A little Christmas cheer

I never understand in movies when in order to truly celebrate Christmas, the characters have to decorate every object in their vicinity with tons of lights, fake snow and holly and greenery and mistletoe all over the place. When did decorating for Christmas become a contest in gaudiness?

I'm not saying I don't like Christmas decorations. I love the lights and shiny ornaments and wreaths. But, as usual, more is not better. A little goes a long way when you have to look at it for the protracted holiday season. If you are craving a little more flair in the decorations department, you can always find a mall or park with its own huge Christmas tree, or drive into those neighborhoods where the neighbors delight in covering their properties with decorations galore.

For a little Christmas cheer, try getting a small, living Christmas tree instead of a huge cut one. Put up one string of twinkly lights on your front porch instead of six. Fill a bowl with oranges or pomegranates as an edible centerpiece instead of glossy wrapped candies or greenery imported from a state away.

How do you simplify your own holiday decorating?

Want assistance cutting through the holiday clutter?

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Christmas box revisited

Here's a video I made last year showing off my ultra-organized Christmas box. I can still fit everything I need for Christmas decorating in this single container. For my little apartment, anything else would be overkill. I strongly encourage you to take a look at your holiday decorations and make sure you're using everything, or almost everything, that you store 11 months of the year.

I can help you get your decorations manageable.

Call Lelah at 818.269.6671

or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com

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How to shop at home

I love the concept of shopping at home. I don't mean sitting at your computer and filling up your virtual Amazon shopping cart, but taking inventory of your possessions and reclaiming them by actually choosing to use them instead of letting them languish in a closet or cupboard. Shopping at home means you save money, energy and time, and you get the added satisfaction of know you are getting use out of a previous purchase.

There are many ways you can shop at home and reap the benefits.

1. Clothing. We all have items in our wardrobe we've forgotten about or never wear for one reason or another. Take one of those pieces out and wear it today. You'll feel like you're wearing something new, which always feels good.
2. Cooking. Use up everything in your pantry and fridge before shopping again. Use all the ends of bags of frozen fruit in a smoothie, make a soup with the last of the carrots, wilted celery and single potato. And if you're never going to use the bottle of fancy mustard that was a gift, then toss it and make room for something you like.
3. Decorating. Before buying new furniture to meet a need, see if you already have something suitable in another part of your home. The extra bedside table in your guest room might make the perfect place to set your keys and mail on by your front door. Refresh your walls by rotating your art.
4. Organizing. Never rush out to buy organizing products before you follow through with the sorting and tossing stages of organizing. You'll be surprised how many boxes, bins and trays you'll be left with once you finishing tossing everything you no longer need in your life, and you can repurpose those without spending a dime.

Do you have any shop at home success stories? Please share in the comments!

Creative Commons photo posted to Flickr by Rubbermaid Products

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.

'Tis the season

Here are some photos to highlight the craziness that is December. I really get  into Christmas. I love preparing to celebrate with my family, decorating, cooking and doing all those sensory overload things like blazing Christmas lights, listening to Christmas carols on repeat and even burning a pine-scented candle to make Southern California seem a tad more "White Christmassy." It only comes once a year (though sometimes wouldn't it be nice to only have to do it every other year or so?), so I want to get my fill before we pack it all up again.

Our annual advent calendar and the aforementioned pine candle.

We just got our Christmas tree, but have yet to trim it. Why is  it necessary to wrestle with the Christmas tree stand every single year?

Ahh! Flashbacks to moving. Here's the contents of my desk as I'm in the middle of setting up my new one. More on that later...

I made a chart to gather all my ideas for Christmas gifts for my family this year. When I obtain a present, I add it to the chart in a different color so I can see which gifts I have yet to get.

The dregs of the first batch of Christmas cookies. Chewy gingerbread was a hit. I'm making sugar cookies next.

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

The Christmas box

I have a simple method for keeping myself organized around Christmas. I store everything Christmas related, from wrapping paper to books in a single plastic storage box. Check it out:



This method works for any holiday you really get into celebrating. Keeping decorations limited to what you can fit in a box makes it easy to put up, take down, put away and store them year after year.

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

Decorating with like with like

One of the fundamental rules of organizing is keep all like things together (and preferably near where you use them). If you do this, there is only one place your car keys will be: with the other keys by the front door. It's a simple idea and one that in practice can save you tons of time looking for things.

Another advantage of this method of organizing is when looking for display opportunities in your home. A bunch of similar objects grouped together can create a simple and stylish decoration. These items can be functional, sentimental or neither.

An example of the functional: glassware displayed in a glass case. It's all together, it's easily accessible when you want to use it, and in the meantime it looks nice. An example of the sentimental: a few select vintage toys from your childhood grouped on a shelf in a guest room or a window sill. Even a few items can be considered a collection: display your three digital cameras or favorite colorful nail polishes on a bathroom shelf to brighten it up.

Why go out and buy knickknacks when you can decorate with your own stuff?

Creative Commons photo posted to flickr by Jennifer Martinez

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

Customized Command hooks

An organizing product that I've come to use and love in recent months are Command hooks made by 3M. They are instant stick-on hooks that work tremendously well and come off really easily, in case you want to move the hook. I'm experiencing this feature first hand as I pack up my apartment - the hooks are one of the first things that will be put up in the new place.

Here's a wonderful idea a friend of mine hand to customize the hooks she was using to hold keys in her entryway. When she painted the hallway, she painted right over the white plastic hooks, so they now blend right in to her decor. I love this simple but effective idea.

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