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Green Home Without the Green Thumb

I have always loved the color green. There’s something special about every shade. From emerald to mint and everything in between, your space can really pop with a hint of the color. For an added bonus of oxygen and purifying benefits, create that pop with a live plant! Your home will look so much more put together and complete with a plant in a pretty pot or basket.

You don’t need to be a green thumb or have all of the time in the world to care for some of the most beautiful house plants and I’d like to challenge you today to go to that local nursery you’ve been eyeing up and treat yourself! Before you do that, check out my list of favorite resilient houseplants below. Thanks for reading. Comment below with easy care tips or to let me know what your favorite resilient houseplant is!

THE DUMB CANE

Diffenbachia – aka Dumb cane

I bought this pretty plant at a Home Depot as an impulse buy and boy am I happy I did. Plant it in a moisture retaining soil and water with a couple of ounces just once a week and you’ll have a quickly growing plant. Please note that it was easily 1 foot shorter when I first bought this and grows in both in filtered sun and darker spaces (though growth will be slower).

THE UMBRELLA TREE

Shefflera – aka Umbrella Tree

I snagged this beaut almost 2 years ago at a pop-up shop for a very talented designer, LA plant girl. Check out her instagram, she has the most beautiful selection of curated pots and plants of every variety. This plant did take a bit to make happy. I had it in my son’s room and, unfortunately, not much light gets in there so it was wilting and looking sad. Once I moved it to a spot with filtered light, it came back to life. It hasn’t grown since I bought it but I’m ok with that because it fits my space. I’ve only been giving it a shot of water once a week. EASY!

THE CHINESE EVERGREEN

Agalaonemas – aka Chinese Evergreen

Local nursery find! This one was sitting a dark corner of our local nursery so I knew I had to have it. I actually ended up putting it on my nightstand (what a nice thing to wake up to) which obviously gets a lot of sun (see pic). It’s FLOURISHING! And it makes me smile every day. I just noticed a bloom on it today too and I was definitely not expecting any flowers from it! Honestly, it is in the same plastic pot & soil I first bought it in and I water it every few days with the small amount of leftover drinking water I keep beside my bed. See, EASY!

THE ELEPHANT EAR

Caladium – aka Elephant Ear

This plant came into our home already pre-planted in a pretty pot I bought from my favorite home store – Kate Lester Home. I moved it into this terracotta pot because it went with my daughter’s decor better and the original pot has a much better home now in our loft anyway. Since her room is full of sun all year round, I have to water it more frequently but it doesn’t take much to keep it healthy. It can survive in shady areas so go pick one up if you have a darker room that needs a beautiful pink/green plant!

THE DEVIL’S IVY

Epipremnum Aureum — aka Devil’s Ivy

How can you go wrong with a plant by this name? Why they gave it this name should really get you excited. Named because it is almost impossible to kill and stays green even when in dark spaces. I’m very seriously considering moving it to my powder room (with no windows) so I’ll update you on it’s reslience later. BONUS – it is drought tolerant and very easy to propegate so you can add more to your home!!

THE ALOE PLANT

Aloe Vera

Last but definitely not least is the Aloe plant. June picked the above one out herself and I found the perfect home for it on her bookshelf. I water it probably once a month and it not only stays alive, but is growing beautifully in the little amount of soil it has! It’s such a funky little addition to her bright room and I’m definitely adding more to our home very soon.

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Clear Out/Clean Out

Today’s project was pretty simple and straightforward and I just had to share my success with you! My client was a (my) very independent 3 year old. She needed to be able to reach her every day essential articles of clothing and I needed to get rid of a lot of the junk I was hoarding since she was born. Head over to my instagram page @easily_organized to check out my closet organization highlights to see the progress report!

Lets start with my tip of the day…

Tip 12: Start decluttering by completely emptying and cleaning out the space. I threw every single thing out of the closet. Sure, it may have made the bedroom look extremely scary and the project kind of daunting but I find it’s good to get a glimpse of everything that’s taking up space in there. Also, when you do this, it’s so much easier to get a good deep clean. So grab your swiffer and collect all the dust! Just so you know, I didn’t throw everything onto the floor without order… I kept the dresses together, the shoes in a pile…etc. I’m not totally crazy.

Tip 13: Frequently re-evaluate the items in your closets/cabinets. I only found about 3 or 4 articles of clothing that didn’t fit June anymore because of how often I purge. Donate anything you don’t use. This may seem cliché but I’ll add a slight spin and recommend you let others borrow these items until you may need them again. Maybe make an arrangement with a friend that you’ll pass on your child’s clothes if they promise to do the same when/if you decide to have another one. Stop holding onto things you do not need! Fine… I may not be as sentimental as most people but I really enjoy knowing someone else is making good use of something we used to love.

Tip 14: Categorize the pieces in your space. If it’s clothes then sort by season first and then by color. Closets like this with a lot of hanging space can accomodate for holding your seasonal gear year-round. I had previously kept the sweaters all together when, in fact, a few sweaters were only for winter weather or snow and most were meant for SOCAL mild weather. Now I have snow gear and cold weather items together and out of the way since we hardly use them.

Tip 15: Maximize the use of your current storage baskets. I was so proud of the fact that I didn’t have to go shopping to create this look! It really just took me dumping out the baskets I had and finding a proper home for everything in them. For example, I had bathing suits jammed into a basket when they should have been easier to find since we use them all year. Now, the basket on that shelf holds goggles, small pool toys, and her floatie. I strongly believe in a common sense organization method. You don’t need to add every bin or basket to a space to make it easier to navigate. Make sure you’re using the bins you currently have before buying any new ones! That might just create new clutter.

Check out the before photo below! What a simple yet pleasing transformation! What do you think?

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Daily Rituals

Raise you’re hand if you have a roommate? Yes, I’m including children and spouses in the equation. Well, those roommates might not be on board with your resolution to keep the household organized. Try to get them on board with the below list of easy to perform daily rituals!

  • Make Bed – It is so nice to walk through a house full of made beds. If you have young children, get them used to the idea by encouraging them to at least put the pillows back at the head of the bed and arranging their stuffed animals in a fun way.
  • Empty Clean Dishwasher/Dishrack: It makes life so much easier when you can put dirty dishes in the dishwasher without wondering if there are clean dishes in there. Also, how are you supposed to keep the sink clutter free if there’s a bunch of dishes in the dishrack?? Just do it! It only takes 5 minutes out of your morning.
  • Plan Dinner – Make sure you have something defrosted or maybe even something ready to throw in a crockpot. I’ve linked my favorite one for you here. You can even brown meat in it before you set it to slow cook! If you take the time to plan dinner, you can make sure you have the ingredients you need ahead of time.
  • Pack Lunch From Leftovers – After you’re finished eating, assess the leftovers you have and see if you can make a creative lunch for your next day. I wish I could get motivated to meal prep but I feel like this is a more exciting way to change up your daily meals and it’s so much easier! Just take the protein you ate for dinner and throw it in with some salad or veggies and rice and you’ve got a tasty meal! Chris bought these containers and I made fun of him at first but we get so much use out of them.
  • Wash Dishes/Run Dishwasher – My last Instagram post was all about keeping a clean kitchen. No one wants to wake up to smelly food in the sink that can also leave unsightly stains!
  • Put Dirty Clothes in the Hamper – Either that or hang up the clothes you wore that day that didn’t get stinky. Don’t just throw your jeans on the closest armchair, find its home so it’s easy to get ready the next day.
  • Lay out Clothes – I’m not a morning person so when I was rushing to get to work or the gym early in the morning, it was so nice to already have everything ready to go. Do it the night before so you don’t start off your day feeling rushed.
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Playroom Finds

Click on image to Pin!

My home decor is mostly neutral so I wanted to create a space for my children to play that was full of color and fun. Luckily for us, our home has a large closet under the stairs that I immediately had a plan for!

My Aunt set up a playroom very similar when we were younger. It was a cozy space with a play kitchen in it. I recreated it with my own colorful spin!

Below are a few items I have either purchased or have been gifted and greatly enjoyed by my children. Clockwise from top:

  • My rug is a vintage heirloom from Iran but this Navajo Diamond Southwestern Area Rug is just as colorful and so much fun!
  • These fruits and veggies can be used in neutral playrooms as well because of the cute bins they come in. Great for sorting exercises!
  • Instruments like this are easy to mount on the wall with velcro command strips!
  • Ikea has some great Montessori themed play toys. This kitchen is no exception and very reasonably priced!
  • We bought this booster seat for my son to eat snacks in while I did housework but we used it for so much more! In fact, it’s currently strapped to our dining chair because he’s still using it at 18 months old.
  • When June was a baby, she would play with every nesting doll-type toy she could find. This was a gift from my brother and I’m happy to say my son is now playing with is 2 years after we got it! Great activity for them.
  • The letters I used are unfortunately sold out but I found a very close match!

This post contains affiliate links. At no cost to you, I may receive commission if you make a purchase.

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Enlist Help

About a month ago, a friend sent me a picture of her mom organizing her cabinet with the caption “You’re going to be so proud”. She herself is the mother of a 3 year old and a (now) one month old and I promised I would come over any time to organize the MANY toys they’ve accumulated over the years. Her mom beat me to the punch. Mind you, her house is super neat! It looks straight from a magazine. The only issue was keeping the storage bins and baskets categorized. Cars were with the legos, magnet tiles were thrown in with puzzle pieces… I think you get the picture.

For a select few, organizing is like meditation. It comes easily and seems effortless. For others, it may be a tedious chore. In my friend’s case, they have full-time jobs with 2 kids and like to travel frequently. No wonder their storage solutions needed a facelift. Whether you love organizing or hate it, my next tip is this:

Enlist the help of others!

Find a friend, partner, even child willing to help and turn on some music, maybe some trashy T.V, and grab yourselves a drink! You’ll find that this person can do more than keep you company. They may have a different perspective on the task at hand and can probably offer up some new ways of getting your life together.

This doesn’t only apply to cabinet organization, but life in general! Maybe you need to figure out a new weekly routine for school pick-ups, a way to balance your new job schedule, or where your new coffee machine would look best. Either way, it does not have to be a painful process and it can’t hurt to ask someone for help!

Drop me a line below and let me know who your favorite helper is. Or, if you want to enlist my help (I’ll even bring the wine!). If you’re ready to get to organizing, below are some of my must-haves for any task management session.

  • Smart speaker: You’ll have your hands full so being able to tell your TV to turn on or what music to play is key! You can even ask it for a joke to pick you up OR to add another bin to your shopping list if you need just one more.
  • Your favorite playlist: Mine is called Deep Focus. It’s a mostly instrumental playlist built and updated by Spotify.
  • Wine! And some wine glass charms so you don’t mix yours up with your helper’s. These were gifted to me by the same adorable friend who motivated this post.
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Finding a Home

If this wasn’t your home, would you be able to figure out where everything was?

My mom came to help me with the house after I gave birth to our second child. Being that she lives across the country, we don’t see each other as often as we’d like but we always make the most of it when we do. Our homes are also constantly changing during the time we’ve spent apart.

If you know her, I’m sure you can imagine that she is amazing to have around during a major life change. My mom is terrific with kids, is the best cook in the world, and has this calm demeanor that I’ve always aspired to emulate.

One day, while she was being super mom in the kitchen, she looked at me and said “Rox, your kitchen is so easy to navigate. Everything makes sense.” I felt this wave of pride come over me. Why? Because I’ve never really looked at myself as an extremely organized person BUT for someone to feel just as at-home in your kitchen as you, yourself, does… Well, that is something to be proud of.

This brings me to my tip of the day:

Before you make a purchase, think ahead of where it’s home will be. Find a home!

I’m sure you’re thinking “OK, but what about gifts?” There’s an easy solution for this. Keep cabinets coordinated by category so you can immediately add your newest addition to your home.

Tips for smarter smaller kitchens:

  • Maximize space by mounting kitchenware.
  • Use expandable drawer organizers.
  • Place measuring cups in a drawer/cabinet closest to your prep area.
  • Place pots and pans near the oven.

Tips for smarter larger kitchens:

  • Do not force yourself to use all available cabinets. If budget allows, consider converting cabinets into beautiful and fresh open shelving.
  • Keep items off your counter and take advantage of extra drawer space. These spice drawer organizers are a must have!

What are your favorite ways to stay organized in your kitchen? Drop me a note below!