Monthly Archives

January 2016

Jan 25
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Introducing…

By | Guest Post, Weekly Tip | No Comments

It’s time for another guest post and today I’m introducing a new blog for you all to check. The blog is Everyday Organizing and the blogger is Kristin. Kristin is super sweet with an awesome blog full of great tips. Unfortunately she’s taking a break from blogging right now, but that doesn’t stop me from perusing her blog for ideas and tips.

One such blog post is Keep It Where You Use It. Here’s the first paragraph from the early 2014 entry:

When it comes to deciding where to store certain items, too often we base our decision on where we have “always” kept it and not necessarily on where we actually need or use it.  Case in point:  the linen closet.  By definition, the linen closet is a place to house your linens; for most of us, that translates to sheets and towels.  In the majority of homes, the linen closet is located either in a laundry room or in a hallway.  Interestingly enough, I don’t know many homes that have a bed in the laundry room or a shower in the hallway.  So, why in the heck are we all storing our sheets and towels in a room that does not require sheets or towels?

She raises a good point. And it just gets better that more she goes on. She hits almost every area of the house with this post. Check out the post by clicking the title of Kristin’s post.

Jan 18
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Kids + Road trips… Every parent’s nightmare

By | Weekly Tip | No Comments

Here’s another kid blog! But please don’t stop reading if you don’t have kids. This tip could come in handy for everyone… everyone who goes on road trips at least. But for this post I’m going to focus specifically on parents.

Parents, if you’re planning a road trip of any length keep in mind a great way to store items for your kiddos are in shower baskets with suction cups. Stick each shower cubby on the inside of the window next to each kid and keep their snacks, markers, small activities books, water bottles, etc. all within reach. You can re-stock at each bathroom break. More independence for the kids and less backseat bickering which means a quieter drive for you.

Jan 13

Curious Heart

By | Recent Work | No Comments

Curious Heart was a wonderful little shop in the heart of the Berry Hill district in Nashville. The owner, Kathy, had faithfully served the community for 16 years, but in late 2014 she decided she needed to close Curious Heart, so she called Top Shelf to help her through that process.

In early 2015 I began working with Kathy in her basement storage rooms. She had the main storage room that was full of merchandise, both old and new, and the Christmas room, which was more of a mix of Christmas and non-Christmas items than strictly Christmas.

I began to work at the shop on a weekly basis in January, doing inventory and a general organization/cleaning in both the main storage room and the Christmas storage room.

Once that was done, Kathy decided she wanted to open both downstairs storage rooms to the public once she started the “going out of business” sales, so I had to go through and re-organize everything for display purposes. Once this was done, I then came in weekly to maintain what was already organized and display the new merchandise that arrived from her alternate storage site.

Kathy and her other employees were able to work with the customers they loved while I kept the shop organized. The entire job lasted 3 months and Kathy was very happy with the work provided, as well as the wonderful send off she was given by the customers who loved her.

Christmas Room

Jan 11

When the lack of something inspires creativity

By | Weekly Tip | One Comment

I spent this past weekend down on the gulf coast of Alabama with a dear friend and her adorable little family. It was my first time down there and amidst playing with her 2 little boys, looking at the gorgeous sights of the bay, and catching up on life with her, I completely missed an awesome organizing idea until right before I was about to leave!

Ashley and Andrew live in a great house, which they love. But there is one area Ashley is frustrated with, and that’s the issue of a mud room. The house just doesn’t have the space for one. So the duties of a mud room get split  between different areas. And one of those areas is the garage. I know, I know “what’s awesome about that?” but wait! It’s in a very cool and very unique way! She and her husband (it was his idea) took a regular multi-level shoe rack, stacked it on a 2×4 and drilled both the shoe rack and the piece of wood into a stud in the wall… in the garage… right outside the door that leads into the house! Brilliant!

Now, one thing I should mention is Ashley and Andrew have steps up to their door, so don’t think they just randomly mounted a shoe rack to the wall and that’s why it’s a good idea. Ashley and Andrew can easily reach out the door and the shoes are right there are the top of the steps. I can try to explain it more but the picture is the best way to show it off.

I know this isn’t a typical “Eating an Elephant” blog post, but tuck this idea away for future use. I know I will!

P.S. Ashley was not happy that the shoes weren’t organized when I snapped the picture (without her knowing it), but apart from the top shelf (no pun intended) it’s actually quite good!

Jan 04

First tip of the new year!

By | Weekly Tip | No Comments

To start off 2016 I figured the best tip to give would be this – call Top Shelf! I know I know, that’s a slightly (okay very) selfish tip. But here’s the thing, it really is the number one tip I can give to help you start your new year off right. If you’re in the greater Nashville area and you’re feeling overwhelmed with all the clutter in your life/house but are determined to tackle it, the best way to get the kick in the pants you need is with the help of a professional organizer, aka Top Shelf. Or, if you’re not in Nashville, find a PO in your area. You don’t have to use them for the entire house, or even the entire room. Some PO’s do have a minimum number of hours you have to use them, but once those hours are done voila! There’s your kick in the pants and now you may be able to tackle the rest by yourself.

Or, maybe not. You may be a person who reads this blog and thinks “Hmm that’s a great idea.” but never actually gets around to doing whatever the tip is. Or, you may be a person who thinks “That’s a great idea but I have no idea how to implement it.” Guess what. I can help you with both of those issues! Did the new presents you received this Christmas add to the mess you already had? Did you resolve to lose weight in 2015 and now 2016 is here and you have a bunch of clothes that you can’t wear but aren’t quite ready to get rid of yet? Maybe you’ve resolved to become a better cook and now have a bunch of cooking equipment and no place to store it. Or maybe you simple resolved to de-stress your life and this is one of the ways that can help. Whatever your organizing need, Top Shelf can help.

So, do yourself a favor and contact Top Shelf.  The worst that can happen is you’ll get organized.

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