Project tidy

After last week's post about plans for my college-bound daughter's room, I got to thinking about the level of tidiness on any given day in my house. I give it a C or D grade but my standards are high.I love to keep things clean, as in hygienic and polished but just try to get me to put the last five things I used away. Maybe next week.

My house does not look like these photos at this moment. There are Legos and random toys littering the family room, There are paintings galore leaning in my formal living room and dining room. A pile of shoes just inside the door from the garage...I could go on but you get the idea...lived in, really lived in.

I read half of Marie Kondo's "The life-changing magic of tidying up."

Well, it was half magic because I purged and organized my clothes and and we went through every book in the house, ditching about 50% but the struggle continues.

 I jokingly tell people that I am a recovering slob. I was a sloppy child and young adult but I find truly bothersome now to not live in a tidy space.

Right now the only room that seems fine to me is my son's room but that is because he is at college and no one is there to mess it up.

At the end of this week *sniff* there will be two adults and one child sharing almost 4000 square feet of space. For the love of Pete, we should be able to figure this out!

So that, along with the zhushing and repurposing of the college-bound daughter's room are projects I hope to share here. I would like to include storage solutions that are working for us and maybe (just maybe because I think its TMI) before pictures. 

In the mean time, I think I have laundry that should be put away and a pile of magazines to pitch.
Got any nifty tricks for me?

Organized business for artists

I have been asked about this several times by other artists and that is my cue to write a post on the subject.
Running a tight ship in terms of paperwork and numbers is important to me as a businessperson who happens to be an artist. Artists have a stereotypical reputation for being flaky and disorganized. Let me tell you it is not cute, quirky or interesting to be that artist. It is a mess, both literally and figuratively.

This is a wordy post but I hope it helps some of you that are just starting out.

Here are some of the very simple things I use to stay on top of my business.

This is a screenshot of a sheet that I print out and add up every month. I do not want a program that will do it for me. I am a visual person (duh) and seeing everything in this "big picture" way makes the most sense to me.

In the two left columns I simply write the sale amount or the amount I receive from a gallery. I then write the amount of shipping ( if applicable) in the "shipping in/out column paid by the customer and the amount it actually cost. Let's say they paid $25 and it cost me $21.53 actually. Then I am on track because the cost of packing supplies is in another column.

Each time I purchase shipping supplies, paint, wood for crates etc. I save the receipt and add it to the supply column. This is a negative column and is subtracted from the gross sales at the end.

There are other columns that are part of the cost of doing business and are subtracted. The cost of webhosting and fees from Etsy and Paypal transactions are added in the appropriate columns as would any fee for entering a juried show and other miscellaneous costs related to your business.
Make sense?

Each month I pull out my sales sheets and receipts and enter them all in. Once each column is added up I know my total sales for the month. I also know how much I owe my state for sales tax that I pay quarterly. I add up all of the expenses and subtract it from those sales and I have a net profit. Easy. It is great to know how much you are selling and more importantly how much you are keeping and owe on tax day.

I also have a monthly binder that has folders and pockets for different things. The very front is for those receipts and sales. I also have a place for my commission contracts and contracts with galleries. There is another that holds all of the spreadsheets and SKUs for Serena and Lily. Each month I empty that front section, add up my numbers and place it all in a huge binder that is sectioned by month with this sheet right on top so I can refer to any month easily.

There are other ways to go about doing this. My sister in-law insisted that I get a file box but I know that I'd just stack everything on top and never organize it, so my binders work best for me.

I hope this helps. It took me many months to figure this out and was stressful when I did not know what to do with my sales numbers.

So tell me, business people how do you stay organized... or do you?

Have you seen these?

CB2

Years ago, my accountant hired me to update her dated office. She had just insisted that her assistant remove all of the smoked plexi-glass wall pockets from the office and charged me with finding something new. 

I failed. There was nothing but the most pedestrian and/or ugly thing available. If I had been a bit more industrious I would have thought to spray paint them and rehang but I did not and she moved to a new office.

I would have killed for these!

CB2

I not only love the gold finish (they come in silver and white too) but the unobtrusive shape.

I love beautiful storage options. it has been on my mind because the first half of this year is about taming the clutter monster in my house...the second half is about moving south, in case you wondered.

Pretty paperwork

Maybe you have already seen this free printable monogram but I thought I would pass it on. 

In my efforts to stay on top of the piles of paper in my life, I have created binders with folders to keep things organized. The thing is that they need to be out in view quite often.

I commandeered this binder from my son, who was just accepted into his college of choice yesterday which is no small feat for him. I digress, my point is that this binder has seen better days so I was thrilled to add this sheet so that I am not embarrassed to have it lying around.

On another note, project side table aka my January goal has hit a snag. I am hoping to have it sorted out by tomorrow.

4 helpful tips for paper clutter

A few days ago I lamented the lack of office space in my house. Someone commented that they would like my tips for containing the paper beast so here is my system.

Number one, on the list is pocket folders. I use separate folders for different paper types. One for receipts for art supplies and invoices, one for commission contracts, etc.

 In theory I have a folder for kids art art and school papers. Here's the thing, because I don't, my system doesn't always work for me. When I had them it worked.

The two essential things to making it work are going through papers each day and putting them in their designated spot and actually having a spot.

I use the folders and then when they get unmanageable purge them of unwanted stuff and stash them in a magazine folder or a wall pocket.

 

 

 Number two is our bill system. Our system for bills is a bit different but it works really well. You need a calendar and a "spot" like a drawer that is only for bills or a letter tray that you must not bury with other papers.

 

 When bills arrive, open them and note the due date with a red marker on  the outside of the original envelope.  Then put the contents back in the opened envelope that the bill came to you in.. Then simply write "BILL" on your calendar two or three days in advance of the due date. For instance, if your bill is due February 1, you write it on the calendar square for January 29th. We pay all but one bill online so two days works for us. If you are mailing your bills it would make sense to give yourself more time.

Our calendar is on the inside of our pantry door, a high traffic place, so don't hide this calendar too well.

On to tip number three.

Near this calendar I have a magnetic dry erase board. I should have bought one three times the size that I did because the goal was to keep papers off the fridge (something I hate) but alas its petite size means my fridge usually looks raggedy with papers.

 It is where we keep a running grocery list. With so many people in our house I can't possibly know when we run out of everything. It is a good place to keep written phone numbers for the neighbors, spare keys and the school calendar. This is another system that really works for us. I only wish it were much bigger.

My last little decluttering tip is not really about all of the paper that falls into our lives but the miscellaneous things that just appear.

For those things I employ trays of every size. Its a good halfway house for those things that you are not ready to put away just yet but can't just leave all over the place. Again, the trick to this working is staying on top of what you do not need and throwing away or putting away.

What are your systems?

Office space

One constant in my adult life, has been the battle against paper clutter. The danger in tucking them away is, for me, completely and totally forgetting about important papers.

I had plans for complete and total organization in this department with the addition of built-in cabinets and shelves in my library. The arrival of an additional teenager put those plans on hold, at least for the next 155 days. Yes, am counting down until the room  (and my life) is mine again.

The plans change in my slightly every time I see great office spaces.

 

I have always wanted a Wassily chair.

I need some serious storage too.

So many spaces, while appealing, seem unrealistic in terms of storage and work space.

This cute little nook is more like what I am working with now. It involves lots of juggling piles of papers with no real place to put them.

my desk in the entryway

How do you keep the paper clutter in check?

My house is neater plus goodies for design/math geeks

One of the perks of having a large family is the slave labor help from the kids. I won't bore you with my chore lists but there are more people available to accomplish them and I am insisting on the house looking presentable at all times. Note: I said presentable not perfect.

Another pleasant effect was that moving my desk into the entry hall forces me to keep it neat. I had a habit of piling on the paper and bills and closing the door. Tisk, tisk. I have always had a problem with clutter accumulating.

I think it is a lovely addition to the large but awkward space.

When it comes to proportion, I am a fan of the  Golden ratio or phi .
Here is a graphic representation, which is what I am interested in.

The trouble with it is that most ready made canvases are not in line with these proportions. Bugger! I still aim for the sweet spot as noted by the center of the spiral as my focal point or a basic 3:2 ratio for a point of intersection in my painting compositions.
Look around you with a measuring tape and take note at the eye-pleasing things that follow this ratio.

 Here is fantastic calculator so that people that are math impaired, like me, can get it done
Let me know what you find

Three smart things

I need this! 

I hate cluttered kitchen counters and guess what I have. My husband and I have a longstanding war where takes the papertowels or any number of things an leaves them on the counter. I walk in the kitchen and put them away only to have him open a cabinet (while I am still standing there!!) and take said item back out.

I think empty counters are a long way off for me but a tidy garage is more up my husband's alley. I may be able to convince him on these.

Magazine files

For me, one of the mysteries of parenthood has been where to put all of the crap that comes along with having kids. A particular peeve is paper. It is everywhere. It comes from darling little art projects, the pediatrician, school, school and more paper from school.

Lucky for me, my older kids don't bring home that much paper for me to deal with anymore but my little cutie wants to be an artist like Mommy.

There are coloring books and freestyle drawings galore and I am often at a loss for where to put them. Out of desperation I shoved some things that have yet to find long term storage in my "current magazines" file that is out so I can just grab that Elle Decor from last month.

It was an "Aha moment".

 I found some really nice magazine files and that will be home to coloring books and recent crayon portraits of our family.

via Apartment Therapy

If you don't have children to de-clutter after these could certainly be a temporary spot to corral  mail and folded newspapers neatly until you have a chance to look them over.

Yes, there are chicer things in the world but my house is a bit neater now.