Search:

Amber’s Home and Office Organizing Blog index

Blog entries for the category General Organizing

Prioritizing

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Wednesday, July 21

 What is so hard about prioritizing? A lot actually. Prioritizing means: a decision has to be madea value as to be assigned a cost has to be counted. Whether it’s household repairs, homework assignments, or other projects, we set priorities each and every day. Whatever we spend our time on, takes priority. How we spend our time, tells us…

Keeping Stuff out of Guilt

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Friday, July 9

Letting Go of the Guilt with the ClutterMaybe you have said this comment or heard it a friend say, “I have to keep it because he (or she) gave it to me.” Why do we feel guilt over getting rid of every housewarming gift, Christmas gift, birthday gift, or hand me down we receive from family and friends? It is funny and ironic because most…

Streamlining Your Wallet

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Wednesday, July 7

Organizing A Jam Packed Wallet How overstuffed is your wallet? When you are standing in the check out lane at Target paying the cashier are receipts flying out everywhere? Maybe if you hold it just so or clasp it shut fast, half the contents won’t fall out. Let’s end the cycle of receipt saving and credit card carrying. Why not just mak…

Organizing Coupons

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Wednesday, June 30

From Clipping Coupons to Acutally Using Them....So you’re a coupon clipper? Do you clip for groceries? tolietries? or resturants and experiences? So many clients end up asking me how I organize my coupons so I thought I’d share that today with you in this blog post. First off, if you don’t really want to use coupons, don’t f…

A Cute Poem About Clutter

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Thursday, June 10

Hector the CollectorFrom Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein Hector the Collector collected bits of string, collected dolls with broken heads and rusty bells that would not ring.Pieces out of picture puzzles, bent-up nails and ice cream sticksTwists of wires, worn-out tires, paper bags and broken bricks. Old chipped vases, half shoelaces, g…

All or Nothing- Not So

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Tuesday, June 8

Parting With Stuff One Step at a Time Letting Go of Clutter  I recently watched my first full episode of Clean House. Now I know many people love that show and many people ask me if I watch it. So finally on Memorial Day evening I sat down and watched an episode. If you’re a fan of the show, please know I agree that it is entertaining. Ho…

Organizing Shows

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Thursday, May 27

   …

Helping Family Members Find Organization

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Monday, May 17

How to Help A Family Member Get OrganizedI often get calls and emails from family members and friends who are concerned for their loved ones disorganized situation. This is common and my heart goes out to them. I applaud them for taking the first steps, researching organizers, and truly learning how to best approach the situation. There are many fa…

Act Like You’re Moving

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Tuesday, May 11

Organizing, Downsizing and StreamliningWe are in the midst of moving season. It might be slower than in years past but none the less, people are packing up clutter, staging their home and making it look as neat as possible so buyers are attracted to buy. We are not staging professionals as you might of guessed but many families hire professional or…

Expectations you can count on

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Tuesday, May 4

I thought long and hard over what Amber’s Organizing, LLC brings to the table. What do we offer? Why choose us? Here are 6 key organizing factors you can expect when we start an organizing project, no matter the amount of clutter invovled.  Motivation. It is a whole lot easier to accomplish a project when someone is rooting you on and …

Weekend Plans

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Friday, April 30

It’s Friday. Yeah!!!- the weekend has arrived. I’ve got a couple of things I’d like to get down this weekend. The first, is clean out my car. It really need a good scrub, vaccum, and organizing session. The second, is my garden. I’d like to get the few remaining weeds out and get some veggies planted. What’s …

Organizing My Thoughts

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Tuesday, April 27

This last weekend I was in Columbus, Ohio for the National Organizing Conference of the National Association of Professional Organizers. It was 3 days of non stop organizing classes, keynote speakers, and an organizing product Expo. Of course, I shared this experience with about 1,000 other organizers from around the country. It’s kind of fun…

Totally Organized Tool Room

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Wednesday, April 21

…

Selling Clutter

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Thursday, April 15

…

Making Organizing Fit Your Time

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Thursday, April 8

Finding time to organize is always a struggle. There’s always pressure to carve out time, but realistically how does one do it? I want to be clear and explain there’s to\wo expectations here or two different aspects of organizing that one has to realize or understand.The first is... if clutter has been accumulating in any area for mont…

Labeling my plants

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Sunday, April 4

Label All Kinds of Things!This weekend I worked on planting starter plants. As I planted rows and rows of vegetable and flower seeds I saw the need to label my trays so I would know which plants are what.  I reached for the Sharpie, but it didn’t work well. So I grabbed my handy label maker (I keep one in my office and one in the car for…

Hanging Pictures

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Wednesday, March 17

Quick Picture Hanging Tips Often while organizing, I run across framed artwork or pictures piled up in a closet or leaning against a wall. Although hanging pictures might sound like a daunting task, it really doesn’t have to be. All it takes is the right tools and a few minutes. Shani Abrams and Jane Berlowe, owners of Roo…

Organizing Essentials

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Thursday, March 11

Ten Essentials to Make Your Organizing Project a Success! I often get asked Amber, What do I need to do or buy before you come to organize with me?  I usually respond, nothing because I really would prefer to see the space in its’ natural or normal state. It is not helpful if the client has cleaned up or tidied the room before I come. I…

My Swap Party

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Tuesday, March 2

Host a Party to Declutter About a week ago I had 10 of my friends over for a swap party. It started with the idea from a client who told me about her swap party. So I got to thinking and because my mom and sisters and I are really into “theme” parties, I picked the theme of jewelry. The plan was to swap jewelry. The evite went out and t…

Why hire a PO?

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Thursday, February 25

Hiring a Professional Organizer-Are you ready for an organizer? Why do people hire an professional organizer for help?   Top reasons professional organizers are hired Too much clutter General disorganization Difficulty determining what to keep and/or discard Difficulty finding things Selling a home or moving…

One room at a time..

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Tuesday, February 23

Conquer Feeling Overwhelmed by Following this Step by Step Organizing Sequence  Decide where you’d like to start. I suggest starting small- a closet, mudroom, etc. Stick to just that one room for now.   Next, determine how you would like to use that room. In the end, anything that doesn’t meet that goal or intention …

Keep or Toss?

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Tuesday, February 16

Yes or No Questions to Making that Decision EasyAuthor Donna Smallin gives us this helpful list in her book Organizing Plain & Simple. Donna Smallin is one of my favorite organizing authors. I’ve read several of her books. They are practical, an easy read, and simple to understand.   Have I used this item in the past year? Has anyone…

Organizing Jewelry

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Monday, January 25

 A Simple Way to Organize your Jewelry My client said “You’ve taught me well Amber. Look what I did. “ She led me to her bedroom and showed me how she organized her jewelry. She had an old bulletin board laying around and was inspired to repurpose it. So after finding a few push pins, she had a new creative way to organi…

Choosing the Right Furniture

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Thursday, January 21

Furniture that actually Organizes Your stuff Buying “functional” furniture isn’t usually at the top of the furniture shopping list. Most often, people buy furniture because the size fits, the price is right, or it is “looks pretty” to them. In my opinion functionality is key. When shopping, the purchaser doesn’t …

A Mad Organizing Dash

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Tuesday, January 5

Getting Organized after the holidays...Well, real life has set in. Back to work, back to school. And for most families the house is in dissaray. Leftovers fill the refrigerator, miscellaneous Christmas gifts are strewn about, the amount of toys have now doubled, and holiday decorations are still lying around. And you’re probably wondering, wh…

Donate Now Instead of Later

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Monday, December 28, 2009

5 Reasons to Donate Stuff Now instead of Later.....After organizing, it’s too easy to procrastinate about getting rid of “stuff you might use someday”. That “someday"  turns into months, even years later. Here’s great reasons why after organizing, get rid of the stuff as fast as possible. Enjoy the tax d…

Consequences of a Cluttered Life

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Clutter ConsequencesSomeone wrote me on Facebook and asked if I’d blog about the consequences of a cluttered life. The topic is not super positive by any means but none the less, it’s important and it’s a reality. I’m sure most people would agree that when our lives, homes, workplaces, cars, or relationships are filled with …

Organizing is in the air....

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Thursday, November 19, 2009

Well, it’s officially the holiday season. I can tell because business has been and is busy. Families, moms, businesses are all getting ready for the holidays by getting their last minute organizing projects completed. Here are some organizing projects I’ve been working on. Any of them familiar to you? -Purging toy bins, boxes, and shelv…

Perfect Picture Plan

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Using a digital camera has its pros and cons. Even though technology usually makes things easier for us, there are always hurdles to jump. For my clients, it’s keeping up with all the pictures stored on their cameras and computer. What’s most likely to occur after taking tons of great vacation and family photos all summer or throughout …

Repurposing Hangers for Gift Wrap

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Monday, October 26, 2009

While I was cleaning out an “idea” file folder from my filing drawer this last weekend, I stumbled across an idea I still think is worthwhile to write about and discuss. The gift wrapping season will soon be upon us so here are clever ways to repurpose pants hangers to neatly store ribbon and the pesky tissue paper that always wrinkles.…

Is the Organizer Organized?

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Monday, October 5, 2009

I get this question a lot- Is your home organized? Is your office organized? What do you do Amber? etc.... The answer is yes, I am organized and my home is organized- but it’s definitely not perfect. Most everything is pretty put together and “looks” organized. I think the areas that get messy the fastest are my office and bedroom…

Table Settings Made Easy

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Monday, September 28, 2009

After recently organizing a dining room, a client shared how she took the organizing one step further. The organizing started a few weeks back. We organized the dining room by sifting through all the drawers, cabinets, and storage spots by searching for mismatched, worn out, and outdated table linens, table ware, and decorative items. Many bags wer…

Footprint Contest Ending

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Monday, August 31, 2009

Today is the last day of our footprint contest. Be sure to enter to win! Follow this link for more information! http://eepurl.com/cXtw…

TV show “Hoarders”

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Okay, So I’m a little late in the game. I finally sat down to watch last week’s premier episode of “Hoarders”. This has been the buzz talk in the organizing industry. The show is on Monday nights on the AE channel if you haven’t watched it already.  I have to admit, the producers did a pretty good job of editing a…

Organized Athletes

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Monday, August 17, 2009

Just yesterday, I completed my first sprint triathlon- a 1/2 mile swim, a 12 mile bike ride and a 3.1 mile run. It was a ton of fun. On Saturday I went to register my bike and my packet,etc. They had talks through out the day for first time triathletes. So I sat in on the 3pm talk. After the presentation, the announcer introduced a woman who owns h…

The Power of a Good Filing System

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Thursday, August 13, 2009

I don’t normally toot my own horn but today I had a “wow” moment that solitfied once again in my mind why I LOVE being organized. Here’s what happened. I went to get my bike tuned up today because my sprint triathlon is drawing near. While I was in the shop, I asked the gentlemen to put on a spedometer my husband handed to m…

Zoning

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Zoning is common in the organizing world. Whenever you’re organizing a complete room (not just a part of it) you always want to create zones and think in terms of zones. Today I worked in a classroom and we set up many zones for the kids around the room. In our homes, we can benefit from zoning as well. Here are common zones found in our home…

Podcast on Stuff

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Thursday, August 6, 2009

   http://www.cbc.ca/dnto/podcast.html…

My messy system

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Tuesday, August 4, 2009

…

Managing Time- The Importance Factor

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Yesterday I wrote about the impossibility of managing time. And in Harold Taylor’s quote we learned we have to manage ourselves and tasks in respect to time. Many people claim: I don’t have the time to work out, cook dinner, organize, file those papers, etc.... yesterday Harold Taylor challenged and said “yes you do”. He sai…

Managing time- An Impossible Task

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Monday, July 27, 2009

Author, speaker, and organizer Harold Taylor is known in the organizing world as the time management guru. I’ve met Mr. Taylor, taken a class by him, and read his books. In my opinion he really explains time management clearly. I’ve decided to give you some quotes from his book “Making Time Work for You” over the next couple…

Cleaning Up for Company

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Friday, July 24, 2009

I don’t read the Tribune newspaper every day but I almost aways enjoy reading the home and garden section every Sunday. This last Sunday I pulled it out and saw an article on cleaning up quickly before company. Most of their tips were helpful but I didn’t appreciate one. They suggested you shove paper piles into a closet if you need to …

College Starts Soon!

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Monday, July 20, 2009

I can’t believe this time next month, kids will start school and teens will start college. The summer has flown. If you’re sending your oldest child off to college for the first time , start planning early. I’ve written an article on organizing and setting up your students’s college dormitory or apartment. Check it out here.…

Secrets to Organization

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Thursday, July 2, 2009

Are you always wishing you were a little more organized? You’ve come to the right place. Being organized is knowing what you have and where to find it quickly when you need it. So here are the secrets to remember: Secret#1.  Have a permanent place or spot for everything in your home.  Everything you own should have its rightful spac…

Security and Stuff

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Monday, June 29, 2009

This morning while I was reading, I came across some outspoken views on security and stuff. Let me know if you agree or disagree. On Security: “Money might last, but the sense of earthly security doesn’t. Soon we grow insecure with our present means of security and demand something more... or something different. All this world and it…

Budgets Made Simple

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Friday, June 26, 2009

I think many people over complicate living on a budget and putting together a budget. Before organizing, I was a bookkeeper and to this day I still love numbers, math, and budgets. They just make sense and I don’t think I could ever live without a budget. It helps focus my husband and I on long term goals. So if you’re interested in set…

Do It Yourself Organizing

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Friday, June 19, 2009

Today I visited with another family that wants to organize it all on their own but wants a Professional Organizer’s opinion, thoughts, ideas, product knowledge and feedback. So that’s just what I gave them. We walked through the whole home talking and talking and talking some more. I took 4 pages of notes and emailed them a typed up wri…

Procrastination-When does it stop?

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Thursday, June 18, 2009

We all can admit we’ve procrastinated at different levels or degrees through out or years- in high school by studying the “night before”, in college by starting the exam paper too late, and now as adults by waiting a little too long to pay the bills, clean the house, start the laundry or do the dishes. …

Clutter that Kills the Calm

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Friday, May 22, 2009

At the end of a long day or long week (in today’s case) I love sinking into bed and enjoying a peaceful and quiet atmosphere. It’s taken me awhile to figure out how to best create a calming, restful room. When I first was married we painted half our bedroom red- I don’t know what I was thinking. It was crazy. Red aw…

Your Calendar- Your accountability partner

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Tuesday, May 19, 2009

As I was organizing today I thought of a new way to keep on top of organizing and purging your home or office through out the year- use your community recycling and collection dates as your accountability partner! For example: Keep your files updated and the piles on your desk to a minimum by scheduling your local shredding events on…

Why do we keep things?

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Monday, May 18, 2009

I get asked many questions in my line of work but one that surfaces quite often is “ Amber, why do I keep all of this stuff? How did this room end up this way? ” I normally don’t have a pat answer because the reasons vary from person to person. And sometimes, frankly, I don’t know the correct answer but&n…

Booth at the Northshore Women’s Expo

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Friday, May 15, 2009

Today I participated in the NorthShore Women’s Expo at the Holiday Inn on Touhy in Skokie, IL. I was booth number 24 from 9am-3pm. It was a lot of fun and I met a ton of business women. For lunch, we listened to a special speaker who spoke to us on body language and we also did some speed networking.  …

Leave Behind Less

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Tuesday, May 12, 2009

As I was reading through my daily blogs that I follow I came across an interesting blog posting that I wholeheartedly agree with and want to reiterate how important this topic really is. www.becomingminimalist.com expressed on this blog post http://www.becomingminimalist.com/2009/05/07/benefit-18-less-work-for-someone-else/  how important it i…

Defining Clutter

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Friday, May 8, 2009

Ask your neighbor, friend, spouse, or child- what is clutter? They’d all give you a different answer. That is because the affect of clutter is different for each person and that in turn shapes a person’s view or definition of clutter. Dictionary.com describes clutter as a disorderly heap or assemblage. A state or condition of confusion.…

Cord Organizing

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Wednesday, May 6, 2009

I was recently in Office Max buying some items for my clients and a particular item inspired me to get “my act” together as well. The items were cord organizers. I was so sick of looking at a rat’s nest of tangled wires under my desk that I decided I’d also along with my client, organize my wires under my desk. I liked the c…

Maintenance w/Mom’s Help is Key

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Thursday, April 30, 2009

Recently I found myself organizing the same space for the third time alongside an energetic mom. I was not bothered by the repetition of the organizing but not to my surprise, she was frustrated that we were back in this space, again and rightly so. She started to pick my brain by asking, “why does this happen and why do we have to const…

Know your Patterns

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Wednesday, April 29, 2009

When organizing, it’s crucial to notice what patterns you currently have, why you place things where you do, and why piles accumulate in certain spots. Then when organizing you shouldn’t change your patterns, you can change your systems around your patterns. For example, I was recently helping someone get a handle on their mail. I…

A Good Attitude Is Everything

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Never underestimate your mindset while organizing.

Completing a project

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Completing one project more effective than starting and leaving 5 uncompleted projects.

Getting the most out of Charity Donations

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Monday, April 20, 2009

Increase your tax deduction with this helpful booklet.

Offsite Storage: Solution or Stress Producer?

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Thursday, April 2, 2009

Many people turn to remote storage such as Public Storage and Uhaul facilities to store their abundance of stuff. It can be helpful but it also can become a huge money waster and feed the procrastination of delaying organizing.

Organizing Similar to Building A Puzzle

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Tuesday, March 31, 2009

When building a puzzle sometimes the piece in your hand fits in and sometimes it doesn’t causing you to wait for other pieces to be placed first. before it fits. This concept is the same when organizing.

Organizing Basements demand a lot of physical energy

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Sorting is a huge step in organizing a basement. There’s normally a lot of work to be done because if it doesn’t fit upstairs we say “Let’s just put it in the basement”

A mother’s cry for help for her disorganized daughter

Posted by: Amber Kostelny-Cussen on Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Helping family members see and act on their clutter