Office

What We're Reading: Simple Shui for Every Day: 365 Ways to Feng Shui Your Life by Amanda Gibby Peters - April

We’re on a 3-month streak sharing our monthly tips from our favorite book Simple Shui for Every Day: 365 Ways to Feng Shui Your Life by Amanda Gibby Peters. Below are some of the feng shui tips we incorporated throughout the month of April.




The short version is Amanda is the "Martha Stewart of Feng Shui". Amanda makes Feng Shui more digestible and accessible with a "home improvement-meets-self empowerment” approach. 


Here are some of the practices we incorporated in our home throughout April:

April 1

Adding water to your front door will welcome more money into your life, so we pulled out the birdbath and added it to the right of the front door. 

April 9

The kitchen nourishes and replenishes you so it should be free of clutter. We did a quick edit of the kitchen, tackling easy wins first - expired items, take-out utensils and sauce packets, mismatched Tupperware. 

Take a look at our quick decluttering checklist for more inspiration

April 12

A mirror amplifies what it reflects so make sure it’s dusted and that it’s reflecting something inspiring or beautiful, not a pile of laundry or stack of papers. We’re guilty of this so we moved that laundry basket far away from the mirror’s reflection. We don’t need to double our to-do list.

April 17

When you’re an entrepreneur it’s hard to shut off your work brain. And it’s even harder when your office is in your home. Try shutting your office door when you’ve clocked out for the day. This will keep your work from spilling into your personal life. 

April 21

Keep the toilet seats down and covered to eliminate energy drains. 

April 22

Add more red to your life and home. It’s a power color that promotes energy, courage, and attraction. We have bright red kitchen chairs that we were going to replace but we’ll keep them for a little longer now that we know this! 

April 24

Your clothing relates to your identity and personality so when we’re working with clients' wardrobes we always ask them to think about who they want to be and how specific clothing makes them feel. If the item doesn’t make them feel their best or doesn’t represent the version they want to be then we encourage them to let it go. Amanda suggests leaving a little open space in your closet to attract new things - a fun tip we started using this spring. 

April 28

Our backyard is one giant hill and it’s very challenging to use (it’s a real uphill struggle - ha!) Amanda’s remedy to counteract this energy - adding a flag pole or a weathervane to the property! So now we’re on the hunt for a funky weathervane - any ideas? 

April 29

Ah, our favorite April suggestion….Get rid of 27 things! Yes, 27! It’s the quickest way to change the energy of your space. Why 27? It’s a powerful number in feng shui - we can talk more about that later. If removing 27 items from your life seems too daunting, try moving 27 items instead. 


disclaimer:

If you purchase from one of our LTK links, we may earn a small commission.

Tidy Nest Featured Press: The Best Way to Organize Your Tax Documents, According to Experts (Apartment Therapy)

Taxes are stressful. There’s no way around it. But you can eliminate some of the stress by making sure your tax documents, receipts, paperwork, statements, etc. are organized and easily accessible. We don’t love paper (shocker) so we always opt for digital storage solutions. Apartment Therapy recently published an article on The Best Ways to Organize Your Tax Documents and we were happy to share some digital solutions with them.


Take a look at our other interviews with Apartment Therapy over the years


2022 Holiday Gift Guides: Organizing Gifts

We had so much fun last year with the first edition of our holiday gift guides. We received such great feedback from everyone.

We created a handful of guides this year from our own picks to stocking stuffers to organizing supplies.

Next up is our favorite organizing gifts!

As we did last year, we’ll be gifting someone a little something from one of the guides. All you have to do is comment below (or better yet, comment on our Instagram or Facebook posts) and tell us what item you have your eyes on this season.


Legacy Box, Digitizing Kit

We are constantly asked how to properly preserve keepsakes like home movies and photos. 

We love LegacyBox’s digitizing kits to safeguard irreplaceable memories - there are multiple packages to choose from based on the quantity of memories you’re preserving and options to save your files on a thumb drive, disc or cloud.


Etsy, Glass Spice Jars

It feels like we’ve researched every spice jar that exists and this one is one of our favorites.  These airtight glass jars are made with food-grade high quality borosilicate glass. The lids are handmade from eco-friendly sustainably sourced Acacia wood. You can even add a matching acacia spice spoon to compliment your jars. It’s a great gift for the chef in your life and we love these as a housewarming gift too.

p.s. the etsy shop owner is wonderful.


Yamazaki, Jewelry Display

We like the minimalist design of this jewelry organizer which can be used for necklaces, watches and bracelets. The bottom tray can be used to prop a phone or hold loose change, rings, and earrings. The little hooks along the top are perfect for keeping necklaces untangled.


Italian retro goblets

Available in 9 sizes and 25+ colors, these bags are incredibly versatile. We use them grocery shopping, as gift bags, as food storage, in place of baskets in bathrooms, the list keeps going.  They are hand washable so you can reuse them over and over again. And when they are not in use, you can store them flat.


Artkive, Children’s Art Publishing Kit

The number one complaint we get from parents….they don’t know what to do with their children’s art work. We always recommend Artkive. Just send them your favorite artwork and they will produce an artbook or framed-mosaic print of the masterpieces. You can either have them return the artwork to you afterwards or you can have them responsibly recycle it (you know our vote)!. Preserve your child’s art in one neat and organized place.


Sendotek, Bamboo Charging Station

We love this 6-in-1 bamboo charging station because we really dislike having cords everywhere.. It charges up to 6 devices (including a watch and airpods) simultaneously and comes with a wall output plug which helps keep your desktop neat and tidy.  It also comes with 3 types of charging cables- a lightning cable, a type C, and a USB micro charging cable. The easiest way to keep all your devices in one centralized place whether it be your desk, counter or nightstand.


Poketo, Spectrum Wall Planner

We still use wall calendars and the bigger the better! With this wall planner, we like to display all 12 months because the entire color scheme is fantastic. This calendar comes open-dated so you can use it anytime. Poketo also sells the Acrylic Poster Hanger if you want to hang up one month at a time.


swarovski magnetic ear cuff

We came across this bag while organizing a basement and I think we may have ordered the bag while we were still on-site. We love this bag because you don’t have to worry about it getting messy or dirty because you can simply rinse it off when you’re done using it.

It comes in a dozen fun colors and each bag has two removable clear pouches that clip into the holes on the side of the bag.  While this bag is a great beach/sports/pool bag, we actually use it as a supply bag on jobs! It’s perfect for a fall tailgate or a summer day at the beach. Our favorite part is that it’s tip proof!


YouCopia, Storage Drying Rack

You already know how much we love our Stasher bags, so it only makes sense how excited we were to find this.  A simple solution for drying and storing reusable food bags of all sizes, the best part is that the prongs keep the bags open to air-dry. It’s easy to clean and made from BPA-free plastic.


Reminder to comment below (or better yet, comment on our Instagram or Facebook posts) and tell us what item you have your eyes on this season. You’ll be entered to win s little something from one of our guides.

disclaimer:

If you purchase from one of our LTK links, we may earn a small commission.

Tidy Tips: Computer Desktop Organization

Office organization doesn’t just apply to the physical space. Let’s not forget about our inboxes, Google drives, cloud storage and computer desktop storage. We’ll tackle the easy one first - your computer desktop.

We are all guilty of having too many files crowding our desktops. Think about it… it’s the digital version of the stack of papers on the corner of your desk! 

We’re challenging you to spend a few minutes tidying your desktop. Don’t worry. We’ll walk you through it.

Chalkboard drawing of person throwing paper in trash can

1. Declutter

If you only do one step listed here, this is the most important. The simple directive….remove anything you don’t access daily.

 
library reference card drawers

2. Categorize

Make specific folders for each category of files you’re keeping on the desktop.

 
typewriter

3. Standardize

We like to have a standardized naming convention for our files so it’s easier to locate the file you need.

 
desktop computer with visually appealing background

4. Customize

While it’s not necessary, we like to add a customized desktop background to make our desktop more visually appealing and help with maintaining categories. (You can access our customized desktop below).

 

5. Maintain

As with any space, maintenance is key. Set a reminder to clean up your desktop once a week, month, quarter, etc.

 

You can find more details on each step by checking out Shannon’s tips in Apartment Therapy’s article “How to Best Organize Your Computer Desktop, According to Pro Organizers”.


A little more on that customized background…

We like to add a customized desktop background to make our desktop more visually appealing and help with maintaining categories. Shannon created this one for her own laptop. Canva has a bunch of customizable templates to choose from based on your needs. These templates are great for creating broad file categories like “reference files,” “client projects,” “personal,” and “active projects” to categorize your files. From there, drag all corresponding files to the appropriate grouping, and presto, an organized desktop. 

 Want to use this background? Drop us a line and we’ll send over the file!

2021 Holiday Gift Guides: Getting Organized

We’re so excited to be sharing the first edition of our holiday gift guides. We covered different categories from our personal picks to stocking stuffers to items for the cat lover (I know, big stretch but we love our cats).

Next up are some of our favorite gift ideas for those of you who want to get organized.


Bamboo Drawer Organizers

Drawer organizers are essential in nearly every space - they can tame utensil drawers, utility drawers (formerly known as a junk drawer), office supplies, bathroom cabinets, nightstands, etc. We prefer bamboo over plastic and we especially like these because they are 100% bamboo (many have MDF bases). We always have various sizes on hand and play a little Tetris to find the perfect configuration.


Vegan Leather Baskets

These baskets from Folden Lane are fairly new to the organizing scene and we're so excited to welcome them to our repertoire. They are made with a buttery soft vegan leather and stainless steel hardware. They are shipped flat (that's right, flat!) cutting down on carbon emissions and packaging waste. 


Acacia Perforated Baskets

Surprise, surprise, we love a basket. Anything designed by Neat Method is going to be thoughtfully designed and made with top of the line materials. This basket is made with acacia wood, another one of our favorite materials. The perforated metal sides not only add an interesting texture, but it assists with visibility and airflow.


Rattan Basket

Okay, you get it… another basket. But hear us out…we love options. We refer to this basket as the more modern wicker basket. These baskets are made by hand and are super light which is perfect for those overhead shelves.


Magnetic Label Holders

Another genius product from the Neat Method. There are three ways to use these labels and we’re here for them all. 

Magnetize - if you’re attaching to metal, just use the front plate. If you’re attaching to cloth, use both the front plate and the back plate. 

Thread -  the back plate has 2 small holes on either side, use a nylon tie (it comes in the package) and thread through the woven material and then twist in the back. 

Tie - use string through the  holes of the back plate.


Glass Spice Jars

Decanting spices is not for everyone but if you’re into it, these are our go-to vessels. The shape of the bottle ensures that they properly stand up in cabinets or lay in drawers without rolling around.


Wire Storage Bins

These metal bins are incredibly versatile. We’ve used them in pantries, playrooms, offices, mudrooms and they go with both a modern decor and a farmhouse decor.


Bamboo Charging Station

We have so many devices these days - watches, ipads, iphones, airpods - and our charges are never where we need them to be. That’s why we started incorporating these charging stations in our office projects. They are sleek and can charge up to 5 devices including an apple watch and airpods.


PTouch Cube Label Maker

All we can say about this little gem is that...

We. Can’t. Live. Without. Her.