A question I get asked all the time is “where is that product from?”, so today I decided to share five products I typically use when designing and organizing spaces. As a bonus, I am also sharing their less expensive dupes! Check out a few of my favorite products and their less expensive counterparts in this post!

There is something about spring that inspires people to declutter and organize. But, like I always say, organizing is not a one time event but rather a way of life. Something I tell my clients is that a good rule to follow is at least once a year try to pull out and re-evaluate the items in each room of your home, and with spring quickly arriving what better time than now?

As 2018 comes to a close, I wanted to reflect on this year and articulate just how grateful I am for the opportunity to do what I love to do. I feel like I have won the lottery and this is my acceptance speech, but I rarely get to say thank you in such a public setting so as we usher out 2018, you all will just have to bear with me!

A lot of my organizing tips are specific to an area of the home (like the kitchen, playroom, or under the sink), but there is a common area that we are all touching on an everyday basis: our email inboxes! While this area of your life doesn’t fill up with the same type of clutter that you see around your home, the impact of the disorganization in this area can be just as frustrating and difficult to navigate and honestly one of the most difficult areas to organize.

I’ll admit it: I skipped a lot of spring cleaning this year. Maybe you did too? With my girls heading off to sleepaway camp in a few weeks, I knew that I would be focusing my energy on touching literally every bit of my home and getting it organized (plus, it will serve as a nice distraction from how much I miss them!). My husband is thrilled that with our free time I am going to be organizing our home from top to bottom (ha!) but I reminded him that I am not aiming for perfection with this decluttering yet just trying to make a dent in the things I didn’t get around too during spring cleaning. The summer months are the perfect time to open the windows and tackle the areas that have been on the to-do list.

As a professional organizer, I’m always asked if I “make” my clients get rid of stuff while helping them declutter. In case you’re wondering the same thing…the answer, in short, is: absolutely not. In recent years there has been a growing interest in minimalism and a greater emphasis on “less is more”, but before you jump on the bandwagon and rid your home of anything that doesn’t bring you joy, take a moment to carefully review a couple of categories before letting them go.

Who has issues in the morning and would to shave off a few minutes from their morning routine? There are so many ways to make the most out of your confined space in a shower so that you are not only more organized, but you are able to speed up your daily routine (win-win!). Similar to every area of your home, organization can streamline your daily routine and help you save time, money, and frustration in the long run. And all this while in the shower!? Yes. It’s possible.

Basements, garages, and attics can quickly become full of clutter because of how much can be packed inside and the lack of upkeep that it requires (function definitely trumps design in these areas so it’s easy to make excuses for their disorganized state). Think of each of these spaces as another room in your house–a place where everything should be purposeful, visible, and where you can still walk around to access everything. At least once every year pull every content out of the storage area and review what should stay and what should go.

A few months ago I hosted a workshop event called Cleanse Your Closet with the consignment gurus from The RealReal. The workshop was held at the inspiring BUREAU coworking + event space, and we spent the evening chatting all things closets, including how to create the best closet layout for your space, how to organize your clothing, and how to handle situations like knowing when to consign an item, how to handle sentimental items, and how to store out of season clothing.

The thing about spring cleaning/organizing/whatever you want to call it is there is so much build up around it. There is no official “spring cleaning” holiday per se, but instead it’s the general time of year where we are all supposed to buckle down and get our stuff in order.

To be honest, I have a love/hate relationship with it. I mean, as a type A person to my core there are few things I enjoy more than a good list to check off and for everything to have its place. But, even though everything has its place doesn’t mean that everything needs a place in your home.