Chaos & Bloom

06/09/2020

Hello, Friends!

Attention: I’m shutting down my Chaos & Bloom endeavor. It was such a great experience and I enjoyed working with all of my friends and clients so much (thank you!) but the time has come to fold it up.

Lately, I’ve been using my FB account for more personal and political purposes lately (freedom, equality and justice for all ✊🏻✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿) and yet it was never my intent to share this type of content with C&B friends. It feels best to remove the business account to maintain the integrity of my intent with Chaos & Bloom, which was to help you bring order to your chaos, so you have room to bloom. I’ll continue to post organizing-inspired articles here and there, but FB will be a personal space for me from this point forward. I won’t be offended if you peace out ✌️.

I love (love!) organizing, but when it comes to marketing, creating blog posts, networking, spreading the word, branding, working on sales funnels, and everything else that comes with running a small business (albeit a little side business), it didn’t come naturally to me and finding the time in an already busy life had been a big struggle. I work a full-time day job, so when I was hustling and busy several nights a week - stressing about standing up my monthly content calendar and online presence - I was not present with my family. It broke my heart to leave in the evenings and on the weekends when I was already gone 8+ hours day, my kids crying for me to stay. It put a lot of stress on our home life and I felt pulled in yet another direction, this one entirely of my making. So although I love to organize since it sets my mind at ease, and I love organizing for others because it can do the same for them, I need to set it down for now.

I hope that when my kids are grown, I’ll be able to jump back into it. Until then, thank you all for your business, support, and encouragement over these past two years! ❤️

11/28/2019

Anyone else’s kids have a stuffed animal pile that looks like this? 😲 We use bean bag covers to contain them all, but this is just bonkers to me.

11/27/2019

I know we're all trying to prepare for and enjoy the holidays (Happy Thanksgiving!), but has anyone started thinking about their goals for 2020? I haven't written anything down yet, just nebulous thinking about how I should probably give myself some direction for the coming year.

In theory, I know how to achieve big goals. I know I'm supposed to break big goals down into smaller tasks, schedule those tasks, and then actually do them according to plan. Simple. While I'm pretty great at setting goals and getting all pumped up, I struggle (like a lot of us do) with staying the course after the initial excitement and motivation wanes. I want to be the kind of person with an unwavering discipline to do what I set out to do. While I am that person sometimes, other times, my motivation gets kicked out from under me to the point where I'd rather eat a mug brownie and snuggle on the couch with my kids than do anything else.

As I'm thinking about my goals, I'd love to hear about yours. Especially how you plan to reach them and why you set them in the first place.

-Lina

10/15/2019

Under the kitchen sink organizing inspiration for a client space tonight from 😍 I love the command hooks on the wall and the efficient use of the space on the doors! ⭐️

10/14/2019

Today we celebrated 12 years together. We went to the park where we shared our vows with friends and family. To all of you who were there, thanks for supporting us then and throughout the years. 3 kids and 2 houses later. Hundreds of arguments. Innumerable laughs. Plenty of tears. But somehow we’ve managed. I’m so thankful. We’re never going to give up on this. Here’s to 12 more. Sean Chapman

09/21/2019

06/30/2019

Worked on my own space today 🙌🏻 Temporary garage shelves hold fishing gear, a few tools, tie downs, camping gear, the shop vac & air compressor, and a few random essentials.

Someday this whole place is going to get a paint job and some custom shelves. Until then, I’m working with what I’ve got. 💪🏼❤️

06/23/2019

This is what my house looks like after a day of cleaning and zero kid interference. 💪🏼❤️

01/30/2019

Check out this before and after! What a difference a few hours can make.
This client is a friend of mine from back in the ole college days. She recently opened this thrift shop and needed some help sorting the storage area behind the stairs, which had gotten to the point of disarray with the constant influx of donations.
We worked together for about three hours to get this job done. I think it looks great. What do you think? Can you tell a difference?
Follow the link for more photos and to read about the strategy to get it done on a Sunday morning.
Plus, check out in REO Town. Her stuff-a-bag events are bomb.
https://www.chaosandbloom.com/blog/2018/11/12/before-after-thrift-store

01/15/2019

There’s a new show on Netflix and it’s having a major impact in homes across America.

Tidying Up stars Japanese best-selling author and decluttering expert Marie Kondo. Her show is said to be causing an increase in decluttering and subsequent donations to charities everywhere.

Treasure hunters, eBay sellers, and junk pickers are ready to scoop up items discarded for not bringing their former owner enough "joy."

Families are purging their closets and many are breathing a sigh of relief at the ability to function in their homes again, or maybe for the first time ever.

This wave of decluttering is exactly what we need in order to transform interior spaces full of stuff into homes that are peaceful and filled with things we love. It could also result in positive impacts on our nation’s consumption patterns. That said, keeping the modern American home running smoothly and free of excess requires maintenance.

Decluttering, I might argue, is the easy part.

So what could be harder than the exhausting process of decluttering a lifetime of collections?

In this new blog post, I talk about this terms of three things that I think are so much more difficult than decluttering:

1. Facing Consumerism
2. Establishing Habits
3. Considering Future Impacts

Let me know what you think about all this.

https://www.chaosandbloom.com/blog/2019/1/14/what-could-be-harder-than-decluttering

There’s a new show on Netflix and it’s having a major impact in homes across America. Tidying Up stars Japanese best-selling author and decluttering expert Marie Kondo. Want to know what’s harder than decluttering?

01/12/2019

Clutter causes anxiety, but mostly for women.

Raise your hand if you can't go to bed or on vacation when the house is a mess? 🖐 But maybe your husband seems fine with it?

Read on for more...

When my house is tore apart, it feels like there's a ping-pong ball in my brain and my anxiety goes through the roof.

I get cranky and bark orders. “I’m going to throw this away if I find it on the floor again!” It might be in your list of mom-phrases, too.

If it’s Saturday, I might plan my day around organizing the house by drinking a pot of coffee and not stopping until I’m done. Admittedly I kinda enjoy those days.

Or I might eat too much ice cream to avoid tidying up. Depends on the day, my mood, and my energy level.

But why does it provoke such anxiety? This isn’t something I alone struggle with. I know this.

According to a recent article on Motherly that popped up in my feed due to the crazy on-point Facebook algorithm, our brains love order.

Makes sense, right? The brain is an interconnected network of perfectly harmonized electrical pulses that are fine tuned ensure our survival. That's a good thing.

Orderliness in our environment feels good to us because our brains don't have to work so hard to process and order what we see. Ahhhhhhh. Right?

The article goes on to site a 2009 UCLA study that identified a direct correlation between the amount of stress a woman experiences and the amount of clutter that they (and their family) had accumulated in their home. Men? Not so much. My husband concurs.

Head to http://ow.ly/sJKl50kasj5 for the rest of the blog post with info on what you can actually DO about this brain function.

Let me know if you get a little (or a lot) anxious when your space is a mess. ⬇️⬇️⬇️

❤️ Lina

Yes, you read that right. Raise your hand if you can't go to bed when the house is a mess? If walking into your basement storage area makes you feel downright terrible. But maybe your husband seems fine with it? Read on for more.

01/11/2019

I thought it might be nice to introduce myself and hopefully learn about you, too, so please say hello!

Hi! 🖐My name is Lina. I recently launched this professional organizing business to put my love for the neat and tidy to work by helping others get and stay organized.

About Me:
- I’m from Northern Michigan and now reside in Williamston.
- I have been married for 11 years.
- We have 3 kids together, ages 10, 5, and 4.
- By day, I work as a transportation planner.
- I studied Urban & Regional Planning at MSU with dreams of being a city planner.
- I still follow city planning and cheer for fiscally-strong towns, open space preservation, bikeable/walkable communities, and historic preservation.
- Before switching majors, I spent a year studying Interior Design at MSU.
- After 10 years in the workforce, I’m coming full circle and reviving my passion for interior spaces.
- I believe that the space that surrounds each of us every day has a deep impact on how we feel. If you are constantly surrounded by chaos, you’re going to feel it in your bones. If you’re surrounded by beauty and calm, you’ll feel that, too.
- For fun, I dream of home improvement projects, family vacations, and all the other beautiful things I want to create and experience in my lifetime.
- I love to read and have 10 books in various stages of doneness on my side table.
- I think audiobooks and podcasts are 💯.
- I love the color mint. It’s so refreshing.
- I’m into energy clearing, konmari, minimalism, natural materials, functional spaces, essentialism, chrysanthemums, synth wave, the Great Lakes, and a good bonfire.

What about you? Do you have dreams of getting organized? Remodeling your home? Starting a business? Something else? Comment below 🙌 ⬇️⬇️⬇️

❤️ Lina

11/16/2018

Sounds like a great time to hire an organizer *wink *wink 😉😉

11/15/2018

I love a good podcast and the Purpose Show is a keeper. The premise of this episode? Less stuff = less work = less stress. More space + more time + more relaxation. Who doesn't want that? If you've been putting off decluttering for one reason or another, have a listen. You might just be inspired to dive in today.
http://alliecasazza.com/shownotes/084

When it comes to decluttering, many people get stuck on the hurdles that come up in the process. They don’t take action, they procrastinate, and they never dive into it. When I realized that my stuff didn't have to own me and that I could live my life instead of cleaning up after it all the time, ...

11/09/2018

I love books, but I don’t love having to store them in my house, which is also why I ❤️ libraries.

A Life Less Throwaway by Tara Button started out with a lament about pantyhose. I share her frustration. I’m so tired of buying stuff that just doesn’t last, adding dollars to the landfill, hurting both my budget and the environment.

This book is definitely worth a read if you’ve got a sneaking suspicion that the stuff you buy is engineered to break or wear out much sooner than you’d like it to (it is). Or if you’ve ever wondered how consumer marketing impacts your brain’s subconscious (science galore).

11/08/2018

If you’re anything like the average American (with 300,000 items in your home), you have a designated storage area. And it’s full. When it gets to the point of total overwhelm, it's time to hit refresh.

Read on for details about how we tackled this family of five's storage space in five hours on a Saturday afternoon using the SPACE method. 🙌

If you’re anything like the average American, you have a storage space (basement, garage, attic, shed, etc.) and it’s full. Of your stuff. It’s likely a combination of the absolute essentials, keepsakes, projects, clothes, holiday decorations, and a few things you could part with. Sound about ...

10/04/2018

Is organizing like magic? Can it change your life?

https://www.chaosandbloom.com/blog/2018/10/3/magic

Have you ever called the process of tidying up your home magic ? Life changing ? I’m not sure I have either. I read (or rather listened to) The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo in the spring of 2018. I listened in the car on my way to and from work each day. I soaked it in.

10/02/2018

Getting a little deeper into that pantry. Here's how I'd go about it.

So, let's talk about that pantry. When it's a hot mess, it's time to clear it all out. Trust me. It’s really the best way. Step 1: Tale everything (yes, everything ) out of your pantry (or the cupboards that make up your pantry, like mine) and put it all out on the counter, grouping like with