As the mother of two 9 year old twin girls I have quickly learned how hard it is to keep track of all these small moments but I have also learned how important it is to hold onto first art projects and old pictures. My family likes to use Savor, a company that creates beautiful keepsake boxes to curate the items that we want to preserve. We love that The Library: School Years Keepsake Box includes a Birthday Survey–an easy way to track and look back on changes from last year. For kids, each year can feel like a lifetime and it’s easy for them to forget what happened when they were younger.

On Monday I found myself cleaning out my inbox, setting goals and prioritizing my to-do lists so that I would feel ready to tackle not only the week ahead, but 2017 as a whole. But I of all people know that it can be overwhelming to begin the process. Ready or some guidance? Here are a few questions to ask yourself and some to-dos that will make your newyear goals achievable.

Over the years, I have come across interior designers, business owners, architects, and other remarkable individuals, as clients and in daily life, whose work and lives completely inspire me. After getting to know these women and men, I have found that one of the keys to their success is organization. As a result, I decided to develop a question and answer series, The Organized Lifestyle, which showcases their work and dives deep into the daily organizational systems, products, and habits they use and incorporate into their lives. I hope we can all learn a thing or two from them.

We’re kicking off December with our first ever organizing gift guide! We know that there are a ton of gift guides floating around online during this time of year, so we made sure to carefully select products that: (1) we know you’ll love; (2) are on the practical side; (3) aim to tame the clutter in the recipient’s life, not add to the clutter. Whether you’re shopping for a picky teenager or want to pick something special up for yourself, we hope that our list helps you find just what you’re looking for.

In this time of Thanksgiving, I want to thank you for supporting Rachel and Company.  Whether you are a current client, past client, potential client, newsletter subscriber, have purchased our DIY product, Organized in a Box, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I recently partnered with Gilt City DC and right now and Organized in a Box (OIAB), my home organizing DIY toolkit, is on MAJOR sale! I am so excited for all of you and for the first time (and probably the last), OIAB is 44% off and OIAB MINI is 40% off. But why purchase OIAB now? Besides the fact that OIAB is on sale (and who doesn’t love a sale?!), I know a lot of you have been thinking about getting better organized with the holidays coming and/or need a really thoughtful gift to give someone that doesn’t end up as clutter but actually helps prevent it.

Now that we are in November and just weeks away from Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday!!), I’ve started jotting down to-dos in preparation for our out-of-town guests. Doing things like stocking up on the basics, creating a storage plan and making your guest room homey will make your company feel more comfortable during their stay.

I don’t think it’s too early to talk about your plan on how to keep the faux spider webs, plastic pumpkins, and creepy decorations contained until next October. If there is one thing I know from organizing countless basements, garages, and storage closets it’s that a good box and a descriptive label will not only save you money in the long run, but keep you from unnecessarily adding to your collection of holiday-inspired decor. Here are 3 super simple tips that I promise will save you money and make decorating and un-decorating frustration-free.

With both business and personal new beginnings, life has brought such wonderful things that I am beyond grateful for and couldn’t have predicted, like new clients, projects, opportunities, relationships, the feeling of security, routine, and more. I have come to find that making time for both work and play, focusing on not making more clutter and writing EVERYTHING down has helped me get through the rollercoaster of life.

Over the years I have worked with some amazing interior designers on client projects and one of our most recent collaborations was on a family home featured in the cover story of The Washington Post Magazine Fall Home and Design issue. Our focus in this house was to make sure that everything was categorized, organized, and easy to see and access so that no time was wasted spent running around looking for what they needed, wanted, or thought they should have but couldn’t locate.