Design Public

Alright, summer is officially over, and it’s time to get organized! If you need guidance, support, and comrades, start on September 5 with the rest of the gang over at Apartment Therapy. To get started, order Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan’s book, Apartment Therapy: The Eight Step Home Cure and start at the beginning. You only have to get through the first step to be ready to go on the 5th. For more information, click here. If September isn’t good for you, start reading now anyway. I promise it is an easy and pleasant read that will inspire you to start making your home healthier!

photo from apartmenttherapy.com

 

Hey All! I’ve been collecting images of some of my favorite workspaces to share for awhile, but I thought this one deserved it’s very own blog post.  It’s from flickr member shefightslikeagirl, and it’s a beautiful sewing area.  She made the wall from IKEA coasters: (more…)

It’s not going to be easy, but surely it must be easier than The South Beach Diet (God I miss bread!). Why not try The Clutter Diet by professional organizer Lorie Morrero. If you are a cheapskate commitmentphobe like I am, get to know Lorie’s philosophy through her blog first, as becoming a member of the diet, like every other diet, costs a few bucks. I know I was impressed with her post over at lifehack about the seven stations every home should have, which is how I stumbled onto The Clutter Diet. In a nutshell, they are Destination (similar to Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan’s landing strip), Communication, Donation, Gift & Shipping, Education, Creation and Administration Station. If you read the entire post and are inspired, signing up for Lorie’s guidance online could be the right move for you.

I just spotted blankblank’s JUXTAPOSED: Religion in April’s issue of Dwell and thought it would be perfect for the Organizing Bookshelves series. At $2500, it’s not in the budget for the most of us, but the idea is too clever not to share with you.

Blankblank is “a facilitator that seeks partnerships with artists and designers of diverse mediums and assists them in the development, production, and marketing of their creativity by creating business models, development strategies, manufacturing alliances, and marketing solutions that are as unique and creative as the individuals for whom they are developed.” Pretty cool! For this project…
…the shelf is made of reclaimed hardwood and was custom designed by Mike and Maaike to fit a collection of seven religion tomes curated by John Simonian. Here’s the description from blankblank.net: (more…)

While Top Design has its ups and downs (last night it was basically an hour-long commercial for some GMC SUV), I was excited to see Michael Rios of notNeutral as the guest judge. While Matt worked his fanny off getting all of the family’s crapola into Container Store bins and didn’t really have the time to worry about composing the bins artfully, Rios had a good point. In a nutshell, he said that putting things away is the first step, but that the composition of where you put them away is where the art and design comes in.

I’ve been seeing the question of how to arrange books on different blogs lately. I think the English majors with a bunch of literature feel compelled to arrange in alphabetical order, while people with design backgrounds pay more attention to color:

Scrappy Girl from Domino Blogs feels compelled to do the ABCs thing:

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Do we all need group home therapy? Oprah keeps telling me 2007 is the year to declutter my life. Of course, the woman owns God knows how many mansions filled with stuff as she talks about how “stuff takes over,” but whatever, you can’t knock Oprah.
Anyhoo, if you are trying to get started on clearing out not only the excess stuff, but the excess dustbunnies, some emotional baggage, some bad memories, some bad chi, whatever, why don’t you join the 8-Step Home Cure over at Apartment Therapy. The new Cure group starts on March 5. Your assignment for the weekend is to read the book and be ready to start with the group on Monday. By the way, you can skim the book and then just read it step by step as you go through the weeks, so don’t get overwhelmed. Besides, it’s a pretty quick read and it gets you revved up and ready to dive into the cure.

photo of Dr. Melfi, Montclair, New Jersey’s most famous therapist, from hbo.com

Since I got off to such a slow start in January, I’ve decided we need to keep the organization theme going for awhile longer. I know I haven’t met my goals, as there is a very scary guestroom closet to organize and a lot of very un-feng shui haphazard storage underneath all of my beds. Instead of sleeping on a pea under 17 mattresses like the princess, I’m sleeping over a very old cassette collection from the years of my teenage angst. Anyone need a worn out tape of Scritti Politti? (more…)

I thought I’d throw in some inspirational shots of beautifully organized workspaces I spotted on flickr this week.  Here is a gorgeous office from pinklovesbrown:

From Camilla E - I think I would actually get a lot more blog posts done if my work area looked like this:

Shauna Alterio’s side of the studio:

  sfgirlbybay shared this photo from emmarosepapery :  

  Finally, I am in love with this shot of celery stick’s planner:  

I reached out to our blogging friend Amber for organizational advice, as she is a master Do-It-Yourselfer and graphic wizard.  She agreed to share a few projects she’s been working on in her kitchen.  You can also see them at her blog, myaimistrue .  Apparently, she’s received a few comments from herb fanatics claiming that the herbs will be ruined, but whatever, it looks darn good!  If you are nervous about high flames in close proximity, try buying a magnetic bar at The Container store and put them in a line out of harm’s way.  Oh, and in the spirit of full blog ethics disclosure (as I go along, I am learning that bloggers have much higher standards than most major print publications), Amber will receive a gift certificate to Design Public for helping out.  Thanks so much Amber!  BeckyDIY: Magnetic Spice Rack Another easy little DIY project that anyone could do. I hate hate HATED my spice cabinet. I always forgot what was there, plus it was up high and I couldn’t see anything. After seeing a magnetic spice rack like this one, I knew I wanted to do something similar, but I would need more tins and didn’t want to take up any counter space. Plus I could do it myself cheaper. I picked up some watchmaker’s tins from Lee Valley Tools and used some of my leftover super strong magnets from my magnetic poster wall, plus the trusty hot glue gun, and in minutes I had a really cool solution to my problem. Plus they are right there on the stove when I need them. I was able to free up enough cabinet space to make a cabinet dedicated to baking supplies (yay!) and now I have a really colorful and beautiful spice rack. And since I know someone will ask, I just jotted the names of the spices on the back with a fine point permanent marker. That way my cinnamon won’t get mixed up with my cloves. I made chili last night and it was great to have them right in front of me and not have to knock bottles down on my head trying to reach them in a high cabinet. Edited to add: Since I got literally about forty comments on a LJ community where I crossposted this telling me everything from "destroying spices is not a trivial issue" to "you’ll light yourself on fire, there’s a reason oven controls are on the front of the stove" I figured I would say, yes, I have been made aware of these issues and am thinking I might move them to a magnetic panel on the wall. ========================= Pantry Organization My brother gave me a $75 gift certificate to the Container Store for xmas. Here’s what I bought! This totaled a bit more than $75 but I feel was really worth it. There are three sizes of container here, the two large 8×8x4 ones on the bottom, four 8×4x4 long ones stacked on top, and eight 4×4x4 smaller containers. So I actually have more room behind each of the small ones. I am amazed at how much room this gave me! I wish I’d bought a few more for the bagged stuff on the left, but they don’t fit well in that cabinet. I’m thinking I might move some of that into one of my cabinets with doors and put dishes or something pretty there since those bags are on display (that cabinet doesn’t have a door). The dismal BEFORE picture: Now I just have to figure out what to do with the last pantry cabinet below that one. It has dog stuff, potatoes, onions, and more baking stuff.

Since I am not exactly a paragon of organization, I’ve called in for outside help.  Hatch reader Sheryl Drinkwater is an architect and one very-well organized lady!  She’s agreed to share a project and some advice.  I should disclose that we hook our helpers up with $50 gift certificates at the site as a token of our gratitude.  What I like most about Sheryl’s kitchen redo is how much thought went into cabinet layout, function and location.  You can just admire one drawer or cabinet and use that as your inspiration if you are taking baby steps in your own projects.  The most important thing is not to get overwhelmed!  Thanks Sheryl! -Becky

You can use the excuse of a New Year’s resolution dropped by the way-side, but getting organized is very liberating. As an architect in Berkeley, California, I have assisted many residential clients get a new lease on their kitchens.  Doing a kitchen remodel is ground zero for the chance to get yourself organized. Once you rip out a kitchen, you really have to take a look at everything you have stashed away and say, “hey, do I need this?” Last summer, I had the opportunity to ask myself this question when I gutted my own kitchen.

For my kitchen remodel I asked cabinetmaker Thomas Wold   for some help.  Together we came up with a concept for the look of my kitchen and also designed specific ways to get some of the many items in my kitchen organized. (see detail photos). 

Being organized isn’t about being a fanatic.  It is really just about having a place for your stuff.  I have really felt this way most of my life - without really formalizing it - I need a clear space to live in, it helps me to think clearer.  Karen Kingston, wrote a book that I found really illustrates this concept well, Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui .  This is not a plug for this particular book, any book on clearing clutter can help.  It is not necessary to hire a Feng Shui consultant either.  Some of her concepts really spoke to me though. Just consider these two ideas. 

The first suggestion addresses the impact on having clutter in your life.  Kingston relays scenarios of real people, who after arriving at their homes, can sense an energy field of clutter.  Clutter in your life, whether it’s under the bed, in your basement or in your office will affect the quality of your life, she states.  For example, f you feel weighted down and cannot get out of bed each morning, take a look at what is under your bed and how it is organized. 

The second suggestion is how to clear your clutter. Kingston gives instructions for a system for actually clearing out the mess. Here is how I do it.  I think about

1) Do I really need it?  (If I don’t use it, need it or it’s broken, etc. I get rid of it.) and

2) Everything should have its place. (I put my laptop and my mail in the same place each day.) 

This system can happen in one day or it can happen over the course of the year (until next year’s resolution).  Spend a little time each day to organize your space.  Have 5-6 boxes labeled and stored for the things that you are getting rid of.  The boxes for placing items should be labeled like “donation,” “to a friend,” “return to owner,” “recycle” and “trash.” 

Of course there will be resistance by others, procrastination, despair.  But, you don’t have to be a fanatic. Find a degree of organization that works for you.  My husband, feeling a little like he was going to be put in a box, recently referred a book to me by authors Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman, that really gave me something to think about as a designer and self proclaimed organizer.  It is called A Perfect Mess, The Hidden Benefits of Disorder . This book claims that “organizational efforts tend to close off systems to random, unplanned influences that might lead to breakthroughs.”  The layout of the book was remarkably organized. 

Sheryl Drinkwater, Architect, Berkeley CA 510.848.4439

PICTURED ABOVE:

Dishes stored next to dishwasher

Rice and Flour Storage

Paper Recycling and Dog Food

Centralized Glassware

Baking Sheets