PURGE: I’m going to go with the obvious first. Grab a box of contractor trash bags from your local hardware store and go through each room in your house and decide what you truly want to represent your new life.  Notice I did not say “keep it because it’s functional and hope that one day you will use it in the new house.”  Now is the time for honesty.  Concentrate ONLY on what to TRASH/RECYCLE and start in the easy rooms to feel the sense of accomplishment right away (bathrooms, mud rooms, laundry rooms).

Get rid of old ratty furniture, tattered sheets and towels, unused beauty products, half empty shampoo/conditioner bottles, old mail, newspapers, and magazines, condiment packets and chopsticks, old mats and rugs, sticky Tupperware, tattered clothes – to just name a few!

Be ruthless.  Buying new costs money, yes, but so does moving old stuff.  I once saved a client $2,350 in moving costs solely by purging with her before her move.

DONATE: Grab that same box of trash bags and go through every room and decifer what to donate. Rule of thumb: donation centers only want the items that you yourself would wear, use, or decorate with. Donation centers such as Goodwill and Salvation Army sell donated items for profit, so they only want gently used or those in good condition.  If it’s broken or missing a part, they will not use it. If it’s stained or ripped, they cannot sell it.  Battered women’s shelters and homeless shelters always want gently used clothing, baby and child clothing and toys, canned food, and unused beauty products such as deodorant and shampoo.  Keep in mind that they don’t have unlimited storage space to house damaged items either.  Consider donating towels, sheets, and old t-shirts to animal shelters.

No one will accept take used undergarments, bathing suits, socks, or hairbrushes, or open medicine.  They don’t want 70 pieces of a 100-piece puzzle. Get the drift?

EAT, EAT, EAT: Now is the time to eat those items in your fridge, freezer, or pantry that you bought to “try” and haven’t eaten yet (within reason, of course). Movers can move your food to your new home, but why pay for them to transfer food that you already paid for at a grocery store, and that could potentially spoil or spill? Additionally, if you use a water dispensing system, please drink or drain current bottle.

RETURN TO SENDER: Call everyone who ever lent you anything and have them come pick it up (or drop it off to them).  This includes books, movies, furniture, clothes, vases, cake plates, folding chairs, and kitchen appliances.  Remember, you are paying for each and every item to be moved.  Sharing items is a wonderful habit…but so is returning them when finished.

SPACE PLANNING & PROPER LABELING: If your new home requires any painting or construction, I cannot stress enough how much time and aggravation you will save yourself if you arrange for this work while your new home is empty.  Most contractors charge by the hour, so having them move around and cover furniture costs you money!

Additionally, before the movers come, plan where you want your large furniture pieces.  Write out a diagram for the movers if you have a floor plan.  Mark each box in BIG BLACK lettering with what room it should moving INTO…not where it came from.  Writing “Tim’s Room” won’t help movers who don’t know who Tim is.  Instead, mark it with “Blue Bedroom” or “Bedroom 2″ and tape a piece of paper on the door that is “Bedroom 2.”  This will make placement easier and take up less time when the movers arrive – again, saving you hard earned dollars!

Stay tuned for more “MUST DO’S Before You Move” from our Master Organizers.  And if you don’t want to have to remember all of the above and want to simplify your move even more, call SimplyTheBest…we’ve got you covered. 

Info@WeAreSimplyTheBest.com
310-963-7566

Collection: Destiny

Brand: Rizzy Rugs

Material: 100% Wool

Weave: Hand Tufted

Styles: Traditional RugsCountry & Floral Rugs

Origin: India

Click here to purchase and/or see more pictures from EBAY: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rizzy-Rugs-Destiny-Collection-Traditional-Beige-Rug-3×5-/280743225703?pt=US_Contemporary_Rugs_Carpets&hash=item415d99a967

This rug is BRAND NEW!  It was purchased eight months ago from RugsUSA for $699.00 to be used in a new house. The owner never ended up using it, and YOU can benefit from this!

Size: 5’6″ x 7’5″

Collection: Arabesque

Brand: Shaw

Material: 100% New Zealand Wool

Weave: Machine Woven

Styles: Traditional Rugs

Origin: China

Click here to purchase and/or see more picture from EBAY: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gorgeous-Arabesque-Traditional-Rug-Blue-Smoke-5×7-/280743226242?pt=US_Contemporary_Rugs_Carpets&hash=item415d99ab82

This rug is BRAND NEW!  It was purchased eight months ago from RugsUSA for $499.00 to be used in a new house. The owner never ended up using it and it is still in it’s original packaging!  You get to benefit from this!

Size: 5’6″ x 7’5″

Collection: Renaissance

Brand: Shaw

Material: 100% Nylon

Weave: Machine Made

Styles: Country & Floral Rugs

Origin: USA

Click here to see more photos and/or purchase from EBAY: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Shaw-Renaissance-Collection-Alexandria-Beige-Rug-5×7-/280743226904?pt=US_Contemporary_Rugs_Carpets&hash=item415d99ae18

The bar has two shelves, one flat shelf and one with stainless steel dividers for bottles, supplies, glassware, etc. The whole piece is a striking black lacquer with wood strip detail paneling on the front swivel door.

It was purchased by an interior designer for a “Modern Cabin” style house but never used. Super funky – super unique!

Item is in Venice CA.  Pick up preferred, but shipping can be arranged at buyers expense.

35″w x 19″d x 63″h

Click here to purchase and for more pictures: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1930s-Art-Deco-Full-Size-Hidden-Swivel-Bar-REDUCED-/280743224714?pt=Antiques_Furniture&hash=item415d99a58a

Tripod stands 34″ tall

Light stands 59″ tall

Metal lampshade measures 11.5″ diameter.

Lamp was purchased for $1800.00 less than 6 months ago and never used.

Item is in Venice, CA and local pickup preferred, but will ship via UPS packing service to any Continental US location. Buyer must cover entire shipping cost.

To purchase and/or see more pictures, click this link to ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Funky-Industrial-Tripod-Floor-Lamp-UNIQUE-/280743224290?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item415d99a3e2

Monique: “I will!  What is the issue?”

IT Company President:  “I have five employees who all need and use a huge variety of cords, cables, and other computer repair supplies.  The cords are everywhere and I’m sure we have purchased the same supplies multiple times because we can never find anything.  Our office is in my house and the cords are spilling out into the rest of my life.  It’s driving me crazy.  Help!”

Monique: “OK!  What else do you need?”

IT Company President: “Also, it has to be EASY to maintain, as my guys are computer geeks and aren’t good at maintaining things like this.  It has to have the ability to GROW so we can add to it after inventory.  And, I’d like all my guys to have ACCESS to it easily – we have a small office.  I hope you’re up for this task!”

Monique: “I have the solution!  A double-sided mobile rack.”

Well, I believe that these spaces are the BEST places to keep organized.  If there is a place for everything in your “dumping ground,” there will be a place for everything in your house that you need to dump.  See where I’m going??

I recently organized this attic using shelving and containers that were sitting unused at my clients’ friends house – a.k.a. no cost to my client.  The space was huge, but as these useful items got dumped, they were lost and never actually used.  And what is the point of keeping items if they are not going to be used?  She now has a space for her guest bedding, extra kitchen supplies, gifts and wrapping, winter/summer clothing, luggage, photos, and party supplies – amongst other things.

We love making attics simpler.

                      BEFORE                                                                                                AFTER

This space was nearly the length of the house!                                Finally, my client could walk around and
But you couldn’t find anything – nor walk around.                        find everything she needed.

Looking at it from the other end of the room, the                             We categorized and boxed so no more
piles seemed unmanageable!                                                                 middle-of-the-room-piles.

The odd shaped ceiling made adding usable                                       Short 36″ shelving worked perfectly!
shelving difficult to find.

Winter clothes were bought over and over again                             Shoes, clothes, all boxed and labeled.
because she couldn’t find what she had!

No more need to wonder where your gift supplies are.

We build custom wall bookshelves, of course!  Happy Reading!

In the late 1960s, an American psycho-biologist, Roger W Sperry, discovered that the human brain has two very different ways of thinking. The right brain is visual and processes information in an intuitive and simultaneous way, looking first at the whole picture then the details. These folks are highly intuitive, are led by feelings, and are likely to question why rules exist.  The left brain is verbal and processes information in an analytical and sequential way, looking first at the pieces then putting them together to get the whole. These folks are highly analytic, are led by logic, and are likely to follow rules.

Being a hyper left-brainer myself, it’s always a unique and wonderful experience to work with the ultra-creative right-brainers.  It took me some time to figure it out, but I am proud to say, I can now speak English, Spanish, American Sign Language, and Right-Brain.

We pride ourselves on working with both types of clients.  This office and surrounding areas below belonged to one of my favorite right-brainers…a musician and writer.  I not only completely revamped his office, his library, and his kitchen, but I cleaned out a storage unit he’d had for eight years and sold all of the furniture off,  and making him over $1000.00.

BEFORES:

Loft office jumbled with instruments and computer                    Office and music supplies burried amongst heavy
supplies.  There were wires and paperwork everywhere!            binders in awkward shaped shelving.  No baskets or                                                                                                                       bins to hold smaller items.

Blank wall of musical instruments using                                         Books, memorabilia, and artwork piled
valuable floor space.  Shelving Needed!                                           on low incompetent shelving.

AFTERS:

Computer supplies seperated from musical supplies                                Baskets added to separate smaller items (i.e.
and instruments now safely attached to the wall, freeing                        guitar pics in one place and computer cords
much needed floor space!  Organized Office!                                              in another.)

Additional shelving for office and musical supplies,                       Appropriate shelving for books and memorabilia,
with room to spare!  Instruments safely on walls.                           with a modern touch!