Better in theory

Here are some organizing purchases you think will be great, until you get them home:

• Colorful cord labels. If only you could figure out how to get them on the cords and look nice. Use a silver Sharpie and write directly on the cord instead.
• (Gasp!) A label maker. Label makers are awesome if you have a thing about neatness. Otherwise, they just cause you to lose time making the label, lose space by having to store it, and lose money to buy incredibly expensive label tape.
• Fancy storage boxes with pretty designs. It's one thing to get a nice looking box for a desk top or open shelf. It's another to spend money getting perfectly matched boxes just to store things in your garage or attic. For utilitarian storage needs, get something basic - a clear, sturdy, stackable plastic box.
• Almost anything in the checkout line at The Container Store. They have tons of cute little products beckoning you from your place in line, but it's all clutter.

Storage box from organize.com

A little help

There are certain products that have made my post-partum life a lot easier. In no particular order:

• Send Out Cards. This service lets me send a thank you note with adorable pictures of the baby in about 30 seconds. I get it done, and the recipient gets a nice piece of actual mail.
• iPad. Since I don't have a laptop, the iPad follows me everywhere and allows me to stay on top of email and the news when I'm sitting with a sleeping baby.
• Amazon.com. This is kind of a no-brainer, but when you can't easily get out of the house to go shopping, ordering from Amazon and having things appear on your doorstep really reduces stress.
• Viva paper towels. I had all but eradicated paper towels from my household, but with a baby, these soft and strong towels are really super useful, and I don't think I could stomach doing any more laundry than I am already!

Gifts for people going paperless

Over the last week or so I've gotten a lot of requests for advice about scanners, which made me think about the best gifts to get for people who have expressed the desire to go paperless. Since going more paper-free myself, I've inspired others in my family to shed their paper files and embrace their digital ones. If you know someone who is trying to do the same thing, here are some gift ideas:

• A scanner. You can't go wrong with the Fujitsu ScanSnap series. I have the S1500M (for Macs) and love the scan quality, user interface and software. Mine is the top-end desktop feed scanner, but for more portability the S1300 or S1100 are great, too.
• The Paperless Document Organization Guide from DocumentSnap. DocumentSnap is a website for all things paperless, and they have some helpful information products to help you jump start your paperless journey. I was interviewed for the guide and think their content is great!
• An external hard drive. Anything over 500GB will be lots of extra storage space to help someone backup their digital data safely and regularly.
• If they have a mobile device, credit at their app store of choice. Droid or PC tablet users might want an Amazon credit or credit at the Android Market. iPhone or iPad owners can always use iTunes credit to use at the App Store. This will allow them to experiment with new productivity/paperless apps like Bento, Pages, Evernote, Remember the Milk, Things, etc. which often cost money.

Finally, give your encouragement. Striving to have less paper in a paper-dependent world can be difficult. Support your paperless friend by sending them links to articles you think they'd like instead of clippings, or perhaps getting them ebooks instead of paperbacks.

Need more expertise on how to go paperless?

Call Lelah at 818.269.6671

or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com

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Things I love about Apple

Things I love about Apple products:

• They boot up quickly
• They look nice
• Hard drives are easy to navigate
• The way things look on screens is beautiful
• There's less after-market software and hardware, so to find products and solutions you don't have to wade through a million similar products
• Buying products from the Apple store is generally a satisfying experience: lots of helpful people who want to get you into the right product and will find the answer to any question you might have, and I love that you can buy from anyone anywhere in the store
• Apple programs I like: Pages, Numbers, Bento, iCal, Preview, Stickies

Things I don't love about Apple products:

• Their mice are not robust. I use a Microsoft mouse with a hearty scroll wheel.
• Apple programs I don't like: iPhoto, iTunes, iMovie
• That's all I can think of...

Need a professional?

Call Lelah at 818.269.6671

or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com

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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.

Gift card bonanza

It's been six months since Christmas, but I bet more than a few of you out there have at least one gift card that you got as a present still sitting in your wallet, or in your desk drawer, or maybe in that bowl of junk by the phone. Gift cards, unlike cash, seem to be more easily lost and forgotten about. I've come across hundreds, maybe even thousands of dollars in gift cards over the years with my clients that they've forgotten about, which is a shame, because it can be really fun to buy something for yourself without actually spending money.

Well, if you have trouble keeping track of your gift cards, the easiest way to alleviate that is to the spend them.

If you have quite a few saved up, set aside a weekend day in the next month and make it the goal of the day to use up each and every gift card in that single day. If you don't live near the store in question, see if they have an online store.

Don't be afraid to use up your gift cards! You will enjoy the product or service so much more than having to keep track of the card and keep reminding yourself to use it.

Creative Commons photo posted to Flickr by Kerry Woo

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.

Who doesn't love Anne Taintor?

Here are two of my favorite organizing related products, from Anne Taintor's Modern Office Revisited line:

These come as magnets, notepads and notecases. Check out all of her hilarious, funny-because-it's-true caption art.

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.

Reviewed: Pouchee

I'm not sure if you know this about me, but I tend to use things as long as humanly possible, and I don't have a lot of the same kind of thing in different styles. I have just one purse (a Butler Bag) and one wallet. My wallet, a red leather number that cost me fifteen dollars at the Ventura County Fair, was about seven years old and on its last legs when I went to San Diego for the NAPO conference in April. While there, I checked out so many neat products and got to see in person for the first time a product called the Pouchee. I'd heard about it from other professional organizers, and when I saw it I knew it would be my wallet replacement.

The Pouchee is basically a well-designed wallet with the feature of handles meant to make it easy to transfer from one bag to another. It also expands so you can put all your other pertinent stuff in it to make transitioning from bag to bag super easy. I don't use that feature often, but I do love the pockets, which are the perfect size to hold my cell phone and my iPod Nano. The zippered inner pocket holds my cash and coins securely and out of sight.

They come in lots of colors and in leather and cloth. I debated a good while over the red leather or the red cloth, but the cloth one was washable and seemed more what I needed. I've been using it ever since conference and couldn't be happier with it.

I recommend Pouchee wholeheartedly!

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.

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.

NAPO Conference Recap 2011

Last week I attended the 23rd annual National Association of Professional Organizers conference in San Diego, California. This was my first opportunity to attend conference, and I had high expectations for it. Not only was it voted the most valuable educational resource at the Los Angeles Organizing Awards two years in a row, but every single organizer I ever spoke with about conference always said it was one of the best, if not the best, things they did to support their business. So, I went it with high hopes for learning and getting inspired, and I can say that my hopes were met and exceeded.

There's really too much information about the event to write a detailed recap of everything I managed to pack in to a few days, so I want to give you a few highlights.

First, I want to extend a thank you to the NAPO members who volunteer their time to make conference happen. In particular I want to mention Scott Roewer, a Washington D.C.-based organizer who I had the pleasure of talking with at lunch one day, co-chair of the conference committee and chair the conference once again next year. Scott did so much to make the event memorable and his dedication really shows. He also brought the NAPO membership to tears on the last day of conference, when he spoke about his involvement with Soles4Souls, a non-profit dedicated to collecting used shoes and re-distributing to those around the world in need. You'll be hearing more about Soles4Souls from me over the next year as NAPO has been challenged as a group with collecting and donating as many shoes as we can between June 2011 and next year's conference in March.

More highlights:

Of the six educational sessions I attended, my favorite was probably Working with the Media presented by Jodie Watson, a NAPO-LA member with extensive media experience. She was highly encouraging and informative and made working with the media, from print to television, to promote our businesses seem manageable.

Of the three keynote speeches, superstar organizer Julie Morgenstern's was certainly inspiring, as she talked about the future of the organizing industry and how it is becoming more global every day. I also really liked Collette Carlson's keynote on sales being about truth and a state of mind.

I was thrilled to meet in person some organizers who I have read and interacted with online, including Janine Adams, who was even a NaNoWriMo buddy of mine one year, and Linda Samuels, the author of The Other Side of Organized, a great meditation on an organized life.

The Expo Hall had a plethora of booths for products and services germane to an organizer's practice. I really loved getting to see the Planetsafe Planners in person...for some reason I though they were paper day-minder type things, but they are actually large-format dry-erase wall calendars with lots of neat little features. I got a kick out of the StowNSee, a permanent glasses case for people who lose their glasses a lot, and I bought myself a Pouchee (review to come later).

Next year's conference will be in Baltimore and I plan to be there!

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

DocumentSnap's Paperless Document Organization Guide

There is a great website out there called DocumentSnap, run by Brooks Duncan, that is a one-stop-shop for all things paperless, such as scanner reviews and free tips and tools. Brooks interviewed me as part of his new product, the Paperless Document Organization Guide. The guide is meant to answer "now that I’ve scanned my documents, what the heck do I do with them so that I can find them again?" A few professional organizers, including me, were asked to be a part of this cool information product. If you want some motivation and encouragement for getting started on a paperless path, I encourage you to check it out.

I had an awesome time talking with Brooks (though if you listen to my interview, I was recovering from a cold and sound pretty gravelly) and sharing my insights into what makes a paperless system trustworthy and workable on a day-to-day level.

I truly believe that a (mostly) paperless lifestyle is the future and that we now have tools to make it possible that didn't exist for the consumer even a couple of years ago. It's an exciting time!

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 NeatDesk

There were some really exciting raffle prizes at the Gala Industry Exchange portion of the 2011 Los Angeles Organizing Awards. I was lucky enough (and bought enough raffle tickets) to walk away with a NeatDesk scanner from The Neat Company. I finally got it set up this weekend, as my computer had been in to MacEnthusiasts (which has the nicest people you will ever find at a Mac repair place in Los Angeles) for a checkup.

The NeatDesk is a small scanning unit that you use with the NeatWorks software. The scanner can take up to 15 normal sheets of paper, 15 receipts, and 15 business cards at once, or you can take out the receipt/business cards tray and it can take up to 50 sheets of paper. My initial thoughts after completing the straightforward set up and trying it out, are wow-it works so fast, and wow-it auto-populates well.

The system works to archive your paper, as well as make the information on your paper searchable and easily retrievable through its simple file structure. I love when you start using a new system and everything is clean and you can set it up from the ground floor exactly how you want it. The scanner takes the sheets and spits them out quite rapidly, then the software catches up and reads the scan, deciding what kind of item it is and pulling as much information as possible to populate the various data boxes that are associated with each item. For instance, it will try to find the work phone number on a business card and put it into the work phone number slot, and then you can update your Mac Address Book with the new information, tying Address Book entries to business cards you've scanned.

The scanner will make that function on my 7 year-old all-in-one printer obsolete.

As I try to minimize the amount of paper I have to keep around, I do a fair amount of scanning. I can see that the NeatDesk is already replacing my flatbed scanner. What is yet to be determined is if I'll end up using it to archive stuff I already have a system for, for instance, converting my business card binder from the physical to the electronic. I can usually find a card I want pretty easily, but the NeatDesk would make such light work of the conversion process that it might be worth doing.

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 multi-tasking toy

As a Christmas gift, my husband and I received a Playstation 3. We'd had our eye on the video game system for months, having decided it was the best way to solve two problems that we'd been having. First, it would replace our 12-year old DVD player that had trouble playing any DVD that wasn't perfectly spotless and new, and second, it would allow us to watch Netflix Instant on the nice TV in our living room instead of only on the computer in my office.

We opened the present with glee. Once home, the most difficult thing about setting it up was deciding on our username for our Playstation Store account, which we needed in order to install the Netflix driver. Within minutes, we were watching Gosford Park (for the dozenth time - I usually get it from the library and it skips terribly). It was like a miracle.

All in all, the Playstation 3 has performed admirably as a DVD player and a Netflix player. We don't have any games for it, and only one controller, so that can be something we add on down the road if we feel like it. The most surprising thing has been trying out Blu-ray discs. We weren't terribly interested in the format, but figured it wouldn't hurt to have the capability. Well, now, having seen a side by side comparison of the same movie in standard definition and Blu-ray, I've upgraded my Neflix account so we can get Blu-ray versions of films when they have them. It looks really nice. Still, there's no need to go out and replace our modest DVD collection with Blu-ray versions. It's all going streaming anyway, and from a clutter-control point of view, I couldn't be happier.

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: clutter-free gifts revisited

Last year I wrote no less than nine separately themed clutter-free gift idea posts. I have linked to them all below. Why is it nice to consider going clutter-free when giving gifts? Quite simply, though we all like receiving and giving gifts as a way to signify many complex social relationships, things do not make people happy.  For the receiver, the experience of anticipating and opening a gift is sometimes more pleasurable than the gift itself. For the giver, selecting, wrapping and watching the gift being opening is more enjoyable than the knowledge that whatever was given is being used or appreciated. So, if the thing is not that important, why give something practically guaranteed to end up in a landfill one day? Contribute to a rich life experience and consider your alternatives. Many clutter-free gifts are also low-waste gifts as they get used up or are intangibles like memberships or experiences that create memories instead of trash.

Also, if you are starting to plan for winter holiday gift giving, take note that the number of shopping days between now and Christmas is 42 and Hanukkah is right around the corner - only 19 shopping days there.

Clutter-free gifts:

Financial and charitable gifts

Gifts of experiences

Consumable gifts

Romantic gifts

Gifts of education

Service-related gifts

Meaningful gifts

Technology-related gifts

Gifts of memberships

About clutter-free gifts

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

Video review: Slimline hangers

I recently purchased a set of Real Simple slimline hangers in the color stone. Here's my video review:



Have you used another brand? What do you think?

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

IKEA season

IKEA is a magical place, where you can find almost any kind of furniture solution that you need for a reasonable price, while breathing the particle-board scented air, munching on Swedish meatballs and cinnamon buns and ultimately trying to fit extraordinarily long and heavy cardboard boxes filled with wood into your car.

My husband I have many, many pieces of IKEA furniture in our apartment. We just added a few more, as we ended up with some holes in our furniture floor plan after the move. Every time we go, we are reminded how awesome it is to have all the great choices, all the creative flourishes, all the macaroni and cheese you could want for $1.99. And they we realize how tiring it is to wind your way through the crowds of people and stuff, and how frustrating it is when they are out of the one thing you need to complete your shopping list, and how heavy these things are after you wedge them into the car, and when you have unload them at home and then spend three hours constructing an eight-drawer dresser.

Tips for getting the most out of IKEA:

• Don't go on the weekend. Trust me, I've been there three times in the last week. The two times I went on a weekday, it was a breeze. On Sunday, it was a battle.
• Go in pairs. You need someone to help maneuver the cart and all the oversized stuff. And someone to get the car while you wait with your giant boxes at the curb so you don't put your back out hauling them two blocks to the car.
• Leave lots of time. Time can sort of stop when you are wandering around all the bedroom sets and kitchen floorplans. 
• Eat a lot before, during and after to keep your strength up. I like to finish with a cinnamon bun on the way out. And don't forget to stay hydrated.
• Make a list before you go of what you really need. Otherwise, when you get the Marketplace downstairs with all the 99 cent boxes and trash cans and whatnot, you'll be overwhelmed and end up buying tons of stuff you don't really need.
• Try to limit your IKEA shopping trips to once a year. That's about how long it takes to forget the difficulties and start craving Swedish meatballs again.

Good luck, IKEA shoppers. It's worth it, but it helps to be prepared!

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

Bike storage simplified

There are many ways to store bikes when they are not in use. The most appealing is to wheel your bicycle into your home's attached garage that has enough room for a bike rack and all your gear and close the door behind you. Of course, many of us, especially those of us who are city-dwellers, don't have that kind of space, and there are many inventions to try to alleviate the amount of room that bikes can eat up in a normal-sized apartment.

For renters with two bikes and little space, a good option is the Michelangelo stand by Delta Cycle. It is very low impact, as there is no need  to install it into a wall. Rather, the stand uses gravity and simple metal arms to hold up to two bikes off the floor and vertically against a wall. It can be ordered through Amazon or REI and it is straightforward to set up. Friends of mine who have it are very happy with its performance, as it is much easier to get at each bike now without having to move the other, and the amount of floor space given over the bikes is halved. They have positioned their rack against the wall behind their couch. Their only criticism was that it is hard to easily hang womens-style bikes on the hooks provided, so they usually just lean the bottom bike against the rack. The effect is the same.

Have you found other products to meet your bicycle storage needs? Please share in the comments!


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

Video: Really Useful Boxes

I'm not devoted to very many organizing products. In general, I think organizing products are overrated and overpriced. But I do love Really Useful Boxes. Watch the video to find out why!



P.S. I've never been paid or asked to do a review of Really Useful Boxes by anyone!

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

Tips and Tools: Sharpies

Sharpies are quite possibly my favorite organizing tool. And by Sharpies, I mean any sturdy permanent marker, I just happen to like and use the Sharpie brand, made by Sanford. I keep at least two in my purse at all times - a fine point and an ultra fine point. What can you do with a Sharpie?

• Label the leftover chili you're sticking in the freezer with the name and date you put it in there - no more wondering if your leftovers are still good.
• Write people's initials on their water bottles during car trips, cuts down on squabbles.
• Instantly make file folder labels that are easy to read - no label maker necessary.
• Silver Sharpies are great for labeling black cords and electronics accessories.
• They're best way to make readable name tags at functions.
• Quickly put your name and/or phone number on property that might get mixed up with others' or lost, like coolers, sports equipment, camping gear.
• There's also quite a bit of Sharpie art out there.

What do you use your Sharpies for?

Creative Commons photo posted to Flickr by JonDissed

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