Spring cleaning can either be the best, or worst, part of the new season. On one hand, it’s a chance to declutter and refresh your living space. Plus, it can feel good to tackle those projects that you’ve been meaning to get to all winter. But a laundry list of to-do items and junk drawers filled to the brim can make the process feel overwhelming.

To help you, we sat down with two of Chicagoland’s leading organization experts to get the inside scoop on combatting clutter and streamlining your space. Their advice: be intentional, let it go (guilt-free), and give everything a place.

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Find yourself laughing whenever a house-hunting couple on TV lists a mudroom as one of their must-haves? It’s my second favorite bit of ridiculousness on those shows (the first is the absolute need for a guest room when the entire viewing audience knows that no one is ever going to visit the family who just moved a $2,000 plane ride away).

The reality (not reality TV) looks a lot different.

Many city dwellers are lucky to have a coat closet or landing to stash their shoes. And those of us who live in the suburbs or somewhere without shared walls may have the space for a mudroom, but it may be overrun by laundry…or plastic kids’ vehicles…or it’s been turned into an office/gift-wrapping station/storage.

Practical Chicagoans, here are some simple and stylish alternatives for storing and organizing your winter gear.  Continue reading

Getting your home ready to sell sounds like sunshine and rainbows. That is, until you are about four hours into the project.

How do I know?

I just moved six weeks ago…with my family of six.

Our journey started out like this: “honey, this neighborhood doesn’t suit us anymore. Wouldn’t we love to have lower taxes, less home maintenance and save more retirement money?”

So, we hired a real estate broker, and within 72 hours, I had our home picture-perfect and ready for photographs and showings. Continue reading