the spruce files

just in case

2008-06-07T17:20:00.000-07:00

so back to the picnic and back to the questions. what if i need it some day for a super cool craft project?

ah, the what if . . . ah, the super cool craft project. the what if i need it someday people are certainly a category of clients i see. we all suffer from a touch of the what if. those with the worst cases end up with their preparations for what might happen impeding what is happening in their lives right now. it's groovy, i know but how can you make space for new things to come in to your life when so much is already there?

one way to begin to tackle the problem is to set some sort of time limit - one month, six months, a year - and ask yourself whether or not you've had reason to use the item within the time frame. now i know your answer might be "no, but i still might. what if . . . " give it away. in the unlikely event that you actually do need the item again, you can get it. you are choosing your space over your stuff.

now craft supplies are a whole other ball of wax (or ball of yarn and brick of wax as the case may be). it's easy for a crafty beaver (my all time favorite reality tv show team name - joan lunden, 2005) to surround him or herself with all manner of supplies for all manner of crafts. i myself once had nearly a whole closet full of random pieces and parts and yarn balls and foam squares waiting for genius. in my case, it worked because i had the space. when i moved in with my now husband, i had to make some choices . . . alas, i figured out how much space in the new house could be reserved for "what if craft supplies" and the rest had to go - donated to a very happy first grade teacher. the truth was that when i was itching to do a project, i never had exactly right stuff anyway so i'd go buy what i needed for the project and then keep the leftovers just in case. just in case what? just in case i ever needed an L shaped piece of cheap batting?

and that is the key - decide how much space you have in your house to devote to crafts and fill it up. when it's full, you're done. from there, something has got to go for something new to come in. this afternoon i came upon the craft organizer pictured above. the different compartments look like they might accommodate a variety of crafty endeavors and the barely visible little pockets on the side could hold some small tools. it takes great advantage of vertical space too. so that if you've decided that you have a foot of closet rod to devote to crafts, this might be a good way to do it. check it out at kangaroomstorage.com (they also sell it for purse storage.)

old job old news

2008-06-04T18:54:00.000-07:00

so about that gal from the picnic. she used to be a teacher. she isn't one now. she may or may not be one again. a big source of her paper clutter is her old teaching stuff - lesson plans, quizzes, tests, good ideas, etc.

as a former teacher myself, i know how hard it is to toss this stuff. you spent hours and hours creating it. the same is true for most anything you've created. it's hard to separate all the time and energy you put into it from the actual product. forget about the usefulness of that product to you now or how much space it takes up in your current life. it was hard, hard work to create it and if you toss it you feel like you're devaluing all that effort.

what to do? well, i recommend taking a trip through it all. the picnic gal knew she had everything in there from an entire unit on to kill a mockingbird to grammar lessons for different grade levels. my guess was that she also had random copies of handouts, some student work and some not-so-great lessons that she used on those incredibly tired days after parent conferences the night before. purging all this excess would certainly give her (and her husband, don't forget about that guy) more space.

having been away from it for a while she would now have a more objective eye to consider her work. she should ask herself with each piece of paper, "how would i grade this"? no reason to keep work that has a bad grade. even if she went back to teaching, she'd be unhappy using it. as an added bonus, if she actually did go back to teaching and taught the same books again she could pull an organized file on each novel she'd taught before. that file would only contain the creme de la creme - her best work - which she could use as building blocks for future.

when i stopped teaching, i must admit i did this and hung on to my creme de la creme for a while. eventually i wanted to use the space for my current life more than i wanted to keep old lesson plans that reminded me of a past life.

the organizer is in

2008-06-03T17:36:00.000-07:00

regular readers of this blog may have wondered where i went . . . well, this past weekend i went to a picnic to celebrate a friend's birthday. within only a few minutes the conversation turned toward asking me a million organizational questions. newlyweds . . . he's a minimalist, she's a maximalist . . . so many questions about paper and craft supplies and gifts long ago received. what if i need it some day for a return to the career i left? what if i need it some day for a super cool craft project? how can i give away a gift that someone gave me? how can i give away a sweater i paid good money for? what do i do about 10 year old financial records that need to be shredded?

sound familiar? the good news about this gal is that she's aware of her challenges. the good news about her new husband is that he's aware of the challenges and he loves her anyway. sweet, huh?

i answered the questions for them on the spot over some yummy cabbage salad. i'll share them over the next several entries with you.

spruce is for winners

2008-01-17T12:08:00.000-08:00

apartment therapy is at it again. apparently they like to give things away to their readers and today they're giving away some sprucing!

readers need to write a little something about an organizational challenge that they wish they could have a little expert assistance with and one of them will be chosen as the winner. i'll be offering advice and a plan remotely (that means they'll send me some pictures and we'll talk on the phone). so, the winner gets a personal organizational coach and guru for two whole hours. see for yourself at apartment therapy and stay tuned for the before and after pics once the project is done.

cue & aay temporary files

2008-01-16T11:55:00.000-08:00

i'm trying to set up a filing system that will work for me. i am presently involved in a legal action, and the amount of paperwork is taking up every inch of my dining table and is a foot high. this-in addition to all my other business and usual interests! i am looking to set up portable files which can be destroyed after the legal matter is resolved.

– s, oakland, ca

if you decide to go it alone, i suggest that you scale the project way back. first, get yourself some post-it notes (the super sticky are my favorites). next, think up the categories that exist within your legal documents (some ideas: stuff from your side, stuff from their side, general info about the issue, stuff from both sides like depositions, etc.). label a post-it with each category and put each post-it on its own bankers box. next, just pick up a pile of papers, start going through it and toss each sheet into its correct box.

i'm not sure you should bother to file beyond that (it's hard to know without knowing more about the case) since you'll just be tossing most of this when the case is over. is it really worth your time? if you need to find something, you can go to its box and just scratch through one pile (instead of the whole mountain). if there isn't really enough to fill the boxes, you can use magazine holders (like these) and then repurpose them later for your "real" files. either way, you'll have your dining room table back!

there's such a thing as being over organized. my guess is that making general categories instead of making a whole filing system will help you avoid that horrible affliction.

what you need:
post it notes
a sharpie
bankers' boxes
magazine holders (optional)
several hours

do you have an organizing question for rachel and the sprucegirls? visit the spruce site to send it along. we regret that we cannot respond to organizing questions directly so stay tuned to the blog and you just might see your answer here soon!

divide and conquer

2008-01-09T10:47:00.000-08:00

unruly dresser drawers are a real bummer. one of the best solutions that we've found are these drawer dividers. they're called dream drawer dividers and they are nothing if not dreamy. they're spring loaded so they fit snugly and securely in the majority of drawer depths. the spring means they don't need drawer-ruining sticky stuff to stay put. plus, they're completely movable for when your drawers need a change.

beyond that, they're tall enough (at 4 inches) to keep clothing from making the jump over to the dark side. both bed bath and beyond and the container store carry them and they come two to a box. just what you need to make yourself a little sock library.

tip time! move it on

2008-01-04T13:15:00.000-08:00

selling your stuff is a great way to spend a rainy weekend and make you feel a sense of accomplishment. right now, look around your house or apartment until you spot something that has lost its luster for you.

for me, it's this unusual display case that we purchased to use as a night stand for my husband. we bought it when we lived in a different house. it was actually perfect there. the top held some of his "special" work memorabilia that didn't really work elsewhere in our house. the bottom hid regular night stand stuff. all was good. then, we moved and the display case didn't fit in our new bedroom. so we tried it as an entry hall table, a sofa table and a side board in the dining room. in each of those cases, though, we actually had another piece of furniture that better served the purpose. so, our sweet little display cabinet became a giant piece of clutter in our tiny home.

once you've found your "thing", take a quick picture of it and post it right up on
craigslist. price it to sell and someone else will want to give it a good home. since it's raining all weekend, you'll be home to show it to her. once it's gone, you'll have cash and space. there's nothing like that feeling of catharsis that comes with walking into a room that used to have something that didn't belong.

in your effort to take back your space, selling just one thing is a great place to begin. just be careful, you may gain so much momentum that you'll become

piler v. filer - on the case

2008-01-02T10:52:00.000-08:00

lately i've been thinking about pilers and filers. most everyone falls into one of those two categories. while pilers often feel bad about their piles and filers are often proud of their files, the truth is that one is not really better than the other.

for pilers the problem is obvious. it's usually right out there creating a shameful space (a space of shame) and making it hard to find what they're looking for. one place to look but so much to dig through.

filers, on the hand, may look great on the outside but sometimes, an organizational nightmare looms within. some filers have a tendency to over file. it's hard for most people to even imagine that over filing could be a bad thing (or even a thing) but it happens. the situation here is that enthusiastic filers make files for everything. every little thing and tiny category gets its own folder. the result can be the same as for the pilers -- it's hard for filers to find what they're looking for! many places to look and still, so much to dig through.

so that's what i've been thinking about. it's interesting to me that totally opposite behaviors result in incredibly similar problems. i think i'll be looking for more paradoxes as i organize my way through 2008.

fame becomes us

2007-12-19T17:28:00.000-08:00

apartment therapy is a fabulous website started by interior designer maxwell gillingham-ryan (yes, he's been on oprah!). their goal (if they do say so themselves) is to connect people to the resources they need to improve their homes, while reducing their reliance on stuff.

today they're connecting people to spruce! i give them one big thumbs up for meeting their goal. see for yourself at apartmenttherapy.com

tip time! verticalize (is that a word?)

2007-12-13T16:16:00.000-08:00

what is the number-one thing you can do to make a difference in your home office?

contain, contain, contain . . . home offices often get bogged down with all manner of mail and bills and school work and kids art. it becomes impossible to find anything. a great way to get it under control (and still have a work surface) is to create vertical piles by using standing magazine holders. label one for each member of the household and toss in paper that applies to that person: the current little league schedule (toss last season in the recycle bin), the book club choices, the address list you've been meaning to enter into your computer. this gives everything an easy to find home (and you'll probably be able to get rid of lots of stuff along the way). later, when you're on the hunt for sydney's birthday list just pull down her magazine file and search one pile in one place.

don't forget . . . while it may be tempting to choose a different color box for each person, your best bet is to keep all of your containers in the same color family. this will reduce visual clutter in your tidy new office. (see post from september 8, 2007 for more on this idea)

where in the world are the sprucegirls?

2007-12-07T13:58:00.000-08:00

small businesses start out small. sometimes they don't stay that way. that's the good news. the bad news is that sometimes systems which are perfectly reasonable for keeping track of things when they're small don't translate so well as the business scales up.

such was the case this week at a one-gal-show in san francisco. this small company has been doing great with one large client and several smaller accounts. all of that changed recently when the owner landed two large, ongoing clients to add to her list. others followed and it looks like 2008 will bring more of the same.

we spent lots of time talking with the client to learn about what her work is like, what her process is for each client and how things have worked thus far with her organizational systems. she loved that we pushed her to really think about her work, right down to the nitty gritty and consider if what she was doing really helped her bottom line. "that's a great question," she kept saying.

in the end, we were able to put together a system that works well for her now and will accommodate all the growth that lies ahead. she's poised now for business to quadruple before she'll need to have us back . . . and, thanks to the spruce simplicity, she'll be able to manage it all without hiring an assistant!

the spruce it is a-changing

2007-11-12T17:32:00.000-08:00

today spruce is officially introducing a new phase of our business designed to help you help yourself. for years now people have been asking me, spruce founder, rachel siegel, for my advice about all sorts of organizational issues. "where should i put my . . . .?" "how do i deal with all the . . . ?" "what in the world should i do with my . . . .?

well, i'm ready to share the answers. beginning this month, i'll be available for private consultations on an hourly basis. if you're a bay area local, just invite me over, tell me what's bugging you, show me what your space is like, and i'll give you recommendations for how to solve the problem. i'll also make suggestions for my favorite, spruce-sanctioned products and tools and let you know where you can find them. finally, customized solutions for you to tackle at your own pace. if you live in another part of the world, we can do the same thing electronically and on the phone. (i just did three closets in brooklyn last week!)

it's what everyone's been clamoring for and it's here, just in time for the holidays. check out the website for more information and let the sprucing begin!

tip time! and where in the world are the sprucegirls...

2007-09-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

all rolled into one! this week the sprucegirls helped a busy family get their house ready for a party. toys were corralled, the mail sorting station was tamed, and all horizontal surfaces were weeded of errant items. the house is now looking very festive and ready for its close-up.

you can perform the same disappearing act for your own party-pooping piles--with a little strategy and prioritization. your job here is to make things look good. don't get bogged down in details that won't give your house visual party-bang--alphabetized cds are great, but not the best use of your time in this mission. focus on the obvious: the surfaces. the idea behind this tip is to think like a party guest--take a good look at your house like you're seeing it for the first time. go out the front door and come in like a guest even, and focus on the trouble spots that catch your eye.

next, do a sweep and gather. take a laundry basket with you and pluck all the visible items not invited to the party. now this is the important part: sort and distribute them *immediately*. seriously. no party until that basket is empty. it'll go quicker than you think--don't linger over each item, just hunker down and dispatch them to their homes.

lastly, make sure categories that do live out, haven't grown to un-party-esque proportions. if the kids have a basket of toys in the kitchen, make sure *all* the toys fit in the basket. you might not notice the overflow on a daily basis, but your guests will. the same goes for mail. nothing kills the fun mood like a pile of bills. neaten and contain your everyday paper, thin out your message board area--the less that's out, the better.

now make a few pigs-in-a-blanket and party already!

tip time! the rule of seven...

2007-09-14T18:37:00.000-07:00

this tip mines the history vault. benjamin franklin may just be the genesis of this idea by commenting that fish and houseguests stink after three days. what does that have to do with organizing, you ask? simple. ol' ben had a deadline in mind, and no matter that fish and guests seemed like different problems altogether, he knew that one deadline kept his life simpler.

we take this approach to paper archives that have a habit of building up in filing cabinets. we've seen some magazines advocate for a complicated system of different deadlines depending on the type of paper--frankly, it makes our heads spin. so our solution? seven years. keep your paper trail for seven years. at the start of every new year, pull all of last year's paper, tuck it into sturdy envelopes and (this is important) add seven. this becomes your destroy date. write it clearly on the envelopes, and when the date rolls around, the paper heads to the shredder. simple.

oh, and ben may have said a little something about death and taxes too--and that's our one exception to the seven year rule: taxes stay forever.

where in the world are the sprucegirls?

2007-09-12T10:24:00.000-07:00

today the sprucegirls are busy working with a client to prepare for her upcoming remodel. the client, who has lived in her house for over 30 years, has wisely brought us in to help clear her storage room for demolition. we're busy dividing things into four categories: things she needs access to during the remodel, things to store during the remodel, things to store after the remodel and (our favorite), things to pass on to someone else.

remodels and additions are the perfect time for a good sprucing. most people need to move quite a bit of stuff around so, if you're touching it anyway . . . you might as well consider what's worth keeping. after all, you're about to have a fabulous, new space. the last thing you need is to junk it up with the same old stuff that junked up your old space.

the right stuff

2007-09-10T09:05:00.000-07:00

yup, it's a file folder. this is one of the products we use most in our organizing work. the key to making it work well is the tab. we always choose third cut files with tabs on the right (also known as position 3 tabs). line these up in your file cabinet and you're suddenly free to add a new file any time without "messing up" your order. what a great and simple product. they're right there in your giant stationery store among the regular boxes of assorted tab files. seek them out . . .

tip time! easy on the eyes...

2007-09-08T19:49:00.000-07:00

quick--what's your favorite color? if you can answer that, you're well on your way to a streamlined and clutter-free house. often, even our best organizational intentions are tripped up by that spice of life: variety. our eyes are smart. it's not just things piled out of place that we perceive as clutter--we're constantly playing the "one of these things is not like the other..." game, whether we realize it or not.

this holds true with the storage containers we select as well as the decor we choose to display. too many colors or patterns, and our eyes give up--without cohesion, anything can become exhausting visual clutter. defy this phenomenon by embracing uniformity. one key color will make a landscape of unique objects, read as a clean, inspired design choice. make that favorite color your best friend when selecting items for your home, and you'll be--and LOOK--organized.

where in the world are the sprucegirls?

2007-09-05T09:54:00.001-07:00

last week we completed a home office. here's a look at a little piece of the project . . .

the challenge here was that there was virtually no hidden storage. that meant no place to hide office supplies or software or electronica. (the good news for us was that this client did not have a huge paper problem. she actually had a pretty reasonable amount but needed help with systems to keep track of it.)

enter the boxes . . . our solution here was to use all manner of boxes and holders. the magazine files hold paper and, you guessed it, magazines. the document boxes hold more paper, memorabilia and photos. the larger boxes stacked like a pyramid hold office and craft supplies. the client's files are now stashed away in file boxes. the key to all of this is that while the boxes come in all shapes and sizes, the color and feel are unified. this ensured that we weren't substituting one source of clutter for another.

the "after" picture also shows a complete lack of clutter on the shelves. the "before" situation meant that to get a book out, you probably had to move a photo or tchotchke. it's usually fine to do that because the book is desirable and worth taking the extra step for. putting it away, on the other hand, is a whole other story. nobody wants to move the photo or piece of tchotch to put the book away so . . . it doesn't happen. we lightened the load here in terms of these small items and found other places (like a window sill) to put the client's favorites.

tip time! stop clutter at the source...

2007-09-01T07:44:00.000-07:00

it's labor day weekend! that means picnics, roadtrips and days at the beach--and lest we not forget that most sacred american tradition: the labor day sale. everything from mattresses to tires, at slashed prices. what's a bargain lover with a matching desire for an organized home, to do?

here are some spruce hints for savvy shopping (and it begins way before you swipe that card...):

-ask yourself, if you would you pay double. if not, perhaps you don't really want it in your home, and you've been tricked by the thrill of the "bargain".

-challenge yourself to name three instances when you'd wear a piece of clothing, or imagine three ways you'd use an item-- before you buy. make sure the utility matches the price.

-if the goods have passed the above requirements, then decide which item the new treasure is going to replace. swap them, new for old, immediately when you get home.

-and watch out for bulk deals: 10/$1 spiral notebooks seem great, if you can imagine where you're going to put the other 9 in waiting. if you don't have space, it's not a steal.

shopping and organization aren't mutually exclusive, as long as you buy thoughtfully with an item's home in mind.

where in the world are the spruce girls?

2007-08-29T10:02:00.000-07:00

if you listen closely you might just hear a flurry of backpacks being zipped, pencil cases packed, and apples shined--ah, it's back to school!

last month, the spruce girls were on campus for a little summer school of our own. the assignment: a school office that was far from making the grade.

after many afternoons of playground paper tackling, this office is an A+++.

want to see how it turned out? stay tuned for the full story, coming soon in case studies: the case of the avalanche of paper.
find all our case studies on our website, sprucegirls.com

join up

2007-08-28T22:40:00.000-07:00

we officially need another team member. as word spreads that organization is a good thing, the spruce girls are everywhere sharing happiness and joy. so, we need another spruce girl or boy join us. if you or someone you know likes the idea, check out the job description and drop us a line.

all charged up

2007-08-24T23:31:00.000-07:00

pottery barn is definitely on the right track with its daily system recharging station. good work hiding cords and getting electronica up off the horizontal. sadly we can't really tell what is going on in the back. from the description it seems like the whole thing should be plugged into the wall. we don't get why we don't see a cord coming down. does it only look good if you have a plug in the middle of your wall into which to plug the whole thing? also, we wish that it didn't come with the white board. it would be much better if they were separate components so that if you're anti-white board like we are you could still have the benefit of a cord-hider recharger. nice work on the three color choices and lots of matching coordinates.

welcome to the spruce files

2007-08-24T21:11:00.000-07:00

follow along as we explore spaces and places throughout the bay area and beyond. we'll be sharing our thoughts on new products, providing hot organizing tips and giving you a glimpse into where in world we are. stay tuned . . .

the spruce files

just in case

old job old news

the organizer is in

spruce is for winners

cue & aay temporary files

divide and conquer

tip time! move it on

piler v. filer - on the case

fame becomes us

tip time! verticalize (is that a word?)

where in the world are the sprucegirls?

the spruce it is a-changing

tip time! *and* where in the world are the sprucegirls...

tip time! the rule of seven...

where in the world are the sprucegirls?

the right stuff

tip time! easy on the eyes...

where in the world are the sprucegirls?

tip time! stop clutter at the source...

where in the world are the spruce girls?

join up

all charged up

welcome to the spruce files

tip time! and where in the world are the sprucegirls...