A little perspective and a lot of Gratitude for some Gratitude!

Hello Good People of Los Angeles and the World! 

It's been awhile, I've missed you :)

I just had a simple, kind text message sent from a client and it really got me thinking about what things are worth to people, what I feel my worth is and how I want to make sure I am not "taking anyone for a ride" professionally. Although I am one of the lowest cost organizers in town!

Here is the Text:

I overhauled her daughter's closet. She is a young actress and needed all her clothes separated, organized and labeled for call-backs and last minute auditions. And ALL the years of junk in the big walk-in removed. She is on a budget right now, I get it and I appreciate that she considered me a part of her budget last week. 

I love getting texts like this, because (well, because of ego, of course) but also because they are telling me that the money they spend has not been wasted. I have never thought domestic or personal services are a waste of money but we live in a very split culture about it. Especially in LA. I have often said "I'm a luxury for people." BUT if I wasn't me and I lived in chaos? I'd hire me w/o question. I can't do my eyebrows or nails for shit, so I NEED those people and I tip them fat! (I'm Italian, my eyebrows are no joke.)

SO....

I did a little research and I'm reminded of how extremely expensive this service can be - I mean three to four times my rate! I currently charge $35 an hour w/ a 4 hour minimum. Free phone consult, $50 in-home consult. Working lunch on 6+ hours.

These two companies in SoCal & NoCal alone charge DBL/TRIPLE my fee:

Bos Organization     Los Angeles Metro Area - Residential Organizing                                             Fee Structure + Pricing

• Free Phone Consultation
• 2-Hour Organizing Consultation + Assessment: $200
• Half day/3 HRS: $255
• Full day/6HRS W/ 1 HR LUNCH: $510
• Full week (with 2 organizers): $2900

Bay Sage      San Francisco Bay Area - Home Organizing
Fee Structure + Pricing

• Free Phone Consultation
• HALF DAY/4-Hour Session: $375
• 3 Half Days: $1175
•  5 Half Days: $2375

And a co. in a completely different economy is STILL much higher. This Cary, NC business has the following costs:

	LO*	LO + 1 SO	LO + 2 SO	LO + 3 SO	LO + 4 SO	LO + 5 SO
2 HOURS	195	275	375	475	565	665
4 HOURS	315	515	705	895	1,075	1,255
6 HOURS	470	765	1,050	1,325	1,595	1,865
8 HOURS	615	1,010	1,385	1,750	2,105

Most clients opt for our 6-hour package.      LO = Lead Organizer          SO = Supporting Organizer(s)

So, it's always good to do due diligence, but if you check back here once in awhile, I'll probably have done it for you :)

Be well, and as always ~ Thanks for reading!!! xo ruby

"Visual Noise" Quote by Elise M. Wood, Dancing Oaks Ranch, Texas.

I have a very tidy bachelor friend named Christopher T. Wood. He loves to use his full name, and also loves to say his phone number on every single voicemail he leaves (8 years now). That can be 3 messages a month or 3 messages a day (if he's got interesting info or is just driving by your house). I tell him that I and 99% of the people he calls already have his number plugged into our phones, and if NOT, they have it visually on the screen (he doesn't block his number, he's not rude or self important) - yet, he rattles it off every single time, as the hardest working actor of a certain age should. 

The other day I called back that number I have on 47 voicemails, just to chat. I was commending him on being such a tidy bachelor, and he said, "I had a bad habit of filling the sink with dishes, (instead of putting them in the dishwasher every time) then hand washing and leaving them in the drainer. My sister called it 'Visual Noise.'"

I loved that. It sums up what I've been preaching (to myself) for years. Now, Noise is differently defined for everyone. Some "noise" most people disagree on; different music, political yapping, talk radio, tap dancing, drum circles and the like. The last one there makes me want to pull my hair out, but a talented drummer on a street corner makes me want to dance - it's a very fine line. Other noises, many of us can agree on, like what is happening outside my window at this very moment, a circular saw cutting wood planks in my yard. Nail gun to follow. I am mustering through, probably because as a city dweller of 28 years, I've learned to work around it. Also, in LA, we have low-flying Police Helicopters about 200 days of the year, and the obligatory emergency sirens everyday. Dog howls to follow. NY, SF & LA, it's just how it is. The omnipresent Audible Noise. Think about living in it daily, (as you already may & millions do) then think about escaping it by coming home, to your nest, your sanctuary, your respite from the world, and it looks like this: 

It doesn't have to. I know I sound like a broken record (can we still use that idiom? It has actually made it into "Urban Dictionary" :-/ ) 

It doesn't have to look like this and you don't have to feel like this. These photos may be extreme, but they are real. And more common than you'd think. There's no need to feel shame. But there is a need to feel better, about yourself and your surroundings. It's why you shower, it's why you dress well when you need to. You do that for the world around you; why, why, why would you not do that for your self?  

You can do it on your own, or I can help you.  However, 

if you need some more convincing, here's what a UCLA study has found. Also in this article are great tips for getting started on your own!

Clutter & Depression

So, after a day of sirens, horns, garbage trucks, street cleaners,  helicopters, construction, traffic and  barking/howling dogs . . . 

wouldn't you like to come home to this instead?

 

Wouldn't this feel good? It felt good for me to do it, and it felt good for my clients when I left - they've all told me so & I believe them :)  

As Always, Thanks for reading! 

Mish-Mash, Pish-Posh, Gobbldy-Goop ReWorked

Before: True Confessions

I find it so interesting how we (humans) just go along, day-in and day-out with the same systems set up in our houses. From the tangled up, dust covered TV & computer cords to the 57 vitamin bottles on the kitchen counter to the closet where, "Just Toss It In!" is printed on the inside of the door. 

Then there is MY issue, my daily beauty regimen/s.

Before: So disappointed in myself. 

Things tossed here and there 2-3 times a day. Somewhat sadly contained in old vanity sets, made for holding all the lady-crap we ladies love to have. And these "sets" are not sets at all. I have some Asian inspired things, 4 odd woven rattan boxes and random little finger bowls used for sushi. This mash-up holds all my lotions, potions, tonics and as much hope in a tube/bottle/jar as I can fit on these tiny shelves. Let alone hair bobbles, bandaids, q-tips, and all the things I seem to think make me look better. And if they don't, at least they make me feel better! 
That said, they deserve better organization, that's for sure!

I have a small collection of wine/booze boxes used for shipping bottles. I would collect them in my restaurant days, I like their look. I've always used them to store stuff, so these two I just repurposed from a bookshelf.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

After: Still many Lady-Crap things, but in much better order! 

After

I reused the 3 black Asian style boxes, bottoms only, turned them on their sides and slid them into the wine box vertically to make little compartments.  

In the finger-bowls are bobby pins, makeup sponges and safety pins. 

Next to the box is an old bottle I had for flowers, works perfect for bracelets and cuffs. 

After: In front this box, other smaller finger bowls
 hold hair clips and small earrings. 

In this old whiskey box, I used those old ratty rattan boxes, again to make compartments:
1=hairbands 2=bandaids 3=ointments/remedies 4=clippers/thermometer

After

Perfume in the center, behind it, a small mirror on the wall. And my favorite Christmas gift this past year, a stone carved Elephant ring holder. I like him a lot. Let's call him Henry. Also, I got some shelving grip cover to make everything more stationary AND keep me from having to paint. 

After

All in all, much cleaner and, yes, organized. My earrings have hung from that chain for years, if you had not seen that trick before, I still recommend it!
_______________________________________________

Before

NEXT: Yes, I like to keep well stocked.That's not the point here. I've been just stacking it on the back of the toilet . . . UNCONTAINED! How dare I!

After

After

One more wine box that I had misc. office supplies in, completely under utilized, under my bed. 
The cigar box on 
top holds some of our secret unmentionables, as did the other cigar box in the "before" photo. I like cigar boxes for these and many things - they're beautiful and cheap storage. 

As alway, Thanks for reading!  

So Many Shoes, So little Space....

I have been exposed....by myself! 

No shoe deserves to live like this.

For a long time I have lived small, but unfortunately my affection for shoes has not ~

The shit-show preperation, pre shelves.  

Shelves were measured, cut, and fitted in.

Shoes were placed gently and kindly.

Yes, there are so many I have to do them single file,
with the mate just behind them. 

I do need a stool to choose, but it's SO worth it.
It's like going shopping every time, 
because I've forgotten how many great shoes I have!

POOF, Instant Kitchen!

One year to Remodel. One Year in a rental house. One year with her displaced, old-as-the-hills, sweetest pooch. One week to move back in. 

<--------------

The kitchen, after an attempted unpacking. We'll call it . . .

Pre "Ruby" ;-)

Now, I think the easiest way to go about this is to just go drawer-by-drawer, cabinet-by-cabinent. Pictures say a thousand words. But in case they don't tell you this: Yes, I unpacked and organized it. All.  

 

 

The Pantry:

                                                                                                       

Utility Drawers:

Bathroom Drawers:

The Den, In Progress:

   

The Den was finished wonderfully by the client and she has her dream home back, and in much better shape. 

Some photos omitted, there's only so many utensil drawers one can take. I don't have much to say except I LOVED doing this! It's like working a giant puzzle, on my own terms, with a 16 GB ipod attached to my scull ~ and I win every time! 

xo ruby