The Posh Blog

In Texas this weekend, August 15-17^th, is a Tax Free Holiday on clothing and apparel.  IF you are going to brave the crowds here are a few tips to help make your shopping trip a more productive one and help you keep your sanity. 

1.  Visit Texas Sales Tax Holiday Site for a complete list of items that are exempt from sales tax this weekend. 

2.  Shop early.  Call your favorite stores now to find out what time they will open so you can arrive right when they open.  This will help save you time fighting the crowds.

3.  Know your child’s school requirements and restrictions.  Call your child’s school or visit the school district web-site to find out if certain clothing is not allowed before you make your purchases.  After all, we want to keep returns to a minimum with the high gas prices!

4.  Take a quick inventory of what your child currently has that still fits, is still in good shape, or that he or she will still wear.  Then make a list of the things you need to purchase.  Estimate how many pants, tops, sweaters, shoes, socks, etc. that you would like to find.

5.  Last but not least, determine a budget.  AHH…the dreaded “B” word!  Having something to aim for is a great way to keep you and your child focused on what is important and to keep from being easily swayed by the illusive “SALE” signs.   

One more bonus tip:  Don’t forget to bring a bottle of water and a few protein snacks like a protein bar or even Peanut M&M’s.   

Happy and productive shopping! 

P.S. Don’t forget to donate any clothing that does not fit your child anymore, this is critical to maintaining an organized home. 

Enjoy the good life,

Copyright (C) 2008 Angela Ploetz, POSH Space  www.theposhspace.com. Angela Ploetz

I recently met with a client and he kept saying “I’ve tried everything before, but it never works out because nobody else knows where to put anything except for me.  I need everyone to participate”.   

What my client was talking about is getting buy-in from the entire family in order to create and maintain an organized home.  Before I start working with clients I always send them a form to fill out and one of the questions on the forms is “Who will be affected by getting this space organized?” 

If the answer is everyone, then it may be time for “Family Style-Organizing”.  This means getting the entire group involved in the process or at least part of the process.   If you are organizing a space that is being used by multiple people of different ages and heights then you have a lot of things to consider.  Start with a general brain-storming session to get everyone’s ideas on what kind of changes they would like to see happen in the space.  Ask each member of the family what the most important thing is for them to be able to do in the space.  If the family member is too young to speak, but can grab things off shelves, that’s something to take into consideration when planning the space.   

When it’s time to get organized get the entire family involved even if it’s just for a few minutes and then Grandma comes by to take them to see a movie.  Kids can definitely get involved in grouping like items with like items.  It’s like the match game.  You are simply putting all the canned goods together in one box and the snacks in another box.  It’s important for children to learn the process of how to get organized.   

Don’t forget to get their participation when it’s time to reduce and de-clutter.  If you can teach your children about donating and letting items go at an early age you will benefit by having fewer items to deal with later and have a child who is accustomed to reducing their items on a regular basis.  

When you start to determine where everything goes make sure the most frequently used items are easily accessible by those who use them the most.  Also be sure to label all containers so everyone knows where things go. 

As part of the organizing process don’t forget to take time to come up with a family plan to keep the space neat and tidy and working for you.  Write out a list of guidelines that need to happen regarding the space such as:  If a person takes something out they need to put it back where it goes; Mom (or Dad, or a child) will evaluate the space once per month and remove any items that are not being uses; and we will revaluate the space every Spring as a family.  

When family members get involved with an organizing process it helps them  understand the system better so they feel more comfortable using the system and feel a sense of ownership, which helps keep the space organized and functioning longer.   

An organized space that everyone can agree on, now that’s the good life!

Enjoy!

Angela Ploetz

I had a client the other day who said “sorting through socks was almost as bad as sorting through paper”.  What she didn’t like was going through her drawer of socks and having to match up every sock to its mate.  You know the story.  You match up sock after sock and you end up with 10 extra socks that don’t have a match.  So then what do you do with all those socks that don’t have a match?  Certainly they will turn up.  So you stuff the socks in the drawer with the rest of them and then you don’t look at them again until next year when your sock drawer is overflowing.   

So what’s a sock lover to do?  First, do not put the stray socks with your matched pairs of socks.  This is huge.  If you mix the stray socks with your matched pairs it will be extremely difficult to differentiate between the pairs and the singles.  You need to have a dedicated place for the stray socks to go while you are waiting for the extra sock to show up.  This can be a separate container in your sock drawer or a container or bag in your closet.  The next time you go through the laundry and find a single sock you will know exactly where to look for a match.   

As many of you know I have two young daughters and with young children come lots of socks.  Socks that are too big, too small, in bad shape, missing a mate…ahhhh!  I was starting to feel like I was losing the battle against the socks!  As an organizer, I had a system, but it wasn’t working very well.  So it was back to the drawing board.   

For my youngest daughter (who is outgrowing socks every few months still) I set up this system:

Too Big, Too Small, Stray Socks, Trash  

Too Big:  Socks from my older daughter that are still in good shape that will move to a storage box once we collect enough.

Too Small:  Socks that are too small but still in good shape and will be donated to the children’s shelter.

Stray Socks:  Socks for my youngest daughter only, which are missing a mate.

Trash:  Socks we never found a mate for or are in bad shape. 

The system I used can be found in the kitchen section of Ikea.  The total cost for my sock sanity: $5.95 (plus tax).   My system may or may not work for you, but I wanted to give you something to think about as you are deciding what to do with your sock situation. 

Knowing I will be able to find a pair of socks when I need them, now that’s the good life! 

Enjoy!

Angela Ploetz  

Copyright (C) 2008 Angela Ploetz, POSH Space  www.theposhspace.com. 

Happy Birthday!  Yes, we have made it to the one year mark and my second daughter has turned ONE!  I can’t believe I have survived this year with two businesses, two children, two adults, a Doberman, and lots of out of town guests living under one very small roof!  Now that we have made it to the one year mark it’s time to do a little more clearing out of the baby stuff, sad but true.  

I know this can be a very difficult thing for many mothers to do and with my first daughter I struggled with it a little more.  At that time, I knew I was planning on having a second child so I stored most of the clothes (see previous post on storing baby clothes) my daughter out grew and donated the outfits that were the “my daughter wouldn’t be caught dead in this” outfits.  Ha, ha.  But this time, I know I am not planning on having another child, so it has actually been quite liberating to fill up bags full of stuff I am donating or giving to friends.  Here are some of the things that really helped me let go of the baby stuff. 

    Mother’s Day is this weekend and that means another trip to the card shop and to find just the right gift for one of the most important women in your life, Mom.  But what do Mom’s really want?  I belong to a “mom-trepreneur” group and work with many busy women who are mothers and one thing that comes up over and over again is time.  You heard me right, or should I say, you read that right, T-I-M-E!  They want time to spend with their children or husbands and not have to worry about cleaning the house.  They want time to go to a yoga class.  They want time to read a book or even a magazine article.  They want 60 minutes to watch the Oprah show for Pete’s sakes!   

So if you can’t give mom “time” for Mother’s day, then give her time off or some time for herself.  This can be in the form of a massage, a facial, a cleaning service for a month or even just a day.  Be creative and most importantly be thoughtful.  What would she love to do if she had time and how can you make that happen even if it’s only for a day?   

A gift that is a service rather than a physical object is fantastic because Mom can get what she wants and not end up with any additional clutter.  That may sound harsh, but it’s true.  I had one client tell me that she told her family that they were not allowed to buy her anything for Christmas because she did not want any more stuff.  I had a conversation with another client about ideas of what she could do for their children for Christmas that would not be physical stuff and toys.   

So what will you do for your mother this Mother’s Day?  Let us know if you have a great idea that we can share.  

Enjoy the good life,

Angela   

Copyright (C) 2008 Angela Ploetz, POSH Space  www.theposhspace.com. 

  It’s Spring time and the change in the temperature means that it’s time to transition from long sleeves to short.  This is even true with infant and children’s clothes.  For adult clothing we typically switch out the Winter wardrobe for Spring and Summer styles, but for children, who out grow clothing on a seasonal basis things are a little different.   

I saved most of the clothing from my first daughter just in case I had another girl and low and behold I did.  Since baby clothing is sized every 3 months and my daughters were born at different times of the year, the clothing doesn’t always correspond to the appropriate season.  I have a box of baby clothes for each stage, 0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-9 months and up.  So as my second daughter grows, I just go to the closet and pull down the appropriate box and start going through it.  I pull out all the outfits that are in season and put them in dresser drawers and anything that will not work gets transferred to a shopping bag to be donated.  I do have one small box of clothing that I am saving, but not many items go in there. 

 Now that I have emptied a box out, I use that box to add my older daughters out of season Winter clothing to.  I remove the label and add a new one.  Since the change is seasons is gradual and we still may need some long sleeved Spring clothing I keep this box on a lower shelf that I can reach and easily add more clothing to.   

This rotating system has worked really well for me.  If you only have one child and you want to save the clothing for your next child, like I did, let me give you a word of advice.  Purchase several boxes in advance and get them labeled now.  With my first daughter I didn’t always have the boxes at hand when I needed them and that resulted in “pile ups” until I could get a storage box.  This is a disaster!  You will quickly learn that children love to play with stacks of folded clothes that soon become piles of more work for you.   

Organizing is all about finding the right systems that work for you and support you.  My new system for dealing with my children’s clothing is working SOOOO much better than my first system did.  Oh yes, I love using the Deep Sweater Boxes from Container Store.  They fit perfectly on most shelves and are perfectly sized to hold just the right amount.

 Enjoy the good life,

Angela   

Copyright (C) 2008 Angela Ploetz, POSH Space  www.theposhspace.com.