Project: Ladies Closet

Yes, I do LOVE a closet project!!

This was a fun project for me because it was a closet that was a blank slate. The only true problem with the closet was that it had too many clothes (what lady doesn't??) and no system in which to organize the clothing. 

Here is what I did to make it more functional:

• Go through her clothes to see which clothes could be donated (I know it is so hard to part with your items but if you haven't worn it in a year or don't feel great in it you should consider donating it to someone else who could love it!)
• Take everything out and vacuum it...starting with a fresh clean slate makes it easy to visualize the space
• Purchase SlimLine Hangers (I recommend all my clients get the 35 pack from Costco...Costco don't every discontinue these as they are a fantastic deal!)
• Re-hang all the clothing that passed the test on these new hangers that fit much better in the closet

• Purchase and put up a double hanging 
• rod for the shirts and pants to hang on the bottom rack
• Sort clothes and put in appropriate bins on the top of the closet...some examples of clothing we put on the top were workout clothes, bathing suits, cover ups, warm weather clothes...

                                       

This project took about 4 hours and about $200 in supplies. Wouldn't you say it is well worth it for a closet you can find your clothing and LOVE entering???

Spring time is the perfect time to call me to talk about working on your home space. Give me a call I would love to help you make your space picture perfect!!

 

How to save $$$$ with your Disney vacation

TRAVEL TIP: Every once in awhile, I run into an idea that is too good not to share. If you are planning a Disney cruise or vacation I wanted to share how you can save at least 5%!

Sam's Club offers packs of gift cards for a discount. For a $150 pack you can purchase it for $142.98. That is a savings of $7.02 on every $150. 

OR...Target has gift cards available online or at the store. But you need to use your REDCARD to get the 5% savings. 

On our upcoming cruise vacation I was able to say approximately $224.

BUT...let's say you want to save additional money?? Well, you need to look at your credit cards to figure out which would be the best to use for the purchase of the gift cards. I chose a card that offers 1% cash back (and it goes without saving that you need to have the money in the bank to pay off your statement when the bill comes:). That is another $47 that you can earn back.

Then you use the gift cards to pay for your vacation. In my case, I used Costco to book travel (there is an additional cost savings there). Costco will accept these gift cards as payment (they call Disney and process them with you on the line).

PS. You can convert your cards into a single card of $1,000. You just visit www.disneygiftcard.com to accomplish this!

Every little bit helps when planning a vacation! Hope you enjoy this Thursday Travel Tip!!!!

Project C: Children closets

Closet 1...Added in fabric striped bins from Target and organized the clothes by size. Also, made sure that all the clothes were on the same type of hanger (yes, I'm anal but it does produce a nice, uniform appearance).

Closet 2: A very large closet that can accommodate toys. Nothing purchased just organized the items in there.

Closet 3: fabric striped bins purchased from Target and an existing bookshelf moved into the closet. Bins are perfect for storing toys out of sight but still accessible for a child to play with and store.

Project B: Master closet

Project B was a master ladies closet. When she moved in she just had the movers put stuff in the closet and as you can see it is not the most productive to her lifestyle or to her beautiful clothes or shoes. 

BEFORE

In all fairness, her shoes were NOT sprawled on her closet floor. This happened when we were organizing her home office. We repurposed the shoe containers for her office supplies. 

First thing I did was take everything out of the closet...that's right...not one thing was left in there. 

What did I buy? The beautiful gray baskets (Container Store) and open front flap shoe containers. I like these because you don't have to unstack shoe containers to take your shoes out.

 AFTER

I had to laugh because I don't own a single pair of high heels anymore. Gone with the days of babes. Some of her heels were so tall that I had to put them upside down to get them to fit in the container. But doesn't that display so much nicer?

She had these wonderful slim line beige and black hangers. These are my absolute favorite hangers. I took all the clothes off the wire dry cleaner hangers, all the clothes out of the bags and organized them by season, color and article of clothing.

What's in the baskets? Not used handbags, little totes or special memory pieces.

Would you love a closet like this? Beautiful!

Project A: Home office organization

BEFORE

Project A is a person who just moved into their house. At the busiest time of the year...right after the holidays and has little children. When would she have time to get her house in functioning order? Maybe when her kids are out of the house and not making messes faster than she can keep up with them.

Kristina to the rescue!

The beauty of this project was that she already owned the containers that we used so it didn't cost her 1 cent. We just re-purposed and put new systems in place.

AFTER

 One happy girl! She is now ready to start her power hour as a 5 star Diamond Coach!

How to sear chicken...finally, the perfect trick!!

What happens when you have tried every method to get the most perfect chicken? Crockpot, oven, boil, grill...all great but what if your looking for the PERFECT finish. Do you give up? NO! You find a way that FINALLY produces the result you are desiring and I wish someone would have shared this secret with me years ago.

Here is how to get mouth watering, moist, crispy on the outside chicken! Perfect for any main dish or a salad. 

• Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a pan on medium high heat
• put chicken on the pan and let sit for 2-3 minutes until golden brown. I know it is tempting to peak and make sure it is cooking properly but I promise if you let it be it will cook right overtime.
• After 2-3 minutes flip to the other side and cook insides thoroughly 

When finished let sit for a few minutes and then serve as desired!

Enjoy!!