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Organize to Spring Ahead!

By Sarah Sampson
Owner, Harvest Home Decorating & Organizing
“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” William Morris

​In 2015, I truly felt called to step out and start Harvest Home Decorating & Organizing because of my passion for making a beautiful home. Beauty is found in all areas of the home in some form or another from the office to the kitchen drawer. Beauty in the bathroom may be folded towels all organized in a closet, beauty in the living room may be a fireplace with a decorated mantel, or a kitchen that inspires family meals and cooking together. The term beauty in the home encompasses everything from design, atmosphere, living space, and those special touches.  

At Harvest Home, we love decorating spaces and creating beauty, but there is nothing that gets us as jazzed up, if you can believe it, as organizing! Let's be honest, who doesn’t love to open a drawer or cupboard and feel like it is singing to you? Not to mention all the time you'll save, when you can easily find things. We've come up with some great tips on how to get organized and stay organized! These are tips we have used for our clients and the results work wonders for them. 

Don't get gulp...overwhelmed!
When organizing it is very easy to get overwhelmed.  A word of caution...procrastination. Being overwhelmed can lead to procrastination. So, we suggest, starting small and working on one area at a time.  When you can see small steps of progress, you'll be more motivated to KEEP GOING! I like to start with a closet or a few drawers.  When I see these results it motivates me to press ahead and get the full room organized!

Set a timer.
At Harvest Home we like to set timers. This keeps us on task and as mentioned before helps us to see how far we have come! I suggest starting by setting a 15-minute timer and making three piles as below -

1. Obvious trash
2. Donations
3. Keep pile


Once your piles are complete you can start placing them back into your space.  If you're working in your closet, a good rule to follow, if you haven’t worn or used an item in a year it's time to let it go! Once you have completed the space take your items to donate directly to your car! This eliminates unwanted clutter and little hands that might find items they cannot live without! It also ensures you don't have a donate pile a year later that you intended to remove. 

Using trays and bins, but watching the cost.
We love using organizing trays and bins, but also understand that these can get expensive.  I use silverware trays and baskets that I find all year at thrift stores and estates sales.  This helps keep the cost down, yet provide amazing storage and organization. If you know you're going to be organizing certain areas, jot down what you'll need and purchase it when it's on sale at the store, or search thrift stores and estate sales...you'll be surprised at what you can find. 

Use your imagination and create great storage options!
The things you may need to organize and store will be different than someone else, so be creative! Have fun coming up with storage and organization options that fit your budget and your decor style. I love to store my dry goods in canisters and mason jars.  In the bathroom, I store cotton balls and q-tips in cute jars or even small planters.  Toothpicks look great in vintage votives.  The ideas are truly endless.  Don't forget to go shopping in your home!!! Shop around your home for pieces that you could use to keep your items in!

Organizing your space gives you an immediate sense of accomplishment.  When my house is a mess, my head is a mess.  Cluttered spaces are known to increase stress and anxiety. What better way to spring ahead than to clear spaces and our minds!  

You can follow Harvest Home Decorating and Organizing on Facebook for more design ideas and inspiration! www.facebook.com/harvesthomeluke102

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BEFORE
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AFTER

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Spice Drawer Tip
Spices don't have to clutter your cupboards. Using trays and small bins you can create an organized drawer for your spices right by your stove! This organizing tip will save you time as well...no more looking for that spice on the back shelf!

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Under the counter storage
We love this storage idea! Simply screw the jar lids to the bottom of the cupboard. This adds visual interest and you easily see what items you're running low on when going to the store! 

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Create
When you see those crazy looking shelves at garage sales...you can paint them and easily hang them. These work especially well in the laundry room. 

Meet Sarah Sampson
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Sarah Sampson is owner of Harvest Home Decorating and Organizing.  In addition to this, she has a booth at the Franklin Market in Atlantic, Iowa, full of goodies she hunts! Sarah and her husband Rob, have three children and recently welcomed the addition of their first grandchild. Sarah has a passion for studying the Bible, fearlessly sharing the gospel, and decorating, staging, and organizing small homes and big corporate offices. You can message Sarah through the Harvest Home Decorating and Organizing Facebook page. 
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  • Home
  • For Your Heart and Home Magazine
  • Devotions
    • A Legacy of Prayers
    • Are you confident in the waiting?
    • This Little Light of Mine
    • Hidden Treasures
    • The Veil - My Warrior Mom's Wedding
    • My Testimony - Life Behind the Door
  • What's New at Millie McKeever's
  • Visit 'The Cafe' 2022
  • Books
    • Heart of a Warrior
    • Entwined
  • Video Devotions
  • Women's Events
    • Women's Conference 2021
    • Branson 2022 Women's Retreat
  • Before and After Projects
  • Contact Us
  • The 5th Street Candle Collection
  • Webstore
  • For your Heart and Home Webstore