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Happy New Year!

By Ramon Gomez, Jr.
Dec 29, 2020

Judy and I would like to wish you and your family a happy, safe and healthy New Year.

With the New Year right around the corner we thought we would share, 4 Completely Free Things Home Stagers Do to Make Your Closet Look Nicer from Apartment Therapy. Even if you are not thinking of selling your home, a little closet clean up always brightens the mood. Homeowners and apartment dwellers alike tend to need and accumulate a lot of stuff. For this reason and more, spacious closets are a sought-after feature for homebuyers. This fact is hardly lost on home stagers, who unanimously vouch for the importance of a well-staged closet. A closet that is decluttered, organized, and staged will show buyers that the home is well-maintained and move-in-ready. Here are four little ways home stagers make your closet look nicer without buying anything.

The 80/20 rule - While buyers may not be inclined to open your drawers and chests, you can bet they will take a thorough look inside your closets. Closet clutter can deter prospective buyers, so it’s important to downsize well before a showing.  “Most of the time, we only use 20 percent of the items in our closets. If you are selling your house, pack up 80 percent of your closets—this way, you can show off the spaciousness."

Lend the illusion of space - Sometimes it’s not the space you have, but how you use it. It’s important to give the impression that there is plenty of room in the closets. If at all possible, leave closet floor space open and reconfigure your hangers so that they’re spaced an inch apart.

Give accessories a home - Small accessories can be the most difficult items to keep organized. Place handbags upright on a shelf, ties and belts hung, and hats stacked one inside the other with the firmest and largest hat on the bottom.  As for shoes, downsize what you have and place the remainder on a shoe rack against the back wall of the closet. Ensure you are only using one-third to one-half of the rack, so that you can space the shoes out evenly.

Think visual impact - Use matching hangers, remove any extra hangers—especially the wired ones—and put smaller items in nice baskets or boxes for better visual impact. And though it may seem tedious, it doesn’t hurt to coordinate clothing by color. Human brains naturally like order and balance. When you group and sort items with similar sizes and by colors, it will put the brain at ease, making the closet more attractive to the buyers.

Tags: Park City, Utah, New Year, Organize, Closets
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Homeschool Cleaning

By Ramon Gomez, Jr.
Apr 28, 2020

As our kids work to keep our grandchildren engaged with school along with their own work schedules we thought we would share Homeschooling: Keeping Your Kids Engaged by RISMedia. Here are some tips to keep everyone focused and working efficiently:

Build in breaks. The first step is to create a schedule. Your kids are used to structure at school, and so when they come home, they expect to have that same unstructured freedom they normally have. Every hour or so, let your kids take a quick 10-minute break. You can even plan fun activities for them to keep them energized.

Reward good behavior. Get a reward system going. You can create something similar to a chore chart where they get a sticker for every school assignment they’ve completed. If they get everything done in the amount of time they’re given, set aside a little prize for them. Since many of us are stuck at home, these can be simple things like an extra hour of TV or letting them pick a dinner or dessert recipe.

Don’t forget about PE. Let your kids have some run-around time. Whether you structure this as a PE class or as recess is up to you. If you have a backyard with a jungle gym, that’s the easiest way to handle this. But have fun and be creative if you don’t. Set up obstacle courses inside or outside your home. Create scavenger hunts that engage your kids in exercise. The goal is to let them clear their mind of being stuck at home doing schoolwork, and also getting them re-energized to get back to it once the time comes.

Create dedicated workspaces. If you have the room in your home, set up individual workspaces for your kids. Give them some cups filled with pens, pencils, crayons, etc., so they’re all set up with the tools they need. You can make cute little motivational signs for them and tape them to the walls and decorate with whatever you have to make it a personalized workspace. A little creativity can go a long way, and once they see they have their own space, they’ll be more excited when it’s time to “go to school.”

Remember, it’s all about creating a routine that’s not too rigid. Keep things scheduled, but don’t skip on the creativity and fun.

Dreaming of getting out into the wilderness, Staycation shares What You Can Do Now To Prepare For a Camping Or Backpacking Trip. Now’s the perfect opportunity to prep for your next camping trip. Once it’s safe to travel again, camping will be the perfect way to get out and enjoy yourself, while still practicing moderate social distancing. In the spirit of preparedness, here’s what you can do right now to get ready for a camping or backpacking trip in the near future. Take the time now to wash your sleeping bag, sleep in your tent, build a camping box, find a good pair of trekking poles, clean out your camp stove and take stock of your gear. Click here for the full article.

Still interested in cleaning and organizing, Apartment Therapy shares Spring Cleaning Guide: How to Spring Clean Your Whole House. Spring cleaning is a time-honored tradition with deep cultural, religious, and historical roots. Spring cleaning also ties back to the history of keeping winter houses warm and lit with fires and kerosene. These methods filled houses with soot and grime that was an inevitability as people stayed shut in against the cold winter, but that eventually (needless to say) had to be cleaned. Warm weather and longer days meant being able to stop generating all that soot and that windows could be opened to air out the house as residents scrubbed all that literal darkness away. As we welcome warmer days and the golden rays of sun that tease buds from barren branches, we want a new start, too. Spring cleaning gives it to us.

Why is Spring Cleaning Important? Spring cleaning is a chance to reset everything in your home. It's a chance to stave off bigger problems, like a mold takeover of your grout. By the time spring cleaning is finished, your home will feel so fresh and clean—a state of habitation that will serve you well, both in mind and body.

When Should You Start Spring Cleaning? Subjectively, you should start spring cleaning when you sense that new-start spring freshness start to come in on the warm afternoon breezes. Objectively, you should start spring cleaning when you can clear out a solid day or two in your schedule to devote to the task. For many, this may be the weekend, but now it is quarantine.

How Do I Start Spring Cleaning my House? First, decide that you are going to spring clean and tell someone so you’re accountable. Next, make a plan. The details don’t matter when it comes to galvanizing you into action. But having a rough outline of what you’ll do, whether it’s a room-by-room list of what needs to get done or a whole-house checklist of tasks you want to accomplish brings substance to your goals and functions like a map that will get you where you want to go: a spring cleaned (past tense) house.

How Can I Clean My Whole House in One Day? Cleaning every inch of your home in one day would be an incredible feat, but it’s probably too much to undertake. It might help to reframe your goal: Instead of aiming to clean your whole house in one day, decide you’re going to devote an entire day to spring cleaning. The former goal sets you up to fall short, while the latter goal allows you to measure by effort instead of impact. Rather than than committing (and maybe failing) to check every single thing off a list, you’re going to spend the time you have focusing on the most important tasks, and leaving the rest undone for another day. It’s a more thoughtful and attainable route to take.

1. Choose whole-house cleaning tasks for the biggest effect. For instance, washing the pillows and bedding of all members of your household leaves everyone with refreshed bedding. While the task may not produce a visible outcome, knowing that everyone has bedding that’s as clean as it can be feels really good. Other whole-house tasks you could select include cleaning all the doors or tackling all the windows.

2. Select chores that you procrastinate. Cleaning tasks that you dread probably don’t get done very often. These dreaded, procrastinated chores will be different for everyone, but they could be deep cleaning the shower, cleaning the windows, or finally getting that oven clean. Choose your own adventure and be really, really proud of yourself when you get to the finish line.

3. Pick the tasks you want to do. No, this doesn’t mean to forget the whole thing because you really don’t feel like doing any spring cleaning! (That’s not you anyway, since you’re here.) The sentiment underlying this method of selecting what you’ll spend your spring cleaning day doing is that certain things on the list will pop out at you as things you’ve been wanting or meaning to do but haven’t been able to get to. Maybe it’s sorting through closets and cleaning your refrigerator. Do these.

4. Make choices based on time. Some of the items on the spring cleaning list require time that may or not be hands-on time. For example, washing everyone’s bedding and cleaning all the mattresses doesn’t take that much hands-on time, but it does require waiting for wash and dry cycles to finish. This is a great task to undertake while you’re cleaning other things because you’ll be around to switch loads as soon as they’re ready and you can use the in-between time to check other tasks off your list.

5. Put labor-intensive items at the top of your list. If you’re having a hard time choosing what you’ll do and what you’ll skip, try putting the most labor-intensive tasks at the top of the list. This way, the chores that require the most out of you are getting done on a day you’ve dedicated to cleaning and you won’t feel as much like you’re missing out on something fun.

Sample Plan for Spring Cleaning in a Day: If you need a jumping off point to plan your day of spring cleaning, this checklist—for morning, afternoon, and evening—will get you on the right track.

Morning:

  • Strip the bedding from all the beds, including duvet covers, and gather all the bedding. Sort like with like and begin laundering sheets, blankets, pillows, and comforters.
  • Refresh mattresses while the bedding is away from the beds.
  • Empty every garbage can and recycling bin and bring them outside. Hose them down, scrub scuffs with a Magic Eraser, and get gunk out of crevices. Leave them to dry in the sun.
  • Put bags of vinegar around shower heads.
  • Slather the interior of the oven with a baking soda paste.
  • Change bedding wash and dry cycles as needed.
  • Scrub your oven interior.
  • Remove vinegar bags and scrub showers and tubs and clean the bathroom.

Afternoon:

  • Spot clean upholstery and rugs.
  • Dust every area you’ve decided to tackle today and start at the top. This could include bookshelves, the tops of cabinets, light fixtures, light bulbs, furniture, door frames, picture frames, etc. The idea is that you’re taking your duster and using it on every inch of dust down to the baseboards.
  • Polish wooden furniture. Just like you focused on using one tool while you dusted, focus on one product here: wood polish. Hit every wooden item in your home.
  • Wipe down cabinet doors. Murphy’s Oil Soap is great for wooden cabinets and an all-purpose cleaner and rag is fine for other materials.
  • Clean doors. You’ve already dusted the frames. Now take a damp microfiber cloth (and maybe a Magic Eraser for stubborn spots) to the doors themselves, including knobs.
  • Continue changing bedding loads as needed. If you finish your loads, take down your curtains and begin washing those.
  • Clean your windows. Take down screens or use a lint roller on them, clean window tracks, and shine those windows.
  • Clean the rest of the glass in your home. You’ve already dusted picture frames. Now take it to the next level and hit the glass with a lint-free cloth and glass cleaner.

Evening:

  • Replace bedding.
  • Hang curtains if you were able to wash them.
  • Return garbage cans to their rooms.
  • Vacuum under furniture and under rugs.
  • Vacuum the floors throughout the house now that the dust you stirred up from dusting has had time to settle.
  • Clean your phone.
  • Choose one small area to declutter. You don’t need the sunshine to help you see what to declutter (like you would with spot cleaning your armchairs, for instance), and ending with a decluttering session sets you up for a very visual win and, with any luck, the urge to do more when you can.
  • Make a list of tasks you wish you’d been able to do and make a plan for finishing them up during your regular cleaning routine.
  • Enjoy your spring cleaned house!
Stay well, Ramon & Judy

Tags: Park City, Fun, Utah, Cleaning, Organize, Homeschooling
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Spring Cleaning

By Ramon Gomez, Jr.
Apr 01, 2020

This week we thought we would utilize our additional time at home and share 7 Pro Organizers Reveal Their Biggest Organizing “Don’ts”. Organizing and decluttering can help you end up with the most functional, beautiful space you can, but it also saves you time, energy, money, and stress in the long run.

Don’t delay - The quickest way to declutter is to actually physically DO IT. Don’t buy a bunch of organizing products before you start decluttering. Our inner clutter about our outer clutter holds us back more than we know. Think of decluttering as a practice that brings peace, instead of a chore that brings fear. Do use labels, they don’t have to be pretty, but they do have to be legible.

Don’t try to organize clutter - You shouldn’t start organizing until you declutter. If you don’t value it, get rid of it. Whether it’s in drawers, cabinets, or on shelves, use appropriate containers to hold your items so that they don’t all get mixed up and disorganized.

Don’t try and tackle too much at once - Instead of working on the entire room start with a box, drawer, or a shelf. Once a week file, scan or shred documents. Put clothes, shoes, jewelry that you have worn throughout the week away. When you do the laundry schedule enough time to actually put it away. If you can devote one hour a week that is 52 hours dedicated to staying organized.

Don’t try to be someone you’re not - Don’t buy any organizational tools before you declutter. You probably already have most of what you need to organize your home. Try using things like old box tops and clean peanut butter jars for organizing. Don’t keep something just because it cost a lot of money. It’s the sunk-cost fallacy and it’s keeping you stuck. Everyone buys things they don’t need and everyone’s house gets messy from time to time.

Don’t keep something for the person you aspire to be. A lot of people keep jeans because they hope to fit in them someday. Don’t do this! Guilt is a terrible motivator. Donate the jeans, work on feeling better about your current body and move on. And don’t keep something because it was a gift from someone. The gesture was the gift. If you don’t like the object, sell it or donate it without guilt. Everyone buys things they don’t need and everyone’s house gets messy from time to time. Decluttering and organizing is an opportunity to reflect on your habits and create a happier home. There’s no need to beat up on yourself for having four can openers or clothes with tags still on in the closet.

Don’t hold on to something “just in case” - It’s easy to get into a spiral of keeping things just for the sake of keeping them, when six months down the road, you end up getting rid of it anyways. And after you accomplish an organizing or decluttering task, don’t forget to celebrate. So often when we organize, we finish and then look for the next thing that needs to be tackled. What you’ve just accomplished is a big deal and deserves to be enjoyed.

Don’t disrespect the limitations of your space - Respect the limitations of your space, give everything a home, store like with like, and buy less.

Don’t go out and buy containers first - When you start an organizing project do not start by buying containers, you could actually be ADDING to the clutter. Buying product is the last step of the process after things have been sorted and minimized, often we can repurpose containers we already have. Prioritize getting organized. Consolidating like items and then letting go of things you no longer need is the biggest part of getting organized.

In an effort to minimize travel, ordering food online can be a good option. Here are 9 Grocery Delivery Services to Bring Fresh Food to Your Door. Grocery shopping is one stress point for many of us and for many immunocompromised people, visiting the grocery store is not a viable option at all. Sites including Instacart, Shipt, and Amazon are options, but there are other services out there too, some of them with unique features and benefits. Here are some favorites from the team at Apartment Therapy.

1. Misfits Market sources “misfit”produce (wonky-shaped fruits and vegetables) from certified organic farms and ships them in boxes to zip codes in around two dozen states. The produce subscription boxes come in two different sizes — Mischief and Madness — which contain a mix of 12 to 14 different types of fruits and veggies, respectively. For more information: Misfits Market

2. Hungryroot is a weekly subscription service that sends groceries to your door (all across the continental U.S.) based on pre-set personal preferences (gluten-free, nut-free, dairy-free, vegan, etc!). The company recently announced heightened food safety standards and increased sanitation measures. For more information: Hungryroot

3. Farmbox Direct - Serving the entire continental US, Farmbox Direct is a produce delivery service whose offerings change weekly, depending on what is “fresh, local, and in-season.” Customers appreciate the control that comes with this service, as you can choose five fruit and veggie substitutions per delivery. For more information: Farmbox Direct

4. Imperfect Foods - Similar to Misfits Market, Imperfect Foods has made it its goal to provide less-than-perfect produce to consumers at a discounted price to reduce food waste and change customer perceptions. Imperfect Foods currently delivers to most of the West South Central region, Midwest, Northeast and all along the West Coast. Check here for to see if they serve your area. For more information: Imperfect Foods

5. Hungry Harvest is a food-rescue minded company that ships affordable produce and elected add-ons to MD, Washington, D.C, VA, and parts of PA, NJ, DE, FL, NC, and Detroit. Based on where you live, how often you cook, your produce preferences, and how many people you’re feeding, you can choose a Harvest Box that works for you. For more information: Hungry Harvest

6. Boxed is an online bulk delivery service that ships everywhere in the continental U.S. They offer cleaning products, snacks, drinks, canned goods, spices, cereals, and much more. For more information: Boxed

7. Moink provides customizable meat subscription boxes, filled with beef, lamb, pork, chicken, and wild-caught salmon. You can elect for your box to be sent in 3, 4, 6, or 8 week intervals. The ethical meat is sourced from family farms. For more information: Moink Box

8. Butcher Box allows you to order curated mixes of high-quality beef, chicken, or pork — or you can customize your own box. For more information: Butcher Box

9. Thrive Market offers pantry staples like wine, meat and seafood, beauty products, and much more.  For more information: Thrive Market

Stay well, Ramon & Judy

Tags: Park City, Utah, Home, Organize, Buyer, Seller
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