Category: Butler’s Pantry

January 21, 2014

Supermarkets Were Born in California: Modern Life Was Never The Same

Ralphs' Grocery Company in Southern California originated the modern day supermarket. This one, from 1928, once stood at Wilshire and Hauser Blvd.

This afternoon I shopped for dinner groceries at Ralphs in Los Angeles' Miracle Mile. The store, while large with subterranean parking and several floors is no match for the Ralphs I've seen in other less congested areas of the city (those other stores are just massive). However, the abundance in view at any of these stores is always phenomenal. It's no surprise that many of today's modern kitchens, food and butler pantries have been overrun with "things" that clutter up our lives due to the ease of shopping and availability of goods all under one roof.

But believe it or not there was a time when large brick and mortar "supermarket" stores did not exist, and shopping carts were not even imagined.

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January 21, 2014

Butler’s Pantry, Celebrity Organization, Kitchen
May 11, 2013

Can Something Pretty Make You Want To Do Housework?

If there is one thing we've learned running a professional organizing business it's that the right tool can get the job done. And an even better tool is one that you can leave out for display, or hang up in plain sight for easy access so it no only looks good, but functions well too.

This week I fell in love with this bamboo ironing board from Welm Elm on Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles. If you know me, I pretty much hate ironing anything other than pillow cases, cocktail napkins, tea towels, shams and placemats (anything flat and manageable). But I think this board will want to make me want to iron more and more. And it's a relative bargain at $79.99. If you add a chef's stripe ironing board cover @ $19.00 – you will have a look that adds affordable functional style in traditional homes, Victorian-style, Spanish Renaissance, beach home, Colonial, Craftsman (you get the point).

West Elm continues to stock great organizing and homekeeping products that they inherited when Hold Everything home organization store closed down in 2006. Check out these pictures.

This stylish ironing board features solid bamboo legs and a Fibertech® top made from natural plant fiber waste.

High quality homekeeping products can make chores more fun!

When working with clients we try to incorporate some style in the client's necessary functional activities and storage. And all the better if we can move away from plastic containers into wood (yea, I am obsessed with wood organizing boxes and storage pieces).

Take for instance my own bathroom. I repurposed these 1970's Maxwell House freeze-dried glass coffee jars in the bathroom to hold wooden Q-tips, cotton balls, cotton pads and wood toothbrushes (the last container was empty so I added some sea shells). The canisters sit on the shelf and they're not only maritime chic, they're are functional (and yes, we had to scrub these jars for an hour, they were previously used in a garage in Sierra Madre to hold nuts, bolts and drill bits!)

These re-purposed freeze-dried coffee canister sit on my bathroom shelves. They're not only pretty but functional too…something important to me personally and when working with clients.

So you can see from my Instagram picture post, when you incorporate looks and function, you might get a bonus: a burst of extra energy to tackle life's little details and complete your ironing (or any little chore) faster. And then we can move on to more important things like friends, family and Spring time fun.

Now is your chance to sound off:

What products do you like to have around you? Do stylish products really help you get the job done more efficiently? Let us know here in the comment section or you can tweet us @johntrosko on Twitter. You can also check me out on Instagram.

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May 11, 2013

Butler’s Pantry, Closets – Utility, Fabulous Finds, Home & Home Office Tips, Techniques to Tackle
September 9, 2011

Our Food Safety Post – The Conversation Continues

Our food safety post from August 15th got some interesting comments from Facebook.

We'd like to share one of them with you:

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September 9, 2011

Butler’s Pantry, Kitchen, Recycling
August 15, 2011

Avoid Going Psycho: Make Food Safety a Priority and Check Expiration Dates
Having a beautiful, accessible, abundant food pantry is the goal of every one of our organizing clients.

That is why while organizing and decluttering client's kitchens, refrigerators and food pantries around Los Angeles we make it a point to check the expiration dates of canned and other convenience foods throughout the spaces. Food safety is and should continue to be a priority for you and your family. It's important for us, it should be important to you. Please check yours. Do it now!

Why check your dates?

Depending on where you live, more and more people have year-round access to fresh vegetables and fruit through our modern distribution network. Unfortunately with the availability of these fresh food items, some clients purchase canned goods, packaged foods and beverages in containers and forget about them for quite some time. In the hustle and bustle of daily life, we neglect to regularly check expiration dates on these foods inside the pantry including spices. This can lead to spoilage and food-borne illness just waiting to happen, especially when canned goods and jars are stored in the basement or garage and you forget about them.

Don't go Psycho:

Now, imagine Lila (Vera Miles) is not screaming because she just discovered a mummified Mrs. Bates in the psychological thriller Psycho basement scene. She just got a glimpse of some of the expiration dates on canning jars behind her in the fruit cellar. Don't let this happen to you.

Rescue yourself:

Fortunately, you don't need a professional organiser to help rescue you from bad expiration dates, you can save yourself. The American Dietetic Association has some tips for you not only when storing, but buying canned food goods:
- Avoid buying canned goods that show signs of bulging, denting or leaking;
- Throw away any canned goods in your pantry with similar signs of bulging, denting or leaking;
- Store canned goods in a cool, dry place–not above the oven or under the sink;
- As a general rule, canned goods can be kept up to 12 months unopened;
- Clean cans before opening them to avoid contamination of contents.
More tips on food safety for deli meats, frozen foods, dried and cured meats are located here. Here are some more toss tips when the power goes out in an emergency.

What food safety tips can you share with our readers?

For helping spread the word about the importance of home food safety, I was entered into a drawing for a $15 Starbucks gift card and an iPad through Summertime Food Smarts, a contest run by the American Dietetic Association and ConAgra Foods' Home Food Safety program. Home Food Safety is dedicated to raising consumer awareness about the seriousness of foodborne illness and providing solutions for easily and safely handling foods. Learn more at www.homefoodsafety.org.

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August 15, 2011

Butler’s Pantry, Celebrity Organization, Food and Drink, Kitchen
December 18, 2010

How Brad Pitt Convinced Me to Sell My Silver—and Simplify My Life

Read one woman's inspiring account of how Brad Pitt inspired her to sell, survive, and surf into a simpler life.

Originally published in the May/June, 2008 issue of Organize Magazine, OrganizingLA has received exclusive permission to publish this essay by author Melissa Stanton. A former senior editor at People Magazine, Stanton wrote The Stay-at-Home Survival Guide: Field-tested strategies for staying smart, sane, and connected while caring for your kids, published by Seal Press/Perseus Books. She has never personally met the actor.

"While Brad Pitt’s “small pile of clothes” ideal isn’t fully achievable for me—nor, I expect, for him—the thought of it has helped lighten my load."

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December 18, 2010

Butler’s Pantry, Celebrity Organization, Home & Home Office Tips
October 27, 2008

Organizing Emergency: How To Find A Lazy Susan

Henia Bodalski, a New Jersey interior designer and owner of Design Studio Interiors wrote the following question recently and agreed to have us feature it here on the OrganizingLA Blog.

"While looking through Better Homes & Garden, March 2008 issue and reading the "Vanity Fair" article on page 62, OrganizingLA endorsed a quick turnaround, Lazy Susan-style turntable in the photo. I also loved the under the sink door organizer.

Can you forward the manufacture of these products? It’s exactly what I’ve been in pursuit for an interior design client."

Hi Henia!

You've now only discovered the Holy Grail of organizing? We did not choose the products in the photos for the Better Homes and Gardens piece. However, the turntable in the vanity was from Target. We like it too for the sleek, stainless steel sides. The unit might have a rubber or coating on the top and may not or may not be from Michael Graves. A quick look at Target.com did not turn up anything that looked like this under the search terms lazy susan, turntable, or Michael Graves. But I think they have these in the stores usually in the housewares department.

KangaRoom Storage(pictures right) makes the door organizer. The item was not on their website when the BH&G piece was published. We could not find it, but here it is.

You can also get something similar to these items at the Container Store. If you are in New Jersey, the Cherry Hill location is closer than Paramus. I know you can get them direct from Rubbermaid,too. Lazy Susans come in several sizes, wood, plastic, marble, metal, copper and that means also a variety of price points. Kangaroom makes the only real cool door organizer that we know of.

image courtesy Stacks and Stacks and KangaRoom Storage

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October 27, 2008

Butler’s Pantry