Kate Bosch Professional Organizing - Blog

The Do’s and Don’ts of Organizing Your Basement

6/3/2025

It's June! The summer sunshine is calling and all you want is to be outside! But hear me out — June is the best time to tackle that basement organizing project that you’ve been putting off.

Why? Well, first of all, you’ll be organizing in the cool comfort of a space that’s out of the summer heat. Secondly, the basement is where you store a lot of your summer entertaining and outdoor gear, so you’ll want to get it ready to use. Lastly, now’s the time to set up your dehumidifier to make sure your stuff stays fresh.

So, trot down those steps and see what you’ve been stashing away! To make the most of your efforts, pay attention to my Do’s and Don’ts of basement organizing.

Top Tips for Spring Cleaning Your Car

5/6/2025

Believe it or not, I’ve helped clients organize their cars. Yup, cars pile up with excess stuff just like our homes. In fact, it’s pretty easy to clutter up a car because it’s a small space and you’re always busy when you’re in it, so you don’t typically take the time to tidy up.

Now, after getting you safely through the slushy, muddy late-winter weather, doesn’t your car deserve some TLC? It’s time to give it a good spring cleaning!

I’ll show you how to organize your car using my same CALM method that I use for your home. CALM = Clear, Assess, Locate, Maintain & Modify

CLEAR THE CAR
Grab two bags — one trash bag and one tote bag — and go through the whole car. First, bag all the trash — gum wrappers, dried-up Cheerios, used tissues (ick!). Next, put EVERYTHING else that’s not bolted down into the tote bag. Don’t forget to look:

In the glove box
In the center console
In the door pockets
In the sunglass compartment
In the seat pockets
In the trunk
In the storage compartment under the cargo area
Under the seats
Between the seats

Get every last bit of junk out of there!

It’s likely that your car could use a good scrubbing. Now’s the time! Vacuum the interior and wash the exterior. Or pay your kids, your grandkids, or your neighbor’s kids to do it. Or treat yourself to a professional car wash.

ASSESS THE STUFF
Toss the bag of trash and bring the tote bag into your house. Dump it out on the floor or a big table. You want to be able to spread things out and evaluate exactly what you’ve been chauffeuring around all year.

Sort things into categories based on the various types of items you find.

Driver’s needs (phone charger, sunglasses, phone holder)
Documents (registration, insurance, EZ pass)
Personal care (tissues, lip balm, hand sanitizer, lotion)
Handy items (coins, pen, paper, plastic utensils, grocery bags)
Kids’ travel items (toys, crayons, puzzle books, chargers)
Weather gear (umbrella, ice scraper, blanket, towels)
Emergency tools (jack, jumper cables, first aid kit)
Stuff other people might think is weird to keep in your car (Pilates and gym socks, gift cards)

While you’re at it, separate anything that doesn’t need to go back into the car. Put these items aside and, once you’ve finished the car, be sure to put them back to their rightful places in your home.

LOCATE ITEMS
After determining what needs to be in the car, head back to the vehicle and find places to stash it all. Be sure to put the driver’s needs in places that are within easy reach. As a professional organizer, I love that most cars now come with a specific compartment in the ceiling just for sunglasses!

Use small zippered cases or even sturdy ziplock bags to corral like items. Alternatively, a jewelry roll case like the ones I use in my organizing tool bag are handy for grouping small items. This can be especially helpful in the glove compartment, which tends to devolve into a cluttered mess.

In the trunk, use a sturdy tote bag or a collapsible crate for larger items like grocery bags and emergency kits.

MAINTAIN & MODIFY YOUR CAR
To avoid cluttering up your now-neat car, take a moment when you exit to grab your excess stuff. One thing you’ll need to include in your car set-up is a small bag to hold trash. I like to use a paper lunch bag in the center console because it’s easy to swap out for a new one when it’s full.

As you use the car, rearrange and modify what’s where. Maybe you don’t really need the umbrella all that often. So instead of keeping it in the front door, you relocate it to the trunk.

SET OUT FOR ADVENTURE
Whether your summer plans include big road trips or just local tours, your drives will be much more enjoyable from the seat of a clean, well-appointed vehicle that’s ready for wherever your adventures take you. Where are you headed?

How to Tackle a Backlog

4/8/2025

Looking anxious, Diane* brought me over to a hidden spot between her dining table and credenza and gestured to several large tote bags. They were packed full of mail, paperwork, and notes collected over several months, perhaps even years.

“I feel so ashamed that I’ve let it pile up this much,” she admitted. “Maybe I should just shred it all!”

“Sure,” I said encouragingly, “but I don’t think that’s what you want to do, is it?”

Diane admitted that, tempting as it sounded just to get rid of all the papers, that’s not the way she wanted to handle the backlog. It was too haphazard a solution and she knew there were things in there that she needed to deal with and possibly even important papers she needed to save, such as legal documents and tax records.

But the opposite approach — go through everything with a fine-toothed comb — seemed an insurmountable task.

When you’re facing a backlog — whether it’s papers, clothing, toys, mementos, or whatever — you need a framework to help you see past the mountain.

Why Buy When You Can Borrow?

3/4/2025

A professional organizer asks Why buy when you can borrow?

I had just come home with a bag full of new yarn, excited to start knitting the sweater my daughter had asked me to make for her. All I wanted to do was cast on and start knitting.

But — any knitters out there will know this — the skeins of yarn have to be wound into usable balls first. Otherwise, they’ll turn into tangled messes. I should have just paid the fee to have the store wind them for me! But, cheapskate that I am, I couldn’t do that after having spent oodles on the yarn itself.

If you’re not a knitter, let me enlighten you about the tedium of the winding process. For me, it entails sitting cross-legged with a loosely-bound hank of yarn stretched across my knees, going round and round, winding the strand into a neat ball, while trying to avoid hand cramps and yarn tangles. It probably takes 15-20 minutes per skein, meaning I was looking at a few hours of winding before I could even get to the fun knitting part!

Well, maybe I could just buy a winding machine. Down the rabbit hole of an online search I went. Of course, winding yarn involves not just one but two mechanisms: a yarn swift and a ball winder. The swift resembles a clothes drying rack and holds the yarn, while the winder — naturally — winds it.

I was looking at upwards of $50 just to be able to start my project. Nope. My inner tightwad had to find another way.

Lightbulb moment: Why not ask my online Buy Nothing group?!

When to Hire a Professional Organizer

2/4/2025

Kate Bosch Professional Organizer helping a client make decisions about items in her kitchen

Life is busy and maintaining an organized space can feel like an uphill battle. Whether due to a lack of time, a significant life change, or simply an overwhelming accumulation of clutter, it’s easy to feel like you just don’t know where to start. You don’t have to muscle through it on your own. Bringing in a Certified Professional Organizer® can save your sanity and be a game-changer.

Here’s when you need to call in the experts.

Chaos & Clutter
What’s bugging you? Is it your jumbled kitchen drawers, overstuffed closets and bureaus, messy entryway, chaotic playroom, or piled-up home office?

It’s About Time: Stay Organized by Tackling 1, 5, and 15 Minute Tasks

1/7/2025

Kate Bosch Professional Organizer folding a load of laundry

I once read a book about a man whose wife divorced him because he was a total slob. He wanted to clean up his act, but he wasn’t going to spend longer than absolutely necessary on any chore. So he timed himself doing various household tasks to find the most efficient method.

With dishes, he assumed it was better to let them pile up in the sink and soak, then wash the whole load at once. To his surprise, rinsing and putting them into the dishwasher right after eating was much quicker.

If you’re familiar with productivity expert David Allen’s 2-Minute Rule, this won’t surprise you.

The 2-Minute Rule states that if you can do something in two minutes or less, do it now instead of putting it off for later.

It’s more efficient to get little tasks out of your way than it is to let them build up into mountains of work.

My client Meredith* knows this first hand. We had cleared, sorted, and organized several rooms in her home, but Meredith struggled to keep it up. The mail piled up in front of the door, dishes overflowed the sink, and hills of laundry littered the bedroom floor. While we cleared the backlog, I had Meredith time herself doing routine tasks so she’d have a realistic sense of how long things take.

Meredith found that she liked the challenge of timing herself and how it turned chores into games. If it took her 18 minutes to fold laundry one time, she’d try to beat the clock and do it in 17 minutes the next time. Now she knows that putting off chores only makes them grow, so she’s more motivated to get them out of the way.

Here are some tasks that you can start timing yourself doing chores. Work a few of them into your daily and weekly routines and you’ll find it’s easier to maintain your home and you’ll be less stressed

Gift Wrapping Made Easy: How to Simplify and Organize

12/3/2024

Gift wrapping made easy: how to simplify and organize

It’s gift-giving season! I’ll bet you’ve already put in a lot of effort: making your gift list, budgeting for the gifts, planning the gifts, comparison-price shopping for the gifts, buying the gifts, and squirreling the gifts away in a hidden corner of your home.

Now it’s time to wrap the gifts!

Does this seem like an insurmountable hurdle? Let me make it easier on you with a few key strategies.

THE EASY WAY OUT
You really hate wrapping presents. And you have no time for it. Here are your two options.

Let the store wrap it
Local shops often offer free gift wrapping. As a former main street shop owner, that makes my heart sing. For unique, clutter-free gift ideas, check out my blog about shopping local. Many online stores will wrap for a small fee. If you really dislike wrapping, add this into your gift budget.
Bag it
Order yourself a bundled pack of matching bags in assorted sizes. — your gifts will look so pulled together! Plop your gifts in the bags and top them with a swirl of tissue paper. Easy!

A Professional Organizer’s Dream Kitchen

11/5/2024

Kate Bosch Professional Organizer's Dream Kitchen Blog

I’ve organized so many kitchens that I’ve lost count. From the perspective of a Certified Professional Organizer®, it doesn’t much matter whether a kitchen is old or new, super high-end or very basic. What matters is how functional it is.

I’ve seen remarkably well-planned kitchens in small condos and apartments. And some surprisingly inefficient kitchens in recently-renovated high-end homes.

I organized two different converted-mill apartment kitchens which each had only a single, 7”-wide drawer. In the entire kitchen. One drawer. Try finding a 7”-wide drawer organizer. Where are we going to put the silverware?!

Then there was the beautiful, modern kitchen with a barista-worthy built-in coffee station occupying an entire end wall. But no pantry. No plan for storing food in the kitchen. And the homeowner doesn’t even drink coffee!

More than once, a client has lamented that they should have consulted with me before doing the renovations. Yes! Definitely consult with a professional organizer prior to undertaking major renovations. An organizer can help you pare down what you have, understand and communicate your habits and preferences to your architect, designer, and contractor, and go over plans with an eye toward functionality and ease of use.

But in case you don’t bring me in as a consultant for your kitchen renovation, just use this handy list.

What's an Organizing Session?

10/1/2024

Home organizer organizing a closet

“Is it normal to be really nervous?” asked Rebecca* as she greeted me at the door. “I don’t know what to expect!”

Yes, it’s common to feel anxious the first time you have an Organizing Session with a Certified Professional Organizer.® Maybe you’re worried I’ll judge you because of your mess. Definitely not! Far from being judgmental, I’m impressed when someone takes the step of hiring a professional to help them get organized.

Nerves also stem from being unsure of what exactly we’ll be doing. Will I be directing or doing the work with you? How exactly will we tackle your project?

Let me demystify the Organizing Session by telling you exactly how it works.

Closet Organizing: What Hangers Do the Pros Use?

9/3/2024

Kate Bosch home organizing hanging clothes in a closet

A common question I get when helping clients organize their closets is, “What kind of hangers are the best?”

My answer? The best hangers are the ones that work for your closet and your clothes. There’s no one universal hanger. Instead, match the hanger to the job.

That said, there are some guidelines for selecting the right hanger.

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