The holidays are the perfect time to welcome family and friends into your home, but before the festivities can begin, let's get your space organized and inviting! Preparing your home beforehand can create a warm atmosphere for your guests and reduce your stress, so you can focus on making memories. Here are some tips to help you get organized before your holiday visitors arrive. A good first step in preparing for guests is to clear out the clutter in common areas. Walk through your home and take a quick inventory of high-traffic areas like the living room, kitchen, and entryway. Throughout the year things tend to accumulate in our most used living areas. But don’t let the temptation to throw these items in a closet, cupboard, or spare bedroom take over! This can cause more work down the road and is a hard habit to break! Commit to finding intentional spaces for those items or letting them go, if it’s been sitting unused for quite some time, there is a good chance you don’t need it to begin with! With any big goal, it’s best to break it down, so let’s start with one closet. Set your intention for how you want that closet to function. Will guests be using it to store their items while visiting? Empty it out completely and make decisions quickly to keep, donate or sell. Once you know what is left you can assess the possible need for bins or storage containers and set up those new organizational systems. This space will be refreshed in no time, and you will be fired up to tackle the next step! Or maybe the process is hard, overwhelming, and you realize there is NO WAY you will get all the necessary organizing done. If that’s the case, we’d love to help! Reclaiming your space and making it an inviting and calming home is our specialty. Our team of organizers are ready to help you tackle projects big and small without judgement or pressure. We’d love to be a part of the best gift you can give yourself this…your very own Serene Space. Happy Holidays! 
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 Fall looks different for my local Floridian clients than it does for my virtual clients spread across the country, but the changes that come with fall are appearing everywhere. Just as the trees shed their leaves to allow them to grow bigger and more beautiful in the spring, some fall decluttering now can help foster new growth and a fresh start for your upcoming year.
The weeks left leading to the winter holidays are the perfect time to let go of things in your home that are no longer serving you or keeping you from the peace you want. Many of us struggle with letting go of things because we are told to be thankful for all we have. It's even harder this time of year, when thankfulness takes center stage. As we help clients sift through years of accumulated items and reclaim their spaces, many struggle with organizing because they feel they aren’t being appreciative of these items, many which were given with love by well-meaning family and friends. As we enter the Thanksgiving season, let's focus on some spaces that get more use as guests visit. The closet that is overflowing with items that have been out of sight and out of mind for the year? Set a goal to empty it and declutter it before organizing what remains. The guest room that has become a dumping ground for things to deal with another day? Make that day today! As you declutter, remember that we can be thankful for things that were helpful in the past or given in love and still let that item be passed on or donated. The warm feeling of receiving it, or the gratitude of the item’s past usefulness at one time is still with us. The Serene Team is committed to taking some time to look for all we have to be thankful for this time of year. Which includes our clients who trust us with turning their homes into more serene spaces for all you love and are grateful for. We thank each and every one of you who has invited us into your most treasured space, it is a privilege we don’t take lightly and we would love to help you organize your spaces! In gratitude, Cassie We’ve all been there…shortly after the hustle and bustle of the back-to-school season, time marches on into fall, and before we know it, it's time to change out décor for the upcoming winter holidays! This year, instead of throwing Halloween and Fall décor into a storage box, spend a few extra minutes to save a lot of time and money next year. As you pull out your fall décor, promptly throw out items that are broken or missing pieces. If the items are working and just not fitting your fall vibe anymore, consider donating right away. Thrift stores typically can’t store seasonal items, so don’t let the items sit in a box for months waiting to be donated, head down to your donation center ASAP! That way those items have the best chances of being picked up to be used and loved, and you get that valuable space back in your garage or storage space right away. When it’s time to put everything away, make sure to collect all your seasonal items before putting them into bins and boxes. Remember that cute ghost you found on sale? Is it in the kitchen, or stuffed in a cabinet? Do the kids decorate their rooms for holidays? Gather all those items and put them in your labeled Halloween bins. Go the extra mile to label bins (indoor/outdoor, yard items, etc.) streamlining the process for the next year. Since Halloween is just a small part of the fall season, having a separate box or bin for those items helps keep things tidy and items can be easily put away. If you love decorating for seasons, but want to avoid too much extra stuff, consider decorating with items that stay out for more than just October. Pumpkin décor can work from September through November. Switch out cobwebs and Halloween fabric swags for leaf garlands and cozy fall fabrics for a quick refresh.  And if the (literal) skeletons stuffed in the closets get too overwhelming, we’d love to help you find a system that is custom designed for you and your needs. The Serene Team can help you navigate options to help each holiday season run smoothly, leaving you with more time to relax and enjoy what really matters in the cozy days ahead. Next time you contact us to help with your garage, pantry, or playroom ask about what solutions we can design to help with seasonal items. You might be surprised how much time and space we can save you!
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