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Archive for Holiday Organizing

Tricks to Plan a Spook-easy Halloween Party!

by Clare Kumar
October 27th, 2017
Halloween Pumpkin

You can thank me for not posting last year’s large pumpkin which was vomiting on another smaller pumpkin. Disturbing humour from the kids!

 

  1. Smartly store your Halloween décor

Though not often used, you don’t want seasonal décor to be too difficult to access.  Don’t risk  letting your collection languish in hard to reach storage spots.

Keep things manageable by storing items in clear bins of a uniform size or system designed to stack easily.  Adding labels can make for faster recognition. To reduce visual noise and provide an quick clue for recognition, line the front of each box with orange Bristol board.

Create bins for costumes, makeup (probably in a shoe box within a bin to make sure it doesn’t go everywhere!), and both indoor and outdoor items.  You might consider storing wreaths separately to protect them.

At the end of each season, be sure to cull your collection by removing faded, worn and damaged items.

 

  1. Sensitively serve tasty treats

Arrange food and drinks for easy self-service on clear counters, buffets or serving carts. Trays will help contain like items such as wine bottles, paper napkins and cutlery or condiments, and may help protect furniture surfaces.

Add labels to identify food allergens and sensitivities for nuts, but also sugar, meat, fish, dairy and gluten. Your guests will feel attended to and more at ease.

 

  1. Smoothly schedule the date

Halloween parties are pretty easy to schedule as they often fall on the night itself or on the weekend preceding. If choosing a date is hard and you want to make sure key people can attend, create a poll in www.doodle.com to assess availability before choosing a date.

 

  1. Easy invites

Use an online program such as evite or Eventbrite to streamline the invitation and response system.  Guests can respond and also see who else is joining in.

It can be helpful to create an excel list of your invitees with their email addresses to copy and paste into the event site. Save the file for use next year.

If this is a formal party with designated seating, consider investing in the Pro Party Planner app which has greater functionality, even letting you assign seating for your guests.

 

  1. Don’t forget the soundtrack

Compile a playlist of your favourite spooky sounds or songs to complete the mood for your party.

Have a camera or your phone ready to capture reactions and best costumes!


If you’re planning an event and need organizing assistance, we are here to help. Streamlife organizers have assisted with addressing and putting together invitations, preparing a home for a party and more.  Book a Discovery Call to discuss your needs!

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Categories Arrange, Events, Holiday Organizing, Home Organizing
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Decluttering After the Holidays – Making room for your new stuff!

by Clare Kumar
January 10th, 2015

The holidays are a beautiful time, but if you’re like me, and sensitive to ‘visually noisy’ environments, all of a sudden they can feel too much.

Now, it’s easier if you’ve had time before the holidays to make room for the gifts you’ll receive, but most of us are consumed with events and shopping on top of regular life to make time for creating extra space. To get back in control, do the following for any over-flowing category of items such as books or clothes:

1. Liberate

I recommend a major edit during or right after the holidays.  Sort out the things that no longer inspire or fit you, or are too worn or damaged to be repaired.  The picture below shows what we were able to cull just from my kids’ closets.  They’ve both been doing some major growing so it was a little easier than usual to identify clothes they would no longer wear.

2. Arrange

Find comfortable homes for the new items. This may take some problem solving along with organizing supplies.  The goal is to make whatever you put away easy to find when you need it.

We finally implemented Pliio® Clothing Filers™ in my daughter’s antique dresser. Her drawers are 5 1/2″ deep, so perfect for the new smaller size. The wardrobe edit coupled with the addition of Pliio means there is now plenty of space in the drawer so garments can be retrieved and put away with ease. No clothing wars!

For more space saving ideas, check out the CTV Canada AM segment I shot with host Marci Ien on January 5th!

2015_01_10_Clare_and_Marci_Ien_2_450

 

 

Happy organizing,

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Why Give the Gift of Getting Organized?

by Clare Kumar
November 12th, 2014

How would you feel if someone gave you a gift certificate for organizing services or a product to help get organized?

Embarrassed? Incredulous?

No need. Let me turn that around to excited and eager!

Few organizing skills are taught in school yet many of us have an expectation that we are supposed to just know how to do it. Not everyone innately has these skills and for many it’s frustrating to try to get organized and yet not create systems that work.

In the marketing and media that I have shared over the last few years, my goal has been to present organizing services and products as tools that fast track you to living the life you really want by

a) Improving efficiency and productivity
b) Improving peace of mind at home and work

When perceived as a tool to give you your best life, it’s much less about fixing something that is broken, and much more about positively creating environments in which you can thrive.

So what makes a great organizing gift?

PRODUCTS

Some of you might be thinking “I have enough stuff. Why would a professional organizer suggest purchasing more?”  I get it!  We recommend using what you own where you can, however for an organizing system to be sustainable, things must be:

a) Visible – if you see things, you remember you have them, and are much more likely to use them!

b) Accessible – items must be places so they can be retrieved using the appropriate amount of effort

c) Manageable – items have to be easy to handle – through both retrieval and putting away

Here are a few examples which accomplish all three beautifully:

1. Premium Modular Canisters

From Rubbermaid®, this is one of my favourite products for the kitchen. The shape of these canisters is perfect for upper cabinets or in pantry. They use the full-depth of the shelf which prevents the creation of two rows…one of which you can’t see!  Canisters come in different heights so you can choose the right size for your foods, and stack them easily.  The new clear lids mean that you can now use them effectively in drawers as well.  Eliminate all those crumpled bags of dusty flour, sloppy sacks of lentils and lost twist ties and make the kitchen a happy place!

Premium Modular Canister by Rubbermaid

Clear on all sides, modular, stackable and fits in one hand!

2. Pliio Clothing Management System

Pliio® products make clothes easy to fold so they stay folded.  Clothes can be removed easily from drawers or shelves – even the bottom one in a pile, and even better, Pliio makes them easy to put away. No more excuses! Don’t you know someone who deserves starting and ending their day with a closet that looks like this?

Keeping clothes visible, accessible and manageable and maximizing storage space.

Keeping clothes visible, accessible and manageable while maximizing storage space!

3. Well-designed Fridge

If you’ve got a bigger budget, this fridge from Miele is a fine example of keeping things visible with its clear drawer and shelf fronts. Counter-depth shelves ensure a simple reach for everything.

miele refrigerator at IDS

A well-designed fridge with clear drawers and shelves keeps food easy to see and easy to access.


SERVICES

You can work with Streamlife organizers in person from developing organizing strategies right through to implementation and follow-up coaching.

Did you know you can also work with me virtually?  With either a combination of phone conversations and photos or Skype/Facetime sessions, we can tackle any organizing challenge no matter where you live.  Simply email info@streamlife.ca for more info.

I often end my talks with this closing thought: organizing is a foundation for personal and professional success. So, if you know someone who would like to create a home that recharges them instead of depletes them, or an office in which they can get right to work – on the right things – each day, consider the gift of getting organized.

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Categories Holiday Organizing, Peace of Mind, Productivity
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Tips for Storing Holiday Trees and Treasures

by Clare Kumar
December 28th, 2012

I hope you’re enjoying the holiday season. It’s sure feeling festive here now that we’re truly blanketed in white.  (The pic above is pre-snowfall, of the stunning tree in Toronto’s Distillery District where we took in  staging of A Christmas Carol).

I’m curious to know how quickly holiday décor is packed up in your home?  The tree collection schedule normally drives our timing, but I do like to leave cards and lights up to savour them just a little longer.  This weekend, we’ll be packing up most of our holiday decor and I have a few more tips on holiday storage for you.

When it’s time to pack things up, there are tools that both

a)   make it easy to keep things organized, i.e. find them again next year when you need them, and

b)   help protect and preserve decorations

Read More→

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Hauling Away the Holidays

by Clare Kumar
January 5th, 2012

If you have already packed and stored your holiday decorations, you might find this post passé, but if you are like me, they are still adding sparkle to some of the year’s longest nights.  In these parts, next Tuesday is the last day to sacrifice a Christmas Tree to the city chipper so it’s a natural deadline for us.  As much as I looked forward to getting out the decorations and primping the house, I am now looking forward to returning it to its naturally elegant level of chaos.

Here are some ways you can store your ornaments to keep them in tip top shape for next season.  If you’d prefer a video, you can watch the Boxing Day Basics segment on The Marilyn Denis Show.

For years I have used plastic bins – mine are so old they are forest green and a natural for holiday decorations, but now you can find bins which shout out “HOLIDAYS” to anyone who might happen to be searching for them.

 

I keep the boxes glass ornaments come in and place them directly in the bins.  I also kept gold boxes from my china set and use those to hold many of the other ornaments.  Layering the ornaments between layers of tissue and filling empty spaces ensures that ornaments don’t move which is what avoids breakage.  Christmas card boxes hold smaller items and with soft items, such as the tree skirt and Christmas stockings, help to pack the bins so nothing moves within the bins.

For more sophisticated ornament storage, you might want to invest in containers specifically designed for the purpose.  Here are two examples. Cardboard inserts come with the boxes and pop together in seconds. They can be adjusted to make room for larger pieces.  The box on the left is from Solutions (14 stores in southern Ontario), and the one pretty one on the right is from a collection available at Canadian Tire.  I can’t find them on the website anymore, so you may have to put them on your wish list for next year!

 

If you’re more of a do-it-yourselfer, then you might want to make use of freely available material to cushion your ornaments. Consider using take-away drink trays, or fruit containers and layer in bins.

 

Tangled tree lights cause the greatest frustration so avoid it completely with one of these options:

Designed with holiday lights in mind, this stackable container holds four plastic reels which actually hang on rails in the box.  In essence you get to file your lights. Simple wrap one strand around each reel and kiss your tangled woes goodbye.

Other options to manage the mess include wrapping lights around a coffee can – insert the end into the lid of the can, and using plastic bags to contain each strand – what I have done for years.  Again for the DIY lover, you can make your own reel from a piece of cardboard and for a little more security store each one inside a shoe box.

Happy packing!

ps. I just checked my local Canadian Tire store – they are clearing holiday items, including holiday storage!

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Reclaiming your house after the holidays!

by Clare Kumar
December 28th, 2011

I don’t know what it’s like at your house, but pre-Christmas, the holiday our family celebrates, my home sparkled. The tree lights, candles, gold accents and even the clean surfaces shone.  I simply adore that time. In fact, next year I’ve noted to schedule a dinner or party earlier in December to ensure that I’ll do the necessary deep clean and tidy, and enjoy the benefits of a decorated home for even longer!

After a few days of entertaining and then the big day itself, however, things can quickly get out of hand.  We enjoyed the burst of stockings and explosion of gifts in the living room, but we are just a couple of days after Christmas and it’s clear we need to restore order to be able to relax and enjoy our home again.

 

Paper is collected for recycling and garbage is removed from the living room quickly. We use a gift bag for each person to contain our presents and then take them to their final destinations.  Gifts of food get moved to the kitchen or dining room chocolate bowl.  Extra wrap and bags are relocated to storage spaces.Over the next few days we’ll see what can be absorbed into our drawers and shelves, and determine if we need to liberate space for the new by sorting and editing our existing collections. This will be easier for some members of our family than others! The limits of our space and how we want to feel using that space will dictate how much we’ll be able to keep.Some of you may have already taken down the tree (I saw two outside on my morning walk today), while others may be feeling anxious about the time needed to put all the decorations away.  One way to reduce anxiety about holiday clean-up is to edit your holiday décor. Putting things away is probably the least favorite part of the holiday season so don’t simply pack everything away, be judicious about what you keep in your  holiday collection.

  • Set limits to your collection.  Use a number of shelves or storage bins to define the amount you keep. If you bought something new this year, find the appropriate volume of things to let go of.  One in, one out is a great approach, but in this case, consider size – it does matter.
  • Let go of sentimental-yet-not-good-enough-to-display items. In this case your camera is your best friend. Group items on a holiday tray or table cloth and take a photo. Keep the photo and let go of the decorations.
  • Dispose of items that are damaged or broken. They have a negative energy and can detract from the finished look.
  • Label boxes so you can find a particular item easily.  For example, Lights, Tree Ornaments, Table Settings, Mantel Decorations.

  • Consider choosing decorative items that are not specific to the holiday. My red table cloths are used year round and I chose holiday plates that are festive yet do not have a specific to Christmas theme which means they stay out too. This year I think I’ll leave some holiday lights up outside on the back deck for rest of the winter.  I like the sparkle of holiday lights and am always a bit saddened to pack them away.

Stay tuned for a second post on storage tips and tools for holiday decorations from my segments on the Boxing Day Basics edition of The Marilyn Denis Show.

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Getting a handle on the holidays

by Clare Kumar
November 29th, 2011

November is almost out the door so in my book, we’re absolutely full-on into holiday season.  I forgive my dentist for thinking that it started two weeks ago, and piping in 100% Christmas muzak into the patient rooms.  So, how are you feeling about the upcoming season?

Read More→

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Hello, and welcome to the Streamlife blog. I get excited about taking the bumps out of life, both at home and at work, so life flows a little more smoothly. Please join me and invited guests in conversation...

 

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