of the furniture or the storage spaces, it was time to shuffle things around to refresh the space and the energy within it. Luckily, my fiance was even more gung-ho about this project than I was (always good to have help keeping you on track), and we spent a good portion of each night of the last week taking things off of shelves and out of closets, vacuuming and cleaning an embarrassing amount of dust, dragging furniture up and down the stairs, and then putting everything back together again. We still have some refining to do; for instance, there's a large pile of stuff to be gotten rid of in the new space between the car collection case and the coffee table, but we've made a lot of progress. Here's a few photos to show you the before and after:

The plan.

Where did all the books go?

Oh. There.

And there.

The new space under the stairs.

What's awesome about this process is we knew that if we changed our spaces, purged them of stuff we didn't need, cleaned them up, set them up in a new configuration, that we'd be giving ourselves a new way to live our lives. (Moving the television set from across from our bed upstairs to across from our couch downstairs was a big change.) But I didn't count on how much just sitting down at my desk, which is now across from the kitchen and gets tons of natural light from our main window, would feel completely different, as if I'd not only changed the direction my computer faces, but I'd changed the direction of my entire life. 


I suppose in a time of a transition (I'm getting married in a few weeks), things can feel somehow more difficult and more important. As Julie Morgenstern says, "Every time we go through a major change, we experience a breakdown in our organizational systems." I'm hoping to ease that breakdown by navigating this time in my life with the knowledge that my systems are flexible, and change is good.