Professional Organizer Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland Scott Roewer's organizing blog DeClutterYou » VideoBlog

Barefoot Week With Soles4Souls 2011 – How You Can Participate

DeClutterYou — Tue, 31 May 2011 00:24:12 +0000

Today, marks the beginning of Soles4Souls’ National Barefoot Week 2011. In short, it’s a week where thousands of people across the country are joining the cause, raising awareness about the millions of people, world-wide that go barefoot, and doing something about it. As a part of the week, Soles4Souls is distributing over 50,000 pairs of shoes in several cities across the United States.

As many of you know, I traveled with Soles4Souls in January 2011 to distribute shoes to children in Haiti. It was absolutely a life-changing experience. As I see it, with most charities, your funds go in their doors and you never realize the impact your support may provide. This is how Soles4Souls is unique as a charity. With the Travel4Souls opportunity, I was able to experience the extreme need in Haiti. Not simply through photos, or a video, but I was there! I gave sweat equity in carrying shoe boxes to the distribution sites, I jumped rope with children living in orphanages, and I washed the feet of children who received shoes from Soles4Souls. I participated in making a difference and I was a direct witness how they’re impacting and changing lives. I look forward to going back. I plan to travel again in January 2012 with a group of professional organizers.

Although this video doesn’t really do it justice, it does capture the need for shoes and the joy of the people that receive them:

If you’ve ever wanted to be a part of something greater than yourself, I highly encourage you to think about going on a trip. You can find out complete information as well as a list of their upcoming trips by visiting their website.

Visiting the Soles4Souls blog, I was able to read about their exiting events for Barefoot week. Here’s just a few.

“National Barefoot Day,” which will take place on Wednesday, June 1, 2011, will kick off various events across the country.Our first U.S. distribution of 2011 Barefoot Week will take place in Detroit.

On “Barefoot Thursday,” June 2, Soles4Souls Founder & CEO Wayne Elsey and staff will go barefoot as well as challenge all members of the press to go barefoot for at least four consecutive hours during the week and report on its effects to their viewers. Thursday’s distribution will be happening in St. Louis.

For “Barefoot Friday,” June 3, folks in need in the Boston area will receive shoes.

“Barefoot Saturday” and “Barefoot Sunday,” June 4 and 5, offers unique opportunities for congregations to remove their shoes and walk out of worship services barefoot. The efforts of participating congregations will go toward helping put shoes on the feet of barefoot children around the world. Visit www.barefootsunday.com to learn more.

On “Barefoot Monday,” June 6, we will be in Los Angeles delivering shoes and on “Barefoot Tuesday,” June 7th, we will head south to Atlanta to deliver footwear.

THIS WEEK, I would challenge you to tell at least one person about Soles4Souls. They’ve even provided you with a list of 10 ways you can help spread the word about the 300 million children around the world who’ve never owned a pair of shoes.

Which will you do? Please share your selection in the comments section below and join me and Soles4Souls to accomplish their mission of changing the world, one pair at a time.

Closet Organizing – How to Install an elfa® Closet

DeClutterYou — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:35:29 +0000

I work with elfa® frequently and find it rather easy to install. The product is affordable, very sturdy, and flexible enough to use in most any space. If you enjoy simple, do-it yourself type projects, this how-to video demonstrates how you can install your own elfa® closet system from The Container Store. This is the eighth video in a nine-part series on how to organize your closet like a pro.

Be sure to review the seventh video in this series, where I explained the closet parts, tools, and important safety considerations.

What’s your biggest challenge in your bedroom closets?

Here are the previous videos in this how-to series.

Organizing Your Closet – A How-To Series
Organizing Your Closet – Measuring and Planning Your New Closet
Closet Organizing – Removing the Old Closet
Closet Organizing – How to Sort & Downsize Your Closet Clutter
Closet Organizing – Sorting & Storing Your Linens
Closet Organizing – Sorting & Organizing Your Clothes
Closet Organization – Steps to Install an elfa® Closet System

Closet Organization – Steps to Install an elfa® Closet System

DeClutterYou — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 21:50:45 +0000

We’re excited so many of you have been following this how-to closet organizing video series. Now that we’ve sorted all the ‘stuff’ from the closet, and removed the closet system that wasn’t working, we are ready to begin installing the new elfa® system from The Container Store.

In this video, I’ll show you the tools necessary to install the closet, explain the various hardware pieces, and share with you a few safety concerns. This is a 3 minute video and it is the seventh in a series of nine videos.

If you have questions about any of the tools, or hardware, please do let me know. The eighth video will actually show the step-by-step process to install the closet. Installing an elfa® closet is an easy, DIY project for most anyone.

If you’re considering purchasing an elfa® closet, you can download this coupon and use it before July 12, 2009 to save 25%!

Here are the previously posted videos in the how-to organize your closet series.

Organizing Your Closet – A How-To Series

Organizing Your Closet – Measuring and Planning Your New Closet

Closet Organizing – Removing the Old Closet

Closet Organizing – How to Sort & Downsize Your Closet Clutter

Closet Organizing – Sorting & Storing Your Linens

Closet Organizing – Sorting & Organizing Your Clothes

DeClutterYou — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:47:45 +0000

How many times have you said, “my closet just isn’t big enough”? Well the truth of the matter is, your closet is probably large enough, you simply have too much stuff! I’ve worked in a few hundred closets, and I find people use the wrong accessories to store their clothes, and don’t take the time to fold or hang items. Instead, they shove the clothes on shelves and expect their clothes to not be damage, wrinkle free, and they expect to find a ready to wear outfit in a timely manner.

In this fifth video of my “how to organize your closet like a pro” series, I’ll demonstrate the steps you can follow to sort your clothes. I also talk about the proper types of hangers to use, and how to avoid some common mistakes people make in their closets. Watching this video may just save your favorite outfit from damage!

I’ve previously posted five videos in this series. To view the other posts, please visit the links below. If you have any clothes storage tips you’d like to share, please comment below.

Organizing Your Closet – A How-To Series

Organizing Your Closet – Measuring and Planning Your New Closet

Closet Organizing – Removing the Old Closet

Closet Organizing – How to Sort & Downsize Your Closet Clutter

Closet Organizing – Sorting & Organizing Your Linens

Organizing Your Closet – Sorting and Storing Your Linens

DeClutterYou — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:36:52 +0000

This is the fifth video in a nine-part series of “How to Organize Your Closet Like a Pro” and we’ll take a look at organizing your linens.

I love living in the city. However, with city life, you often find a lack of storage space. In this home, there was a lack of closet storage. So the homeowner decided to store sheets, towels, blankets, tablecloths, and material in his master bedroom closet. As you can imagine, the closet was over flowing!

In this 4 minute video, I demonstrate the basic steps you can follow to sort your household linens. Because this homeowner was short on space, we had to find a new home for the towels. In order to redistribute them to another area of the home, I suggested we add a shelf in the linen closet/laundry room conveniently located outside the main bathroom. By adding a shelf here, we were able to move the bath towels closer to the bathroom. Several old blankets were donated, and we used large sweater bags from The Container Store to keep items clean and organized in the closet. Finally, we made use of the space under his bed and stored some of the linens that were not frequently used in the Underbed Containers from The Container Store.

Do you have a creative way you store linens? How many blankets and sheets do you think you should have for each bed in your home? Please share your comments below.

If you’ve missed the first four videos in this how-to video series, please review these posts. If you have any questions about the process, or if you get stuck, please let us know by leaving a comment below.

Organizing Your Closet – A How-To Series

Organizing Your Closet – Measuring and Planning Your New Closet

Closet Organizing – Removing the Old Closet

Closet Organizing – How to Sort & Downsize Your Closet Clutter

DeClutterYou — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:00:45 +0000

This is the fourth video in a nine-part series of “How to Organize Your Closet Like a Pro”. In this 5 minute video, I’ll show you how a professional organizer sorts through clutter found in a closet. Treasurers buried in this closet include an old “Born To Kvetch” desk calendar, tons of stationary, $150 of new gift cards, unopened mail, magazines, unused electronics, trash, you name it! We’ll sort these items into suggested three categories; Keep, Donate, and Trash. The homeowner will need to review the piles we’ve sorted and make the final decisions on what items he’ll keep. The bottom line, most of what we found in the various bins did not belong in his bedroom closet.

Additionally, in this video, I highlight a photo scanning service called, Scan My Photos. They’ll scan approximately 2000, 4″ x 6″ photos at 300 DPI and return them to you with a DVD of the images for $124.95. Check here for the full details on this service. Scan My Photos isn’t the only memory preservation company available online. In a future blog post, I’ll do a side-by-side comparison of this company with similar vendors.

I hope you’re enjoying this how-to video series. If you missed the prior three videos in the “How to Organize Your Closet Like A Pro” series, you can view the following posts.

Organizing Your Closet – A How-To Series

Organizing Your Closet – Measuring and Planning Your New Closet

Closet Organizing – Removing the Old Closet

Closet Organizing – Removing The Old Closet

DeClutterYou — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:14:26 +0000

This is the third video in a nine-part series of “How to Organize Your Closet Like a Pro”. In this 2 minute 40 second video, I’ll cover the tools necessary to remove the existing shelf and pole. We’re prepping this closet for a new elfa® system from The Container Store. The video show you step-by-step how to remove the basic shelf and pole system found in most homes and to patch the holes. Additionally, I cover the tools you need to do this quickly and safely. This is a must watch for any person who wants to install a new closet system them self.

If you missed the first two videos in this series of “How to Organize Your Closet Like A Pro”, you can view them here.

Organizing Your Closet – A How-To Series

Organizing Your Closet – Measuring and Planning Your New Closet

Organizing Your Closet – Measuring & Planning A New Closet

DeClutterYou — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:26:29 +0000

Organizing your closet is possible for you to do at home. However, knowing how to measure and plan your space is the difficult part. In this how-to series, I’ll show you how to measure your space, measure your clothes and how to come up with a custom closet design for yourself. This is part 2 of a 9 part series on how to organize you closet like a professional.

I’ll be sharing one video post per day until all 9 videos are shared here on declutteryou.com. Please leave your questions and comments below. I look forward to our conversations.

If you missed the first video, please view this post.

Organizing Your Closet, A How-To Series

DeClutterYou — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:02:17 +0000

Recently I filmed a series of how-to videos for MonkeySee.com, a website where you can learn how to do, just about anything. They contacted me to film a series called, “How To Organize Your Closet, Like a Pro“. This nine-part series, shows all the steps I take when organizing a closet. We event show you how I ripped out the existing closet, and installed a new elfa® system from The Container Store. This is a must-watch video series for the DIY organizer.

Today, I’m sharing with you, Part One of this series. You’ll see how I turned this cluttered closet into a space perfect for this home owner. Watch out for falling ironing boards, closet organizing is hazardous work! This video is only 2 minutes and 15 seconds. The others are only three to five minutes in length. I encourage you to watch the videos and leave your comments and questions below. I’ll be posting the rest of the series here on DeClutterYou.com soon.

For more information on closet organizing, please check out these two previous posts:

Space Saving Kitchen Items

Scott Roewer — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:20:56 +0000

I simply love when brilliant people recreate common products to fit space limitations or with a new twist. Here are a few favorite pieces I have stumbled upon.

Origami for the Kitchen.
Orikaso has taken a completely flat piece of ultra lightweight polypropylene and engineered it to fold into a bowl, cup, or plate. Imagine the envious people around you when your picnic basket is smaller and lighter in weight, yet you’re sporting ultra cool blanket-top dish ware. Currently you can buy a dinner set, after dinner set, or a complete set for an individual.

Their web store has announced they will soon come out with a fold-up colander/strainer, cutting boards, and a set designed specifically for picnics. I hope they’re released in time for the great Fall movie events on the National Mall. For ‘green’ readers, yes, it is dishwasher safe and you can recycle the items if necessary. However, with a 10 year guarantee, you’ll have these items around for years of enjoyment. Check out how to fold bowl actually folds from a flat piece of polypropylene into the bowl.

Perfect For A Picnic.
Speaking of fantastic picnic plates, check out this amazing plastic plate I recently saw at one my favorite stores in DC, HomeRule. Designed with caterers in mind, this plate allows the user to snap her utensils into place and also hold a wine glass. No more fumbling over how to hold your glass and no more sticking your fork and spoon in your pocket as you move through the buffet line. Problem solved with the all-in-one design. There are even two locations to put your dipping sauces.

Shop HomeRule online or stop in the store to buy a set of 8 plates for $9.99. Grace, the store’s manager, reports that their shoppers love the fact the plates are dishwasher safe and not easily scratched. If not for picnics, use them for your next office luncheon or holiday party. The plates have a luxurious image versus that of something disposable. Plus I love that it is 100% recyclable. What this video to see how the plate works.

If you want to see the video produced by the makers of the CaterPlate, click here to go to Youtube.

Multipurpose & Space Saving Design.
You’ve probably seen the collapsible measuring cups and colanders, but check out the Foldibowl™. This bowl has no hard plastic because it is made completely out of silicon. Therefore it can also be used as a trivet. I love that I can flip it over and push it on to the counter top, where it will stick like a suction cup. It’s a great tool for boaters who don’t want bowls sliding around for those days when they’re out on rough water. I’m going to be giving these as gifts to my friends with boats and to my parents, who have a motor home. To buy online, Google Foldibowl, or check out your local Bed Bath & Beyond store. The lowest price I found online was here.

Do you have a favorite space saving kitchen product? If so, leave a comment to share it with our readers.