Month: July 2005

July 16, 2005

10 OrganizingLA Tips for Disaster Preparedness

The winter rains in Southern California marked the second wettest year on record. With the rains, came the slides.

And unfortunately, the slides continue to this day.

While traveling back from a business organizing client last week, I snapped this shot traveling up Laurel Canyon Boulevard just below Mullholland Drive. The Studio City house sits in a seemingly abandoned state, which makes this Professional Organizer think the owners were not properly prepared for a disaster.

Disaster can strike quickly and without warning. It can force you to evacuate your neighborhood or confine you to your home. What would you do if basic services–water, gas, electricity or telephones–were cut off? Local officials and relief workers will be on the scene after a disaster, but they cannot reach everyone right away. Therefore, the best way to make your family and your home safer is to organize before disaster strikes. Here are 10 simple disaster preparedness tips from John Trosko, Professional Organizer and President, of OrganizingLA:

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July 16, 2005

Business Tips, Home & Home Office Tips
July 16, 2005

OrganizingLA Interview – LA Times: A Handy Holiday Switch; Holiday Outsourcing

Hot Fun in the Summertime.

Summer conjures up images of grabbing breakfast at the Rose Cafe in Venice without a sweater, strolling the shops in Malibu’s Cross Creek Road in your Rafe Striped Espadrilles, snagging a Dominique Duval Gardenia Barrette at Fred Segal Beauty in Santa Monica and enjoying the airy labyrinth of Southern California Freeways in between.

But summer doesn’t make you think of organizing your Christmas or Hanukkah decorations.

But for a Professional Organizer, it does.

Summer for a smart Client, is a great time to pull all your Holiday deco out, make the necessary decisions on what to keep, what to purge and get guidance in order to make smart choices on the very best storage options. Not surprising, many clients we see store their precious Christopher Radko ornaments in garbage bags. We can change that.

Last December, John Trosko and OrganizingLA were interviewed by David Haldane and the Los Angeles Times for an interesting trend among Southern Californians: outsourcing their Holiday tasks. Help is on the way…

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July 16, 2005

Interviews & TV Spots
July 14, 2005

Never Too Soon To Start Packing

It’s been duly noted in Los Angeles folklore that at one time or another, everyone has lived, or has known someone that has lived "off Sweetzer."

The beautiful, 1930’s-era, 3-story apartment buildings and bungalows located in West Hollywood (and near the new City Hall) house entertainment creatives, interior designers, fashionistas and artists. Over 38,000 people live in this 1.9 square mile city, the second largest concentration of people outside of Manhattan.

Saturdays and Sundays on the street are a not-so-careful and hurried orchestration of moving vans, orange parking cones, double-parked cars, tape guns, packing blankets, wardrobe boxes as well as front lawn tag sales– all sorts of Angelinos moving in or moving out while they move up or down our social ladders.

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July 14, 2005

Business Tips, Home & Home Office Tips, Techniques to Tackle
July 11, 2005

Organized Gardens & Gazpacho

My father, Serge, is an amazing, well-organized Gardener. At over 80-years old, he still grows delicious tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers and green beans in his small New Jersey town. The asparagus, once a mainstay, is now too bitter to eat. There are even some wild strawberries thrown in for good measure and a compost heap as tall as as the Hollywood Sign.

But my father is very protective about his vegetable garden. He doesn’t allow me to step into it unsupervised even now as I am a full-grown adult. As a teenager, I’d sneak into the garden and grab summer’s best and make some gazpacho for a quick lunch. But there was no sneaking this weekend, because I treated myself and my friend Denise to a Garden Tour with Olive Branches, a non-profit organization dedicated to greening the landscape of Los Angeles.

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July 11, 2005

Demystifying the Professional Organizer Experience
July 10, 2005

Guys and Galleys: How Men Organize The Kitchen
It's hard to pin down time to get an entire room organized.

But for a room most of us spend time in– the kitchen– it's surprising how little time we spend keeping it all in check. Here's a terrific example of some of our work, circa 2005.

Before OrganizingLA:

After OrganizingLA:

By starting small, you'll find new organizers will work so well in the galley cabinet that you'll want to try sequels in other rooms. It's a perfect ending to clutter with a limited time investment. Study these before/after pictures in a typical condominium kitchen located in the Hills above the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California.

Want this look?

OrganizingLA used Sterilite Ultraseal Dry Food Containers, Old Thompson Stainless Spice Jars as well as labels by the Dymo LetraTAG (in white plastic and black lettering for easy cleaning– easy reading.) Expandable stairstep shelf organizer at the Container Store. The 1930's yachting sugar canisters were from the owner's personal collection and discovered on eBay.

Related Posts:
- Superstar Labelmaker, Dymo LetraTag
- Sunset Strip Before – After Kitchen Pictures
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July 10, 2005

Butler’s Pantry, Home & Home Office Tips, Kitchen, Popular Products, Projects with Potential, Techniques to Tackle
July 10, 2005

Hiring a Professional Organizer

Professional Organizers orchestrate and advise on the sometimes monumental task of organizing a home, home office, or business. A Professional Organizer can be a big help to anyone, but not everybody needs one.

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July 10, 2005

Business Tips, Demystifying the Professional Organizer Experience, Superlative Services