Organizing Your Home
Text By Nancy Johnston
Do you ever get tired of having to run up and down the stairs all the time to keep getting things that you need? Does it take you longer than it should to do just about everything because nothing is where it should be? If you answered yes to either of these questions then perhaps a little organization can help. Not only can it make your life more efficient by saving you a lot of time, it can save a lot of wear and tear on the legs! Now if organizing your home seems like a daunting task, don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be. With some preplanning and a “room at a time” approach, you can turn chaos into convenience in no time at all.
It’s quite easy to get started: just pick a room, take a cardboard box, and better yet, take two. Enter the room and take a good look around. Is clutter obstructing your view? Then that’s the place to start. Put all clutter such as unused items (things you have that you know you’re never going to use) into one box. It’s amazing how removing all the things you don’t use can free up space for things you actually use. If you can’t quite bring yourself to throw the stuff away, have a garage sale or donate it to charity.
Now take another look around. Gather up all the items that are not in the room where they are normally used/needed and put them in the second box for redistribution throughout the house. Go through each item in each room this way and when you are down to the essential items, designate a specific place for those items in the room. Redistribute the contents of the second box to their new convenient locations. From now on always put each item in its place when not in use so you know exactly where it is when you need it. This will save you the time and frustration of endless searching. Now that you have gotten rid of what you don’t need and have relocated the things that weren’t in the right room to begin with, it’s time to organize everything you have left.
Okay, so what to do with the two hundred pairs of shoes and matching purses that make closing the closet doors difficult? Simple. Compartmentalize! First go through all your shoes and purses and get rid of the ones you’ll always love but will never use again. Do the same with your clothes. Once you’ve done that you can see how much space you actually have to work with. Does everything fit better now or do you need to clean things up further by adding shelving and door fitted shoetrees. These days shelving comes in every possible size for every conceivable use so there is a shelving solution that will fit your particular needs. Check out one of the multitude of manufacturers if you need shelving in any room.
If kitchen size or cupboard space is a problem, you will really need to be organized to have things run smoothly. Again, go through everything item by item and decide if it is worth the space that it is occupying. Is there a better spot for it? Do you even use it? Hanging things whenever you can, such as pots and utensils, wine racks, cups and even spices will free up space. Try to use ceiling and wall space as well as counters and cupboards.
So you’ve filled every nook and cranny and you still need more storage space? Consider hiring a carpenter who can help you find some extra space hidden behind the walls, where recessed shelving or recessed receptacles can be easily constructed. Curved or angled walls, recessed fireplaces or cabinetry and space under staircases are all prime locations for conversion to storage or display areas.
Once you get everything rearranged remember the adage for keeping it that way, “A place for everything and everything in its place.”
Canvas Storage Shelters
Text by P. Gerbrandt
It’s pretty hard to beat a barn raising when it comes to the efficiency of traditional barn construction, but canvas and laminate rafters for “bio-tech” shelters offer an alternative that can be put up in just a couple of days.
In one case, a customer and his helper were able to get a canvas-covered structure up in just one day. Ease of erecting these durable storage facilities is probably the biggest factor in their favour. The canvas shelters provide storage for farm machinery and hay, or offer shelter for recreational vehicles of all kinds. A “bio-tech” shelter can also serve as an uninsulated garage.
Heavy-duty canvas, available in a variety of colours, is amazingly strong and stands up well to Manitoba’s varying weather conditions. The canvas withstands wind, heat and cold, and snow and rain slide right off. Reasonable care should be taken not to put undue stress on the canvas, and to avoid puncturing or slashing it. Under normal conditions, and with a minimum of maintenance, these canvas structures can serve for years.
The hidden strength of these buildings is in the carefully crafted laminated arch rafters. Once the 3/4” segments are laminated, they are put into a jig and formed into the desired shape. At first, the rafters were made primarily for barns and Quonsets but now these rafters form the skeleton for the increasingly popular canvas structures.
The spans for canvas shelters range from 20 to 46 feet wide. The length of the shelters is determined only by the customer’s needs or budget constraints. The cost of these canvas shelters may be considerable less than that of a storage shelter made with conventional materials. Standard 12 oz. tarpaulin canvas, are available in white, red, black, green and blue.
To prepare the site for the canvas structures, 6” x 6” posts are sunk into the ground, extending 4’ above the surface. The rafters are fastened to the posts. A few weeks after the canvas is put in place, it may need to be tightened.
As temporary shelters go, they provide excellent value. There’s still time to put up a shelter for your boat, RV, or for the hay bales or machinery that need to be protected from snow, rain, wind and sun. It’s hard to top the benefits of a canvas shelter.
Organizing Your Home Organizing Your Life
To organize your home is not just about things looking neat. It’s also about having more time to do the things you want to do, to know where everything is and have peace of mind that what you need is placed where you need to find it.
And we all have a place in our home that needs work, whether it’s simply a junk drawer in the kitchen, the “spare” bedroom that has become a catch-all for anything that you don’t know what to do with or an entire house where things are left out because there isn’t room or a place to put them.
So with the New Year approaching, wouldn’t it feel great to finally get in control of what you have and to get rid of what you don’t need? Therefore, all that remains is what is really and truly important to you and you can see and/or find everything – finally!
But you don’t have to try and figure out how to do it alone. If you could have, you probably would have by now. So that’s why bringing in an expert such as the owner of For Space Sake, Pauline Boisselle can really transform your space – and your life.
Pauline and her staff have been helping people be clutter free and organized since 1989 and say, “If we can help you sleep an extra 10 minutes a day because everything is in its place: then we have done our job!”
They can help you improve your closets, kitchen, bath, laundry, garage, living room, den, basement and even mudroom! You can do everything from improve your “under the sink” storage to installing bike racks in the garage.
Going to the store is inspiring as the bright white space is inviting and organized – everything you want your space to be. And you can decide, depending upon your budget and your level of commitment, whether you want to just put a few shelves in your existing closet to help make a little room or go in and redo the whole thing!
For Space Sake offers a complimentary in-home consultation, so that you can show the area that you want to work on and a consultant can show you options of different ways to approach the space. The great thing about this is that it doesn’t cost you anything and you are getting fresh eyes on a problem that you haven’t been able to solve on your own. You’d be amazed at how a few small changes can really reinvent a space and how much difference it will make in your home and in your life.
Investing in making those few small changes will save you time and energy in the long run. No longer will you spend your morning rushing around looking for your things or evenings on your knees, trying to get at something unreachable at the back of the cupboard underneath the sink.
You can live an organized and efficient life. Just call For Space Sake and they can show you how.
Text by Stephanie Dickison
Photography by Fred Elcheshen
Unclutter your life
Text By Lily Sokhi
Relatively new to the western culture, Feng Shui (pronounced fung shway) has been practiced in the eastern culture for thousands of years. It is a systematic approach to your living and workspace that brings harmony to your surroundings, directs your creative and productive energies and amplifies your opportunities for success in all areas of life. As a practitioner, I have seen my clients move from home offices to much larger office spaces with conference rooms and the works! That is the power of feng shui!
The literal translation for the Chinese words “feng” and “shui” are “wind” and “water.” It is through wind and water that chi flows through nature and the universe. Chi symbolizes life, health, prosperity and everything that is positive to us. Feng Shui is consciously designing every room in your home, office or garden to create powerful results using layout, orientations, shapes, color schemes, placement of furniture, decorative objects and artwork. By creating a greater sense of balance and harmony in the environment as well as focusing your intention on personal objectives, application of these potent formulas can result in increased prosperity, new business opportunities, promotions, recognition at work, career success, robust health, love and marriage, closer family relationships and even improved grades at school for your children.
Good Chi, Bad Chi
Have you ever walked into a space and felt uncomfortable? Some houses give a very cold feeling whereas some places seem very warm and welcoming. According to ancient Chinese concepts chi is the life energy constantly flowing everywhere. This energy symbolizes life, health, prosperity and everything that is positive to us. According to Feng Shui, chi should always be able to flow freely through any space in order to help us being in balance with the elements surrounding us. Chi is what brings us positive energy and allows us to be prosperous in our lives. Chi is based on the natural energy exchange which exists among everything on earth, and it shouldn’t be blocked.
One of the objectives of Feng Shui is to create a smooth, gentle, nurturing flow of chi through your home. Think of chi as an important guest you wish to welcome to your home. Make your formal entry and the access to it from the street, as inviting as possible. Overgrown hedges, hidden front doors and dim lighting are all barriers to chi. If the mouth of chi has poor Feng Shui, the chi of your entire home will suffer.
Inside your home, chi likes to flow in gentle curves, like an angel, and will exit through side doors and windows. Long straight corridors will funnel chi very quickly toward whatever is at the far end. Active spaces of your home should have a more active flow of chi. Chi should slow down and linger in the places you like to sit down and relax at the end of the day, or where you need to focus and concentrate on the work at hand .
Cut the Clutter!
What sight greets you when you arrive home after a long day at work? Are you greeted by pleasant sights, sounds and colors that make you forget your hard day at work or is your first image one of clutter and disarray? Is the laundry still on the sofa where you left it? Are the cereal bowl and the coffee cup waiting for you when you come home? And how about the bills, the flyers and the junk mail? Are they piling up on the kitchen table day after day?
In order to invite chi into your home, first step is to de-clutter your home. Clutter can deplete your personal energy. And where clutter exists, a block of some sort probably also exists in a part of your life. Clean, dust and reorganize every cupboard, shelf and every nook and corner of your house. Throw out and give away anything that isn’t serving you. My simplest rule of something useless is if you have not used it in the last one year, chances are you will never use it. So, out it goes.
The biggest amount of junk comes to our houses in the mail. Clear your mail on weekly basis. Make files for phone bills, taxes, and other important documents. File them on weekly basis. Five minutes spent on these files will save you a lot of stress later. And do not pile up those flyers; new ones are on the way anyways.
Clear your home of all objects that bring you bad memories. If you are looking for new love in your life, do not keep anything that reminds you of your ex. By doing this, you are symbolically letting go of the past relationship and letting the universe know that you are ready for a new chapter in your life.
Next, check your residence for anything in need of repair, and fix it. If light bulbs are burnt out, replace them. If a drippy faucet is keeping you awake nights, call a plumber. Anytime you observe something that is not in good working order, you can be sure something in your life (health, finances and relationships) is being impacted and is not working as well as it could. By taking these two simple steps, you will be focusing on improving your personal environment to create a more harmonious living space.
Removing the clutter and making repairs where needed will go a long way toward balancing the energies in your home and clearing the way for something new and exciting to come into your into your life. Make your home your sanctuary. Continually work on organizing yourself and your surroundings. Clear out your space so that you can make room for new wonderful events to enter your life
When properly aligned, our environments enable and support us to live richer, fuller and happier lives as we actualize our full potential in life.
CUSTOM STORAGE CLOSETS THE ANSWER TO DISORGANIZED HOUSEHOLD CHAOS
Text By Myron Love
Storage is an issue that is front and centre in today’s busy lives. With space at a premium and more to store all the time, people need to make the most out of the space they have.
That’s where California Closet and Jack Kovnats come in. “Our goal is to help homeowners reduce stress by helping them simplify their homes and life through having proper storage closets,” Kovnats says.
The approach is to build backward by first identifying the available space for storage and then determining what is to be stored.
Most designs incorporate space for full length (shoulder to ankle), mid-length (waist to ankle) and half hang with different needs addressed by a variety of shelves, baskets and drawers. California Closet closets are made up of partitions separating hanging and shelf sections; system holes – small holes, running the length of the partitions, that allow the attachment of adjustable components; fixed shelves securely fastened to partitions by connector fittings for lateral stability; adjustable shelves resting on adjustable shelf supports between partitions; tie and belt racks attached to the system holes with EuroScrews; and poles resting on pole cups between partitions. Each pole has a fixed shelf above it.
For do-it-yourselfers, start by clearing out your existing closet including shelves, poles, cleats and hardware. Then patch any holes. Repainting should be done a day before you install your new closet components.
When mounting the rail, first find and mark the location of all the studs (which are usually 16″ apart). Pre-drill 1/8″ holes into the wall at each place where the rail will be attached to a stud.
After the rail is in place, prepare and hang the partitions. Then you can insert the fixed shelf dowels and mount the fixed shelves. After doing your leveling secure the angle and suspension brackets. You then install drawers and baskets, the adjustable shelves, pole cups and poles and, lastly, tie and belt racks.
There are a variety of colors and finishes available. You might want white units with colored door fronts, chrome racks or nicer handles.
Kovnats notes that he is seeing a growing demand for storage systems by front entrances. “People are spending more time on entry closets,” he says. “With family members and others going in and out, people may want baskets for mitts and gloves and drawers for keys and cell phone.”
A future area of the home for closet developments may well be the garage, which often becomes a collection space for tools, outdoor equipment and toys and odds and ends that people collect over time.
