This Pasadena waterfront property was attractive and intriguing, with a couple challenges to keep things interesting! A small cottage with a lovely, relaxed water view, the house had been renovated to keep as much of the original character as possible – and there was a lot of character. The home was originally designed with rich, warm shiplap interior paneling that had very rich coloring that brought charm, and challenges. The size of the living space, the renovated wooden interior, and a uniquely small set of rooms upstairs created the most significant challenges that could have prevented potential homeowners from seeing
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My Granddaughter came for a visit last week. She played with her toys and talked to her Grandpop, but her favorite activity was sitting quietly and stringing beads to make a bracelet. Sitting at the craft table, she reminded me of twin four year-old girls I had met and their playroom. I was hired a few years ago by a nice couple with a problem. They both worked long hours and the playroom in their home was a mess they didn’t quite have time to fix. Just knowing the mess existed was extremely stressful for the wife; that’s when they
Continue Reading →Early in my career I had a client “Jane” that really provided insight into how a lack of organizational systems in the home can affect a family financially, physically, emotionally and mentally. Neither Jane nor her husband “John” had grown up with in organized homes and as adults, they both had different organizational issues. Four young children and irregular work schedules further exacerbated the problem. Jane and John wanted to get organized but couldn’t find a starting point. They were overwhelmed and stressed with the process. It didn’t help that the disorganization aggravated health issues in the family. When
Continue Reading →What progress have you made with your resolution? As January comes to a close, many struggle with their resolve to get organized. In truth, most people have already abandoned any attempt to forge a path ahead. If this is the case, a little self examination is in order. Try Updating Your Preferences! When you join a site or sign up for a new organization, you fill out your preferences for what you want. Do you want to learn information about events? Get alerts for sales and deals? Receive newsletters? Options are available to you and periodically you can go back
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I love Christmas! I love Christmas Eve too. Watching my family give and receive gifts, over -eating delicious food and enjoying all this warmth and festivity in my beautifully decorated home is the best! But the doing it part… not so much, actually… not at all. I don’t like shopping or wrapping, I don’t like the decorating, and I’m not too crazy about cooking and baking anymore either. I especially don’t like the pressure of having it all done on time. Forgive my crankiness… I wasn’t always like this, quite the opposite really. Stories of my Black Friday maneuvers are
Continue Reading →Have you heard?! Intentions and Affirmations are the new Goals and Resolutions. That’s cool. Whatever your method; change = good. Change keeps you alert and excited and creates “change muscle memory,” useful for when change is vital (adaptability.) Language and concepts matter. As a busy mom, aching for a sense of control, I decided to run my home as a lean mean home-making machine. The phrase was mantra-like catchy and the concept vivid. I wasn’t longing for June Cleaver perfect. I wanted a clean and tidy home, food on the table at regular intervals, and the ability to get kids
Continue Reading →I hope you are enjoying the waning days of summer. Whether you are using them to squeeze in the last ounce of summer fun or preparing your home and family for the fall changes just ahead, the upcoming weeks generally involve new purchases. With back-to-school shopping underway, the Severna Park Voice devoted a full page urging locals to shop within their community and for readers to “put away their Amazon Prime account”. Author Larry Sales admitted his sometimes use of Amazon Prime, re-committed to shopping locally, and asked his readers to do the same. Here, here, Larry! I am with you!
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Marie Kondo, author of the book The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up, has tapped into the American public’s interest in a most unusual way. How can a book about home organization be a New York Times #1 best seller, have magazine writers experimenting with new organizing methods to understand the “life-changing “effects,” and have organizers all over the country in a lather on the NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers) list serve? Yes, professional organizers are not happy with Marie. I read “Magic” last fall and felt a response was in order myself. But not until I saw post after
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I’m excited about my largest staging project to date! Click here to see 1586 Eaton Way, Annapolis
Continue Reading →Counting down to daylight savings time with the hope of getting more done? Our daily challenge is to maximize productivity. But how? More light helps, but the amount of hours and energy in the day are finite. Rather than resort to multi-tasking, resulting in neither task done optimally, try thinking in terms of multi-purpose activites to make the most of your day. Go mindless- a great way to both relax and get something done is to incorporate daily pick-up time into your routine. Skip any anger or resentment. Own it! (Acceptance is key to the success of this transformation.) Then begin
Continue Reading →The Oops (wish I had set this up when I moved in) List: On-going Project Place – Rather than keeping supplies for active projects in the areas they are being worked on, which can be unsafe or interfere with daily living, keep all project supplies in one container (if practical) and have a home for that container in an out of the way place, the same place…always. Donation Zone- Clothes, housewares, and kids stuff are constantly cycling out of our lives and our homes (or they should be.) The likelihood of this happening increases greatly if “Donation” has a home. Stash a
Continue Reading →There are the ultra-organized, those who keep all of their systems running smoothly throughout the summer, and there are the rest of us. We let stuff pile up in the garage, mud room or the kitchen counters in order to make the most out of summertime (or do nothing at all.) Piles are part of the summer organization plan. This works for us because we know that when fall arrives we’ll press the restart button and get control of the house again. Here are a few tips for those who let a little more stack up than they planned and are
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Terry founded TLC Home, LLC in 2008 as a Professional Organizer logging hundreds of hours helping individuals get comfortable and functional in their homes. Terry knows how to make a home attractive too! She soon added staging to her services and became an ASP certified Stager in 2012. 
