Container Store

Tuesday 05.15.12

Sweet Home Chicago

I'm officially a Chicago resident again and am finally starting to feel a little more settled! It's amazing how long it takes for an organizer to become organized! Ahhhh....

Since some of you have been asking, I wanted to share some of my new home's favorite ORGANIZED spaces::

1. Now that I have more space, my mom brought my silver that was a gift from our wedding. Ummmm...that was 4 years ago! I just LOVE it and am so excited to use it! Looks like Thanksgiving 2012 is at the Murphy's!

2. I thought my everyday silverware turned out pretty NEAT as well! Simple is always a good thing. 

3. Awwww....my shoes! As many of our clients know we are obsessed with these clear shoe boxes. They are great because you can see all of your shoes (facing the same direction of course)! Makes me excited to add to my collection!

4. Here's my cute little makeup drawer. I'm not a huge makeup person, so this small amount of space works just fine for me. I used these drawer organizers from the Container Store!

5. I just had to share my new favorite room! It's a little breakfast nook. So cute, right? Still need to get a couple of chairs, but can't wait to have my morning coffee out here!

6. And last...my new favorite purchase! Thanks to The Painted Lady! I'm obsessed with my new table. Again, having a chair dilema though. Any ideas??

Hope you enjoyed my tour! Please tell all your friends that NEAT is in Chicago full time now and we are ready to get the whole city organized!

xx,

Ashley

Wednesday 01.25.12

Five Items Under $5 That Will Change The Way You Live!

After many requests, we have decided to share five of our favorite items to get you organized for under five dollars! Many people think that organizing can be a daunting task, and let's be serious, it can - but these small items can have a large impact on your home AND not break the bank. When it comes to organizing, saving a little may allow you to splurge on that cute spring piece that you have been eyeing (at least that is what we are doing!) Without further adieu...

#1 Container Store Shoe Boxes

Literally, we cannot think of the last time we didn't use at least one of these in a client's home. Although they are a perfect storage solution for shoes, they can also be used for storing small kids toys, tool parts, office supplies and just about anything else you can think of.  These bad boys will cost you $1.89 each... yep you heard right - less than two dollars!

#2 Zip Ties (fun color optional but highly recommended!)

For some reason, no home is an exception when it comes to cords. Nothing makes NEAT want to hyperventilate into a brown paper bag quite like a knot of cords. When you can buy a 100 pack for $1.39, it is hard to imagine that anyone would pass up the opportunity to detangle cords (kidding...sort of). But seriously, once you have detangled and zip tied them, they are good to go.  You will be surpised how much less space they take up when they are not in a ball of electrical tumbleweed.    

#3 Labels, Labels, and More Lables!

I mean...are you really surprised? As much as we love labels we don't think you need to label your entire home, but when there are baskets involved, labels can be a great touch. Also, labels are beyond helpful for children.  Ever wonder why your child's teacher labels everything in the classroom? A print rich environment fosters literacy skills - we are officially helping your child's education while making your place look great! Our friends at Paper Source have plenty of great packs for $4.95 that are sure to be a great addition to your home and are printer friendly too!  Need we say more?

#4 Get into Twine

If you enjoy saving personal cards, consider picking up a spool of twine for $2.33 to bundle all of your favorites. We like to use this as a thoughtful way to categorize our sentimental client's cards by year or event. It can also be used to tie the labels you just purchased to your freshly organized bins.  Do you like how we just slid that comment right in there like that??? Twine has also been known to help fix a light pull in a closet at a client's house and be the finishing touch aroud a fresh bouquet of flowers. Basically what we are saying is - how have you lived without it!?

#5 Go Crafy With Chalkboard Paint

And finally, for all you DIYers out there - considering using chalkboard paint as the label to your favorite jars and bins. This is a creative way to label something but gives you the opportunity to change the contents inside without making a whole new label. Although it is typically more that $5, we were able to find it for under $5 on ebay.  We love that it is eco-friendly in that you do it once and it is labeled for life, but also very current with what we are seeing all over Pintrest!

 

Now get shopping!

xx

Molly & Ashley 

Thursday 01.19.12

Sprout San Francisco

We are so honored to be featured on Sprout San Francisco's Blog today. What a fabulous store with fabulous products! Thank you for thinking of us and recognizing the value of not only living organically, but also NEAT! 

 

Sprout San Francisco is located in San Francisco, New York City and possibly soon, a City near you! 

xx,

Ashley & Molly

Wednesday 11.16.11

'Tis the Season...For Babies!!!

It seems like everyone we know is calling to tell us the good news that they are…EXPECTING!!!! Always wonderful news to receive from close friends and family…but, seriously is there something in the water? Please let us know. NEAT is not quite ready for any NEAT-O’s just yet!!!

With such exciting news from so many moms-to-be, we thought we would share our favorite tips on preparing a baby’s room in the most organized and efficient way possible. We may be no experts with babies, but we’ve got the nursery setup down. 

 

 

Tip #1::

Bins & Baskets. You MUST have lots of small bins and baskets for all of the baby’s little items. We recommend placing smaller ones inside of the individual drawers, in order to easily separate each item and larger ones in the closet filled with blankets, linens and extra supplies. The good news is you can reuse them for toys and art supplies, as the baby gets older. This is one of our favorites from the Container Store!

Tip #2::

Location. Location. Location. Make sure to place all essentials within reach of where you will be using them. For example, your changing table area should contain diapers, wipes, diaper cream, q-tips, nail clippers, pacifiers and our all time favorite, the laundry basket since this is where you will be changing the baby. Oh...and make sure to have a basket filled with burp clothes near the space you feed the little one.

Tip #3::

Fold instead of hang- Due to the amount of clothing your child will go through in a day. It is so much easier to maintain a drawer of folded clothing (or hide a drawer of un-folded….wink. wink.) Obvioulsy having the individual drawer dividers always makes it easier to keep items categorized. We recommend leaving the hanging space for special occasion clothing or coats. 

Tip #4:

Buy extra storage- Make sure you have a few extra storage containers for when the baby starts to out grow it's clothing. This way you are able to easily label those bins (0-3 months, etc.) and place them in storage for a future bambino or for donation. Again, one of our favorites from the Container Store

We wish all of you who drank the water the BEST and please let us know if would like our help getting ready for your little NEAT-O!

 

xx,

Ashley & Molly

 

 

 

 

Brand and Website Design: Verdant Brand
Website Development: fourfightingfoxes
Copyright © 2011 Neat Method All rights reserved.