OrganizingLA Blog

Space Challenged New Yorkers Pour Their Personal Funds Into Rental Homes

Space-challenged Manhattanites are pouring money into post-war rental apartments instead of buying, according to a recent article in the New York Times.

The availability of units in Manhattan stands about 1%, and people are finding that they don't mind investing as little as $5,000-- or as much as $100,000 in a rental, to upgrade various ammeneties, accommodate art and antiques, and house extensive collections of shoes.  One even attempted to install a lap pool.

"Ms. Miller, a public relations executive, said she had spent about $4,500 to paint every room of her apartment, to replace the generic light fixtures with ones more to her liking, to retrofit three walk-in closets for her collection of vin tage clothes and to build a closet for her 200-plus pairs of shoes."

• New York Times: Sinking Your Money Into a Rental, by Vivien S. Toy

Photo above courtesy Tina Fineberg for the New York Times and Manfred's Travel Pictures

Thanks to Scott Roewer of Solutions by Scott for forwarding this story!

Related Posts:

• A stunning way to organize your stillettoes (10/06)
• Luggage-free travel, with New York's Garde Robe service

Showcase The Organized Hose

There's been a lot of news lately about hose.  Since we doubt anyone would want to hear about our opinion on the subject, may we turn your attention to a hose of a different kind?

The new Smith and Hawken mini-catalog just arrived, full of great garden ideas, including these neat hose pots, hose hangers and hose guides.  The hose we refer to today is the one that carries water to a flower garden, vegetables or the lawn.

Plant your feet in this season's organized garden and enjoy what some call a tedious task (but you know better, don'tcha?)

Boundaries are good, sometimes.  These pineapple hose guides (left) stick in the ground, strategically around flower beds to avoid the hose from flattening your hard work, or slipping into the muddy dirt.

Water, it does a garden good.  This hammered copper hose pot (right) shimmers in the spring sun.  A convenient hole in the side and a generous shape allows for easy wrangling.

The long (or the short) of it.  This iron hose hanger (left) mounts on the side of the garage, or on the guest house wall and holds 100-feet of hose.

Readers, we'd love to know what's going on with your spring garden.  We've written about our experiences last year, but what about you?

 

Blueprint Magazine Gives Us No Excuses To Keep Clutter

Do not read this post if you feel you can't get rid of anything, you're stubborn, difficult, and you'd never, ever, want any clear cut reasons and resources to talk you out of the things you no longer love nor use.

Ashtrays Become The Hot New (Functional) Collectible

Non-smokers are buying ashtrays like crazy, not for their butts, butt for their new quirky collectible value.

We never considered the ashtray a high-flying collectible and we hardly see any in our client's homes.  According to an article in Saturday's Ocala (Florida) Star- Banner, the generally low prices (many sell for under $10 bucks) are making the vintage pieces hot again.

What's fueling this trend?  An ashtray is unusually functional.  Once cleaned, the ashtrays can retire your spare change, keys, a watch or even paper-clips in the home office.

""As smoking has become less socially acceptable, an interesting little niche market has developed," he said. Ashtrays are "small, easy to display and still quite reasonably priced." While special ashtrays can sell for several hundred dollars, many are available for under $10."

"Some customers still buy ashtrays for smoking, said [antique store] owner Peter Vento. "If you have mod-looking stuff, you want an ashtray to match the decor." Others use them as a receptacle for loose change or keys."

Check out Kim Palmer's article, originally published in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune.

Old Chicago and Southern Airlines Art Deco plane ashtray picture courtesy eBay and seller Juddworld

What collectibles do you think will be hot in the future?

Buckets and Bucket Shelving from Pottery Barn

Today, we discovered these terrific wall-mounted pails in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog.

The galvanized metal hides dirt, and withstands dragging or dropping (for the most part) making these ideal for kid's toy, art supplies and game storage.  We'd use them for Legos, Barbie dolls or beanie babies.  Comes in red, navy, light green or light pink.  What's so neat is that the buckets can be personalized with a name or message, up to 12 characters.

Can you see these buckets in another room in the house, besides the kid's room?  How would you use them?

Covenant House California Youth Awards Gala on April 26th - We're Participating

OrganizingLA is proud to be donating a substantial silent auction item to the 8th Annual Covenant with Youth Award Dinner Gala in Beverly Hills on Thursday, April 26th.

The Beverly Hilton Hotel event, hosted by Drew Lachey, will celebrate "those who gave through their generous acts of service to the community and their daring artistic decisions."  Honorees include Dean and Shannon Factor of Smashbox Enterprises; Pursuit of Happyness producers, Todd Black and Jason Blumenthal; and actor Andy Garcia.  Ginger Atherton, Lloyd Segel, Harvey Warren and Christophe Choo serve on the committee.

Covenant House California provides services to over 10,000 at-risk, homeless and runaway youth including street outreach, emergency shelter, health care, legal services, vocational preparation and drug treatment programs.  The agency's administration and program offices are based in Hollywood.

Tickets for the Gala are $350.  Sponsorships are available.  We're traveling to Minneapolis that week and sadly can't attend.  But we encourage attendees to bid on our day of office organizing package, valued at $1000.00.

Related Posts:

• Ronald McDonald House Fries and Wine Event
• OrganizingLA Joins In To Organize Local LA Charity