Many people know that Nicole and I have a blended family. However, many people don't know that we live in LA and Santa Barbara. We work in both cities and the boys go to school in both cities. I'm incredibly grateful to have homes in two of the coolest places on the West Coast. While our former LA home has been good to us, we fell in love with a Spanish-style house that we knew would be amazing for our family in the coming years.
Whether we're in Santa Barbara or LA, one of my top priorities is making sure that our home is organized and tidy. It's a preference that stems from my experience as a chef. In culinary school, I learned about mise en place. Essentially, it means that all of your ingredients are prepped and your work station is clean and ready to go. Everything is in it's proper place. Throughout the years, I have infused that practice in my homes. Having a proper place to put things helps me feel more at peace. It allows me to focus more of my energy on family, work and hobbies.
If you're looking to practice mise en place within your home, I highly encourage you to make a quick trip to The Container Store. They have a ton of products that will allow you to keep your cabinets and drawers neat. One of my favorite products is their 2-Tier Bamboo Lazy Susan. I have two of them in my pantry to keep my spices organized. The tiers give me an extra level of storage space. Being able to turn it around means that I won't have to dig behind jars to find a certain spice.
I also love these iDesign Stackable Bins. You can use them under the bathroom sink, in a kitchen cabinet or in a bedroom closet. They're clear so you'll aways know what's inside. However, labeling the bins will help you to maintain order within them. It's tempting to use bins like these as a catch-all for miscellaneous items you don't know what to do with. However, you want to use these bins to avoid clutter, not to hide it.
When it came time to move, I knew I had to call my dear friend and professional organizer, Kimberly Salisbury. She is one of the few people on this planet that loves a well ordered home just as much as I do. Kim is the owner of Home Method Co, a home organization company that will help you get rid of clutter and install methods to keep your home running smoothly.
With a household of eight people, organization is a MUST for our family. Between school pick-ups, drop-offs, my work schedule and traveling, I don't have a lot of spare time. Even though I love organizing, it's helpful to have Kim come in and establish systems to keep our house beautiful, functional and tidy! Having Kim help us move and organize the new house has truly set our family up for success!
I asked Kim for some of her top moving and organizational tips to share with y'all and she came back with some awesome advice. Check it out below! If you're moving soon or need someone to come in your home and get you organized, there's no one I would recommend more than Kim and Home Method Co.
TIPS FROM KIM
Hello everyone, this is Kim! In 10 years as a professional organizer, I've handled more moves for clients than I can count. The best time to call Home Method Co. is BEFORE you move. We'll sort through everything in your current house, purge out what you no longer need and take what you love to the new home.
Before you move, take some time to clean out your current belongings. I highly encourage this if you've purchased goods specifically for the new house. If you bought all new towels, sheets, pillows, bedding and furniture, then guess what? You don’t need to bring ANY of the old stuff! Donate it and start fresh! A move is a chance for your family to re-set.
When setting up a new home, you should be starting from a place of organization. Home Method Co. will create a system that you and your family can maintain. Whether it’s a command center in the kitchen, teaching you the life-changing art of file folding your clothes, or organizing the fridge in rainbow order, methods will be put in place to set you up for success.
I organized Cat and Nicole’s home in Beverly Hills 2 years ago. Coming back for this move, I was pleasantly surprised at how well they had maintained the systems I had set up. It made this move-in much easier! Many of the labeled bins and baskets transferred seamlessly into their new space.
Before I left, I walked the new house with Cat and Nicole and showed them exactly where everything is and explained the method so they can maintain what I’ve set up. Even though I moved them into and set up their Santa Barbara home almost 3 years ago, Cat was very proud to tell me that the house is exactly the same as when I left.
I'm going to leave you with a final piece of advice that I tell all of my clients:
When you start from a place of organization, life just gets better!
Over the past week on CORA-ntine Cuisine, I got to reunite with several friends that Nicole and I have made over the years. Our incredible guests included Maria Shriver, Sheila E, Debi Mazar, Chef Gabriele Corcos, Chef Karen Akunowicz and the Shirley Temple King! Many of the guests spoke of the importance of taking care of your health and eating foods that boost your immune system.
Hey y'all! This past week was one for the books. Not only did we celebrate Greek Easter, but it was also my son Caje's birthday! I got to chat with some incredible special guests including Cameron Mathis, David Burtka, Scott Evans, Chef Andrew Zimmern and superstar film director Tate Taylor! I'm going to share a few of my favorite recipes from last week and fill you in on some of the topics we discussed.
I've had so much fun on CORA-ntine Cuisine this past week. I got to chat with several special guests including Chef Ingrid Hofffman, Chef Dominique Crenn, Cake Wars host Jonathan Bennet and my partners at the Little Kitchen Academy, Felicity and Brian Curin. There's been one common theme in all of my chats so far and that theme is positivity.
