gift card?

What would you do with a $100 Amazon gift card? I am so distracted by the sub-categories, clothes, home, books. So many options!

what to do with old photo's?

I found this deal online:
$25 for $50 worth of photo scanning.

Great use of saving memories and saving space!

On the search to clear the crumbs

I feel like a grown up because I am looking to buy a vacuum cleaner. To be clear, this is not the only reason I feel like a grown-up, but I feel like purchasing things for our home that require research (Consumer Reports Magazine) is something...

I have narrowed my search down to the Dirt Devil Featherlite Bagless but of course now that it was featured in Consumer Reports and Good Morning America it's sold out everywhere!

The search continues.....the crumbs are piling up and our Dirt Devil Kone just isn't cutting it anymore for the larger spaces.

This week's home task...

In the spirit of the spring, which starts today March 21st, I will begin spring cleaning of our food pantry. I will be see what food's have expired, have been uninspiring or even just down right not going to be used and find a place or person to donate it to or throw it away.

What's in YOUR wallet?

I was watching a segment of a morning show and that had Suze Orman on talking about what is literally inside of your wallet.

Inside my wallet you will find:
1) my drivers license
2) my health insurance card
3) credit card
4)back up credit card
5) a few business cards
6) library card
7) metrocard
cash and coins

That's it! and that is also what was inside Suze Orman's thin wallet, she showed it on air.

I've had this conversation with Husband before about thinning out his wallet. Why carry around old ticket stubs, expired id's, college ids? Usually when I come home I take out all receipts into a basket I keep by where I leave my bag. Then at the end of the week I take 5 minutes and go thru the basket to see what I need to keep for my files and what I can toss in the shredder. Husband has the theory that you never know if you need "x" or you never know if you need "y". Well my philosophy is if you have to start your sentence with "you never know" then you should toss it or at least take it out of what you carry every day.

Also from a safety perspective, having had my wallet stolen twice in my life, the less you carry around with you the easier and quicker it is to call and cancel the credit cards and id cards to get new ones.
The inspiration for this blog.

Tip for old papers

A tip for old papers from a new friend....scan them into a folder on your computer!
Papers from high school, undergrad and grad school? Have them stacked in boxes in someone's basement or in the back of a closet, just in case you want to reference them or because you worked so hard them? Scanning is a great way to preserve the work and the paper quality and free up space!

What Does Martha Stewart Do When She Gets Too Much Stuff?

Husband found this quote in NY Magazine from earlier this year and felt the need to pass it on to me:

"I build a house! What a silly question. Don't we all need more stuff?"
-Martha Stewart on what she does when she runs out of storage room

While I do not recommend building a house or even renting a storage unit, I do believe there are ways to manage memorabilia and archives in all living space. This quote goes back to my theory with organizing and stuff: out of sight, out of mind. Find useful ways to store old papers, toys, etc.

Need ideas.....email me!

P.S. clothing drive this Sunday March 6th

If you are in the New York Area there is a clothing Sunday March 6th from 10am-4pm. Drop off on 95th btn Amsterdam and Columbus!

Let the sorting begin!

donation denied

I am a bit beside myself right now....I just got off the phone with a local organizing in the New York Area (that being my local area) regarding dropping off some baby supplies (a pack n' play, high chair, baby bath and some additional items in good condition) for an organizing client.

On a side note: one of the things I enjoy most about working with my clients is helping them move things out of their space once they've decided to part with their items. I do the research of places to donate things, set up delivery, etc.

This local organizing told me they are not accepting donations because of budget cuts. I replied that I wasn't looking for money but rather to drop off a donation to a family in need. And the woman on the other end of the phone responded that there is no one working at the donation center to accept the items nor could I drop them off at the main office.

I am beside myself because an organizing that helps families in need and poverty can not accept free donations? What is wrong with this picture???

The Devil is in the Details

I just read this NY Times article by Christine Haughney about making changes to apartments to increase their resale value. When we looked at our apartment before we moved in the living room walls were a Miami Art Deco pink with lime green leather sofa's....to each their own taste I guess. But I sometimes wonder with a more neutral painted living room would that have increase the asking price of the apartment. Clearly based on the article below the devil is in the details and even the smallest home repair project can enhance the resale value of one's home and increase the value.

Not that we are planning on moving anytime soon, I do feel good about my re-coaxing project in the kitchen, reassured about our wall paint choices, with major color consultation courtesy from Sister-in-Law and Sister-in-Law's sister, our new appliances and my decluttering style.

Whether you are renting or buying, the nature in which you care for you living conditions can make all of the difference.



February 21, 2011
To Sell an Apartment, No Detail Is Too Small
By CHRISTINE HAUGHNEY

On a recent Thursday morning, Jamella Swift, a Citi Habitats broker, was trying to anticipate every detail that would prevent a buyer from purchasing the two-bedroom condo she was selling in Bedford-Stuyvesant. She put a full-size bed in the bedroom so buyers wouldn’t think the room was too small. She dragged in a Lucite coffee table to create the illusion of a larger living space and set up three floor lamps to supplement the recessed lighting. Ms. Swift hoped that the $5,000 she had spent would help her land $395,000 to $425,000 for the apartment.

Ms. Swift learned how much details could detract from the value after representing a couple who was ready to buy an apartment for more than $7 million. The apartment had a rainy, musty smell that Ms. Swift thought the selling broker could have fixed by buying a dehumidifier. Ms. Swift’s client backed out.

“It could have been a done deal,” Ms. Swift said. Brokers say small moves can alter the ultimate sales price of an apartment by 5 to 10 percent. The calculations are irrational, and buyers are usually unaware they are doing it. But chipped plaster or broken bathroom tiles can knock $500 to $5,000 off an offer, $1,500 floating walls can add $50,000 to $70,000, and a $10,000 paint job easily adds $50,000 to the price, according to an informal survey of city brokers.

Some more recent examples they provided of real estate math:

Clutter: Subtract 5 to 15 percent. Douglas Heddings, founder of the brokerage Heddings Property Group, watched two West End Avenue apartments that were exactly the same come up for sale at the same time. One apartment, where the sellers cleared out all of their spare toys and books, sold quickly. The second, more cluttered apartment lingered on the market for more than a year and sold for 15 percent less.

Fresh towels and throw pillows: add $25,000. Geraldine Onorato represented a client selling a two-bedroom where the buyers received offers for no more than $450,000. Ms. Onorato spent $700 on a fresh bath mat and fluffy white towels and brought in an offer for $475,000.

Dirty rugs: subtract $5,000. Before Ivy Paterni, an agent with City Connections Realty, brought to market a one-bedroom apartment at 5 Tudor City, she knew buyers would focus on the off-white living room rug that had grayed with time. “Nobody wants to buy a home that at any point in its history was dirty,” Ms. Paterni said. She bought a sandy white $400 rug at Northeast Floor Covering, bought some extra plants and had the seller repaint the apartment neutral cream. She is listing it for $499,000 and estimates that without these changes she would have had to list it for $494,000.

Regrouting tile: add $100,000 (to a $3 million apartment, that is). Deanna Kory, a Corcoran broker, advised the seller of an eight-room apartment in the West 80s to spend a few hundred dollars on regrouting. “If you see a bathroom that needs a lot of grouting, you think it needs to be ripped up,” she said. She estimates that grouting, along with moving around furniture and adding lighting, will bring in at least $100,000 more for a $3 million apartment.

New fixtures and appliances: add $250 in rent. Chris Mercogliano, a local landlord, was shopping for a tenant for his $1,800-a-month two-bedroom apartment at 508 East 78th Street. He spent about $1,600: new outlets and light switches ($100), tiles for the kitchen and dining area ($500), four new light fixtures ($40), blinds for three windows ($75) and a new stainless steel stove, microwave and refrigerator ($1,000). It rented for $2,050 a month.

New lights: add $32,500. Michael Akerly of Rutenberg Realty had been trying to sell his two-bedroom apartment at 15 Broad Street for a year for $949,000. He received an all-cash offer for about $800,000 and a second offer for $885,000. He took it off the market, rented it for a year and paid a professional lighting designer $150 for advice. He spent $2,000 replacing his chandelier and ceiling fan with two large drum lights. In two weeks he had an offer for $917,500.

Replacing cabinets: add $107,000. Frances Katzen was recently selling a one-bedroom apartment in Murray Hill, at 245 East 35th Street, that she advised her client to list for no more than $310,000. After he spent $20,000 on new kitchen cabinets and paint, she listed it for $429,000, and it went to contract for $417,000.

An expensive shoe closet: worth every dollar. Michele Kleier of Gumley Haft Kleier has found that when buyers walk into a closet filled with Christian Louboutins, they are likely to pay more of a premium than what the seller spent on her shoe collection. She advises sellers, “You can buy 25 pairs of designer shoes, put them in your closet, and they’re going to get more than you spent on them.” That’s because, Ms. Kleier said, “people want to step into your life.”