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The Essential Household Cleaning Kit

By Annie | September 3, 2013 | 2

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Monday’s Meditation: On Being The Best Adviser

By Annie | September 2, 2013 | 0

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Spotlight on Jacob Snavely Photo

By Annie | August 30, 2013 | 0

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Packed Lunch Essential Products

By Annie | August 29, 2013 | 0

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5 Tips For Painless Lunch Packing

By Annie | August 28, 2013 | 22

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One Tip Tuesday: Closet Maintenance Simplified

By Annie | August 27, 2013 | 2

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Monday’s Meditation: On Being Creators and Re-Imagining

By Annie | August 26, 2013 | 1

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Spotlight on Cynthia Brooks Design

By Annie | August 23, 2013 | 3

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Simple Systems: Meg Biram

By Annie | August 22, 2013 | 0

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(IT’S NOT IKEA) Shoe Cabinet Update

By Annie | August 21, 2013 | 50

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Older Posts »

Welcome

Annie Traurig was born with the ability to see order through clutter. As a child, she spent playdates organizing friends’ closets and packing their duffle bags for summer camp.

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Simplify Your World

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Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 18069778307557644
“I feel guilty,” she says, holding what she believes to be a hideous piece of ceramic selected by her blind aunt while vacationing. “I’m ashamed at how much I spent on this,” she confesses, reviewing the wardrobe society has told her she needs in order to be accepted. “I feel like I have to keep it in case she comes over,” she says of the item given to her by her mother’s good friend who never visits. The amount of clutter women hold onto out of guilt and obligation would boggle your mind. Or maybe not, if you’re a woman, too. Feeling badly unnecessarily is not exclusive to women, but it is undeniably more common in women. Somewhere along the way, we were taught that it was our duty to feel guilty without just cause, feel beholden and trapped, and feel embarrassed by our humanity. That socialization, combined with our already empathic brains, dictate what so many of us do in our personal lives, in our homes, and with our time. It’s high time that we ask ourselves whether making ourselves unduly wrong is constructive. Who, really, is served when we compel ourselves to feel guilty, obligated and ashamed over something as benign as an undesirable vase? Why do we experience such constricting guilt when taking care of ourselves, while we tell the men in our life to enjoy their day at the proverbial range? We, too, are allowed to choose for ourselves and to hold ourselves to entirely reasonable standards while doing so. We are not here to apologize for being here. We are not here to contort ourselves in pain in order to make others more comfortable. We may have been taught by the previous generation that our job is to be small, quiet, and inoffensive, above all. This month, as classes in schools everywhere resume, we’re due for a generational unlearning. Release guilt without cause and invite acknowledgement of our emotions, instead. Release the trap of obligation and embrace commitment. Let go of learned shame and adopt, in its place, awareness. Expand into the fullness of ourselves. [calendar designed exclusively by @arielm_garcia ] #momguilt #mindsetiseverything💯 #selfencouragement
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 18124246042768248
Decluttering and getting organized before working with a professional organizer sounds so nonsensical, yet people put the pressure on themselves to do so all the same. Whether postponing seeking the help you need is due to shame and embarrassment or a sense of pride at needing to do everything on your own, you are holding yourself back unnecessarily. We are designed to lean on one another’s talents and skill sets. Any true expert has their focus on giving and supporting, not judging. #professionalorganizer #seattleprofessionalorganizer #declutteryourhome
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 18094466357529173
Chomping boxes. Getting clients unpacked, settled, and set up with beautifully functional systems in their spaces in record time is our commitment and joy. #professionalorganizing #seattleprofessionalorganizer #movingmadeeasy
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 18365313973208798
The contents of your life ARE your past decisions in physical form. Thats why editing is always, in part, a reconciliation of identity. It can also be emotionally jarring, embarrassing, overwhelming, and on—IF you approach it all from a judgmental mindset. If you allow yourself to approach editing from a place of curiosity and commitment to learn, your decisions of the past are critical information you need to improve. Be brave. Choose now. #declutteryourhome #declutteringtips #professionalorganizerseattle
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 18107932343519068
Our brains, conditioned by society and governed by ego, tell us yes and no all day long. Intuition exists on a higher plane of knowing, and communicates via feelings. Feelings of excitement, curiosity, and anxious anticipation are all intuitive yeses. Feelings of obligation, guilt, drudgery, doubt: those are all intuitive nos. Intuition isn’t based on logic. It is instinctual recognition of alignment or the lack thereof with people, opportunities, and even ideas. If only that felt like enough to base decisions on. How often do we rationalize ourselves away from the truth of our intuition? Clients constantly engage in this while editing. They sigh heavily at the sight of something their intuition flashes “no” on. They drop their shoulders. They groan. And then their rational minds go to work. “Think how much it cost,” it tells them. “Think who might be offended if you let it go,” it says. “What if you need it down the road?” it taunts. Logic so often masquerades as wisdom. There is no mistaking the feeling of a true, intuitive Yes. We naturally feel a desire to claim whatever it is, wrap our arms around it, do a happy dance, and call our best friend to tell her the good news. No is often harder to detect. It’s feeling unsettled. It’s a moment of hesitation, of knowingly acting on obligation, and ignoring red flags. So, how can we get better at recognizing our subtle, intuitive No? No is the absence of a Yes. That sounds like over-simplification, until you remember the unmistakable feeling of a yes—like a dart flying deftly through the air and landing bang in the bullseye. Natural. Exciting. Definite. Expansive. No is when the dart lands anywhere else. When your hand falters as you throw. When you hem and haw and feel confusion, doubt, or indecision. When your fear-based ego interjects with countless rationalizations because you’re scared to trust your first, inexplicable instinct. We must learn to hear through the mental noise and ask ourselves, “Is it a full-on yes, or am I afraid? Am I trusting my gut, or am I inventing reasons to doubt it?” Calendar designed exclusively by @arielm_garcia #intuition #sayingnoiso
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 18120735088855254
Move or pretend you are. Clutter thrives in unchanged environments. Moving forces you to examine what you’re storing, what possessions are still serving you, and the lengths you’re willing to go in order to retain your belongings. If you’re moving, embrace the opportunity to be intentional about what you carry forward into your next space. If you’re not moving, pretend you were. What would make the cut? What wouldn’t be worth the effort? #declutteringtips #declutteryourhome #edityourlife
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 17973279978086861
Medicine cabinet, vanity, wall cabinetry; determine your storage hierarchy and place accordingly. In this bathroom, the medicine cabinet = tier one (daily essentials/ skincare), vanity = tier two (hair styling), and wall cabinetry = tier three (towels, backstock, & travel cosmetics). #professionalorganizing #organizinginspiration #bathroomorganization
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 18123702316689044
I have seen it time and time again: parents keeping things that are special and prized to them with the intention of bequeathing said things to their kids. Their kids, meanwhile, are plagued with guilt at not wanting their parents trophies, dresses, and candlesticks. Inevitably, the things we gravitate towards as children are the ones we most strongly associate with our parents. Those usually aren’t the most elaborate or tied to parental accomplishments. They’re ordinary and necessarily selective—the sweater you wear every day for a decade has a panache greater than anything you’ve been carefully storing in a box for as long with the intention of passing down. Sure, there are exceptions. And yes, there are bound to be extremely sentimental people tempted to chime in and contradict. Still, the vast majority of us desire the opportunity to create and fill our lives for ourselves. So, if you’re not keeping things for yourself first and foremost—if you’re using your children as a way to lessen the blow of letting go—ask yourself: what am I doing and why? As always, answer with curiosity and openness over judgment and defensiveness. #declutteringtips #declutteryourhome #professionalorganizer
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 18169360771442667
His closet. Men deserve sartorial sanctuaries too! We set up this one as we always do: -frequently used items placed in the most accessible spots -arranged categorically for easy dressing -accessories displayed -essentials folded carefully -designed to promote the energy of calm and clarity #professionalorganizing #closetorganization #menscloset
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 18001031423955739
When your wardrobe is edited to include only the pieces you truly need and love (that make you feel like the best version of you)… When it’s organized in a way that feels intuitive for you and your daily life, with essentials prioritized and speciality items thoughtfully contained… When your clothes and accessories are arranged to enhance the functionality and beauty of the space as a whole… Your closet is something more akin to your personal sanctuary, one that reminds you—with every time you dress and undress—that you are worthy of calm, ease, and delight. #professionalorganizing #closetorganizing #closetorganizer
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 17974218006109813
She’s high school ready 🙌🏻 #professionalorganizing #organizinginspiration #closetorganizer
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 18140689720550663
One of the most powerful yet overlooked abilities you possess is to continually invent and reinvent yourself. Whether or not you’re aware, you’re deciding who you are and who you’ll be all the time. You speak yourself into existence through the repetition of stories. I am this way because of the way I was raised. I’m such a messy person. I’m so bad at time management. I’m the peacekeeper, responsible for holding everyone together. Like cast spells, you bewitch yourself into making your self-perceptions true. Your actions follow suit. The truth is, who you are is not fixed but fluid, and the stories you’ve told, regardless of how long you’ve repeated them, are entirely mutable. Consider the fact that at every instant the entire universe is recreating itself. That you are a different person now on a cellular level than you were when you started reading this. At any moment, you can choose to harness the power of your thoughts to tell new stories. You can bridge the gap between your past and future self by probing your old refrains. I may have been that way because of my upbringing; who do I want to be now? In the past, I always reacted to these types of situations in a certain way; how do I want to respond now? I have allowed myself to manage time poorly in the past; how does the version of me I now aspire to manage their time and commitments? Editing your internal monologues then paves the way for you to adopt new truths. I am who I choose to be now. I am capable of change. I respond with intention. I have learned and grown, and I am embracing new, more adaptive behaviors. It isn’t too late–I am perfectly on time for my own evolution. I am changing for the better. I have changed. I stay open. I reserve the right to reexamine, and to change, and change again, for as long as I’m alive, and until the story I tell about myself reflects the fullest and freest expression of me. [calendar designed exclusively for us by @arielm_garcia ] #selftalkmatters #affirmationpositive #selfperception
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 17933219505304405
Getting the kitchen set up with clearly defined, intuitive and EASY systems from the get-go is the move. Ahem. #kitchenorganization #seattleprofessionalorganizer #professionalorganizing
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 18110965826486026
Mostly we work in silence, intensely focusing on the task at hand. Other days we reminisce about mall days gone by. If you can guess the store in question, you most definitely can sit with us. I mean if we ever sat we’d invite you to join us. #professionalorganizing #closetorganizing #organizinginspiration
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 17896652823471636
Micro managing your donation cast-offs while next-day priming is a recipe for disaster. Sometimes the most problematic scenario in this respect involves one partner who is maximally concerned about the environment and another who compulsively shops. Their tug of war values leads to a clutter-clog, with both their internal and external world suffering as a result. As with all, balance is key. Mindfulness on both sides of the acquisition chain is required. Flexibility and openness are the ultimate winning strategies. #declutteringtips #declutteryourhome #professionalorganizing
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 18040128731635732
So many people were taught to feel safe by stockpiling. Their cabinets are crammed with excess. Their lives are over scheduled with commitments that may or may not align with their values. In an honest attempt to ensure their every need is reliably met, this way of living creates a prevailing sense of anxiety. To live just-at or beyond capacity ironically produces the discomfort of lacking room to grow. When every bit of your bandwidth, physical and emotional, is occupied, you severely limit yourself, When your home is already filled, adding new pieces is an unpleasant struggle or even an outright impossibility. When your mental and emotional plates are overtaxed, you can easily overlook the person who might make a great new friend, for example, or decline invitations that would otherwise excite you. Living without breathing room means you are perpetually on the brink of suffocation. That isn’t an abundant way of life, it’s merely scarcity posing as abundance. It’s letting the fear of being without in the future cause chaos and discomfort in the present. By leaving yourself room to grow, you remain open to life. You move through the world in a way that reflects the ease you’re apt to experience daily. You naturally ebb and flow from completionism and letting go, to finding and aligning with new endeavors, practices and products. As with everything, there is a balance to strike between enough and too much, and what a fine line that can be. But if you feel as though one more thing would set you over the edge, your life is telling you to lighten your load. This month, leave room to grow. Luxuriate in the breathing room. See open space not as scarily vacant, but as the promise of treasures yet to be discovered and opportunities waiting to bloom into view. [calendar designed exclusively by @arielm_garcia ] #roomtogrow #breathingroom #declutteryourmind
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 18125252569621378
We had the best time moving this sweetest couple from their rental house chaos into their renovated grown up/ married house. There is no bad time to create functional systems, streamline your belongings, and bring more order and intention into your lives. That being said, implementing that foundation from the jump—and before kids enter the equation—is elite.😘🙌🏻 #professionalorganizing #organizinginspiration #seattleprofessionalorganizer
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 17976157719037784
Who knew this was a thing and didn’t inform the group?!? #organizingtips #cablesolutions #professionalorganizer
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 17996902037770505
Beverage vessel quota: ✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️ #declutteringtips #waterbottles #professionalorganizer
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 17939273742039865
Spring invites us to breathe energy into stagnant corners of our lives, and to take inventory of the growth that has occurred during the long dark months of winter. The result is an unmistakably heightened desire to lighten your load and clear out physical and emotional clutter. The permission to take action on that feeling is self-granted. (It’s one of the best parts of being an adult, if you ask me!). You get to distinguish between what you need to be your best and what are hindrances to your wellbeing. The light of Springtime makes it easy to decipher things, people, activities, and commitments that evoke positive, catalyzing energy, and those that feel negative, depleting, unnecessarily overwhelming, or pointlessly obligatory. Let this month be when you finally decide holding onto the latter isn’t worthwhile anymore. Let it be when you acknowledge that you’ve spent long enough filling space for the sake of doing so, and that you’re ready to hold the contents of your life to a higher standard. Let it be the month you stop overloading yourself with excess options, outgrown relics from the past, and irrational anxieties about the future. This month, instead of needing a cabinet to be crammed full to feel safe, embrace the possibility of open space. Relish your room to grow. The birds chirp and the leaves unfurl, reminding us that now is the most opportune moment to begin again, choose again, and see with fresh eyes—to let go of what was and embrace what is. Life is far too precious to spend it willingly holding onto that which prevents you from expanding into the fullest, brightest expression of the person you intended to be when you came here. [calendar designed exclusively for us by @arielm_garcia ] #letgo #decluttering #empoweredwomenempowerwomen

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