Open Door Organizing

03/09/2020

I inherited a 16 place setting of dishes from my grandmother. I called her "Mary Ma" and these were her special dishes for holidays or parties. But anytime I was at her house, she'd let us eat on them for any meal. I've loved these dishes since I was a child. So when my mom brought them up to me in MA, I had to do some rearranging to make them fit! Here's a video of me and my mom cleaning out my china cabinet to fit this set. I packed half of it away and am storing in the basement. But I got rid of lots of things I wasn't using to make room for these!

02/03/2020

Before and After Pantry Clean Out

Quick tips to get started:
- It doesn't have to look like a magazine worthy photo with glass jars and matching baskets that you will find if you google search pantry organizing!
- Throw out expired food and things you know you won't eat.
- See if there is anything being stored in the pantry that should have a home somewhere else.
- Use a lazy susan in the corners.
- Use any kind of container or basket to group things (snacks, pasta and grains, baking supplies, etc.)
- Just get started!

01/23/2020

November and December were busy months with lots of work helping my clients get ready for the holidays and lots of holiday-ing of my own. January is always a slow month for work but it's been even slower because I've been sick and the kids have been sick and we've been hunkered down at home FOREVER. But I put the home time to good use and redid the kids room. Painted and moved furniture around and sold the crib and toddler bed, stained and poly'd the new bunk beds and now I'm down to the fun things - window shade, bedding and baskets! It was probably a little too ambitious when I wasn't feeling well but I'm really happy with the results so far. I'll be posting some before and after pictures of work I did with clients in November and December so stay tuned!

12/09/2019

Help me help Solutions at Work and the Cambridge Children's Clothing Exchange program. They have a holiday gift list that provides gifts for 200 children and teenagers that are living in poverty or are homeless.

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3JISQPEEI70Z7/ref=as_li_ss_tl?type=wishlist&filter=unpurchased&sort=priority&linkCode=sl2&tag=unliword0b-20&linkId=9a27befa86ec594e2ca714654665ea39&language=en_US

If you order from this Amazon list, when you go to check out, the name Tara Riopelle will show up on the address delivery list. She is the Director of the Children's Clothing Exchange program. The address is hidden but packages will be delivered to their new Cambridge based office located in the Old Cambridge Baptist Church.

http://solutionsatwork.org/

Solutions At Work, Inc. a social justice nonprofit where we all work together to end homelessness and deliver better real world outcomes for the less fortunate.

11/04/2019

I'll be selling stained glass at this market on Wednesday night. But I'll be talking about organizing too. So if you've got questions or want to tell me about your organizing needs, I'll be happy to answer them and set up free consultations!

10/30/2019

Boston Local Organization: Rosie's Place

Rosie's Place accepts some used items in good condition: towels, bras, jeans and yoga pants, winter coats, sturdy boots and more. Full list linked below.

Rosie's Place is a community center in Boston that supports poor and homeless women with meals, overnight housing, support services, a food pantry and more. It's one of my favorite organizations in the city and one of the places I donate things from clients that I work with.

http://www.rosiesplace.org/give/other_ways_to_give/donated_items_and_drives

10/28/2019

It's time to break open the coat closets and shake out the winter gear. If you need help getting your coat closet in order, let me know! Here's how I recently helped a client with hers.