When working in my clients’ homes I always take into account their existing aesthetic before introducing organizing products to their space. While I tend to lean on more a neutral palette, I also like to tie in fun prints, textures, and pops of color so that anything that is brought into the house is cohesive with everything else going on design-wise.

Similar to how the new year marks a new beginning, for me, the same goes with each new month. I love being able to check off tasks from my to-do lists (hello, Type A), cross off goals from what I have planned out and succeeded in doing, and most importantly have a visual reminder of what I’ve done already and what’s to come moving forward.

When we decided to redesign my kids’ playroom, I wanted to make sure that my 10 year olds were involved in the process. As a professional organizer, I encourage my clients to get their kids involved wherever possible so that the kids get excited about the process. Plus, when they are involved in the decision-making and final result, I’ve seen time and time again that it helps them keep up with the organization and in general, a more organized lifestyle. Organization becomes a way of life rather than a one time event. And, I don’t know about in your house, but anything to get my kids to put away the ingredients to their most recent craft experiment sounded ideal to me!

Since starting my journey to love a green lifestyle, I’ve been introduced to products that serve as safe alternatives to the products that once used to be in my home.

When I made the transition to rid my home of products that aren’t conducive to my life with Hashimoto’s (everything must be chemical-free), I was overwhelmed with where to begin. Would there be enough alternative products available? Would they work just as well as the products that I had been using over the years? The thing that I quickly realized is that there are so many great companies out there that create reliable, safe products for your home. I’ve stocked every place in my home (from my kitchen essentials to my beauty products) with these new finds.

When we moved into our home nearly two years ago, it was easy for us to designate each room and space purpose, and we made a conscious effort not to fill up a space with furniture and stuff just for the sake of filling it up.

During move-ins I always remind my clients that it can be helpful to live in the space a bit before settling on a plan. In some cases you’ll need to wait to identify how you are using the space rather than forcing a purpose on it. In our home, we had an extra area in our basement that sat purpose-less for a year and a half before it became clear how we should transform it.

And just like *that* a decade has gone by. I’m sharing my thoughts on it all below, and trust me when I say that I tried to be brief. Stick around to the end of this post because there’s something in it for you!

Raise your hand if you’ve gone to wrap a present and have had to untangle the ribbon or flatten out the gift wrap that got creased from where it was being stored. Or maybe you don’t even get this far. Maybe you know that at one point you bought a roll of wrapping paper and some tissue paper but couldn’t begin to tell you which closet you shoved it in a few months ago. Gift wrap is one of the categories that always seems to surprise people because they truly do not realize the amount that they have until we start pulling it from multiple areas in the house.

Years ago when my identical twins were in preschool I remember them coming home from school with a gift for me around Thanksgiving. Their teachers had helped the students turn their handprints into little turkeys, which they dried out and then framed for each of the parents. To me, it was the most thoughtful gift that I could have received (#proudparent). The art of their tiny hands immediately made me feel proud to be their mom and brought me joy, which is something that I try to keep in mind while choosing holiday gifts for everyone on my list.

Have you started your holiday shopping? If you’re like me, you take advantage of some of the crazy sales that started last week with Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. Of course, it’s no surprise that nearly every sale has been extended (seriously, there is no reason to pay full price these days) and I have a few more things I’d like to grab for people on my list. I find gift guides to be helpful because it’s easy to fall in a rut when it comes to gift giving, especially for picky people like your kids or for specific occasions like holiday parties when you don’t want to go empty handed but want an alternative to a bottle of wine.

I hope that you all have a great Thanksgiving! I’ll be spending today eating leftovers for lunch (they are the best, right?) and am looking forward to a longer than normal weekend with family. Before I hop offline I’m going to snag a couple of items that are on serious Black Friday sale right now.