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Monday’s Meditation: On Getting Over Ourselves Enough To Cheer For Other’s Choices

By Annie | April 11, 2016 | 0

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This & That: Small Space No Closet Solutions from CB2

By Annie | April 7, 2016 | 0

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1 Big Reason These Kitchen Islands Are Better For Small Spaces Than The Rest

By Annie | April 6, 2016 | 2

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Favorite This: March 2016

By Annie | April 5, 2016 | 0

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Birthday Wishes, 2016

By Annie | April 4, 2016 | 12

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One Space Spotlight: A Beach Dining Room

By Annie | March 31, 2016 | 0

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5 Most Commonly Asked Questions We All Hate Answering (& Way Better Alternatives)

By Annie | March 30, 2016 | 6

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8 Of The Greatest Underbed Storage Options

By Annie | March 29, 2016 | 0

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Monday’s Meditation: On Integrity In The Modern Age

By Annie | March 28, 2016 | 0

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Spotlight On H2 Design & Build’s Newly Renovated Studio

By Annie | March 24, 2016 | 0

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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.

ABOUT LIVE SIMPLY

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Simplify Your World

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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
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Who knew this was a thing and didn’t inform the group?!? #organizingtips #cablesolutions #professionalorganizer
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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
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 17986931462991979
Didn’t expect this to resonate with as many people as it did… So I’m moving it to the main feed. Would love to hear how the state of your space has impacted your confidence and self perception. #professionalorganizing #declutteryourhome #organizinginspiration
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The flow.
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 18033291059795571
4/4/26. Being alive is the most precious, exhilarating, fun, joyful, fulfilling adventure. I feel overwhelming gratitude every day to be here, alive at the same time as all of you, able to contribute to the world in the way I know was assigned to. Thanks to @davidaxelrod.co for making all of my (birthday) dreams come true (I.e. extending his superpower normally reserved for @beckonaire clients in my direction), to all those who took time to send me sweet greetings, the city of London, the lovely team at @surrenne, and @tracyandersonmethod @kellybolly for the epic, life-and-longevity extending birthday activities.
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 18013181066681848
We are all works in progress. What we aren’t are problems to be solved. The trouble is, for every facet of self that exists, there is a company or person seeking to exploit our humanity in the name of improvement. Buy this product.Take this course. Only the purchase of this thing can save you from your average-human-status and elevate you to the shiniest version of you. Despite how pervasive the messaging can be, believing that our worth is dependent upon external, surface-level factors (controlled by others who profit off of our insecurities), is still our choice. Practicing self-love is a possible choice for each of us, too. It’s the requisite antidote to the sense of inadequacy society imparts. Practicing self-love begins with recognizing the ways we’ve farmed out our worth. It means realizing that those who may have taught us we were unlovable or not enough was misinformed and insecure, themselves. It means speaking lovingly to ourselves, daily. I love and accept myself as I am. The first time we say it we may find it hard to believe or awkward to utter. It’s important that we practice saying those words every day, regardless. I love and accept myself. As I am. Not once we get X, and once we change Y. Today. Right now. With our cellulite and our weird decision-making process, our skin color, our anxieties, our age, and our track record. Lovable. Acceptable. No more or less deserving of compassion than anyone else. Think how easily we extend grace to others. How we take in the whole of them, flaws and all, and still deem them worthy of love. We must not withhold from ourselves what we give without conditions, to others. When we love and accept ourselves, fundamentally, we realize our worth was never up for debate or dependent on external factors. It just is. Like gravity. Like the moon. Rooted in that knowing, we become immune to predatory marketing. We choose how we grow, instead of being sold who to become. And we’re able to view external markers appropriately: potentially fun, entirely optional, and never determinants of our worth. [calendar design by @arielm_garcia ] #selflove❤️ #selfacceptancejourney #selfimage
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 18096791710839552
Live Simply closets = sartorial sanctuaries. This project (somehow, already a year ago!) is a prime example of the beauty that’s created when people hire for excellence, trust the process, and are open to new ways of thinking of being. Plus, it’s a testament to the power of the edited collection over the accumulation of excess. ✌🏻 #professionalorganizing #closetorganizing #organizinginspiration
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 18097209391818896
When this fashion industry vet bought her first official shared, non NYC closet, there was only one logical thing to do…enlist the help of the pros. We made sure every square inch was maximized and in-season garments were prioritized, and we carved out a fully respectable portion for her husband, to boot (ahem). Then we hung a mirror, added a few valet rods, and twirled on to the next project… #professionalorganizing #closetorganizing #organizedcloset
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 17925766032086895
Best possible day to… -Let go of what no longer serves you. -Move on from shopping mistakes you made in the past. -Release your feelings of obligation to keep items you were gifted. -Get rid of broken things, mystery parts, and torn and stained items. -Say bye to the duplicates and triplicates of the one item you actually needed or wanted to begin with. -Consign the dud designer goods. -Clear out the expired products that have been quietly fermenting in your cabinets. -FREE YOURSELF OF THE CLUTTER. You’re worthy of a space that supports your best version of self now, one that’s filled with positive, vital energy. #declutteryourhome #declutteryourmind #professionalorganizing
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 18115716646657703
Move in while you’re out of town. It means less facetime with our clients (who we adore), but more magic wand effect: *poof* your fully moved-in home is ready and waiting for your return… 🪄 [interior design by the famously talented @wymaninteriors] #professionalorganizing #seattleprofessionalorganizer #moveinday
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 18313983589281787
If you designate it, they will edit. It’s a lot more challenging to motivate continual editing without a clearly defined landing spot for one/two/three-off donation items. This is solved by easily by way of a location and a receptacle. Pick the spot, and then use a lightweight hamper, a paper bag, or whatever other receptacle you so choose. Advertise the delicious opportunity to those you share the space with. Marvel at how that vessel fills. #declutteryourhome #declutteringtips #professionalorganizer
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Are you/ they incapable, or is it a matter of necessity and accountability?? #professionalorganizing #kitchenorganization #organizedhome
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Beginning today, consider the components of your daily life not merely as routines, but rituals. Routines are obligatory. They can be laborious. And they don’t necessarily require our active attention or inspire positive emotions. Rituals are ceremonies we perform for ourselves. They invite us to focus on the present moment, to enjoy the Simple acts that constitute them, and to experience a sense of groundedness and peace. Daily rituals contain a clear beginning, middle, and end. As such, they are distinct pockets of time (in our otherwise flurried days) when we can appreciate the processes we’ve lovingly designed for ourselves. Each step can be a delight-inducing cue that calls on us to acknowledge the blessings around us. Something as seemingly banal as making a morning coffee, exercising, or applying skincare can be elevated to the level of a ritual when we define the key steps and choose tools needed to perform the ritual with intention. The difference between consuming caffeine and Making A Cup Of Coffee (using preferred beans, while enjoying the sounds of the kettle warming and  hot water being poured, the feeling of a favorite mug in hand, and so on), is not to be discounted. It isn’t that the conditions have to be perfect, but that we are tuned into them. Some days are quieter than others, and being present is easier then, sure. But how attentive we are to gratitude for everyday practices and pleasures is ultimately up to us. “Here I still am, alive, getting to do this,” a ritual inspires us to say. It reminds us, “I am worthy of this small, daily devotion.” And it invites us to reflect and remark, “thank you.” Just as we bring intentionality to the opening of a ritual, we thoughtfully close one. We do this by putting away all that we have used. Each thing, one by one, we put back where it belongs. That way—assuming we are fortunate enough to meet tomorrow—the ritual will be ready for us to perform again. [calendar designed exclusively by @arielm_garcia ] #dailyrituals #ritualmagic #declutteryourmind
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 17891355120424596
Wondering where to start editing and organizing? Your own closet. The space where you begin and end your days. All of your internal noise will be on display there, and when you confront it, you free yourself. It can either be a place where ease reigns and present-moment-you is supported, or where past regrets and future fears distract and burden you. You can either have functionality and ease or you can maximum options; rarely can you have both. What if you allowed yourself to Simply answer the question, “What do I LOVE to wear NOW?” And let the honest answers to that decide the rest for you. #closetorganizer #professionalorganizing #declutteryourhome
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 17916304950282374
The happiest Simply kitchen around. Our organizing process is designed to inspire delight. Add to that base the happiest version of most any thing (in this house, even a hot pad is a chance to inject more whimsy into life) and a playground designed to evoke joy (done by the one and only @massuccowarner ), and the result is this singular space. Can’t you tell how delicious the banana bread baked here is??😘
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 18172606867391246
How many canvas tote bags does one person or family really need, anyway, would you say? (Aka everyone’s favorite Simply psychological game, round 6). #professionalorganizing #declutteryourhome #declutteringjourney
Open post by livesimplybyannie with ID 17888682213429952
Are Lego bricks worth meticulously organizing? In most cases (hot take!) I say no. i find that parents who think they want a detailed Lego organizing system are actually desiring less Lego responsibility, not more. But since a higher maintenance Lego system isn’t a reasonable ask for most young kids, parents are unknowingly signing themselves up for a result that’s counter to their original goal (clocking in precious time sorting Lego after the kids have gone to bed). Instead of attempting to design an elaborate differentiation system, establish clear expectations about where the Legos belong (and where they don’t!), and make it as EASY as possible for kids to succeed. A Lego countertop/ tray/bucket/storage tote or two > myriad different drawers/categories/color-sorting system. It’s one of the only instances I can think of where my vote is less organization. Intention and clearly defined places, yes, always, and in this case, less sorting for more sanity. Then it falls on parents, loved ones, and caregivers to not overconsume Lego, because excess makes anything unmanageable for everyone. That’s my hot Lego take. What’s yours?? #legosystem #professionalorganizers #legoorganization

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