Getting Organized for 2021

Every January, my phone rings with clients and prospects who want to get their “house in order.” While design and renovation are always top of the list, we are also consulted when it comes to getting organized. Not surprising since I penned a book with this title!!

Getting organized in your home can take on a variety of roles. Closet organization is the most popular in our firm. We design a lot of closets and we always include the option of hiring a professional organizer to come in and set up the closet to meet our clients’ specific needs. We recently completed a wall of custom built-in closets for a client to house her accessories and jewelry. We custom designed each individual drawer with compartments for watches, sunglasses, jewelry, belts, handbags, scarves and intimates.

While we have many custom resources, I love working with California Closets. We collaborated with them on the closet above and I am in love with their flagship showroom in Elmsford, NY. Click here to see more in this video interview at the showroom.

Another popular area is a garage revamp, which can create amazing storage opportunities as well as organization of tools, supplies, bikes, skis, and other recreational sporting goods. Garage organization has grown in popularity over the past decade to include suspension storage from the ceiling, wall-hung systems, rubberized and other forms of flooring, and grid systems with pegs and shelving. If you are fortunate to have a climatized garage, or you are renovating a garage space in this fashion, the possibilities are endless. A few years back, I went to the Southampton Showhouse where my friend and colleague, Barbara Ostrom, designed the most amazing mancave in the garage.

Aside from getting your space organized, this is the time, pre-tax season, to get your finances organized as well. There are many bill-pay apps, you could also hire a personal bookkeeper to manage your bills. If you want to DIY, set up auto-pay services for your bills and I also recommend downloading apps so you can check your accounts on your mobile device as well. You might scan your receipts in lieu of the large envelope you had in the past, and then organize the receipts into categories for tax purposes. Of course, there’s an app or two or three for this as well!

With so many people working remotely, the home office has become a critical space for successful workflow. Whether you have a dedicated home office or you have converted an area in your home, staying super organized is critical to your success! I am a huge fan of digital filing. Dropbox was my go to but I find it very clunky and not easy to use. Because of my work with FIT, I have come to love Google Drive and have set up a folder system so that I can access my files and workflow from any device. It is incredibly freeing to be able to work on the fly, find a file, look at a drawing or check my showroom account list! We set up a client folder and inside are subfolders for each client which include CAD, PDF drawings, PO’s, Invoices, Meeting Notes and much more! There are also apps that you can use on devices that save to the cloud if you are more comfortable that way. Bynder, efilecabinet and Optix get rave reviews.

I invite you to try one or two of the recommendations above. I promise this will be life-changing and set you on the path to organization!