Craft room and Gift wrap station organized

Craft room or gift wrap station is a place to create wonderful gifts for the Holidays.

Here's how to organize your tools so that gift wrapping is fast and simple.

Keep your most popular gift wrap ready to go at all times using a paper dispenser.
Store bows, ribbon, and name tags in a handy tiered wire fruit rack.

Crafts Cabinet Hideaway
One cabinet in a home office can hide crafts supplies but keep them within reach. These pullout drawers are perfect for holding wrapping paper, ribbon, and tins of other supplies. Use the inside door space too, perfect for housing paint jars, vases filled with color pencils, and more ribbon. The counter holds a copier for enlarging patterns.

Wrapping Station
This fabulous wrapping station is a great addition to any crafts room. Made for closet organization, simple cabinets such as these are great for other uses as well. Pegboard added to the wall lets you hang hooks and containers to store embellishments and other small gift wrap and crafts supplies. Ribbon boxes are available in many sizes and keep ribbon in check. Add a work lamp and you're ready to wrap!

Designate a table, then clear off the surface, so you have ample room to spread out and a seat on which to perch. Use tools that help you work efficiently, like a weighted tape dispenser for grabbing pieces of tape one-handed and sharp scissors.

On a Roll
Forget the frustration of tangled ribbon. Stack spools onto a paper-towel holder for easy access, and save leftover pieces of ribbon (that no longer have a spool) on empty paper-towel rolls, using a piece of tape to keep each wrapped tight. Stash the rolls in a handy box, so you know where to find them next year or whenever a wrapping project arises.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS !!!

Sending You and Yours Holiday Greetings and Best Wishes for a Happy New Year 2011 !

Drawer Organizing in Houston

Houston Professional Organizer will help you control clutter in a junk drawer.

Use these clever solutions to keep small items organized and easy to find.

Top-Drawer Solution

Control clutter in a junk drawer with this low-cost solution. Here silicone cupcake liners hold small, loose items. An egg carton stashes items such as thumb tacks and staples in the egg cups and larger items such as pencils, a calculator, and a pair of scissors on the other side.

Expert Tip: Make one of these for the laundry room and fill it with all the little things that come out of the dryer such as coins and buttons. Dress it up with a quick coat of spray paint.

Divide & Conquer

Three quarter-inch-deep baking pans make perfect dividers for shallow deck drawers. Separate office supplies in one, bill-paying essentials in another, and miscellaneous items such as a lint brush, lip balm, and a sewing kit in the last one.

Expert Tip: As you organize a desk drawer, decide what to keep, what to toss, and what to move to a new spot. Throw away all duplicates and mysterious odds and ends.

Mini Compartments

This pan will do more than help you cook when you use it to compartmentalize office supplies. 

Use an inexpensive cupcake pan to organize small items that have a tendency to get lost in drawers.

Round Up Drawer Items

Here simple wood and ceramic containers corral Q-tips and makeup brushes in a bathroom drawer. Scan kitchen and laundry room cabinets for similar containers (glass jars, coffee cups, plastic food containers, etc.) to fit in your drawers.

Expert Tip: Examine your medicine cabinet and bathroom drawers every other month and toss expired and unused items.

Magdalena Bogdan- Professional Organizer Houston, organizing drawers, drawers before:

Organizing project, drawers after:

My video: bathroom drawer organizing in Houston

Organizing Your Kitchen

Professional Organizer Houston, Magdalena Bogdan can help to organize your kitchen, and make your family life flow more smoothly when it comes to meal preparation.

The kitchen is an area of your home that gets used more often than most other areas. So it stands to reason that if your kitchen were more organized and simple to use, your life would feel easier.

Organize Appliances
Frequently used small appliances, such as a toaster and coffeemaker, should be stored on the counter; ones seldom needed on a lower cabinet. Install a drawer onto a deep lower shelf for appliances used occasionally, such as a rice cooker and blender.

Keep Like With Like

Store all bakeware in the same cupboard, all wooden spoons in the same ceramic crock, all spices in the same drawer.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



Store Smart
Store your most frequently used items in the most accessible places. Keep things you use most often at eye level; store heavy items below waist level; and infrequently-used items on high shelves or in another area of the house.

De-clutter Yearly

Take an inventory of all utensils, cookware, and dishware and get rid of unnecessary duplicates, items damaged beyond repair, or things no longer used.

Use See-Through Bins

Keep small kitchen items in containers -- see-through bins if possible -- with neat, easy-to-read labels.

Back to School: Study Spaces

Window-Seat Workspace

Stocked with everything a student needs, this hideaway is an inviting place to do homework.
The lightweight wooden bench is wide enough that she and a pal can work on projects side by side and has cubbies for sports equipment and a backpack.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Space-Saver Desk
Using a twist on under-bed storage, the area below a store-bought loft bed becomes a welcoming small-scale study. An adjustable desk is made of painted plywood attached to a homemade wooden frame, which was screwed to the bed's base for stability.

Paint Can Cubbies

Purchase inexpensive, unused cans at paint stores. Lined up on a shelf and anchored in place with Velcro, they become organizing cubbyholes with a modern flair.

On-the-Go Desk

This little portable office starts with a store-bought wooden artist's supply box outfitted with a slightly larger board for a desktop, and painted white. Small and light enough for kids to carry, it can be taken along on vacation or toted outdoors on a warm afternoon.

Hoarding problem in Houston

Hoarders aren't just packrats  who have a few too many things; they're people, often with some sort of mental health issues, who feel the need (or compulsion) to gather and hold onto things that have little to no value, from bottle caps to old newspapers to empty toothpaste tubes to clothing. The thought of getting rid of their things, or of not bringing in more things, can be physically painful to hoarders.

If you are a hoarder and need help...

Contact me, I can help.  

No judgements.

Houston Professional Organizer, organize your storage unit

The fact about storage units is that we pay someone to put our belongings (some people call it “junk”) in a unit for an often undefined length of time.

Storage Wars in Texas

Some other facts about storage units:

Self storage can lead to overconsumption
“Self storage is like diet food for material goods. It fools the mind by fooling the eye.
If your clutter isn't visible in your house, do you really have a spending problem?”


Self storage can waste time as well as money
“Self storage companies count on the basic physics of human laziness, that is: Objects at rest, remain at rest...in storage. After all, who wants to spend their precious free time, digging through boxes looking for stuff?”

Are you tired of paying for your storage unit just to hold to things you don’t use?


I provide one-on-one storage organizing help.


I can design a plan to set you free from that overloaded storage unit.


Whether you want to get rid of the storage unit because you are tired of paying for it, or just want to organize it – I can help…

New project: organizing a storage unit, unit before

When you have a pile of miscellaneous items in a storage unit, organization may seem a bit daunting. Organizing a self storage unit can be easy when you visualize the way you want things to look. The one thing you want to do is make everything in the unit accessible. So you will have the ability to move things in the future if required. The size of the unit plays a bit part in how much organizing you can do.


Follow these simple steps and you’ll be on the way to storage unit organization.

Sort and purge
When cleaning out the storage unit, decide which items should be kept and which can be discarded or donated to charity. 
A good rule of thumb is to discard items that haven’t been used within two years.

Step 1:
Organize your unit by taking everything outside of the unit on a nice, dry day.
Start from scratch if you already have things inside. Separate your items into three different groups. Set aside space for large heavy items, another place for items small enough to sit on a shelf, and one less place for stackable items. Now, you should have three groups to look at and visualize where things should fit.

My video. Organizing a storage unit in Houston.







Step 2:
Place things back inside in the designated area of the unit. Choose a side for the large heavier items and a side for stackable items. If you need floor-standing shelves, choose the area where they will go. If you are using wall shelving, choose a wall that will be easy to access after the other items are placed inside. Place the items that will be on shelves inside the storage unit first. Then work in the area where the larger, heavier items will go. It is important that these items do not take up any space in the stackable area of the unit.



Step 3:
Stackable items are last on your list. Start by placing the heaviest items on the bottom, and then the medium weight things, and then end with the lightest on top. Remember, you do not have to stack very high because you do not want anything to topple over. Shoulder height is fine for stackable items as long as the top items are lightweight. If you run out of room for the stackable items, you can move some into the larger items section and set the items on top of more sturdy items.


Once you finish organizing a self storage unit, you should have easy access to everything inside. In some cases, you may have to climb over things. It just depends on the size of the unit and how much stuff you have inside. Organization is the key to a successful job. Just make sure to face any label markings on boxes to the outside so you can find the things inside easier when you need them in the future.

storage unit after

Houston Extreme Makeover

View more presentations from magdainhouston.

Decorating inspirations: Living Rooms

Are you searching for living room decorating ideas?

Living room it is a place to unwind, recharge, and spend time with family and friends.

Look below to find beautiful images of living rooms.

Quick change living room

A black-and-white color scheme allows a room to be updated as trends evolve.

For low-cost, high-impact changes, the mocha walls and acid green accents could be easily swapped for new colors, and the cotton duck slipcovers could be dyed to match the new palette.

• Wheatgrass in a simple vase adds a pop of green.

• Add color with pillows and accents that can be replaced inexpensively.
• Buy affordable lamps and recover the shades for custom lighting for less.
• Frame black-and-white greeting cards for easy artwork.



Orange Crush Living room

Vibrant orange walls add richness to the dark walnut woodwork of this room.

Although taking chances with the color, the upholstery, paintings, and accessories promote harmony in the space. Asymmetrical arrangements of accessories underscore a casual style.

• Small benches serve as a coffee table, yet can be removed when entertaining.

• Pattern is limited to pillows and accessories and are easily changed.

• Oil paintings are displayed together over the fireplace to create a focal point.

• Apartment-size sofas fit nicely in this modest space.



Chocolate and cream living room

A preference for chocolate hues is hard to miss in the living area, where a mahogany Chinese Chippendale daybed, wicker coffee table, and Thebes-style (Egyptian) stool are complemented by artwork, pillows, blind trim, and other accessories.

• The furniture was arranged to take advantage of an ocean view.
• Cream carpeting helps unite the rooms in this small apartment
• Identical frames and mats accentuate artwork behind the daybed.
• Brown, like black, adds depth and punctuation to a space.


Refined Taste living room

With a soothing seaside color palette on the walls and in fabrics, this living room eases into elegance. A limestone fireplace surround, a country French-style chandelier, and inviting silver-blue walls add beauty. New dark wood beams on the vaulted ceiling help overcome the room's awkward dimensions.

• Painting the ceiling and walls the same color diminishes the room's awkward dimensions.
• Pretty fringe dresses up the light-handed window treatments.
• Hanging the simple window dressings from hefty rods gives them added visual weight.
• The room's tranquil hues continue underfoot with a textured sandy-color rug.


Perfect Proportions living room

Mirrored faux transoms raise the height of low, out-of-scale windows and help bring this awkwardly shaped living room into visual proportion. Chippendale-style overlays add an architectural detail; the fretwork motif is dramatically echoed by a console table below. The window treatments are made more substantial by large rings and rods.

• A light color palette keeps myriad patterns from overwhelming a room.
• A symmetrical placement of furniture and accents gives the room balance.
• Light and dark wood tones coexist peacefully thanks to their similar shapes and styles.
• From tasseled fringe to crystal beading, this elegant room is all about the details.