Post Prom Dress Problems

Hi, Christel here from Space to Love! I was organizing recently and found myself in a bit of a dilemma—one that so many of my clients can relate to. It all started when I came across a piece of my past that I’d completely forgotten about: my prom dress.

Now, I’m a little older, and let’s just say the dress doesn’t fit anymore. It’s a lovely reminder of a special time, though. My mother made it for me, which gives it a lot of sentimental value. But what’s funny is that, as an organizer, I’ve learned how sentimental attachments can lead us to hold onto things we might not actually need or use.

When I first decided I didn't want to keep the dress, I passed it on to my best friend. I didn’t want to donate it because of the sentimental attachment, but I also wasn’t sure what to do with it. So, I thought, Hey, why not let her daughter use it for dress-up? That way, the dress could have another life. Little did I know, my friend was thinking, “It’s too nice for that; I’ll just hold onto it for her.”

Fast forward a few decades, and when I visited New York to pick up some winter clothes, my friend handed me a surprise—my prom dress! She never got rid of it after all. Suddenly, I was faced with the very dilemma that many of my clients face: the attachment is now stronger than before, and I still don’t know what to do with it!

So, here I am, a professional organizer who coaches people through letting go, but now holding onto my prom dress because it feels even more special. My friend cared for it for all these years, and it’s now a little piece of our shared history. But realistically, I know I’ll never wear it again, and it's taking up space that I could use for something more practical.

This experience made me realize that even as organizers, we’re not immune to the emotional pull of items with personal history. So now, I’d love to hear your thoughts! Should I donate it and let it start a new chapter in someone else’s life, or should I keep it as a memento of my youth and friendship?

Let me know in the comments below. And remember, whether you’re holding onto an item or letting it go, what matters is that it reflects the life you want now, not the memories of the past.

3 Ways to Label Your Shoe Boxes

Hi, Christel here from Space to Love, and it’s been a while since I have written a blog on organizing and decorating. I’m glad to be here today and share a quick tip on 3 ways to label your shoe boxes.

My closet is pretty organized, but I wanted to take it one step further by adding pictures of the shoes to the boxes.

I used to live in New York, the East Village, in a really, really small apartment. My bedroom was only 6’ x 9’; it’s all about the location and not the space when living in Manhattan. Anyway, for my shoe organization, I bought white shoe boxes from Uline, then I used my roommate’s Polaroid camera to take pictures and double-sided tape to attach them to the boxes.

Fast forward to today, and living in Los Angeles, my room is a little bigger, and I actually have space in my closet for my shoes. Yay!

I have clear bins from the Container Store and am no longer using the white Uline boxes. However, I find it hard to see exactly what shoes are in what box when looking down in front of my closet, trying to get dressed. So, I thought I would recreate the NY shoe system here in LA.

Watch the video below, or keep on reading.

I don’t have a Polaroid camera or a roommate anymore, but I do have a mini photo printer with 2” label tape that prints sticker photos. I went ahead and took pictures of all my shoes, printed them out, and adhered them to the clear shoe boxes.

Space to Love - Before Clear Shoe Bins

Space to Love - After Clear Shoe Bins

Another way to achieve a similar look is to use a regular printer and then laminate them. I uploaded all my pictures to my computer, put them in a Word doc, made each photo 2”x3”, and then printed them out. I used a laminator and paper cutter from Amazon and double-sided tape.

Space to Love

The 3rd way is by using the old favorite, a label maker. This will make sure you know which pair of shoes go back into which box. I would print a label that says the designer’s name and then another to go underneath with the style of the shoe, i.e., Calvin Klein, Gold Wedge. This will make it clear, and you know exactly what’s in the box. Now, your shoes will always go back to where they belong, and this will help you stay organized.

No matter which way you go, make sure your labels are nice and straight:)

Keeping them in bins helps you stay organized, but also, putting them in categories in the closet will help you find what you’re looking for faster. It’s all about saving time. So instead of just randomly putting them back, put them back in categories, i.e., sandals, flats, work heels, dressy heels, boots, sneakers, and so on. Create categories that work best for you.

When I'm looking for my sandals, I know what row to look in and find them quickly. I don’t have that many shoes, so it's not crazy necessary, but when you have triple the amount of shoes or more, it's really great to make your categories and organize your shoes that way. You will thank yourself for it.

Some people ask me, “How many shoes do you have?” or “What do you think the perfect amount of shoes is?” and I think that you want to live within the means of your space. I started this project with 30 pairs of shoes. With that amount, I don't feel like I'm overflowing at all, and I think I'm living within the means of my space. I’m also not overwhelmed by having too many choices when it comes to what shoes to wear; this can be very time-consuming. There are only so many decisions you can make in a day, don’t waste them on what shoes.

All the shoes I do have, I wear and love them. However, I will never pass up an opportunity to go through and do a little decluttering if I can. As I take the pictures of the shoes, I will ask myself these questions…

1- When was the last time I wore them? If longer than six months, Do I plan on wearing them again? If not, donate.

2- Do they hurt my feet? Is it worth it…probably not, donate.

3- Are they in style and still represent who I am? If not, donate.

4- Are they too worn out and can’t be fixed? If yes, trash.

While asking yourself the questions above…feel free to try on all your shoes and walk around; this will make it easier to make those decisions.

I did get rid of two pairs of shoes. I actually liked both of them, but I wore them out too much, so they have definitely seen better days, and I had to let them go. I'm now down to 28 pairs of shoes. I just made some room for new things to come into my life:)

I hope you found this helpful and inspiring. Do you have any shoe-organizing tips that you'd like to share with us at the Space to Love community? Please comment below; we would love to hear from you. Happy organizing!!

How To Organize Your Pantry

I love organizing and I love to travel. As a professional organizer, I sometimes get to do both. This pantry was in Malibu, CA. In this video, you may actually be able to hear the ocean in the background.

Pantries are one of the most satisfying areas of the kitchen to organize. It’s amazing how once you declutter and create categories, then put them back into the pantry, what a big difference it makes. It helps you save time, money and be less stressed. When it’s time to cook, shop, or just look for a quick snack you are fully supported by a well-organized panty.

In this video, I go through the Space to Love® 5 Step Method on how to organize your pantry.

Setup, Sort, Select, Sanitize, Style™

4 Quick tips from the video I want to share.

1 - Take everything out.

2 - Create categories for all your items and group them together.

3 - Get rid of everything that is expired.

4 - When putting food into airtight bins cut out the directions, write the expiration date on it and keep it in the bin.

Watch this short video below for the full process.

This is not the first video I have done on organizing a pantry and it probably won’t be my last:) I really can’t help myself!

I hope you found this helpful and we’re always looking for new ways to improve. What organizing tips do you have for the panty that you would like to share? Leave a comment below. We would love to hear from you.

How to Organize Desk Drawers

I wanted to do a quick follow-up from my last blog about Organizing Paperwork. The next best thing to do is organize your desk drawers. They go hand in hand.

In this video, you will see how easy it is to get your desk drawers organized using the Space to Love® 5 Step Method. Setup, Select, Sort, Sanitize, Style™.

What did you think? I hope you found this video helpful. We would love your feedback.

How to Organize Paperwork

Ugh! Paperwork is the worst. This is my least favorite thing to organize but somebody has to do it. If you have paper clutter, I’m sorry and here is a simple way to get that mess off of your desk and into the proper place.

Most of the time I’m showing you examples of client homes but since I would be spending more time on the east coast and I had to set up another office there, I thought I would show you the system I created for myself. I will walk you through how to set up a filing system for yourself using the Space to Love® 5 Step Method to getting and staying organized.

Step 1 - Set up, you will need Post-it notes, a marker, cleaning supplies, file folders (left), trash, recycle, shred pile and a label maker.

Step 2 - Sort, Bring all your paperwork together to start forming your macro categories. Some examples of your macro categories could be House, Work and Personal. Once you figure out what the big categories are then you break them down into micro categories. Let’s say for your House category, you will separate the Water bill, Electric bill, House Repairs etc. Then with your Personal category, smaller categories might be Health Insurance, Car Insurance, Kids, Vital Records. I added a Work Category because I lot of us are working from home and it is good to keep personal and work separate.

Step 3 - Select, for paperwork the selection process is different then clothes or other house hold objects. Some of the papers or notebooks you are going through could be from old classes or seminars that you took. I know your will feel like you need to keep them and reference them but if you haven’ t looked at them in a couple of months or even years chances are you will not need them. When selecting keep in mind what you can access on-line, whether it be with bills and statements or info that Siri can tell you in a few seconds that would take you hours to find in your old notes. This is where you really try to see how much paperwork you can let go of.

Step 4 - Sanitize, get out your cleaning supplies and wipe down the desk and your computer. It always feels good the clean and it’s easier when everything is out of your way.

Step 5 - Style, this is personal and you have to see how many files you are left with and how much space you have and need. I used this filing system from The Container Store because I do like the way it looks and I wanted it open so I can see all my folders. If you wanted a closed option this is one of my go-to’s for my clients. However, you may need a bigger option like this if you have more paperwork. With any option you will need to have hanging folders, to be used for you macro categories.

I hope you found this useful and we would love to hear what you think.

If you are struggling to get organized don’t hesitate to reach out. We’re here to help:)

Client Video Testimonial for Space to Love

April fools day:) You thought you were going to get another quick tip from Space to Love....sorry, no organizing tips today but all kidding aside....

Instead, I had the rare privilege of interviewing one of my long time clients and that is no joke! It’s a fact, most people don’t want others to know that they hired a professional organizer let alone talk about it on camera.

Sofia is amazing and one of the first to find and hire me on Yelp. While we had lunch in this beautiful park, we got to talking about all things organized and what we had accomplished over the past 6 years.

I’m so grateful for the time she took out to do this and that she could answer some questions that a lot of potential clients would always ask. Here are some of the things we talk about in the video.

*Once we are organized do you have to keep coming back?

*What is your method?

*Do I have to get rid of everything?

*Are all organizers alike?

*Can I maintain the organization on my own when we are done?

*What about memorabilia?

*Will I feel judged?

*What is the best thing about hiring a professional organizer?

I hope you enjoy this video of us going down memory lane.

Life is a journey, and as you can see from this video, that journey is so much better when organized.

How to Be More Efficient in The Kitchen

When you think about organizing your kitchen drawers what comes to mind? How would you make improvements? Some might say get better drawer organizers and/or get rid of stuff. This is true but did you think about the items that were in the drawers and where they should be placed within the kitchen?

The drawers were a small part of this overall kitchen organization project but it really made a big impact for this New York client. It’s amazing how many times I am organizing kitchen drawers and see the cooking utensil far from the stove or the junk drawer having the prime real estate and I ask “What made you set it up this way?” nine times out of ten, I hear “We moved in and just put things away and that’s where they stayed.”

I can’t tell you the joy that I get, as a professional organizer, when I rearrange and organize a few things and then my client is like “I wish we had you here sooner or had you here to help us when we moved in!”

Check out this short video where I show you how things can be placed in the kitchen to be more efficient while prepping and cooking your meals.

I hope you found this helpful. Do you have some kitchen hacks that make your life easier? We would love to hear about them. Share in the comments below.

Happy organizing:)

How To Declutter Holiday Decorations

The holidays are here and it’s time to decorate! This video is of me helping my client on Long Island, New York get ready for the holiday season by decluttering their Christmas decorations. We go through the Space to Love® 5 step method to simplify the process.

During the video you see my client and I go through two bins, but what you didn’t see is us going through each category pile by pile. During Step 3 - Select, we let go of anything that didn’t work or was broken. Any older decor and kids projects that where no longer displayed for the holidays, but they wanted to keep for sentimental reasons, we added to their memory box. Anything that they no longer wanted and was acceptable for donation, we donated to Angels of Long Island.

During Step 5 - Style, we reused the empty bins and applied labels. Here are some storage ideas for holiday decorations that were not included during the video.

Ornament Storage - The Container Store, Target, BedBath&Beyond, and Amazon.

Holiday Light Storage - The Container Store, Target, BedBath&Beyond, and Amazon.

Wrapping Paper Storage - The Container Store, Target, BedBath&Beyond, and Amazon.

Tree Storage - The Container Store, Target, BedBath&Beyond, and Amazon.

Holiday Decor - The Container Store, Target, BedBath&Beyond, and Amazon.

Most people don’t have time to declutter before the holidays, if this is the case for you then I suggest the following. After decorating take a look around and see what decorations you haven’t used. If you’re not using the holiday decor this year, chances are you won’t use them next year and you can let them go. This will help minimize the clutter from year to year.

Hope you found this helpful and Happy Holidays!!

How to Organize Kitchen Cabinets

I love it when my friends hire me to help them get organized. This friend of mine was going to use her crockpot but couldn’t find the lid…so she called me and said, “Ok, let’s do this organizing thing, the holidays are coming and it’s now or never.” I made a quick video of the process. I hope you find this helpful:)

This video goes through the Space to Love® 5 Step Method on how to organize your kitchen cabinets.

5 Steps to Organizing Your Pantry

It was such a treat to help this organizing client in Los Angeles get their pantry clutter-free and in order. I’m so grateful that they let me film it, and that I get to share it with all of you. By using the Space to Love® 5 step method: Setup, Sort, Select, Sanitize, Style, it makes it easy to breakdown the process so you can get and stay organized. Check out the video below.

As an alternative to watching the video, below is a quick breakdown of the steps to follow so you can get and stay organized.

Step 1, Setup. Before you go to the store to buy bins or start pulling everything out of the pantry it’s important to take a few preparation steps prior to getting started. You want to make sure you have enough room to work and the proper tools are on hand. You will probably need markers, post-its, garbage bags, donations bags, a recycle bin, scissors, and a box cutter. This will make it easier to stay on track.

Step 2, Sort. Start pulling everything out of the pantry and sort items into like categories. Some common category examples are baking, sides and pasta, snacks, canned goods, etc. Use your post-it notes to label your categories for a quicker sorting process. Pro-tip, check all expiration dates before putting into categories.

Step 3, Select. Now that all the items are sorted into like piles it is easier to make decisions on which items you want to keep. You can donate your unwanted items that are not open or expired to your local church or food bank.

Step 4, Sanitize. Before returning all your selected items back into the panty, it’s so important to give those shelves a good scrub down because these areas rarely get the chance to be properly cleaned. Feng Shui tip, all dirt and dust is sha chi (negative energy) and should be removed to promote more positive energy in your home.

Step 5, Style. Most of my clients want to purchase containers and decorative items for the pantry before they even start step 1. However, it’s important to wait until after the sort and selection process because you will have a better understanding of what is going back into your cabinet. Step 5 is the time to take measurements and purchase organizing products such as bins, baskets, etc. Once you’ve bought the bins and baskets for the pantry you’ll want to label them with the different categories. Place your items back in the proper categories and this will help you stay organized.

What do you think? By using these steps will it make it easier to get and stay organized? Comment below.

Tween to Teen Bedroom Makeover

While working here in New York I had the privilege to makeover my friend’s daughter’s room. She turned 13 last year and wanted her room to reflect her more grownup self. They grow up so fast! However, at any age, using the Space to Love® 5 step method: Setup, Sort, Select, Sanitize, Stylize™ is easy to help anyone achieve their goals to create the room they visualized and to stay organized.

We started with step 1, Setup. I made sure we had room to work and spread out. You need space to organize. We agreed on using the bed and the top of the dresser to sort items. If this wasn’t an option I always have a folding table on hand. I also have ready in my organizing kit: garbage bags, post-its, markers, scissors, box cutters, and cleaning supplies. Keep these items ready whenever you are taking on any organizing challenge. Continuing with the setup process we established specific areas of the room where items would be placed. Donations in one area and other areas for what she’s keeping, maybes (what she’s not sure of), recyclables, and trash. These are the common categories to start with and you may come up with other categories in step 2, Sort, so have your post-its and marker ready. We then customized categories that tailored to her specific needs, ie, blankets, memorabilia, family games, and products for her soap-making business. I was thankful they had a newly renovated basement with extra storage for these items because she doesn’t need access to them on a daily basis.

Once we had our Setup in place we moved on to step 2, Sort. When starting this step it is so important to remove or take out all the items from the closets, drawers or bins you are working on. Here we began with her makeup drawers and started sorting like items together. This may seem like a tedious step but it was so much easier for her to make a decision on which lipsticks/glosses to keep when they were separated from her eyeliners and blushes. We also sorted the cosmetics by color. Know that as you break the clutter down from a big pile into smaller ones, it streamlines the decision-making process when like items are grouped together.

Which brings us right into step 3, Select. Now that items were sorted she could make decisions with ease by seeing everything separated. At first, she felt overwhelmed until she started seeing like items grouped together. This made it clear to her that she had many duplicate items. At that point, she knew she only wanted to keep two light pink lip glosses instead of five. As we moved on to other areas she could easily tell me which hair products she wanted to keep and what stuffed animals she wanted to donate. By the time we got to her closet,  she was really getting the hang of it by keeping the best and getting rid of the rest. Her old t-shirts didn’t stand a chance.

Before we put anything back we completed step 4, Sanitize. We wiped all surfaces down including the inside of all the drawers. We swept the floor and cleaned inside the closet. The sanitizing process is so important, not only because of the current COVID situation but the idea that you are clearing out the old and negative energy. By sanitizing, you’re not only purifying your space but you’re allowing good things to come into your life. For these reasons it’s important to follow through with sanitizing before moving on to step 5, Stylize.

Step 5, Stylize. This is probably one of my favorite steps. We had so much fun making her ideas come into fruition. She wanted a celestial theme with gold stars and dark blues. We started with paint swatches and simple drawings to figure out the wall layout. Then we moved on to furniture ideas which lead to changing up the floorplan to maximize her space.

For inside the closet we fell in love with the dark blue wallpaper with gold stars. This was peel and stick wallpaper that made it easy for application. That segued into spray painting all the closet shelves and brackets gold.

To keep costs down we purchased the furniture and accessories from Ikea, Homegoods, and Amazon. What also helped with the budget was hanging the wallpaper, painting, and assembling all the furniture ourselves.

Overall I’m thrilled with the way the project came together. More importantly, my friend and her daughter are so happy with their new space.

4 Guilt Traps to Avoid While Decluttering Your Closet

Over the years while working with organizing clients, I’ve realized what impedes the decluttering process the most, and it is the guilt traps. The traps I’m referring to are items that you don’t like or don’t even want but you can’t let go of because of the guilt you feel. I want to point these guilt items out to you so when you start decluttering your closet you can recognize them as they show up and know how to navigate past them quickly.

1 - It was a gift.

“I can’t donate that, my best friend gave it to me for my birthday and she will know if I got rid of it.” In a situation like this one the chances that she’ll remember are highly unlikely. If she did, what would be the worst thing that would happen? I actually have a personal story about this one: A few years back I bought this beautiful amethyst bracelet with gold trim for a friend of mine. About a year later she was showing me some of her new jewelry and I didn’t see the bracelet I got her. I asked her what happened to it and she told me that she appreciated the gift but she only wears silver. I was initially bummed that she didn’t keep it, but then I realized it was more my style than hers. I had forgotten that she didn’t wear gold, oops! At the end of the day I was glad that she got rid of it since she wasn’t going to wear it…and yes, I’m still really good friends with her. I say go ahead and donate those unwanted gifts. I don’t want my friends or family to keep things they don’t like just because it came from me.

2 - It was expensive.

“I paid so much for that dress and it never fit quite right, I know I will never wear it again but I feel bad just donating it” Some of my clients have trouble letting an item go because of the monetary value. If you are having negative thoughts about something in your space, you are still paying the price for it. Think of your energy as a commodity and what that is worth to you? That Badgley Mischka dress will find a new home where it will be worn and loved. For high-end items that you’d like to resell, check out TheRealReal.

3 - It still has the tag on it.

Here’s a good one, you find it on the sale rack, you buy it with excitement for getting such a good deal (even though you know it’s not great but can’t pass it up for the price) and then you never end up wearing it. Sometimes the fun of it is getting things for a bargain. It made you feel good at the time and that was all it was meant for. You really thought you were going to wear it when you left the store but then it just never left your closet. So, you made a mistake with the purchase, don’t make another mistake by keeping it. Every time you look at that unused garment you are being brought down with guilt and your energy is coming down with it. Check out ThredUP. It’s time to let it go.

4 - I’m going to lose the weight.

You are your best self today no matter what you think. Holding on to clothes that you will fit into “one day” when the weight comes may not be the best way to go about it. Perhaps by the time you lose the weight, those items will be out of style or you will be so excited that you want to buy new clothes. I’ve even had former clients that wanted to keep clothes because they were afraid they might put the weight back on. This is a roller coaster ride you want to get off of. Again, we are talking about our feelings and how they affect our energy. I’ve heard time and time again about people who finally lose the weight right after they got rid of the “old skinny jeans”. Weird, but when you hold on to the past you can never have a new and better future.

I can’t say it enough how important it is to only keep the clothes that make you feel amazing. When you look your best you, will feel your best and people will notice. Keep what you love, everything else can go.

There are so many places to donate clothes and household items The Salvation Army, Goodwill, Habitat for Humanity, and Vietnam Veterans of America, check to see who is taking donations at this time during COVID.

Happy decluttering:)