OrganizingLA Blog

Spring Cleaning Products - What Works For You?

Spring cleaning is here.  Are you feeling it?

Spring cleaning is all about organizing, but it's about cleaning, too.  There are some key items to start the cleaning process and we found a great products list on the All You Magazine website, Wal-Mart's magazine for value-conscious women.  But these products are suitable for both men and women and they will work whether you live in an 800-square foot Venice Beach apartment, or a 10,000-square foot landmark mansion in Pasadena on South Orange Grove Boulevard.

Personality Not Included - How Will The New Marketing Affect Your Purchasing Habits?

Ogilvy Vice President and PR Guru Rohit Bhargava first mentioned our blog about two years ago (click here to read the mention).

That may be a shameless plug.  But what is not shameless is that since that mention, Rohit has become a social networking expert, and he's penned his first book, Personality Not Included.  The books arrives in bookstores right about *now* and we're excited to share an exclusive interview with our readers.

What makes the book so special is that Rohit is introducing companies to the importance of transparent marketing, which is designed to encourage companies to connect with customers in a more interactive, authentic way.  Brands are able to use their personalities, have employees that talk like real people, and manage to have a real conversation with those that love their brand.

Below are our 5 exclusive questions as they pertain to the world of professional organizing, along with Rohit’s very thoughtful responses.  You can also read some other interviews by visiting his website.  Rohit's answers shed some light on how your purchasing habits may be influenced in the future, in a good way.

1.) Retail Stores like The Container Store seem to know how to connect with their customers in-store. Their employees are encouraged to engage with their clientele and "hear" their story. Why are the customers shopping there? What clues are they giving to the employee for their next project and how can the employee encourage the customer to return for the next solution? Sometimes the conversations turn into counseling or therapy. How do you explain that and what value does this conversation provide to retail personalities like The Container Store?

"I think this is a great example of the power of personality. Essentially, what The Container Store manages to do is have their employees sharing their real voices and all adding to the public perception of the brand. There are some other great examples in the book of brands that manage to do this, from Trader Joe's to Zappos.com. All have realized similar lessons in the power of giving your employees the chance to have a real voice."

Brini Maxwell Organizes the Kitchen - Weekend Video

To amuse our weekend blog readers, we're featuring organizing videos that are satirical, irreverent, smart or just plain amusing.

Here, the beloved Brini Maxwell shows us how to organize the kitchen, using lazy susans, trays, canisters and spice alphabetization. To get you motivated, she recommends putting on a pot of coffee or enjoying an aperitif.

Thanks to Lorie Marrero for the video submission!

Do you have a video you'd like to have us feature?  Check out this post first, then email us.

Two Men in Simi Valley Open Scrapbooking Store

The Ventura County Star reports that two married men have opened up a scrapbooking store in Simi Valley, CA. Two men?

Enrique Bilsland and Scott Inoue, both former Hollywood special effects specialists, have no scrapbooking experience and neither have ever run a business before.  But interestingly enough, their idea grew out of a better organizational system for their daily meetings at the studio.

The idea they invented involved a kind of sandwich board/file hanger/gadget container unit, and soon their idea was introduced to a national office supply show.  But everyone said the sandwich board was better suited for scrapbooking.  So when both Bilsland and Inoue left their jobs blowing up boats on Baywatch, or creating talking pigs, took the "Scrap-eze Elite Freestanding Organizer" to the web, and then naturally to a retail concept to take advantage of the burgeoning predominantly-woman dominated industry.

"Now they sell hundreds of items that can be used in scrapbooking along with 20 workstations where scrapbookers can gather to produce their books and share ideas. Each station has a cupholder and electrical outlets for heat guns, glue guns, die cutters and even sewing machines."

We love the idea of getting out of the house and actually putting this job on the "done" list.  But readers, two men?  Do you think the layout of this idea will stick, or will these dudes fall off the page?

• Sources - Ventura County Star, the Daily News and Here's What I'm Thinking
• Images courtesy EBB Creations, Simi Valley, California

Related Posts:

• Baywatch Pamela Anderson Lee Cleans Out Her Closet

Stacks and Stacks Shuts Down California Retail Store

Stacks and Stacks, the California-based retailer that focuses on organizing products has closed its last store.

The closing was part of a strategy which started in 1998 when the company closed 5 of 6 store locations.  Sales on the website grew rapidly, outpacing store sales, so it was a natural the last store would be shut down eventually.

"The web far outstripped store sales, says Cathy McManus, marketing director. “Sales have slowly been eroding over the years with the major influx of the Big Box retailers," she says. “Our site took off and quickly surpassed our brick and mortar sales, so most of our marketing efforts have focused on our site.”"

It was a smart move to go ecommerce.  An upcoming website design should make the site more functional and more appealing to the eye.  They are going to do great, without all the headaches of training, marketing, stocking, competition and waste of operating a "real" location, like the one in Santa Rosa, CA.

• Source - Internet Retailer

Read More:

• Stacks and Stacks - website and blog

Related Posts:

• Organized Living is reborn
• Liz Watts hosts new Organizing Living blog
• Stacks and Stacks presents the Clutter Control Freak Blog
• OrganizingLA Road Trip to Northern California (Santa Rosa)

Healing Lifestyles & Spas Presents Healthy Kitchen Organizing Tips by OrganizingLA

Healthy kitchen organizing tips were on the menu recently when John and OrganizingLA provided tips to Healing Lifestyles & Spas Magazine's Tip of the Day, mailed to subscribers.

"Do you cook up a tornado for dinner? Is your kitchen cluttered with random "as seen on TV" gizmos, snacks, mail, scribbled post-its, car keys, and, oh yeah, food? Preparing dinner would likely be less daunting if you entered an organized kitchen that was cleared of clutter and focused on food. John Trosko, president of OrganizingLA, a Los Angeles- based professional organizing company, warns against purchasing singular-use gadgets and instead recommends focusing on kitchen tools that serve at least three or four purposes.

Regardless of the size of your kitchen, creating a "culinary oasis," complete with sections for specific items will help simplify your prep process insists Trosko. "Create a baking center, a breakfast center, a snack zone, a space for spices, baby food, and a roasting department." Don't forget the family communications center for those quick shopping lists, phone messages, scissors, and a place to store incoming mail."

The article continues the theme by quoting Gina Segal, a personal chef and caterer who talked about multi-tasking while cooking.

For Segal's tips, check out the article-- it's worth the visit.

What tips do you have for creating a healthy, happy kitchen?  Please share your thoughts using the comment link below.

• Healing Tip of the Day - Organize Your Kitchen then Let Your Entrees do Double Duty
• Sign up for their Healing Tip of the Day
• Healthy Lifestyles & Spa - website

Closets Magazine Introduces Consumer Website

Nearly 5-million home organization web searches are performed each month in the United States.

To take advantage of the growing need for consumer support, Vance Publishing has launched ClosetsGuru.com.

What will Closets Guru offer to you?

• Tips, ideas and how to get started on custom bedroom closets, garages, laundry rooms, pantries and home offices.
• Find a professional organizer in their directory to help you with custom home organization.
• Photo gallery of projects.
• FAQs and benefits of calling in a professional.

Visit ClosetsGuru.com

Elfa Shelving Video - A Girl Wants Her Storage

This delightful girl demonstrates how awfully sad and "angry" she feels because she doesn't have any shelving in her bedroom closet.  Her mother rescued her by installing an Elfa closet system from The Shelving Store.  See the exciting before/after video.  Do you think she'll keep it up after all that excitment wears down?

Besides, we thought Elfa was only now only sold at the Container Store?

• Courtesy YouTube and The Shelving Store, Madison Heights, Michigan.

Christian Organizers Help Followers Get Organized Through Scripture

If you're religious, you may appreciate a group of professional organizers who claim membership in a national organization called Faithful Organizers.

Faithful Organizers is an international association of Christian Professional Organizers.  The organization's mission is to provide community, encouragement and networking opportunities for its members, and to provide an internet resource for clients to find Christian Professional Organizers in their area.

We've heard amazing things about this organization through some colleagues here in Los Angeles.  When a reader sent us this blog post from The Jesus Metropolitan Community Church of Indianapolis, we had to mention it.

In Who Wants a Clean House? the author refers to Mark 1:16-20 when she writes about the TV show Clean House, and about the process of letting go and how it allows someone time and space to allow bigger and better things into their life.

We'd love for you to add to this conversation.  While we're not particularly religious, we always learn so much when we listen to our colleagues.

• More Info:  Faithful Organizers
• Image:  You Were Here, St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in L.A.

Real Simple Magazine Partners with TLC for New Organization Show

Variety reports this month an ambitious addition to the TLC Friday night line up, beginning this fall.

Real Simple, in collaboration with The Learning Channel, will present an untitled television series on organizing.  15 episodes were ordered.  Real Simple Magazine will follow up the show with daily tips to be shown as promos.  The magazine will also dedicate space in the publication to publicize the show, with additional content relating to the segments.

It appears that Real Simple on PBS, which aired for two years, is not returning to television.

• Variety - TLC partners with Real Simple, will collaborate on lifestyle makeover show
• Real Simple - official website
• Real Simple - organizing blog