OrganizingLA Blog

"Jon & Kate Plus 8" Finally Hire a Professional Organizer

We're very excited to tune into the fireworks on Monday night when TCL's Jon & Kate Plus Eight features a visit from a real-live professional organizer. Keep? Toss? Donate? No? Maybe? Yes!

It's no secret that Kate Gosselin is considered an organizing expert herself. Even putting aside all the recent personal dramas, she enjoys 8 children, a large home and a busy life. According to Kate, "Maintaining a high level of organization helps any person or household-- supersized or otherwise -- run efficiently." We couldn't agree more.

Diane Albright Got The Job:

Our colleague, Diane Albright (pictured bottom left), a professional organizer, motivational speaker and retail store owner of All Bright Ideas (organizing website, blog, store website) hails from Allentown, PA, an hours drive from the family's rural Pennsylvania home in Wernersville. Diane is the lucky gal who got to experience a glimpse of Kate's organizing prowess, up close and personal. We'll be there watching and cheering everyone on.

Here's the quick synopsis from the TLC official website. The episode premieres Monday night October 5, 9:00pm. Check local listings for exact time.

Jon & Kate Plus 8: Time to Organize!

"Kate has always had a love for organization, but with such a full schedule and a house full of kids, she's had less and less time to organize. With the guidance of an expert, Kate and the children attempt to give the basement some much needed order."

Now to really put a spin on this story and prove 6-degrees of separation, Kate Gosselin contributed the "Tackle Your To-Do List" chapter alongside ours in creator Samantha Ettus' The Experts Guide To Doing Things Faster: 100 Ways To Make Life More Efficient (pictured left) which was published last October by Clarkson Potter, a division of Random House, Inc. We have never met Kate but we sure have a lot of respect for her ability to keep up a house with eight children.

Weigh-In With Your Comments:

So all this leads us to ask our readers to weigh in on this question: Can organized people hire a professional organizer to help them? Are organizers only reserved for the messy, disorganized, cluttered, and hoarding? Or, are they a valuable resource for anyone in need, even with a small project?  Let's hear what you have to say. We're going to see if Diane can weigh in on this subject herself. Check out the comment section below.

Read more:

Kate Gosselin's organization tips - TLC website

The Gosselin 10 - Family website

Diane Abright's Blog and Website

All Bright Things - Diane's retail products store

Related Posts:

Experts Guide To Doing Things Faster - Amazon

Experts Guide Contributors

Colin Cowie loves an organized kitchen

Mary Louise Starkey is the first lady of private service

New York Magazine article featuring Experts Guide contributing author John Trosko

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Colin Cowie Loves An Organized Kitchen

Colin Cowie is amazing.  Not only did he join us in writing a chapter in the "Experts' Guide To Doing Things Faster" (Plan a Dinner Party Faster), he shot a video for Epicurious showing us his fabulous cucina.  Here, organization is king.  Mr. Cowie alphabetizes all his herbs and spices and places his plates on lower shelves in orderly fashion so he can find things in a moment's notice.  He claims to be able to throw a dinner party together for 30 in a moment's notice showing us he surely walks the walk.

 

If your'e reading this post on rss or feedblitz, click on over here to the main site to watch the video.  And while you're at it, share with us your favorite kitchen organizing tip!

Other Experts' Guide mini-profiles:

• Mary Louise-Starkey
• Carolyne Roehm

Visit Epicurious.com

Buy our book "Experts Guide To Doing Things Faster" on Amazon

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Mary Louise Starkey - The First Lady of Service

 

We've been featuring some of the authors in our upcoming book contribution, The Experts Guide to Doing Things Faster.  Join us as continue to provide profiles of some of the incredible talent we've long admired.

May we present Mrs. Mary Louise Starkey.  Mrs. Starkey wrote the chapter entitled, "Clean Your Home" in the Experts' Guide (see book jacket below right).  Known as the "First Lady of Service," Mrs. Starkey is the founder and president of Denver's Starkey International Institute For Household Management.  Before we get to her bio, let's find out more about Starkey's mission.

About Starkey International:

Starkey teaches graduates about attitudes, etiquette and protocols of "private service."  Mrs. Starkey believes that household service is a body of specialized knowledge, and she is credited for coining the term "Household Manager."

A modern household manager is a professional who takes care of the business of your home.  Her graduates are not the stuffy, traditional butlers, but actual trained leaders with the kinds of management skills a larger home requires.  Her program identifies 10 key areas of "standards" in a home:  administration, housekeeping, culinary, clothing care, entertaining, property and grounds, maintenance, transportation and travel, safety and protection and personal care.

Starkey graduates are professionally trained to recognize, document and administer these standards. We personally know two graduates of Starkey and both individuals are top notch, genuine individuals.

 

About Mrs. Mary Louise Starkey:

Mary Louise Starkey began placing household veterans in 1981. Her clientele includes Old Guard Families, Legacy Families, CEOs, Dot- Comers, Entrepreneurs, Entertainment Personalities and Diplomatic Leaders across the United States. She has continued to “Set the Standard” for Private Service in Education and in Private Service Placement for over twenty-five years. In 1997, she began writing for the profession, eventually developing Starkey’s patented Starkey Service Management System and software, the world’s first advanced service management tool for Private Service. Mrs. Starkey is passionately devoted to changing the outmoded paradigm of “servitude” into “Service as an Expertise,” as well as building a profession that is world-recognized.

In March 2000, Mrs. Starkey hosted the world’s first Household Management conference, “Restoring the Art.” Household and Service Management Schools, Enlisted Aides, Personal Assistants, Family Offices, Household Staffing Agents, and Household and Estate Managers from around the world attend this conference yearly. Mrs. Starkey appears at international conventions, seminars, corporate events and hospitality forums around the globe.

OrganizingLA blog credits the Starkey website for providing bio and methodology for our post.

What do you think?

So, let's talk about "standards" of your own.  You may not have a large home, but have you created processes or procedures when your're cleaning, maintaining or entertaining?  Please join in on the conversation and let us know what those are and how you accomplish your own family's needs.

• Visit the Starkey website, and their new weblog.

• Read the very quick Expert's Guide mention on the Starkey Blog.

Related Posts:

• More about our book

• More on the authors for our book

• Carolyne Roehm - contributer to our book

• Join our Facebook group Organize Your Closet  

photo image courtesy Lyn Alweis of the Denver Post

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Join Our New Facebook Book Group "Organize Your Closet"

As part of the celebration for our book contribution, we've created an exclusive new group on Facebook!

To join the group, click here on this special url - www.organizeaclosetnow.com

Based on our book, the "Experts Guide to Doing Things Faster" the “Organize a Closet” group will feature everyday organizing tips and tricks, photos from our book travels, exclusive news about the October 28th book release, links to our fellow authors in the news and special content you will not find anywhere else, even on our blog!  How cool is that?

Over 170 have signed up for the group and you'll already see lots of familiar faces.  We’ll update the group once a week until the book comes out.  Semi-regular updates will occur as the book hits the marketplace and opportunities present themselves.

But remember, the content isn't very good with me posting alone, I am counting on you to add your comments and create a conversation that is meaningful.  If you're not a member of Facebook, it just takes two seconds to sign up.

Again, join the group by clicking there www.organizeaclosetnow.com

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New York Magazine Presents John Trosko!

 

As part of his book launch, John was featured in the September 29th issue of New York Magazine.

This has been awesome and phenomenal!

In Space Efficient, Experts' Guide To Doing Things Faster creator Samantha Ettus mentioned us when she curated the "Best Best" section for the popular magazine.

Here's what they printed:

"Maybe you’ve been working at home for years. Or maybe just since last Monday..."

"Either way, you want a handsome and efficient workspace..."

"I heard about these Perf Boxes from organizational guru John Trosko.  They come premade and rotate independently of one another."

Link to the 9/29 New York Magazine table of contents

Link to the Best Bests column

Link to John's mention on page 66

Check out the mention in it's entirety on The Experts' Media site

Buy the Experts' book on Amazon.com

Perf Boxes image courtesy Design Public

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Carolyne Roehm Sure Knows How To Organize An Office

One of the more notable contributors to our new book, The Experts' Guide to Doing Things Faster:  100 Ways to Make Life More Efficient, is Carolyne Roehm.

Carolyne Roehm is a celebrated American hostess, designer, and author of numerous books ranging from fashion to flowers.  She is quite notable for her garden "notebooks."  Answers.com has a wonderful bio you can read here.  Her newest book, A Passion for Blue and White, will be in bookstores the same day the Experts' Guide comes out, October 28th.

Roehm has an unusual website where she not only shares her tips for better living, but offers wedding ideas, gifts, favors, beautiful papers, luxury ribbons and more-- all for sale.  Her CRStyle Magazine from this past summer offers a glimpse into her unique style.  We discovered an office organizing piece she wrote in 2006.  We feel like we're on organizing crack.  Just beautiful.  Take a look:

Carolyne calls this "order in the house."  She's organizing her office here, including scrap-booking supplies, ribbons, wrapping paper and stationery.  We call it incredible.

"Every office space should be good-looking and functional. You will be more likely to keep it orderly."  What do you think of these red folders?  Is this something you can do in your own home?

We adore these navy boxes (clients know we're suckers for anything nautical blue.)  Not sure where the boxes are from.  Do you know?  They may be from the now defunt Hold Everything or West Elm.  Notice how Carolyne balances beauty with functionality.  This shot may be staged, but can't you picture yourself reaching for a photo box and getting the scent of those orchids?

You can check out these pictures, and about two dozen stylish workspace organizing tips on her site by clicking here.  You can also sign up for her mailings, which reminded us to write this piece.

Carolyne will be providing her expertise to The Experts' Guide to Doing Things Faster with a chapter on making the process of writing thank you notes more efficient.

Buy:

A Passion for Blue and White, by Carolyne Roehm

Related Posts:

Contributing authors to our book

 

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