New Holiday Traditions To Try

Looking to start a new holiday tradition? Here are a few ideas:

Get Hygge With It. Practice the Scandinavian hygge (pronounced hue-gah) tradition and cozify yourself at home with candles, a fire and warm blanket, a good book, and hot cocoa.

Adopt a Family. Seattle’s Child magazine lists several local organizations that serve families in need during the holidays.

Go Global. Pick a different country each year and try one or more of their Christmas or Hanukkah cultural traditions, foods, and music.

Honor Loved Ones. Remember a special person no longer with you by making their favorite recipe or dining at their favorite restaurant.

Create a Video Holiday Card. Didn’t get around to ordering cards? Create a fun, short video card and send this to family and friends! Bonus if singing is involved.

Holidays, winter

Top 5 Gifts That Don’t Take Up Space

Does anyone really need more “things” these days? Use our list as a starting point to finding interesting, unique, and fun gifts that won’t add clutter.

Self-care: Get that over-scheduled person in your life some “me” time they can’t resist. A certificate for a spa treatment, a wine-tasting session, a hot air balloon ride—just a few ideas for things they need to be fully present, and put their phone away, for. Or, hire a cleaning company to take a load off their plate.
Culture Club: Tickets to a unique event would be so fun and memorable, whether it be Teatro Zinzanni or Broadway at the Paramount, or even something edgy like Café Nordo.
Go Local: Get them passes for a ghost tour, orca whale watching, go kart racing, or cooking classes. A family would get much use from an annual membership to the zoo or aquarium, or from a Discover Pass.
Staycation: A fun day and evening out, followed by a night at a hotel. If there are kids in the picture, arranging for a babysitter would be extra awesome! Sky’s the limit on what to do: dinner, bowling, movies, karaoke, pub crawl, salsa dancing lessons…
Subscriber: For gifts that keep on giving (for awhile, anyway), a subscription to something they love, such as a music streaming service, an audiobook membership, a TV streaming service, or even Amazon Prime (yay, Free Shipping!).

declutter, gifts, Holidays

How to Host A Guest When You Don’t Have a Guest Room

In my college days and early 20’s, “hosting a guest” basically meant having someone crash on my couch. Now that we are all “adulting” (that word still cracks me up), hosting a friend or relative means a whole lot more. We want to make guests feel welcome and comfortable, keep them entertained, respect their privacy, and hope they’ll visit again. This is definitely easier to do when you’ve got a guest room. But if your home or apartment doesn’t have the luxury of dedicated extra space for a visitor, it doesn’t mean you can’t host one. You just need to get a little more creative. We’ve got some helpful tips and tricks on hosting a guest when you don’t have a guest room.

A Clean Welcome

Now is a great time to give your place a good deep-clean, and while you’re at it, add in some decluttering and organizing. If you haven’t seen your visitors in a few years, nothing says “Welcome” like beckoning them into your clean, calm place that they can feel at home in, whether it’s for two nights or a week. Clear out your entryway, get everything off your dining table, fold and put away the laundry on the sofa, and scrub down the bathroom. It will give your guests a great impression as well as make you feel house-proud! If you need extra help, a professional organizer can support your efforts to getting your home guest-ready.

Create A Space

Your guests will appreciate a little bit of privacy, and without a guest room you’ll need to find an area of your home that you can temporarily set up as their personal space. It may be a corner of the living room, part of the playroom, or half of your home office. Consider getting a temporary room divider; they aren’t too expensive and can be easily put away for future use. You could even use it as a decorative element during the rest of the year. Move some furniture around to create this space; you may need to move some items into another room or the hall to do so.

Set Up A Cozy Sleeping Situation

Friends and family will understand that you can’t set them up like it’s the Four Seasons. Whether they’ll be sleeping on a sofa or daybed, a sofabed, a futon, or a blow-up mattress, do make up their “bed” with fresh sheets, pillows, and warm blankets. A well-rested guest will be a more amiable guest! Give them two blankets—a cuddly, thick one and a lighter one—so they can adjust their coverings to their preferred temperature. Use an end table or another small table for their nightstand. Clear it off and add a lamp, and set it near a power outlet if you can. Provide them with earplugs, too; an eye mask if the room gets a lot of light from outside. Adding a couple of magazines and a local guidebook would be a lovely gesture.

guest bedroom, Holidays, hosting

Not Entertaining for Thanksgiving? Do This Instead!

Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away, and this year that day on your calendar is…totally blank. Whoa! If by some happenstance you are not entertaining for Thanksgiving—and you’re not going to someone else’s house for it—there are so many wonderful ways to fill your day. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because, unlike Valentine’s Day, Halloween, and Christmas, it has not been fully commercialized. The day is all about being grateful. Whether you’re going it solo or you’ve got a big family, here are some ideas for what to do on Thanksgiving Day.

Get Movin’

Take a simple walk around your neighborhood and enjoy the Autumn air and colors. Find a great hike—the trails won’t be crowded today! If you really want to break a sweat, do a Thanksgiving race. Bellevue’s got a Beat the Bird, while Issaquah and Seattle have Turkey Trots. Not to be outdone, Snohomish is hosting a Wattle Waddle marathon/half.

Reconnect

Use this day to get in touch with family or friends you haven’t heard from in awhile. Give them a call; who doesn’t love to see their phone light up with a familiar name instead of “Scam Likely”? Write or type out letters/emails if that suits your communication style better—put the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade on the telly to get you into the spirit.

You Still Gotta Eat, Right?

Just because you’re not hosting or being hosted, doesn’t mean you need to make do with leftover pizza or a microwaved meal. Enjoy the freedom of a delicious Thanksgiving feast that a great restaurant can provide. Eater has a super list of restaurants in the greater Seattle area that are open for Thanksgiving. No need to run the dishwasher three times today!

entertaining, Holidays, Thanksgiving

Your Step-by-Step Thanksgiving Guide

When November rolls in, it means the Thanksgiving countdown is on. You’ve got three weeks or so to plan and execute a fabulous Thanksgiving feast. If the mere thought of your Thanksgiving task list makes you cringe, we can help! Thanksgiving is about spending time with your special people and enjoying a traditional meal together. With our step-by-step guide, we can help you focus on that instead of stressing out about all the tasks at hand. Don’t aim to be a Martha Stewart-level hostess; remember, she has dozens of minions doing most of the work behind the scenes!

Early November

Finalize your Thanksgiving guest list. Take care of the calls, emails, and texts to nail down who is coming to your house for the big turkey meal. Let your family know who will be joining you for Thanksgiving and let them know you will need everyone’s help in getting your home ready.
Haven’t seen your dining room table in awhile? It’s time to clear away the clutter it’s buried under. Enlist your family’s help. As a part of playtime, children can return toys and arts and crafts to their bedrooms. You and your partner can put away items which don’t belong in the dining room. Resist hiding the clutter in a bedroom or closet to be dealt with later. If your dining room (kitchen, pantry, entryway) is buried, and clearing it out seems like an impossible task, don’t hesitate to contact Simplify Experts for help.

Fall, Holidays, Thanksgiving

Ho Ho Oh No! Holiday Time Management and ADHD

“I’m so confused!” was my first thought as I walked into Home Depot and saw frightening Halloween decorations for sale positioned right next to dazzling Hanukkah and Christmas delights. My initial reaction was followed by, “Wait, isn’t it a bit early for Christmas decoration sales?”. Then my heart skipped a beat and the panic set in: “Yikes! I need to get started on all that holiday stuff or I’ll never get everything done!” The onset of the holiday season can be both exhilarating and terrifying. This is one time of the year during which time management is crucial. For those struggling with ADHD and/or have loved ones challenged by ADHD, time management during the Fall holidays can be particularly daunting.

Time management encompasses the ability to both “see” and “feel” time. Visual cues are used to observe the passage of time, such as the movement of hands on an analog clock or changing shadow patterns on a sidewalk throughout the day. We feel time as we perceive its passage before, during, and after our experiences. Furthermore, we gauge our behavior using the concept of a time horizon—how near in time something needs to be for someone to be motivated into action. According to psychologist Ari Tuckman, people challenged by ADHD experience a shorter time horizon. That motivation kicks in much closer in time to when the event will take place, greatly affecting time management. Tuckman asserts that those with ADHD recognize two times: now and not now. All this spells trouble when trying to navigate the holiday months amidst deadlines, events, and additional responsibilities. However, there are strategies to help deal with the impact that ADHD plays on time management during the holidays.

Strategy 1: Start Now

Calendars: This is the time of year when the calendar becomes your best friend. That snazzy calendar app on your smartphone is sure handy because it travels with you (assuming you’re like me and take it with you everywhere) and is so versatile. However, I can’t stress enough the importance of a more visual, paper calendar for this time of year. It is much easier to visualize that time horizon as well as your increased commitments if you use a paper calendar, especially one with large day blocks in which to record entries you can readily see. If you are in charge of scheduling for a family, a personal calendar as well as a family calendar is helpful for coordinating everyone’s activities while not losing sight of your own commitments.

ADHD, Fall, Holidays, home organizing

Questions to Ask Yourself for 2020

We’ve all done the New Year’s Resolutions thing umpteen times. We’ve made lists with ambitious goals, hopeful ideas, and grand declarations. Everything from getting fit to managing finances better to organizing your home to hiking more with your kids. Raise your hand if you’ve gotten to March, with that list long forgotten, or with very few items checked off. (Raises hand.) I have found that lists of lofty goals can sometimes make me feel worse if I have not come close to achieving everything in due time.

For the past few years, instead of making a list of resolutions, I’ve made a list of questions. Seriously, questions! Questions that may help me prioritize factors in my life, that make me think twice about some things, and yes, that lead me to question what I have taken for granted. But of course, you don’t want a brain explosion! It doesn’t have to be all so deep, life-changing, and philosophical—it just needs to help you give more thought to what’s already in your world, and what you’d like to add or improve.

To help you get started, I’ve categorized the questions. These are just ideas to kickstart your own question-making process.

If you are heading out of town for the holidays, for a long weekend or for a week, it’s a prudent idea to have a checklist of To-Do’s to ensure your home’s safety. Unfortunately this most wonderful time of year also brings about a rise in theft and burglaries. According to CNN Money burglaries peak during December because would-be thieves know people are on vacation, or are out shopping or visiting all day. Here’s our thorough guide to keeping your home safe and looking “occupied”.

Use these sectioned checklists:

Electronic

Put timers on several lights around the house, including your holiday lights and front/back porch lights. Have the timers go on and off at varying times, so an obviously unoccupied, dark home doesn’t suddenly all light up at 4:30pm. Winter hours mean dark mornings–set timers to also turn on 6:00-9:00am.
Double-check indoor/outdoor holiday lights and wiring. Don’t leave any fire hazards.
Unplug your automatic garage door opener so thieves can’t open it with a universal remote.
If you’ve got a security system, a video doorbell, or motion detector lights, check to make sure it’s working properly.

Holidays, home, protect your home, safe, vacation

5 Steps to Make Your Guest Bedroom Ready for Holiday Guests

The winter holidays are just around the corner, and I am C-A-L-M. We are getting ready early this year. We know who is coming over for dinner, and who will be staying with us. I know what the menu will be and who is bringing what dish. I’ve even made a shopping list. Bring it on! I admit it, I was feeling in control. Then, last night, one of the kiddos was feeling congested and he wanted the humidifier in his room. Piece of cake, I knew exactly where to look!

A few minutes later, as I am digging around in the guest bedroom closet, unsuccessfully trying to locate the humidifier, a terrible thought occurred to me. Guests will need to sleep in this very room and it looks like a tornado swept through here long ago! My smug holiday mood evaporated pretty quickly.

The door to the guest room is always closed, and for good reason! The bed hasn’t had sheets on it since the last guests stayed here (over the summer). On top of the bed, there are boxes and bags with various purchases needing to be returned to various stores. The Halloween bin is on the floor, empty.

closet, guest bedroom, Holidays, house guests, Professional Organizer, tidying

Hosting A Safe Holiday Gathering for Senior Guests

Having guests visit for the holidays is an exciting time for the whole family, although some needs may vary from guest to guest. Senior citizens are especially unique in their needs. If you’re expecting a few elderly family members in for the holidays, you’ll need to prepare accordingly. Whether they’re spry or a bit mobility-impaired, you’ll find it’s best to have a safe home ready for your senior guests.

Here are some adjustments for your holiday gathering that will make it safer for your guests.

Arrange transportation

While rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft are a great way to save time and ferry your guests to and from the airport, it’s not always a good idea to use those as a substitute for a personal pick up. Particularly when your senior guests need assistance, it’s usually best that you or another family member meet them at the airport.

elderly, guests, Holidays, hosting, seniors