The Organized Move
Click on the moving projects below for full galleries.
After meeting the realtor at the property, we spent approximately 1 hour going through all cupboards, drawers, closets and cabinets. This allowed me to get a clear picture of what exactly was there before I started a Google Meet with the heirs to the estate.
As you can see from the china cabinet, there were MANY items, some of which were vintage collectibles with a higher value. My role as a collectibles advisor was incredibly helpful to the Heirs during the Google Meet. I was able to identify and assess age, value and other pertinent information. #TheKeysGuild
I worked with my assistant during the Google Meet to color code with painters tape identifying where the items would be going.
Once we had established in more detail during the call who wanted what items, we were able to start actioning. We scheduled a pick up for Trash items from the Doctor Junk as well as a moving truck for furniture and large items that were going to Mercy House donation center via Crystal Coast Moving Company.
We packed up the items that were to be shipped to Maryland and the Heir in Hawaii wanted her items to be taken to the existing storage units and at a later date shipped to her daughter in Northern California.
We created an inventory list for items being sent or stored for the heirs including box number.
We also made a detailed list for all items being donated (and emailed them a copy of the Mercy House receipt) which will allow our clients to estimate a valuation on the items for tax write off purposes.
The property was emptied out entirely within 3 working days and we were able to send clients pictures of the emptied spaces.
Closet(s): Our client was downsizing from her Arizona home and we knew that the primary closet was going to be a challenge. Luckily, her new home has a guest room closet that was huge and so we discussed which items could be placed there instead. The goal is to “relocate” items by type and by use. You don’t want your everyday items in the guest room but it is OK to say if I am rarely using thick winter coats they can be placed a little further away from the primary closet.
In this instance, we grouped together all the golf clothes – skorts, tops, sweaters and waterproofs, and stored them in the guest room closet along with formal dresses and winter jackets as they are rarely used.
Now that we had narrowed down the most important items, we set about creating a logical and useable closet space. Our client wanted to see her gorgeous purses on display so we used the large glass fronted area to display those.
Kitchen: As we were unpacking our client into her gorgeous Newport Beach home, we knew that the kitchen space was going to be significantly less than her last house. We had already identified items that could be stored in the garage (items that are used for specific occasions like Thanksgiving or Christmas, specialty baking sets that may only be used once a year should not be “stealing” space in your kitchen if you don’t have enough room for them) but we still needed to maximize every inch of available space in the cupboards.
We purchased these amazing acrylic shelves from TCS
Acrylic Organizer Shelves as knew we could double up space for smaller items such as coffee mugs, tea cups and saucers, plates and bowls.
We love how they look and our client was so happy.
Garage: After moving our client back from Arizona to Newport Beach, we had been tasked with getting her garage Organized & Orderly.
She already had a number of sterilite containers that we had set up for her a few years ago, but her new home was significantly smaller than the last and we knew that the garage was going to be used for overflow items from the home (mostly kitchen).
We ordered more sterilites and also purchased multiple sizes of clear containers from The Container Store for storing smaller household related items.
After sorting like with like and finding the perfect sized container, we labeled everything (in some cases we listed each item in the container to make it REALLY easy for our client to find).
We used S-hooks to hang some oversized items that would not fit on the shelves (a giant pizza board, large tray and other miscellaneous garage items).
Our client was thrilled and texted me that night to say how wonderful it was to drive into her garage.
This wonderful client was referred to us from a super happy client who had used us on multiple occasions. We LOVE REFERRALS!
This beautiful family had moved from North LA down to a gorgeous home in San Juan Capistrano through a job transfer.
They have 3 young children and understandably, unpacking and organizing their new home was proving difficult!
The master closet was going to be overhauled with a new closet system but unfortunately was not going to be started for another 8 weeks and meanwhile they desperately needed something to get them through.
My assistant left almost immediately to purchase new hangers (we got the inexpensive white ones to tide them over for a few months) and a short term solution metal shelving rack (once the closet has been installed they can utilize the rack in their garage!)
After 3 hours, we had sorted by type, hung up more items than are typical given that we had no drawers or shelves to speak of. We built the rack and used it to sort smaller items by type.
We also “staged” her top shelf with her rarely used shoes and purses so even though their new closet will be spectacular once it is installed, our client was thrilled to find a temporary closet with such useable space and both visually and aesthetically pleasing to boot!
If you look at these pictures you may THINK they are full boxes…. in fact what they are is unpacked boxes, many filled with packing paper, and some flattened down.
DID YOU KNOW …This is a service that The Organized Move can facilitate after every move? How fabulous to get rid of those space stealing empty boxes within a couple of days of moving.
We know how yucky it feels after moving into your dream home to have a house or garage full of unpacked boxes.
The Organized Move makes your move a breeze from beginning to end!
This client had us pack them up from their beautiful home on Balboa Island Newport Beach last year. They had purchased a home that needed major construction work which was going to take a number of months so we were able to pack using our color coded tape system to identify the priority items that needed opening first.
Our Move day management service made this move a breeze – we were able to direct the movers as to where we wanted each box placed, in order to unpack with priority items clearly labelled.
The clients (lucky them!) were leaving the following morning for a 1 month trip which allowed us to spend time over the next few days unpacking them entirely, organizing them into their new home, arranging for all moving boxes and paper to be hauled away and purchasing organizing containers to suit their needs. We LOVE The Container Store!
We had pre-ordered The Talented Kitchen’s pantry labels from amazon before the unpack (knowing our client wanted to re-do her pantry) which allowed us to set up the pantry and label the containers at the same time.
We used lazy-susans in the master bathroom in the skinny upper cabinets which meant a quick spin gave them visibility to otherwise hidden items.
We used a lidded and labeled storage system in a small cabinet to give them a first aid/rx/overflow bathroom system that allowed them to see exactly what they needed, knowing they had back-up items accessible too.
We gave them drawer inserts in the bar area for clear visibility of items grouped by type.
This client moved from Coto De Caza to a gorgeous BRAND NEW home in Laguna beach this week. We were tasked with helping unpack and organize their kitchen. After a trip to The Container Store – we had wonderful choices to make of what to use and where!
This client contacted us the day after their move realizing they had bitten off more than they could chew and desperately needed help unpacking and organizing their kitchen in their beautiful BRAND NEW Laguna Beach home …Of course we were up for the challenge and having advised her of what kind of containers she needed, we arrived to find a mass of The Container Store kitchen organizers that just made us SO VERY HAPPY!
We set to asking a TON of questions (as we always do at the beginning of every job) to understand how exactly this kitchen was going to be used…
Do you cook fresh daily or multiple times a week?
Do you drink coffee/tea every day?
Do you bake often?
Are you both/all right handed?
They may seem like odd things to ask but they all have a really big bearing on how we set up your kitchen.
Drink coffee every day? – lets put the coffee mugs near the coffee maker
Bake weekly? – we want to make sure all the baking items (sugar, flour, baking soda, icing and decorating accessories) are all at easy reach height in the pantry. Conversely, if you bake once or twice a year for the holidays, we may recommend grouping all your baking items in a higher (more inaccessible space) or even in a different part of your kitchen or home).
If you are both right handed let’s make sure that the items you used daily or often are more easily accessible for a right handed person (or vice versa if you are left handed).
Cook fresh daily then let us set up your fridge and pantry with the items you want to access most often (i.e. if you rarely use canned goods, we can place them higher or lower on your shelves or in your pantry). The most used items in your pantry should be at eye height or slightly higher for optimal access and to avoid bending or needing a step stool.
At the end of the day, we had organized not only the kitchen and pantry but also the bar area and laundry room.
Note, we spent approximately 30 minutes touring the entire home with the client giving them advice and solutions for storage throughout. Sometimes these few minutes can make a world of difference for you to see the bigger picture.
Our client was thrilled….. Here is what she texted us the following morning …”Hi Kirsten, I just wanted to let you know how much we all LOVE <3 and are obsessed with our new, organized kitchen. Such a relief to have it done, but to have functioning, logical and beautiful is absolutely incredible. We were all so happy at breakfast today! Thanks a million – you are such a pleasure to be with and so very talented. Thanks again!”
