OrganizingLA Blog

How The Big Boys Organize Their Resistors

There is an interesting New Year conversation going on at the All About Circuits forum.

 

Members are knocking around getting their electronic resistor parts under control for the New Year.  Guys have to get organized and it's not always about hunting gear you know?

 

If you're into tinkering with electronics this winter, you probably get tired of buying what you need each time, and choose to start a supply area or "kit" as some call it.

 

But as one reader says, "when you have over 150 different resistors, how do you store them? Shelves really do take too much space, and can be hard to maintain. Lord help you if you drop one and scatter the contents to the 4 winds." The parts can be very, very small.

 

Box Your Bicycle and Become Bespoken

A bicycle may be the most awkward item to store in the home.

There is a whole industry of organized solutions for two-wheelers. From hanging them on the wall with hooks, stands on the floor, pulley systems to hoist. Bikes can also indeed be a safety hazard if they are not properly stored out of garage foot traffic not to mention the little ones looking for adventure. Here is a neat idea a West Hollywood client turned us onto: a folding bike and a custom bike trunk. Purchase them seperately.

Folding Bikes from Brompton:

UK-based Brompton crafts amazing high quality fold-able bikes (30 seconds to fold!). The company ships them to Canada and the United States.

Bike Trunks from Pinel & Pinel:

Pinel & Pinel, a high-end French company (think 1930's ocean liner elegance and usefulness) created these custom bike trunks (and actually, a slew of other amazing trunks on their website-- so check them out). Wood and leather combined with nickel and brass plated latches steer your way into organized bike bliss in over 51 colors.

Now we just have to actually use the bike.

Images courtesy Rarified and Pinel & Pinel.

Related Posts:

Take a cruise and plan your storage

How to organize your car, be more productive

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Does Your Storage Look Stylish?

My friend Denise Wakeman is an avid runner and snaps all these great photos when she is out and about in Los Angeles.

At night and on the weekend, Denise closes the door to her online marketing advisory company (she's also our business blog coach), and runs all over the city for fun, and on occasion, enjoying half-marathons. This weekend she posted some shots around the Hollywood Hills, the original Mullholland Hwy, Lake Hollywood and the Hollywood sign.

Denise posted this picture of a garage door somewhere near Lake Hollywood- and we loved it so much we had to share it. We're not sure if the design was painted, printed or transferred. But isn't it marvelous? Reminds us of the garage door we discovered in Beverly Hills, with glass doors.

Check out Denise Wakeman, Founder of the BlogSquad, where you can see more pictures of her exploits this past weekend.

Do you have a garage door in your neighborhood that's particularly amusing? Let us know about it in the comment section below.

Related Posts:

Karl Rove's cluttered garage

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Simple Succcessful Strategies for Holiday Organizing

If you're anything like us, you have vowed each year after Thanksgiving that this year, this holiday season, you are going to plan the holidays right.

You're going to get totally, absolutely organized. Your cards will be in the mail early, gifts purchased and wrapped on time, decorations will be adorning your fireplace and your guest rooms will be ready and willing to take on your beloved relatives.

Ah, yes, in a perfect world.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday may have come and gone, but we have to remind you (as much as we remind ourselves) that getting organized for the holidays does not have to be a daunting task. To help this, we've asked our friends on Facebook and Twitter to send us their holiday organizing tips. We received so many tips and tricks we couldn't fit them all in one post, so look for more tips in the upcoming weeks.

Letter to the Editor - Westways Magazine

Southern California AAA "Westways" Magazine published a simple yet effective one-page article on garage organizing in the September issue.

The piece profiled how to actually get started and what to do with all the stuff left over.  We especially liked the paragraph on making the garage look better by not just plopping your junk back in the corner, but actually creating systems for effective storage.

We could not locate the article online, but here is the magazine cover and a link to some of the articles.

Bravo to the the author!  She mentioned the National Association of Professional Organizers and opportunities for hiring organizers.   Because the magazine serves SoCal, we'd thought we'd write a quick letter to remind the editors of the two official NAPO chapters here in the region.  Many thanks to Claire Flannery, our colleague here in Los Angeles who helped us proof the letter:

"Dear Westways Editor, It was refreshing to read Brenda Tabor’s excellent September piece, “Take Back Your Garage.” We Southern Californians are known by the cars we drive but our cars are only as good as the garages that house them. A messy garage often needs outside help."

"Bravo to Brenda for mentioning the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) but she neglected to let your readers know that there are actually two local NAPO chapters right here in Southern California - one in Los Angeles (www.napola.org) and another in San Diego (www.naposandiego.com). Either website can help locate a professional organizer to clear out the clutter and get the car back into the garage where it belongs."

John Trosko, President, NAPO Los Angeles

Related Posts:

• L.A. Times forgot professional organizers

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How To Organize Your Hunting Gear

Living in an urban "oasis" like Southern California takes us away from a popular hobby-- hunting.

The closest to hunting some of us will ever get is to drive our Camo Hummer down to the Santa Monica Airport for the annual Barney's Warehouse Sale.  Bargain hunting galore.  You take your life in your own hands though in the parking lot across the street from Barker Hanger.

But growing up on the East Coast, you had to keep your eyes peeled for real hunters.  And there was the annual take-home, where a large piece of venison would be stuffed into the freezer for our mother to later disguise it as beef, or something we'd surely eat.

But if you are into hunting (or even fishing), you probably realize that all the gizmos and gadgets needed to effectively pursue your hobby could get into the way of having a good time.  Just look at the picture below.  Stores sure make it easy to purchase all that gear, but never show you how to actually store it so you can find it when you need it.