the HYD flea is a week away!

We are gearing up for our bi-annual Fall Flea on September 28th and 29th and we can’t wait to share these amazing finds with you! The Help You Dwell Flea originally started as a local makers market where we provided a place for our Knoxville artist and maker friends to sell their goods. As Help You Dwell grew and other makers markets popped up, we transitioned into pop up flea markets twice a year as a way to encourage our clients to purge while making money for the items that no longer served a purpose in their homes. We curate the flea with items that you can’t just walk into a place like Target and purchase. Over the years our items have been a mix of vintage, antique, gently used, and always unique. We have a whole new spread of furniture and home decor to pass along to new folks.

This year we’ve come up with a way for you to get a sneak peak of the items that will be for sale and one lucky winner will get the chance to purchase or hold an item of their choice. On Thursday September 27th at 7pm we will have a Sip ‘N Shop! $5 gets you in the door, a glass of wine and enters you into the drawing. Come hang out with us and get a first look at what we will have for sale this year!

We will post more pictures as we get set up but for now, here are a few things you will find…

This year we have more lamps than ever before-everything from high end-brand new, to vintage, to hand painted and custom lamps— even light fixtures! We’ve got art coming out of our ears— Original paintings, botanical lithographs, and Italian mirrors too! We’ve got rugs of all sizes and lots of different styles and colors. We’ve got Americana pieces, hand painted furniture, antiques, mid century, farm house, and glam. We’ve got candle sticks, vases, planters, bed linens, and serving pieces. We’ll have armoires, bed frames, end tables, statement chairs, book cases, ottomans, bar stools, kitchen tables, historic salvage and more.

If you’ve never made it to one of our sales before, we hope to see you next week! Check out our slide show of previous fleas to get an idea of the kinds of things you can expect to find at our next sale!

What's with all the pressure to be organized??

If you keep up with blogs, or honestly, any form of social media, you've probably observed this obsession with being organized that has surfaced over the past few years.

Let's talk about this trend.

If I'm being honest, all of the lovely pictures that grace the pages of magazines, Instagram streams, and blog posts make me swoon. They also make me less content with that I currently have and how my home currently looks. I often feel frustrated when I see the perfectly color coordinated kids rooms, the toys that are set exactly 3 inches apart from each other lining a shelf, the immaculately folded linens in a closet--these things are not realistic for me. I totally understand wanting a well designed and well organized home and the desire for things to look nice. What I do want to acknowledge is that I am a professional organizer, and my home will never look like those pictures unless I've specifically staged it for pictures (which would last all of about 30 minutes).

What I've been thinking about and trying to embrace lately is that being organized means different things to different people. The value of being organized is different for every person. I know for myself that if my house feels out of order, I feel distracted and overwhelmed--but my definition of "out of order" is not the same as everyone else’s definition. For example, I like for things to generally have a designated place, I like having clean surfaces, I don't like to store much on my counters, and I like things to be contained. Some people love to have lots of things on every shelf, and that's totally fine. For many, that doesn't feel disorganized or overwhelming at all. The truth is, we hope you never feel pressured by media, fashion, trends, friends, or family to become a version of "organized" that doesn’t work for you.

You may have noticed that many of our “before and afters” do not feature “after” pictures that look perfect- this is purposeful. Many of our clients are looking for practical help, things that can easily be maintained. Sometimes we complete a job where our client really values uniformity and a more picturesque final product, and we are happy to provide that result, but we never want to leave a client with something that doesn't feel realistic to their every day life. We realized that organization looks different for each person and we want to customize our work in a way that leaves each client feeling good about moving forward and maintaining their newly achieved order.

We love to help people who feel overwhelmed by their belongings, who want to let go, have the desire to purge, rearrange, re-invision their space etc. We've found that a very real sense of relief often comes when you purge and get more organized. Our greatest desire is that you feel content and able to enjoy your space without feeling burdened by it!

Organizing your time

Image by CloudsAesthetics

Being organized doesn't just apply to your home, it also applies to your time. We live in a "yes" culture where too many people are too over committed. If you are feeling overwhelmed or like you are a slave to your schedule, we have created an exercise to help you figure out where your priorities lie and how to evaluate the best use of your time.

1. Make a list of your daily, weekly, and monthly commitments. Focus on the thing that reoccur-- not one time appointments. (examples: monthly book club, weekly counseling appointment, small groups, quarterly board meetings etc)

2. Make a list of the people in your life that you see, talk to, or spend time with regularly. Include long distance relationships if phone calls, skyping etc with them are part of your regular routine. Include parents, grandparents, siblings, spouse, children, partner, and friends, etc.

3. Make a list of activities, groups, or people that you don't currently have time for but would like to make time for or wish you had time for.

4.  Take a look at the three lists you have made and evaluate your commitments. What commitments and what people are life giving to you and which of them are draining. Are you committed to certain things for seasons? Can you delegate any of your current commitments that are no longer working for you? Is it time to redefine relational boundaries with someone in your life? Take the time to go through the information you've written down to see the big picture of what and who you are giving your time to.

Webb Home Tour

In the 1950's, a government-created flat top house was a hot commodity in Oak Ridge. Hugh Webb, a UT college student in 1952, bought one for a whopping $900 and had it moved to a plot of land in North East Knox County. Our home tour today offers a glimpse into the crafted home of two artists who have created a masterpiece of a home that started as a prefab box. Barbara and Hugh Webb have lived in their home for 60 years and they have redesigned, reconfigured, and revamped their home into a one of a kind oasis. With 10 acres, horses, and incredible vision, they have truly made a home for themselves.

   Early on they decided that, rather than moving around over the years, they would use their money to travel and work on the home they already had. They set a goal to take their children to every state in the US and to travel internationally as often as they were able. Whenever they got the itch to move, they would re-imagine their space and transform it to meet their needs. Barbara would draw up the plan, and Hugh would bring it to life.

   Barbara's mother was Finnish and her Scandinavian style carried over in a natural way. Barbara has always been drawn to clean lines and minimalist decor. With muted tones and lots of neutrals, Hugh claims that if he sat still long enough, Barbara might paint him to match the rest of the house. With a mix of family antiques and carefully curated decor, their home is like a gallery in and of itself. Barbara is one of the founding charter members of the Foot Hills Craft Guild and hasn't missed a show in 50 years! 

   When I asked Barbara what her secret to creating a home was, she said " We enjoy our home and we enjoy each other. That’s the main thing about everything—— enjoying each other." If you spend any time with Hugh and Barbara you quickly realize that they are an incredible team. They love to dream and create together and the results of their teamwork are visible all over their home and in their children and grandchildren who come by the house almost daily to feed the horses or stop in for a chat. Hugh and Barbara enjoy more than making art together, they go dancing every Monday night. She says, "I could Waltz across Texas with Hugh".

Enjoy these scenes from the Webb's home. 

View fullsize

The front door of the Webb Home

View fullsize

The bookcase is a family heirloom from Barbara's grandparents. The birds sitting on top were hand carved by Hugh.

View fullsize

The Living room with a portrait of the Webb's daughters done by Barbara

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

The tea party room.

View fullsize

Kitchen details

Vintage breadbox

View fullsize

Breakfast room and view onto the back porch where Hugh and Barbara take a break from creating every day at 3pm for cake and coffee.

View fullsize

Barbara's studio

View fullsize

View fullsize

Miniature paintings by Barbara Webb

View fullsize

Barbara's studio

View fullsize

Master bedroom

View fullsize

View fullsize

guest bedroom details

View fullsize

guest bedroom

View fullsize

portrait of the Webb's daughters by Barbara

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

These 5 things

Every other month or so, we take our blog-writing hat off and point you in the direction of content that already exists out in the world. There are thousands of blogs, podcasts, books, documentaries, tv shows etc out there and we don't want to bombard you. We take a moment every now and then to distill down a few of the things we've read over the past month to some of the most helpful or most meaningful and here they are! Our goal is to provide tools through the words and pictures of other good folks that have encouraged us. We hope you enjoy!

 Simplicity as a spiritual practice: Declutter for deep personal growth

Life is easier with a capsule wardrobe

How to clean your kitchen whether you have 15 minutes or all weekend

Greeting Card organization

Need a solution to trying to do it all?

donating and selling books

As organizers, one of the questions we consistently get from our clients is how and where to donate or sell the books that they are ready to pass along. We've compiled our list of recommendations and are eager to share it with you.

If you are ready to organize and purge your books, we recommend that you take the time to look through all the books throughout your home. Rather than simply purging a bookcase in one of many places that you keep reading material, plan to put your hands on every book in the house! Don't forget cookbooks, textbooks, and children's books. Once you've gone through all of them and have your purge pile, the following steps will come in handy...

Step 1: Determine whether each book is donate-able/sell-able or whether it simply needs to be recycled. If it's water damaged, dry rotted, or torn up it's not worth donating. Go ahead and recycle that sucker.

Step 2: Donate: If you don't want to fool with selling, simply donate your books to your local library or to a thrift store. If you have children's books to donate, you can also drop them at one of the many free little library's around town.

Step 3: Selling: There are many approaches and ways to go about selling your books. For a quick way to offload mass quantities of books, McKays is our recommendation. The amount of books you drop off will determine how you sell/how long you wait. For guidelines check out this link. In addition to McKays, Amazon now has a buy back program for certain books that they will pay shipping for and purchase from you in exchange for an Amazon gift card. For textbooks we recommend Barnes and Noble's buy back program.

Step 4: Enjoy the space you've created in your home by purging the books that you no longer need or want!

dorm room organization

Image source

If you are heading off to college in the next few weeks or are moving one of your children into their first dorm room, we have a few tips to make the move more organized and seamless. 

1. Schedule a day with your son or daughter and plan to go through everything in their room at home. This may seem daunting but you will be so glad you did it. PURGE PURGE PURGE. This is a great opportunity to do the initial clean out which will make packing that much easier!
2. Think seasonally. In most dorm rooms, storage is limited which requires creativity and careful planning to utilize the space well. How large is the dorm room? Are frequent trips home feasible? Figure out all of the details before you begin packing. Send seasonal clothing and accessories only and store the rest at home. Use storage solutions like over the door shoe racks, under bed storage, and rolling carts to make good use of your space. Check out this link for more dorm room organization ideas.

Image source

3. Pack in clear tubs. College students typically move a lot. Rather than going out and purchasing moving boxes for every move over the next several years, buy some large totes that you can load up and pack easily. Once emptied, the totes can be stacked inside of each other  and easily stored.
4. Make the dorm room feel like home. No matter how exciting college can be, its always an adjustment moving out of mom and dad's house and into a space of your own. Although your kid may be excited about the change, it's always easier to adjust when your new room feels comfortable and homey. Remember that this is a dorm room and a college student. Styles change and college kids aren't known for being the most responsible. You don't need hire a decorator and take out a loan to transform a 10x12 dorm room into the next cover of House Beautiful.

Links for dorm room storage, etc., list of things to take with you to college

we took a road trip!

This week Taryn, Katie and I (and Hank--our mascot/resident HYD baby) road tripped to Nashville's City Winery to see The Minimalists and Rachel Cruze on their Simply Southern Tour. The evening in Nashville was a wonderful hybrid of minimalism and financial freedom conversation. Our cliff note version of the evening is below!

If you aren't familiar with The Minimalists, we recommend starting with their documentary on Netflix and reading about them on their website!

A fun bit of local trivia-- In 2011, the Minimalists came through Knoxville and announced on their website that they would be at a local coffee shop...no one came until they were packing up to leave and then 2 people recognized them. This past Tuesday night we saw them in Nashville at a sold out show! Suffice it to say, they have amassed quite a following in the last 7 years!

Money Tips from Rachel:

• While many people view budgets as being limiting, they can actually give you more freedom. A budget gives you permission to spend. When you budget, you tell your money where to go.
• "Live like no one else now, so later, you can live like no one else." Dave Ramsey
• Real freedom requires discipline
• Comparing your real life to the social media version of everyone elses life is never helpful
• The three money muscles are "give", "save", and "spend"
• Attack your smallest debts first and work your way up to your largest ones. Once you've checked one off of your list you gain hope!
• Check out the Every Dollar App for a really easy way to budget and keep track of your income, spending, and finances
• For more from Rachel, check out her new book!

Minimalism tips from Josh and Ryan:

• "Minimalism is the thing that gets us past the things so we can make room for life's most important things--which actually aren't things at all."
• It's important to acknowledge that they things that are necessary for my life, may not be the necessary things for yours. Minimalism looks different for every person in every season.
• Minimalism allows you to continue to question the things you hold on to.
• The average American household has 300,000 items in it.
• Tips on selling stuff vs giving it away: If you can make $20 or more, sell it-- if not, just let it go.
• When getting rid of stuff, give yourself deadlines. Ex: If you are trying to sell something and it doesn't sell in 30 days, lower the price or donate it.
• Understand "sunk cost". The amount you paid for something when you bought it is not going to be the value of it when you are trying to get rid of it. Accepting the fact that you will not make your money back is "sunk cost".
• All things in life fit into three categories. 1. Essentials: Food, shelter, clothing 2. Non-essentials: the things you don't "need" but add value to your life and 3. Junk: everything else that we pretend has value
• The things we buy and "hope" to use really just have asperational value, not real value.
• Use social media (whether for personal or business use) to add value to others lives, not to add to the noise.
• "Love people and use things, because the opposite never works"- The Minimalists
• For more from the Minimalists, check out their book.

We had an absolute blast and wanted to share just a bit of our experience. You will be able to listen to the full audio the evening on The Minimalist podcast in the coming weeks!

rules of lighting

Have you ever found the perfect light fixture, only to bring it home and find that it doesn't fit!? Choosing the correct light fixture can be overwhelming. It's important to find the right look and feel but also the correct size and scale. Below, we have laid out a few go-to visuals to help you place you lighting correctly!

LIGHT FIXTURE / SMALL GLOBE PENDANT

LIGHT FIXTURE / AUBREY BRASS CHANDELIER

LIGHT FIXTURE / WINDSOR GLASS GLOBE

Ceiling height does play a factor when it comes to selecting and placing light fixtures. The visuals above are great indications of how lighting should be placed in rooms with standard 8 ft ceilings.

When it comes to lighting, one of the most important rules of thumb is to have multiple light sources. Although overhead lighting often makes a design impact, it shouldn't be the only source of light in a room. It is best to have at least 2-3 other light sources supporting the overhead light. A great way to add more lighting is to add can-lights, wall sconces, or simply a table or floor lamp! 

Some of our favorite places to find light fixtures are CB2, Rejuvenation, School House Electric, World Market, and Target.

organizing recipe's

For many people, the world of Pinterest has changed the way they keep recipes. In a time when so much is digital, it's easy to keep track of things on your computer. However, there are still plenty of folks who prefer written or tangible recipes to digital. If you have piles of recipes torn out of magazines, recipes you have printed out from online, or hand written recipes that have been passed down to you, it can be hard to manage them all in a way that is user friendly. We've made recipe notebooks for several clients and we would love to share our process with you.

Items needed:

• hard copies of recipes
• scissors
• page protectors
• notebook (or notebooks)
• tab dividers
• label maker or sharpie

1. Sort your recipes into manageable categories. If you don't have a ton of recipes it might make sense to use categories like Appetizers, Entree's, Sides, Desserts, Drinks etc. If you've got a really large amount of recipes it might make sense to further separate into more defined categories like Entree's: Chicken, Entree's: Beef, Sides:Salads, Sides:grains etc. Once you are sorted, throw out duplicates or recipes that no longer look appealing to you. If you like to print recipes from your computer, chances are, you've printed multiple copies.

2. Take stock-- if you've got a large collection of recipes you may want a separate notebook for each broad category-- a whole notebook for desserts, a whole notebook for salads etc.

3. Go through and put each recipe in a page protector-- If your recipe is one sided, choose one to put back to back with another one so that each page protector has 2 recipe's represented. Page protectors are really helpful in keeping your recipe intact. When you are cooking from a recipe, inevitably, you spill something on the paper-- the page protector makes it easy to wipe off spills and protects the paper from getting wet or torn.

4. Print labels for the tab dividers with each category name (or if you prefer to hand letter- use a sharpie to label each tab)

5. Put pages and dividers into notebook. If you have a lot of recipes it may be helpful to alphabetize the recipes in each category. You can also create an index if you want to go the extra mile.

Have a different idea for organizing recipes? We'd love to hear!

a tried and true tip

If you've browsed the magazine aisle at the grocery store in the past few years, you have probably noticed that organizing is trendy.  Magazines promising "35 tips to get your whole house organized", "how to organize your pantry in 30 minutes", or "best organizing products" are all vying for your time and money. While those articles are helpful and fun to read, there is one organizing tip or method that we always come back to. Organizing by category rather than by room or space is more a helpful and thorough way of turning chaos into order.

What we have found, is that often times people store the same kinds of things in multiple places around the house. You may have holiday decor stored in multiple closets and storage spaces. Organizing each space separately wouldn't be as productive as pulling out all of your holiday decor at once. We suggest taking inventory of all that you have so that you can do a more thorough purge, and then organizing and re-storing the items in a way that makes sense. If you can't store all like items together due to space issues, try grouping by specific categories within the broader category. If you are working with holiday decor, you could separate by seasons/holidays or by inside and outside decor.

Whether you are organizing clothing, cleaning supplies, or linens, make sure to think through every area in your house where you store similar items so that you have an accurate picture of all that you have. You may be surprised by the duplicates or excess that you find.

Do you have a tried and true organizing tip? We'd love to hear!

The Best Boxes for your Next Move

It's a busy time of year for moving and Knoxville's housing market is fast and furious these days with lots of folks relocating within and moving to our fabulous city.  HYD has had the privilege of assisting lots of folks with their move, be it the pre-pack purge, packing, coordinating the day of the move, or setting up clients in their new homes. In our experience, the one challenge that is consistent throughout this process is figuring out the most protected, cost efficient, and environmentally conscience way to contain all our client's belongings.

Just recently, we had the great pleasure of meeting the owner of a new company here in Knoxville that may help us answer that very question...

Meet Frank Ramey, owner, operator, and "Chief Officer of Customer Happiness" of RPM Boxes, a plastic moving box rental company located in the heart of Knoxville.

Frank has an extensive background in logistics which has set him up perfectly for running this new business here in Knoxville. As packers (and unpackers), HYD really appreciated all he had to say about his research to find the best-sized boxes for fitting the most commonly packed items and how easy he's made it for people to get those boxes delivered to and picked up from their doorstep!

RPM Boxes' user friendly website will answer your questions and help clarify the facts about saving money and time renting plastic boxes instead of purchasing cardboard boxes and tape. Also, as organizers we love how well these pack then stack, allowing for movers to easily access them, load them on dollies, and get them to the truck, cutting down on the time and cost of moving items. Lastly, we can all appreciate the small environmental impact involved by choosing reusable boxes.

---

---

We're also excited to share that anytime you use the code HYD10, you will receive 10% off your rental fee! AND... for a limited time only, RPM Boxes is offering 50% off any rentals so if you book for an upcoming move now, you'll get a GREAT deal!!

Call (865) 269-6797 to secure your boxes today!

mixing & matching patterns

Whether you are looking to update a space without emptying your wallet, or simply want to refresh a room, adding and mixing patterns is the perfect place to start! 

Photo via Collectivco

Photo via Collectivco

Mixing and matching pillows with patterns and color can be tough to get right. In case you need some guidance, we are sharing our go-to tips below!

1. A solid pillow is a great start. This lays the foundation for the color and lets you have room to play with pattern!

2. Texture is key! Adding in a textured pillow such as velvet, faux fur, or a knit pillow, adds depth and interest.

3. Organic and geometric patterns are the perfect pair when mixing and matching. When paired together, the shapes and movement in patterns help balance each other out. In case you aren't sure what we mean by organic and geometric, check out this helpful article.

4. If mixing organic and geometric patterns really isn't your thing, play with scale! Mixing large prints with small prints is a great way to show contrast!

GROUP 1 PILLOWS/ 1 - 2 - 3   GROUP 2 PILLOWS/ 1 - 2 - 3 
GROUP 3 PILLOWS/ 1 - 2 - 3  GROUP 4 PILLOWS/ 1 - 2 - 3

5 interesting things

Image from Emily Henderson

Thinking about having a yard sale this summer? This episode of The Lazy Genius has some great tips!

Fathers Day is this Sunday! If you haven't thought of something for Dad, check out these gift guides! 1 2 3

We've been loving the podcast The Simple Show! Right now they are doing a series called "Grown Upping the Summer" and its sooo good!

What do you think about creating outdoor rooms? These are beautiful!

Image from Food52

Image from Food52

Image from Food52

Did you know that Food52 sells vintage french kitchen goods? Obsessed!

did you know...

Source unknown

As organizers, a huge part of our job is to help people declutter. One of our goals in decluttering is to help find new homes for the items that our clients no longer need. Whether we end up helping to sell an item, find the right place to donate it, or recycle it properly--we strive to keep as much out of landfills as we can.

Over the years we've discovered some easy ways to reduce waste and to make recycling and donating easier for everyone.

Image courtesty of Target corporate

1. Did you know that you can recycle old cell phones, mp3 players, and ink cartridges at Target? Once you've wiped your personal information from a device you can bring it into a store and drop it off in their electronics recycling bin. Additionally, did you know that Target periodically accepts expired and unexpired car seats in exchange for 20% off a new car seat?

2. Did you know that you can drop off items to be shredded for a fee at Staples? If you don't have time to do your own shredding or don't have a shredder, just drop your  boxes of paperwork to be shredded at your local Staples store and let them do it for you.

3. Did you know that there are several thrift stores in town that will come to your home and pick up your unwanted items for free? One of our favorite thrift stores is Habitat for Humanity. They are unique in that in addition to normal thrift store items, they also accept building materials.

4. Did you know that there are several drop boxes around town for unwanted/expired medications? It's not a good idea to flush medications. To find a drop box near you, check out this list of locations.

5. Did you know that you can recycle rechargeable batteries, compact florescent light bulbs (CFL's), and plastic shopping bags at Lowe's? Many businesses have shopping bag recycling so if you have a huge stash from years of grocery shopping without reusable bags, why not drop them to be recycled on your next trip to the grocery?

What other items or businesses have you discovered that are working towards recycling, reusing, and reducing waste?
We would love to hear!!

DO'S & DON'TS OF ART HANGING

Hanging art can come with it challenges. Luckily, our Interior Designer, Cassie, put together a few visuals and tips to help you hang art like a pro! Below, you will find a few examples of the most common mistakes we see when it comes to placement and spacing and examples of how to correct them.

ART: POTTERY BARN / DRESSER: CRATE AND BARREL

ART: CB2 / BED: RESTORATION HARDWARE

ART: JENNY'S PRINT SHOP / SOFA: WEST ELM

When in doubt....

• Hang single art pieces at eye level (56"-60"H)
• Treat two pieces as one (stack these items, keeping the distance between them 1.5"-2"; don't be afraid the stack two different frames, i.e. smaller frame above a larger frame)
• Get creative with a gallery wall but keep the spacing (1.5"-2") consistent
• Mix & Match mirrors and art
• On a larger wall, fill the space with a series of art or photos in a grid pattern
• Lastly, mock up your wall with a piece(s) of paper the same size as your frame

organizing how to: printed photographs

Unless you are exceptionally organized, chances are, you have boxes of photos somewhere in your home just waiting to be sorted and put into albums. Printed photos are one of the most commonly unorganized items in a home. You probably had every intention of getting to it before it all piled up over the years but life happened and now it's overwhelming. During the harsh heat and dog days of summer, this is the perfect project to work on inside!

Here is our guide to getting your photographs sorted, purged, and ready for albums!

1. Goals: Establish your desire for the photos.  Do you prefer a bound book like snapfish where you upload your pictures to be made into a book or do you like the old school hard copy photo albums? Would you prefer chronological albums or themed albums? Will your photo albums be somewhere that is easily accessible and often looked through? Would you like to frame pictures in your home? Once you have established your goal for your pictures you will have a more clear path forward.

2. Sorting: If you have boxes of undated pictures that seem to be in no particular order, it can be a daunting task to sort. We suggest beginning by writing down a timeline of life events. Births, marriages, graduations, family trips, special birthday parties, deaths, etc. This will help you date pictures along the way. Once you have a timeline to refer back to, grab some index cards and make an index card for each year that you have pictures from. (If you have old historical pictures of family from before you were born, we recommend setting those aside and making that a separate project. Lay out your index cards and start sorting. As you go, if you come across blurry, poorly cropped, or duplicate pictures, discard them along the way. The bulk of your time will be spent in this stage so give yourself time and space but set a deadline for yourself. Commit to sorting for 30 minutes a day for 2 weeks and see how far you get! You could even listen to a podcast or a book on audible while you sort. If you don't have the space to lay pictures out all over the floor, try an extra large accordion file instead.

*If your goal is themed albums rather than chronological, you can create index cards with event names rather than years.

3. Purging: Once you've sorted your pictures by year, go through each year and sort by event-- this will help you find more duplicates to eliminate. Take the time to think about the kinds of pictures you would enjoy having in an album. You probably don't need 12 pictures of Jim Bob's birthday cake from every possible angle. Pick out the best pictures and scrap the rest. We know it can feel hard to get rid of pictures but if we are being honest, unless pictures are displayed or put into albums they are rarely enjoyed and end up just taking up space.

4. Compiling: If you've opted for traditional photo albums, purchase a few and start from the beginning. If you are going in order or by event, it's easier for you or someone else to help you or for someone else to pick up where you left off if you don't end up finishing your project in a timely fashion.

5. Do the happy dance--- because you no longer have boxes of pictures taking up space in your closets--in fact, you now have beautiful records of you and your family that are easy to peruse whenever you'd like!

As always, if you'd like us to do the work for you-- we'd be glad to!

Good intentions and Mothers Day thoughts

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

Well folks.... I had good intentions. I was going to blog about local mothers day specials and give-aways but then I gave my 7 month old a bath, put him to bed, made dinner, and had a 2 hour conversation with my husband about differences of opinions in parenting styles and here we are. It's 9:22pm on Wednesday night and the amount of time it would take me to research local specials feels exhausting. So instead, enjoy some pretty pictures of flowers and a few thoughts--because, why not?

Sunday will be my first mother's day as a mama and that feels strange and good. Most days I wake up still a little bit in shock that I'm responsible for a little human. It's rewarding and hard, a blessing and a challenge, humbling and inconvenient, tiring and invigorating. I'm so thankful for little Hank (hankypants, beetle, hankasaurus rex--take your pick) and so thankful for Andrew and the fact that he is such a hands on, involved, great dad and life partner! 

SO to all of you mama's out there, give yourself a break this week--- and when you are feeling like you are dropping the ball (like I do with this blog entry) just remember that a few months from now, honestly probably a few days from now, no one will remember that you didn't get dinner made and opted for taco bell, let the laundry build up to an obscene amount, didn't vacuum your living room for a month, or wrote a blog that wasn't informative or helpful in terms of organizing.  You are doing a great job and beating yourself up about the little things is just straight up not helpful. Go get yourself a glass of rose', drink it in bed, and remind yourself that the laundry and everything else can wait until tomorrow.

Cheers! and Grace and Peace to you all!

-Caroline

a tribute to the mom's behind HYD

Taryn and her mom

Sometimes I joke that Help You Dwell, for me, is a preparation for helping my own mom let go of so many of her treasures someday. There’s probably some truth to that. However, one of the biggest reasons I think I have such compassion for our clients and their things is because I learned from my mom how certain family heirlooms, gifts from loved ones, or items connected to a memory can be such important parts of who we are. My mom has such an incredible love and gift of making a home tell the story of one’s life. Growing up surrounded by family pieces, treasures from my mom’s antique business, handmade gifts from her dearest friends, and photos of people and places from past adventures gave me such a sense of what home is. I’m so thankful that my mother never jumped on the next home decor trend but instead, thoughtfully collected the items that told her story, our family’s story. Thanks so much mom for this legacy, for teaching me to treasure those things that are visible extensions of ourselves, our family, and the people we love. 

Katie and her mom

When I came to realize that my mom had always been much more than a guide and a parent to me, I knew I was incredibly blessed. She's my dearest friend and the woman I hope to be like. My mom is the one I call when I need an honest answer, encouragement, or just a good laugh. She never misses an opportunity to cut up and crack a joke to lighten the mood. Even though we may talk over each other and throw some sass around, she communicates so much understanding and empathy to me in every situation. Her heart has room for everyone she meets, it must be bursting at the seems with all of the love she carries even for mere strangers who may be hurting. She is deeply affected by the world and people around her, and I think this is her greatest strength. There's nothing quite as good as the comforting back or head scratches my mom gave when I was sick or sad. Even though I don't still live in the same city or even state, her phone calls are the most necessary and comforting conversations I can think of. Mom, I hope to carry the joy and pain of everyone I meet, the same way you do. You are fragrant of Christ - with your lighthearted humor, kindness and deep compassion. Thanks for being my dearest friend and my sweet mama. 

Caroline and her mom

I have to admit that I come by my organizational habits honestly. My mom is exceptionally organized! One of the most valuable things I've learned from my mom about making a home, is to hold out for pieces that you love and pieces that are quality. Although she would say she holds out almost to a fault, her furniture decisions always last decades, have a timeless quality to them, and she has few regrets. You will never find my mom making an impulsive purchase. Although I am not as disciplined as she is, she instilled a thoughtful way of decorating that I am thankful for. Aside from her organizational and decorative tips, she has been my biggest cheerleader when it comes to Help You Dwell and my desire to bring peace and order to our clients homes. Mama, thanks for leading by example and always supporting me in my wild escapades! Love you!

Here are few more HYD'ers and their mom's, daughters, and grand daughters!

Erin and her mom

Cassie and her mama

Tammy and her girls

When shopping becomes a hobby...

As organizers, we spend a lot of time thinking about stuff. What to do with it, why we keep it, how we got it, why we continue to buy it... and the list goes on. We live in a culture of fast fashion, gimmicky marketing, and consumerism. If we are being honest, it's incredibly hard for anyone to not feel the the tug of "keeping up with the Joneses" from time to time. Goods are cheaply made and cheaply sold now a days, which makes it that much easier to purchase items that we don't need, won't last, and clutter up our homes.

Because so many goods are made in a foreign country, made cheaply, and mass produced, for the first time in history, prices are affordable enough to make shopping a hobby for people in America. Have you ever hopped in the car for a Target fix when you are bored? Have you ever had a long stressful day at work and then gone home to spend your evening online shopping and sipping a glass of wine? Over at HYD we are not above it--- we've totally been there. Shopping in America IS AN ADDICTION. It's fun, it takes your mind off of other things for the moment, it feels good, and there are endless options--especially if your finances allow you to shop without thinking about it!

We are trying hard to hold ourselves accountable and walking with clients who are trying to do the same. One HYD'er is taking a year off of shopping (inspired by this article), another is taking a new approach to keeping better tabs on spending and sticking to a budget, and others are simply trying to be more mindful about purchases.

Whether you need to do something extreme or just be a bit more intentional, we encourage you to take the time to think through your vision for your home, your style, etc. When you get the urge to shop out of boredom or stress, hit pause and remind yourself of what you want for your home and your life. Over the last few years, a small shift has occurred where people have started to value quality a bit more than in the last few decades. The maker movement is making a come back and we couldn't be more excited! Working towards smarter, more quality purchases is a great goal!

We would love to hear what ways you are working to curb your shopping habits.

If you'd like to support a new local business geared toward selling high quality menswear, check out Felding Co's grand opening on May 4th!