CLUTTERFREEREVOLUTION

When it comes to your family’s bottom line, I usually head for the kitchen. When you can see your food inventory at a glance, you’ll save money at the market. Creating a few simple systems around the food in your kitchen will help save time and money and help create practical spaces for storage and food prep. Like everything else, I recommend the Intentional Interiors’ three-step method: 1) purge, 2) organize and 3) refresh. With only a few hours of focused intention, your ki

It’s apparent that the ‘powers that be’ are not telling us everything there is to know. Our history is filled with horrific examples of the depths to which humans will go to acquire and hold power over perceived competitors. It is undeniable; our evolution as a species is squarely focused on the subjugation, eradication and domination of others. Those who serve as shepherds of integrity and kindness survive as beacons of hope and inspiration. But time and again, no matter the

Juniper was only three months old on her second real camping trip. My parents drove up from Phoenix for my first Father’s Day weekend and met us in the Lincoln Creek campground 11 miles outside of Aspen, Colorado. My dad and I went paragliding off Aspen Mountain; our women nervously watched us soar overhead and greeted us in a grassy field off North Star Preserve like soldiers home from war. That weekend we brought mountain bikes, climbing gear, a small raft, coolers, a guita

There are some things we know we do well. These things don’t feel like work, even when they require considerable effort. These things are fun and usually have inspiring effect on ourselves and those around us. These things spark curiosity, creativity and resolve. Business psychologist, Miriam Meima, describes these things as an individual’s unique genius. I have discovered that my unique genius is connecting individuals around some cooperative effort. For me, there’s nothing

Twice a year my family takes an inventory of our immediate assets. I don’t mean our investment portfolio. I’m talking about immediate access to life-preserving essentials: water, food, warmth, light, and basic first aid. The stuff we take for granted until we’re up the proverbial creek. We have seen alarming trends demonstrating how vulnerable we are to circumstances beyond our control. We’ve grown accustomed to relying on others to respond on our behalf. We’ve become so dist

As a professional organizer, I spend a lot of time helping clients clear out, clean up, get organized, and beautify their living spaces. Well-intentioned clients hoping not to be wasteful convince themselves that hoarding their old stuff is infinitely better than sending items to the dump. We all do it. Unsure how to dispose of our junk, we inevitably end up slaves to the stuff we care least about. Not all dumps are created equal. Communities across the country are improving

I’m writing this from a partially reclined hospital bed on the lavish fourth floor of Valley View Hospital – on Thanksgiving Day. As I lay here with an intravenous antibiotic drip and a team of talented medical professionals tenderly attending my every need, I think about the deeper meaning of what I’m really doing here. The French poet Antoine de Saint-Exupery famously penned ‘perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to ta

Early in high school, I remember a writing assignment that required an in depth narrative for why and how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich as if educating an extraterrestrial being, entirely unfamiliar with life on planet Earth. We were to approach this project as if the very survival of the planet hung on the successful delivery of our detailed, comprehensive explanation. Regardless of the details of our particular recipe, our account had to be both persuasive and

As humans, most of us don’t take action until our pain becomes intolerable. Any of the following caricatures sound familiar? The stuff in your space has taken over your life. You are drowning in things you don’t want, like or need. The useless and irrelevant has cluttered your spaces to the extent that you no longer feel inspired to take corrective action on your own behalf. No matter where you look, you feel overloaded, disorganized, and dispassionate. You procrastinate and

‘Storage’ is a specific concept with an ambiguous definition. Simply, it’s a means to hold something for future use. Without further description, that’s pretty vague – and when I work with my clients around their personal and professional storage systems, it shows. Clarifying what is worth storing and how has an important impact on understanding why we hold onto things in the first place. People tend to dump and cram ‘items for future use’ anywhere they can – without very muc

Sooner or later, we will have a great idea worthy of sharing with someone else. When marketing products or services, it’s called content. People presenting themselves to potential employers construct a resume. When educators instruct, it’s called curriculum. Expanded ideas become a platform. Call it what you will, creating compelling content is all about simplicity, clarity and enough inspiration and relevance to inspire authentic ownership and purposeful action. I’m a holist

I recently saw a woman wearing a t-shirt sadly affirming, “I can’t brain today. I have the dumb.” I can relate, but at the time, I couldn’t decide if I was amused or offended. I’m sure I’ve learned somewhere that it’s impolite to make assumptions about a person solely on the basis of the captions on her clothes. But then it occurred to me that this shirt resonated with her enough to broadcast her ill-fated condition openly, as much an admission of guilt as a plea for understa

I adore Dwell magazine for its brash architectural minimalism, unapologetically touting simple interiors with organizational innovation and sparse design sensibility. As a professional organizer, I live in clutter. Most workdays are spent meticulously toiling in the closets, garages, hallways, playrooms, bedrooms, living rooms, home offices, kitchens, and messy spaces of my local client base. Sifting through endless piles of stuff, sorting what stays from what goes – Dwell is

There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who eat to live and those who live to eat. The difference between us is the inspiration to enhance life through the divine creation and shared enjoyment of phenomenal food. Open your fridge. What do you see? The Uninspired Wretch This person sees a can of beer, a jar of peanut butter, a dusty shelf of ketchup packets and crusty salad dressings, a soggy tuna fish sandwich wrapped in plastic-wrap, a cold chicken leg, and a Chine

I don’t care what anyone says, health and happiness start in the kitchen. De-cluttering and streamlining your kitchen is a great way to implement new habits that will have a positive impact on other areas of your life. These are my top 4 “Do Nows” for creating a stylish, finely tuned kitchen that inspires healthier, happier living: 1. Find other homes for everything on your countertops. These spaces are best reserved for food preparation. Clearing your counter clutter starts