Attic Playroom Organization - Live Simply Method by Annie

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Attic Playroom Organization

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If I gained an extra hour of life for every time I’ve been told “I could need those/ take them to be fixed/ start liking them again/ get them refinished/ track down a famously reclusive artist to touch up/ return those to a store/ give them to my sister/ drop them off to a speciality donation center all the way across the town I never cross/ ET AL” I would outlive all those I love and still not see these statements of potentiality come to fruition.

Could is a lie. It may be a hopeful one, but it’s baseless and you almost certainly know it.

Telling yourself the truth will always lead you to freedom.

You could ostensibly do it all. But you won’t. Because you can’t. So: what WILL you do?

#professionalorganizer #declutteryourlife #personaldevelopmentjourney

Each of us has the choice to view life as a series of opportunities, or as a random string of good or bad events.

When we choose to view life as an exercise in opportunity, we live with the awareness that every moment is a teacher. Every circumstance is unfolding for the potential betterment of all involved. Every encounter, every stumbling block, and even every failure is an open invitation from the universe to expand.

This mindset opens us to the experience of living, rather than contracting with repeated reactions of frustration, anger, or fear. As we begin to trust that life is actually designed to support our growth, the universe responds in kind.

Our job is to learn to ask of life what we need and want, be flexible in what form our desires will come in, and be open to life’s next invitation to blossom.

Pretty soon–uncannily–we find ourselves in conversation with precisely the sort of person we always hoped to socialize with. We realize that our present-day reality is what we used to only be able to daydream about. We have the perspective within every challenge that it, too, contains precisely the lessons we need.

This month, view each moment as an opportunity–a divine circumstance you have called in for yourself. A prompting to prove to yourself how far you’ve come. A reason to rise.

Live Simply commandment to maintaining your organized space: Thou Shalt Not Make A Trip In Vain.

#professionalorganizer #organizingtips #organizinghacks

Come along with us as we professionally organize a client’s pantry…

#professionalorganizer #professionalorganizing #kitchenorganization

Even more invaluable than a truly helpful person is one who doesn’t wait to be asked for the help they provide, but who takes initiative.

Initiative is where genuine care, proactivity, and confidence meet.

The person who takes initiative possesses a desire to contribute their skillset and ease the load of others to a level which supersedes what is merely expected of them. It isn’t just that they recognize where help is needed (lots of people can notice problems and feel absolutely uncompelled to do squat about them). Initiative-takers also place enough stock in their perceptions and abilities to bring issues to the attention of others and propose solutions to problems that only they may yet see.

To some extent, the request for help, itself, can be a task for which the most overloaded person doesn’t have the bandwidth.

The person who takes initiative understands that just because the request isn’t being made doesn’t mean the desire for a better solution doesn’t exist.

To take more initiative this month:

-Value what you notice.

In your family, at your work, in your social circle, and in your community. There may be dynamics at play that are un-evolved. There may be systems that are overly complicated. There may be policies that are exclusionary. There may be someone quietly suffering in silence who only you notice is in pain.

-Gladly accept the opportunity to be helpful.

Don’t wait for someone else to address the matter, or assume someone more capable has already been tasked with identifying solutions. If you notice it, you may be just the person to solve it.

-Be creative in your approach.

The old way of doing things doesn’t need to stand. The typical communication method may not be what’s called for. Channel your inner visionary to imagine a new way forward.

-Confidently propose your ideas.

They may get dismissed, it’s true. It may not be the right time or place, or even the right solution. Then again, your contribution may be the difference between pain and healing, isolation and connectedness, dysfunction and optimization, and as such, may be immediately integrated. It may even be celebrated.

[designed exclusively by @ariel_marko]

If I could make one request of parents it would be: Normalize giving children more time, not more stuff.

Consider how overwhelming clutter is for you, a full fledged adult. Then multiple that feeling by the number of inches from their little heads to the top of yours (don’t actually do that, it’s not real math).

Don’t ignore your better knowing and choose to overload kids with the excess of all the toys you could never afford when you were young. Or all the toys kids glance at in the store. Or give toys as substitutes for time and attention.

The toys are tempting and the pace of life is so fast that it surely seems harmless at the time, every time. It probably seems like love.

But I urge you, if you’re a parent or caregiver, to pause and ask yourself who that new, shiny toy is really for and who it truly serves before you buy or give the next one.

I can tell you that even the most “collector-iest”child is eager to edit. And that it literally never fails: in a sea of toys, an empty cardboard box will inevitably be the hottest commodity. Or our tape measure. Or the chance to understand what we’re up to and be helpful.

Expand your definition of lavishing your children to include providing them with the calm of a Simplified space and a streamlined routine. 🙏🏻✌🏻🫶🏻

#kidsimply #girlsbedroom #buythemnothing #organizingtips

Productivity loves company.

There are times when it feels daunting to face a task alone. There are tasks that make you feel like, “If I’m going to be the one to do this, someone else needs to know what it entailed to get it done!”

Generally, these become the tasks that people avoid, and nothing makes a task grow in scale like a period of avoidance.

The Simplest solution, and the missing piece of the productivity puzzle, may be giving yourself the boost of another person’s energy around you. It may be having another person in your household understand the lengths you went to in order to uphold your environment for the benefit of all involved.

Maybe you’re not lazy or a procrastinator—you’ve just needed a buddy. Someone to stand by your side and hold the space for you to get it done, whatever “it” is.

#timemanagementskills #professionalorganizing #productivitytips

One of my favorite exchanges I’ve had in recent months was with my client’s teenage daughter. She’s a talented cheer athlete, and competes nationally along with her twin sister.

After we had finished editing their bedroom, I asked her, “What do you love most about cheer?”

I’m embarrassed to admit that I expected her to say something to the effect of, “I love getting to spend time with my teammates.” Or, “I love my coaches.”

Her answer: “Winning.”

Then she smiled, probably stretched her leg straight up to her cheek, and went on being her sweet, gracious self.

Winning.

In her answer was all the unapologetic ambition I’d always sensed I was obligated to disavow when I was young.

Ambition used to feel as though it was reserved for boys and men. They could hope to achieve. They could even be cutthroat in the pursuit of taking home the trophy. Not girls, though. Girls were subtly taught to play down their desire to win. To be happy just to have participated and braided each other’s hair during the break.

In reality, there is nothing gendered about the desire to achieve success through hard work, dedication, and skill. That old feminine trope of meekness and deference being preferable to standing out is just that–old. Stale. Vastly limiting.

If ambition is the push that drives us to try again, to dare to have our unique gifts be heard and seen, to provide circumstances for ourselves in which the point is to prove to ourselves we have what it takes to succeed, then ambition is for everyone.

If a teenage girl today can claim to love winning without a hint of self-consciousness, that is us all winning.

Let’s follow her lead. Be ambitious. Want the features and the partnerships and the trophies. Throw our big-cheer-bows in the ring and compete. Let’s extend that permission to all the women in our lives, and rally behind each in her unique match. Let’s celebrate each one’s win as belonging to our shared team–the collective victory of being exemplary.

[post designed exclusively by @ariel_marko]

#ambitions #womenwinning #ambitiouswomen

How not to choose? Have too many options to choice from.

Having options is wonderful, until you have too many. Once you cross that excess threshold, you essentially eliminate your multitude and end up with scant options, once again. That’s because (in addition to having difficulty managing and accessing a large quantity), having an excessive number of choices is overwhelming. We get sensory overload. We reach decision fatigue. We stop engaging with and processing what’s presented to us.

Researchers proved this with the now famous jam study conducted in 2000 by @sheenaiyengar and Mark Lepper.

Even after giving shoppers who sampled at the table with 24 jam options a coupon for $1 off of their jam (an incentive not given to those who sampled at the table with six jams!), the larger display customers were still one tenth as likely to purchase as the customers who saw the more curated display table.

The proof is in the preserves: having SOME choices enhances our sense of wellbeing. Having too many choices is detrimental to our wellbeing. And once we cross the line that separates the two, each additional choice detracts from the overall whole.

Next time you’re considering a purchase, pause to ask yourself: is this truly going to add to my life in a positive way? Or will this be the jar of jam that topples the display and repels the customers?

#psychologysays #professionalorganizer #professionaldeclutterer

A hundred months ago, we were hired to edit our clients’ kitchen with them. It was a particularly hilarious afternoon during which we ruthlessly dispensed with the unnecessary, shook our heads collectively at products that made promises they failed to deliver on, and agreed that if ever there was a kitchen desperately in need of a renovation, it was theirs.

Then, we boxed up all of the keepers and waited (im) patiently for @michelledirkse to work her magic.

When we returned, we were aghast at the level of transformation. We can’t speak for our clients, but two words seem appropriate: Worth. It. (Could also easily sub life changing).

Then it was our turn: we unpacked, cleaned, sorted, decanted, turn-tabled, configured and reconfigured, divided, labeled, lined, and generally came in as the final dose of love to what was by that point an already totally macked on space.

We love getting to bookend a house journey. The edit before is as essential as the organizing after. That these clients brought such humor and graciousness to the process made it all the better.✨

#kitchenorganization #professionalorganizing #seattleprofessionalorganizer

Accessibility is the name of the game. The rules are: no excess and no disorder allowed. First player to Simply wins.

#homeorganizing #playroomorganization #playroomideas

If there’s one thing you’re deserving of when it comes to your space in 2024, it’s being able to do something as fundamental as put clothes on your body easily.

I’ve been editing and organizing closets since I was 8 years old (my cousins, bffs, and sister will readily attest). I can tell you for certain that your entire life moves forward in a positive direction when you eliminate a daily battle with a cluttered, disordered closet.

The problem is, people bog themselves down: in what ifs, in how much things cost, in the false god that is excessive options.

What if—crazy suggestion here—you actually gave yourself full, contingency-free, condition-less permission to identify what you’ve got in your closet that you CURRENTLY a. LOVE to wear and b. FEEL GREAT in, and released the riff raff.

Incorrect sizes? We don’t know them.

“What if I have to suddenly go on safari and need these hideous pants?” First of all, do you have a plane ticket?

“These cost a bazillion dollars.” Learn about sunk costs, consign that shit and move on with your absolutely precious (dwindling every second!!) life.

Or call us. We’ll help you get it sorted. 😘

#professionalorganizer #professionalorganiser #closetorganization

Every morning since my mom died, I’d been thinking “I’m so grateful to be alive” the instant I wake up, and before I open my eyes. At the outset of 2023, I decided to extend that momentary thought into a gratitude practice.

I started listing ten things I was grateful for each day and why. I would catch myself venting about something and remember to reframe and find the grateful-angle. I allowed myself to intentionally rewrite mental scripts, even the benign ones. Instead of the occasional “I didn’t sleep well last night,” I incorporated “I’m so grateful for all the good rest I did get last night,” as every day’s second thought.

In the process, I discovered that most of us (myself included until the recent past) go around mistaking our awareness of our general good fortune (having a home, family, and food) as gratitude. In fact, they aren’t the same thing at all.

Practicing gratitude means thinking grateful thoughts daily. It means working consistently on paving those neural pathways in your brain, instead of defaulting to a negative framework.

When you start practicing it, you discover that like the other side of the coin we never bothered to flip over, gratitude has been in our palms all along. We’ve just gotten accustomed to holding a grievance. We commiserate with each other. We connect over shared complaints. We use interactions as opportunities to vent.

If we decided to flip that coin over, and keep remembering to flip it back over as often as we need to, we would see that reasons for gratitude are ever-present. In every scenario and relationship, there is a blessing.

The question is: do we want to experience ourselves as victims, or to find reasons to say thank you and really mean it?

I’m choosing to say thank you because after trial and error I can report: it feels better!

There is nowhere positive to go from anger, resentment, and so on. Gratitude is a springboard to growth and expansion.

I hope you’ll join me by starting to practice gratitude today.

Make a list of 10 things you’re grateful for and why.

Do that tomorrow, too. And the next day after that.

This new year, lead with gratitude.

This smattering of clips doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of the projects we were fortunate enough to work on throughout the year.

This year we edited rooms from basements to attics. We organized kitchens and closets and bathrooms and bedrooms and craft rooms and garages and offices and, and, and. We unpacked and we sorted, we situated and we labeled. So. Much. Labeling. We obsessed over tiny details and crawled into nooks and crannies, bending over actually backwards to ensure people feel cared for. By us. By themselves. By their families. In their spaces.

The core of our work isn’t stuff or space. It’s those people. It’s making a positive, enduring, trajectory-shifting impact on people who are ready-enough to make a change and open-minded enough to explore different ways of thinking and behaving. I hold space in my heart for each one of the people we serve, and for you, too.

We can’t wait to meet our next cohort of clients we’ll get to work with in 2024. Inquire through our website to snag a place on our coveted roster.

Until then, let every choice you make move you closer to Simplicity.

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#professionalorganizer #homeorganizing #declutteringexpert

Read the last part of the last slide. But then read it again. And again. Until you get it. When you do, spread the gospel.

#decluttering #declutteringtips

The space and the stuff has to evolve along with you.

Each of us is ever evolving. Our interests shift. Our priorities change. Our tastes evolve.

As we carve out space internally and emotionally, so must we adjust our physical environments. We release what’s no longer serving us. We let go of what was to make room perpetually for what is.

If we don’t allow for belongings and spaces to evolve in concert with us, we end up limiting and depriving ourselves. We bog down our present delights in clutter of the past. We start to avoid accessing entire rooms that feel overwhelmingly filled with old, stagnant energy.

I have yet to encounter a person who feels content having relegated themselves to a tiny corner that serves them now, while the space as a whole caters to a version of them that no longer exists.

Let it flow. Let it go.

That’s what these teen twins, whose shared bedroom is shown here, did with us. Out with the outgrown, in with The Aesthetic. Out with the craft projects, in the cheer medals.

Who knows, maybe tomorrow the brief will be carving out a place for a newfound passion for astrology. We’ll be there to do what we always do: highlight what matters. Create space. Situate for whole person, spiritual success.✨

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#homeorganizer #homeorganization #designaesthetic

WHAT IF I NEED IT?!?

That’s the fear-based, scarcity-minded question that comes up so commonly when editing.

It’s the reason why so many people hold onto things for which they have no application.

The fear of deprivation. The fear of lack of access to precious resources. At the root, this primal fear was implanted in you to ensure your survival. It is your greatest protector, and it ought not be your main guide when editing.

You have information and experience your fear doesn’t. You know the truth of what you need and use. You know what you will realistically reach for out of a slew of options, every time. And you know that, if you are privileged enough to have excess that requires editing, you also likely have ready access in the future.

It’s helpful that your fear chimes into the editing equation, in so much as it compels you to think through the sincerity of your decisions. Thank it, but do not let it automatically dictate your actions.

Decide from a place of abundance and pragmatism, not fear.

#declutteryourlife #decluttering

Everything you own owns a piece of you, in that it requires cleaning, care, storage, and management. Right about now is when practicing intentional purchasing can be the difference between overwhelm and delight.

#holidayshopping #shoppingaddiction

None of us can accomplish anything of note on our own. Despite knowing that, too many people are still walking around with a complex about how they “should” be able to do it all themselves. They chastise their shortcomings, or fail to acknowledge their weaknesses, which keeps them stuck repeating the same small, anxious dance over and over again.

Powerful people seek out ways to benefit from others’ strengths. Because they’re comfortable relying on others, powerful people convey openness and trust. Feeling their enthusiasm and trust, those serving powerful people are inspired to produce the best work they possibly can. In the end, everyone wins. This exchange of energy and strengths empowers all involved.

We are fortunate to find ourselves in this scenario time and time again in our work with clients, including the one we worked with on the post-remodel-move-in project recently completed and seen here. 💞

#homeorganizer #professionalorganizerseattle

Daily frustrations, careless mistakes, unforeseen, unnavoidable crises, and even intentional, premeditated evils–these are all part of the human experience. There is no way to separate being alive from the challenges of life. Now that we’re more connected to the world at large than ever before, these hardships are inescapable.

Everywhere you look is a circumstance that threatens to sink you. Over there is a tragic war, and over here is senseless suffering, and your order was delayed–again.

Now is as good a time as ever to cultivate resiliency. Whether you’ve had loads of practice navigating misfortune, or, fortunately, none, choose to master the art of bouncing back.

You are as un-quashable as you decide to be. You can hold much more than you believe you can.

(Really, doesn’t it take a person of superhuman strength and spiritual depth to know innocent people are dying one moment, and then chat congenially with your dentist the next, and then show up authentically for your family later on?)

Don’t you see now how resilient you are? How your refusal to give up is what has gotten you to where you are?

Sure, you’ve had times when you lost your shit. When it was so painful and frustrating that you crawled into bed and wept. When you yelled at your family about something inconsequential, like how stupid you think it is that low rise jeans are coming back.

Maybe sometimes you’ve doubted if you could, but then (haven’t you?) every time, you’ve carried on. You’ve hauled yourself up, and washed your face, and dared another thing to try to bring you down.

Deep down, you’ve already survived enough to prove to yourself you can’t be sunk that easily. So long as you keep channeling love, you’re bound to be buoyant–and brilliant.

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© 2011 - 2024 Live Simply Method by Annie