The Burning House

In Parade magazine of all places I saw a mention of a book coming out called The Burning House by Foster Huntington. It is also a blog, and it documents through photographs of beautifully arranged objects what a person would take if they could only grab a few things and escape from their burning house. It's a powerful question and the images are also powerful, able to communicate what a person values above all else at a single glance. I find the blog fascinating and I'm sure the book is interesting as well.

What would you take?

David Allen's desk

I saw this posted on the GTD (Getting Things Done) Twitter feed, and loved seeing David Allen's workspace. It shows how simple a desk configuration can be, and I love how it's not completely minimalistic. It actually shares many elements that make up my desk area, down to the inbox and project support vertical file holder, with different aesthetics. Here are the two for comparison. Click an image to see it larger.

Pinterest

I know I'm kind of late to the game when it comes to Pinterest. I've been hearing about it forever, and I finally checked it out recently. I was impressed with the clean look of the site; for some reason when I imagined all those images it sounded like it would by busy and jumbled, but it's not.

Pinterest screen shot.

Pinterest is really lovely for visual people who respond to images and colors and want to be able to browse visually to get ideas. It's also fun for people in niche groups to find out what their peers are looking at and talking about. For organizing inspiration, there are dozens of collections of beautiful organizing shots. My friend Cari of Cari's Custom Organizing has some awesome ideas collected here.

I think Pinterest could be a nice organization tool in and of itself, helping us keep track of ideas thematically for future reference, or just for fun!

FYI, to fully use the site you have to get an invite or request an invite.

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The Hungtington Gardens

Over the weekend, I went to San Marino to visit the Sam Maloof exhibit at the Huntington, which is part of Pacific Standard Time, the huge collection of shows all related to the theme of Art in L.A. 1945-1980. The Sam Maloof stuff was fantastic. His mid-century furniture is the embodiment of incredible craftsmanship and form mated gracefully to function. The gardens are always a treat, and here are a few photos from the (sunny) day.

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.

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.

Clearing the decks

My mother-in-law is an artist and she recently sent me photos to illustrate her newly organized studio space. Previously, she had a work space that had a lot of tools and other items always stored on top of it. With the addition of shelves within arm's reach, the stuff has been removed, clearing the surface for her to work. She writes, "Now that the surface is clear, I have so much more energy (and workspace!)."

Before.

After. Shelves in place, work space totally clear!

This is a wonderful achievement, and I'm grateful for her permission to share her experience, and happy that some of her inspiration came from me and this blog.

For many of us, having a clear space on which to work is vital, no matter what type of work it may be. Empty spaces like desk tops, dining room tables, and counters are wonderful places to attack all sorts of projects, but they are also magnets for the detritus from the day to be dumped upon.

Having a regular (small) dump spot that you frequently sort through and clear off is sensible. Keeping a large open space always clear and ready for you to begin to use is imperative to creativity and effectiveness when at work.

Do you have a work space that's currently home to odds, ends and whatnots? Take a few minutes to clear it off, and resist the urge to put anything on there other than your current project. Feel the energy flow through the space and into your mind and hand.

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.

Escape from the storage unit

In June I went to Maine charged with the task of eliminating the need for three 10 foot by 20 foot storage units. It took three days. At the end of the three days, three enormous truck loads of items had been removed to the dump or for reuse or resale by the junk man. One smaller truck load of items had been taken to auction. Several silver items had been sold for cash to the auction man. A cargo crate of forty oil paintings had been shipped across the country. 27 small boxes had also been shipped across the country for one client's new home. A fair amount of things had been integrated into the other client's nearby home. And there was no more need for the storage units.

It looks so innocent.

One of the storage units on the first day.

The key to our ability to that quickly pare down to just a few items being shipped to my client's new home was all in my clients' frame of mind. They no longer wanted to pay for the storage units. They were starting life in a different state, and did not want or need the physical items they'd had in the past, so they were ready to let a lot go. That attitude combined with the wonderful auction man and his amazing associate, the junk man, who were ready to take away everything on our schedule was what made the quick turnaround possible.

A lot of trash.

Deciding what to keep, what to sell and what to let go of.

It was physically exhausting work, even though the long Maine summer days were complemented by truly perfect summer weather (no bugs!), and it was mentally and emotionally draining for my clients to continually make decision after decision all day long. But at the end, there was a palpable sense of relief at having accomplished our goal and a sense of freedom at being able to start a new chapter of life unburdened by the objects of the past.

A small pile of boxes to ship.

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.

Space saving vase

Well, my wonderful weeks of summer travel are over and I saw and did so many things I want to share on this blog. Tune in as I ramp back up to my regular blogging frequency! 

One neat thing I found was a collapsible vase. I've seen these on other organizers' blogs, but had never seen one in person, until I came across this lovely striped one at a design store in Buenos Aires a couple of weeks ago. The idea of these things is that you can store your vase flat when it is not in use and then fill it with water to transform it into a useful 3-D object. Since vases are kind of a bulky pain to store and also often delicate and difficult to transport, the design of this object solves those problems and make an organizing-minded person smile!

This vase also made my mother-in-law smile, as I brought one back for her. My initial thought was that she, a great flower lover, could use it when she travels to brighten a hotel room with a local bouquet of flowers, as well as be an addition to her vase collection. She's also an artist who makes gorgeous prints from photos, the subjects of which are often flowers. She sent me these photos to demonstrate the collapsible flower vase at work.

 

 

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.

Happy Independence Day!

Happy July 4th!

Creative Commons photo posted to Flickr by Jeff Golden

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.

Organizing an aircraft carrier

Over the weekend I visited San Diego and the decommissioned aircraft carrier the USS Midway. It's now a museum and a pretty interesting place to explore. In addition to the top deck with its airplanes and helicopters on display, below decks are also open to the public and you can see everything from the sick bay to the laundry rooms. When active, this size of aircraft carrier holds about 4500 people. Imagine the systems that have to be in place to keep a city of people clothed, fed and well, in addition to all of the dangerous work they do of launching and landing planes from a relatively tiny speck in an ocean! Here are some of my favorite photos from the visit.

The bridge.

What every crew member was issued.

Always a good reminder.

Love the Plan Of The Day!

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 year ago: Gifts, blogs and Clutter Busting

Last April I was celebrating the first anniversary of my blog with some awesome tips for getting the most out of registering for gifts for a special occasion. My favorite tip continues to be don't feel guilty about returning things. 

I shared with you how I came by my wonderful head shots. Since those were taken, I have cut my hair short, so I've been thinking about having them redone.

One of the unused head shots that shows me with long hair.

Earth Day was last Friday, but this round-up of earth-friendly blog posts is interesting anytime.

I reviewed Brooks Palmer's book Clutter Busting and found it to be refreshing and a must-read for people needing help detaching from their stuff. I still read Palmer's blog regular and it always has a thought-provoking take on clutter and our relationship to our possessions.

Finally, I introduced the concept of "A year ago" posts with this first one, detailing my posts from April of 2009. I'll keep using the format as a way for me to remember my past topics and for new readers to get a taste of my archives.

Photo by Sean Paul Franget.

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.

Los Angeles Organizing Awards Gallery

Some absolutely wonderful photos from January's 2011 Gala Industry Exchange and Los Angeles Organizing Awards are now available. The galleries are linked to from NAPO-LA's website, but here are a few that are worth sharing.

The Awards event volunteers, including me!

The event committee chairs Robyn Reynolds and Donna Rosman.

The awards.

Mark and Trish of Clean House with Donna Rosman.

The beautiful Starview Room at the Sheraton Universal.

Lisa Ann Walter hosted the evening.

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

2011 Los Angeles Organizing Awards Round Up

The most glamorous night in the organizing industry lived up to its name! I attended the multi-part evening at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Universal City Saturday night. I was also part of of the event planning committee, and it was so exciting to see all the hours of hard work come out successfully.

The first part of the evening was the Gala Industry Exchange. I was helping at the registration booth and it was so fun to see the big names in organizing all come up and get their tickets - everyone from Elizabeth Hagen to Monica Ricci to Peter Walsh. At the Exchange, there was an elaborate booth set up by the presenting sponsor OfficeMax, plus a fun closet installation from The Container Store, and a whole new range of products at the Office Depot booth. Fujitsu, PODs and ICD were there, too. At one end of the room, the photographers had the red carpet photo op running smoothly, and at the other, Fox 11's Carlos Amezcua interviewed the attendees about their businesses. I was really impressed with the video crew covering the event. They seemed to be everywhere at once and I'm looking forward to seeing how the coverage turns out.

The hit of the exchange, besides the great raffle prizes (I won a NeatDesk scanner!) was definitely OfficeMax's HD Photobooth. They had this high tech photo area where you could pose and get your photo taken, then instantly watch it shoot out of a printer and get to take it home. The quality was great - something about the lighting and the black and white made everyone who stepped in front of the thing look  fantastic. Check out the entire set of photos from the event here.

Erin Haas and me, strict professional organizers!

After the raffle, we all headed up to the 21st floor to the Starview room. It was really beautiful, with twinkling lights in the ceiling to give the ballroom a festive atmosphere. NAPO-LA chapter president Katherine Macey gave a warm welcome to us all, then actress Lisa Ann Walter came out and gave a funny intro about how when working with a professional organizer for the first time, her a-ha! moment came when the organizer mentioned clear boxes. All 24 awards were given out as efficiently as possible, and it was fun to hear the remarks of both the presenters and the winners. Everyone who won seemed to be really appreciative, and it is nice to know that the recognition one can get from the award can really help someone's business grow and thrive. I was also elated when one of the award recipients named me in her acceptance speech!

The evening was brought to a heartfelt climax when Jean Furuya, truly one of NAPO-LA's most beloved advanced organizers, was presented with the Leading Edge Award. That was followed by two of our committee members, Carla DeLauri and Shari Richardson, who coordinated sponsorships and donations, receiving the Volunteer of the Year Award. Donna Rosman, the woman who made the event possible with her tireless drive and leadership was presented with the Raising the Bar Award, and then she and her co-chair, Robyn Reynolds, were given two of the most gigantic bouquets of flowers I have ever seen.

Kathryn Masci (Registration Coordinator),
Carla DeLaurie (winner of Volunteer of the Year Award) and me.

Some went on to after-parties or In N Out, but I took my goody bag (more on that later) and went home to sleep! I wanted to be fresh for the President's Brunch at the Hard Rock Cafe the morning after, which was a fun way to catch up with my friends and colleagues I'd missed the evening before.

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