Organizing Inspiration: Before and After Pictures Tranformations!

 Before

 After

The Bins and Purge blog has a new section: Before and After Pictures!  Click on the "Before and After Pictures" tab above and check out my clients' progress!  Pictures include home office, kitchen, electronic cord and memorabilia storage.

"Purge" Tip: Re-Book and Re-Do Your Bookshelves

We love our books and no matter how crammed our shelves are, we find some sort of space to squeeze just one more book in.  I recently trimmed down my book collection and donated about 40 books to Books For People.  Books For People is a great charity that picks up books anywhere in Los Angeles County and sells them to raise money for the S.A.Y Yes! Center for Youth Development, a charity benefiting homeless children living around the Skid Row area of Downtown LA.  The books they are unable to sell are donated to local libraries.  Books for People also accepts CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes and LP records.  Click here to schedule a free, super fast pick up.  Support children, local libraries and your buckling bookshelves!

"Bins" Tip: 13 Pocket Accordion File from the Container Store

 I recently worked with a client who uses an accordion file with alphabetized tabs from the Container Store to organize receipts.  Receipts are filed by store or business name (so Apple Store receipts go in "A" and Trader Joe's receipts go under "T").  Many organize receipts by type: Gas, Food, Home Office, Parking, etc.  If you like alphabetize your receipts, here's a great tool! To purchase the receipt file or larger letter file, click on the link above.  The customer reviews offer other ideas to use this product: organize coupons, greeting cards, and school work.

"Bins" and "Purge" Tips: When your mascara starts to "flake out" on you

I recently did a little makeup makeover on my own and stumbled on this great article on About.com.  You can click on the title to view the link or read below!

Once you purge old makeup, how can you organize it?  I suggest a small three-drawer container that can you easily store under the sink or bathroom shelf.  Here's one from the Container Store! Each drawer can be assigned to hold specific makeup and brushes for face, eye, and lip.  You can add another container for nail, skin, and hair products.

What Is the Shelf Life of Makeup?

By Julyne Derrick, About.com Guide

Every woman we know has a pile of makeup in her drawer that she "sometimes" uses. Translation: Never uses, but keeps just in case she finally learns how to properly apply blue eyeshadow.  Beauty products do have a shelf life, however, and chances are that blue eyeshadow with the glimmery bits that you bought a couple years ago (for Halloween?) has long expired. Here's a quick guide on the shelf lives of typical beauty products. We've listed them in alphabetical order. Oh, and just one quick little "PS": Please keep in mind that these are estimates, no matter what anyone tells you, it's unlikely you'll go blind from using 2-year-old mascara.

• Concealer Up to 12 months.

• Powder 2 years.

• Cream and gel cleansers 1 year.

• Pencil eye liner Should be sharpened regularly. Will last up to 3 years.

• Eyeshadow Will also last up to 3 years. Extra tip: A dark eyeshadow can double as eyeliner, in fact, most makeup artists swear by eyeshadow used as eyeliner. You'll need a super-flat eyeliner brush for this (MAC, Sephora and Aveda have great brushes). Get the brush a little damp and dab in dark eyeshadow (black, brown or deep jewel-tones work great). Wiggle the brush into your lash line focusing on the space between your lashes, then sweep the color just above your lash line.

• Brushes Wash every 2-3 months in a mild detergent.

• Sponges Wash weekly and discard monthly.

• Foundation Check the ingredients: A water-based foundation will last up to 12 months, oil-based will last up to 18 months. You may find you need two different shades of foundation each year: One for summer when your skin is naturally darker and one for winter when you're lighter. Extra tip: If your water-based foundation dries out before it's expiration date, simply add a few drops of alcohol-free toner and shake to mix it in. No need to do this to oil-based foundations. Because they contain oil, they will tend to separate. You have to shake anyway.

• Lip liner Up to 3 years. Extra tip: Skip the push-up lipliners. They're expensive, tend to break and you never really know how much you have left until you run out. No need to spend money on lip liners, there's no secret to greatness for this product. Save your money for powders and foundation.

• Lipstick Some experts say 1-2 years. Others say up to 4 years. What everyone agrees on is that if it smells rancid, throw it out, it's spoiled. Extra tip: If you store lipstick in the refrigerator, it will last longer. Bonus tip: Want your lipstick to last longer during the day? Shade in lips with lip liner before applying lipstick.

• Mascara This product expires the fastest: Throw out after 4 months. Extra tip: If you don't want your mascara to expire faster than its fresh date, don't pump the wand in and out -- you're only exposing the product to drying air.

• Nail Polish Up to 12 months, depending on the quality and how many times you take it on a plane (the cap always unscrews on me during flights, leaving my purse a -- fume-y -- mess!).

Organizing Inspiration: Quotes

"Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.

-A.A. Milne

"Don't agonize, organize."

-Florynce Kennedy

"Out of clutter, find Simplicity. From discord, find Harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity."

-Albert Einstein

"In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves … self discipline with all of them came first."
-Harry S. Truman

"Make room for the new you. You may not have totally determined who the new you is going to be, but you probably have decided that there are some things about the current you, that you want to change. Well while you are working on what the new you will be, start 'cleaning out a room' for the new you to live in. Get rid of the junk in your life both physical and mental that doesn't fit you anymore. Take things out of your schedule that are taking your time away from finding out what you want to do. By making room for the new you, you will create a vacuum that the new you will rush in to fill and you will be on your way to the top."
-Edward W. Smith

"For every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned"
-Unknown


"Organize your life around your dreams and watch them come true."
-Unknown

  

Peter Walsh wants you!

One of my favorite recurring experts on Oprah, Peter Walsh is getting his own show on the OWN Network!  The show is currently looking for people who are ready to declutter and need Peter's help. Here's the casting notice:

OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network is casting for the new program Enough Already! with Peter Walsh. The show is looking for people who are ready to conquer their clutter and disorganization and are ready to change their life. Participants on the show will work with organizational expert, Peter Walsh who will help them achieve their goals with home and life. OWN is looking for Los Angeles area homeowners to participate. To be considered for the show, send a detailed email about your situation or a loved one's situation and photos of the clutter. Casting will end soon, so please send an email right away to enoughalreadycasting@gmail.com.

You can also click here to apply on Peter's website. 

"Bins" Tip: Post-it Durable Tabs

I was so excited when I saw the commercial for Post-it's Durable Tabs!   I've spent a lot of time battling with hanging folder labels and tabs: my writing doesn't fit the label, the label doesn't fit the tab or the tab doesn't fit into the hole.  I love that you can write out a label and stick it to the folder and be done!  Watch the commercial and try not to get the jingle stuck in your head!