SHMORGANIZING + A GIVEAWAY

We are thrilled to have Stacey McElrath from SHMorganizing as a guest blogger today.  Stacey hails from Georgia and is a wife, mother and professional organizer in Birmingham who has a passion for structure and simplicity (which we could all use more of these days).  She is a fantastic person and we are lucky to call her a friend AND a client!  Stacey was kind enough to give us a glimpse into her life and show us what an organizer does on a typical day.  Welcome Stacey! 

Be sure to click on Parrish Watson Design's Instagram page (@parrishwatsondesign) to enter to win a free 2 hour mini-session with SHMorganizing! 

To enter, follow these 3 easy steps: 

1. "LIKE" Parrish Watson Design's giveaway picture on Instagram
2. FOLLOW SHMorganizing (@shmorganizing) on Instagram
3. TAG a friend in our Instagram comments who would love to get organized.

*You do not have to be a resident of the Birmingham area to win.

One winner will be randomly selected on Monday, October 19th at 5:00 pm!

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When I tell people what I do for a living, I usually get a funny look that is almost always followed up with this question: “What exactly does a professional organizer do?” So here goes...

Every day is different, but the goal is always the same: help my family and help my clients. In the past month alone, parts of my SHMorganizing jobs have ranged from walking around a client’s newly renovated condo with sticky tabs letting their painters know which spots needed to be touched up to completely redoing two closet systems for 7 and 10 year old sisters.

I love my job! What I do is a little unconventional (which is part of the reason it took me so long to be brave enough to dive in), but it is the gift I’ve been given so I try to spend my days giving it away and showing my children the importance of using your talents and loving what you do. Life is too short and if matching hangers make you jump out of bed in the morning, then I say DIVE IN!

Back to those sisters… prior to today, the client and I had a consultation, tackled some purging, went through several design edits, and arranged for my painter to take down the old closet systems, then patch and paint the walls. So today it was time for the bells & whistles.

5:57 am Our alarm clock (a.k.a. my one year old daughter) goes off (it’s a running joke in our household because we can’t ever get to 6:00 am…seeing a “6” on the clock is much easier to deal with than seeing a “5”).

6:30 am Time to wake up Big Brother (my daughter’s favorite thing to do!).

6:45 am Get dressed, brush teeth, eat breakfast (all while some Disney show is playing in the background). I always lay my kids’ clothes out the night before…every minute counts in the morning.

7:15 am Finish loading my car with supplies and off we go to daycare. My husband & I share carpool duties depending on our daily schedules, but I was the taxi this morning. 

Thumbs up! 

8:00 am I arrive at my client’s house and start unloading & unpacking supplies. I have my handyman join me on install days to keep the project moving and address any issues out of my comfort zone.  For example, today one of the metal bars in the new closet system had to be cut and we were able to tackle it right then & there. 

9:00 am Install is moving along! 

 

10:00 am My handyman leaves once I’m confident we don’t need the big tools anymore. I start cleaning up the space (vacuuming up sheetrock dust from our drilling, etc.) before hanging up clothes. 

11:00 am Install is wrapping up. I’m color-coding clothes, making adjustments to shelf placement, cleaning up my supplies, loading up my car with trash, etc. 

 

12:00 pm One of the closet lights didn’t work, so now that the big stuff was done, it was time to address the small details. Additionally, my client wanted me to explore new light pull options, hook options, etc. Off to Home Depot! 

 

With a new light fixture in hand, pictures of light pull options, hook options, etc., I leave Home Depot and head to Office Depot for some more supplies (big box stores are my second home!). But before heading back to my client’s house, I unloaded our trash and grabbed a late lunch at one of my favorite local spots, Melt.

 

 

3:00 pm Back at my client’s house to install the new light fixture and wrap up design details. Everyone’s happy and I’m out the door.

Closet #1, Before & After:

Closet #2, Before & After:

4:00 pm Pick up these smiling faces from daycare and scoot to a play date! 

 

5:30 pm Home. This is the beginning of what we call “bed, bath & beyond.” It all starts with not one, but FOUR dinners (I’ll master this insanity someday) – here are the first three: 

 

6:30 pm Bathtime! And again, not one but two baths…we’ve tried bathing the kids together…disaster. 

7:00 pm Bedtime for Miss Priss

 

8:00 pm Bedtime for the little guy. We put our kids to bed by gender ;) Kidding, but that’s actually how it goes most nights. 

 

8:45 pm Fourth dinner, which is quickly followed by a few chores (including laying out my kids’ clothes for the next day), a little bit of work at my desk (replying to emails, etc.), and a little bit of TV – then off to bed to start the whole process again tomorrow. Cheers to a great day! 

 

For more information on SHMorganizing, please visit Stacey's website at http://shmorganizing.blogspot.com/ or email her at info@SHMorganizing.com.  She works with local clients in the Birmingham area, as well as people all over the country who need more organization in their lives!

TWENTY FOURTEEN

When we found out last year that we would be adding two tiny (full-time) employees to the payroll, we raced to wrap up a few projects before life got more hectic.  We have been very delinquent bloggers, so here's a glimpse into some of our favorite interiors from 2014.

  

 

   

BEFORE + AFTER

This summer, we worked with a great couple who wanted to completely renovate their Master Bathroom and freshen up their home.  Much of their handmade wood furniture held significant sentimental value so we came up with a plan to reuse some pieces and fill in with a few new items.  Our clients had pretty traditional taste but we encouraged them to mix in transitional items to help update their abode.

The crisp and bright results made for a very happy couple!  

 

The Living Room was dark and dated when we first saw it.  With new crown molding, a soft paint color, tailored drapery panels, a wool area rug and reupholstered sofa, this room now feels elegant and new.  We added a beautiful pair of antique wooden transoms and a large abstract landscape painting to compliment the clients' artwork.

 

 

An existing flamestitch wingback chair was in good shape and served as a jumping off point for the Living Room color scheme.  The navy and orange fabric inspired a new navy cut velvet wingback chair, orange chinoiserie lamps and bold blue bird pillows with orange welts on the sofa.  The clients' existing wood furniture is now highlighted with a calm and neutral rug and rearranged accessories.  

The Master Bedroom was crying out for a complete overhaul!  We proposed new carpeting, crown molding, a soft green paint color and an overscaled printed fabric to add character to the room.  We kept the bed linens calm and neutral and added classic brush fringe to the pretty drapery panel edges.  A new caned headboard, painted bedside chests and glass lamps work well with the clients' existing dressers and a vintage mirror from Scott's. 

 

 

The Master Bathroom has become one of our favorite spaces in the house!  What started as a dated space with an odd layout turned into a large retreat with beautiful finishes and functionality.

 

Creamy wainscotting and vinyl grasscloth were added to warm up the walls and the stones selected make the bathroom serene.  We borrowed space from the Entry coat closet to make a large shower and used the same herringbone floor from the rest of the bathroom to maintain a good flow of materials.  Plenty of storage was added with a new vanity and floor to ceiling linen closet.  The clients confessed that they actually have more storage options now than they know what to do with!

 

 

 

We love how the weathered medicine cabinets and sculptural sconce anchor the vanity wall and define "his and hers" space at the sinks.

  

We also helped update the Dining Room, Entry and Den.  In the Dining Room, the walls were painted blue and a gorgeous fabric with a giant pattern was brought in for new drapery and a tailored valance.  Chevron grasscloth and a brass lantern were added to the Entry to provide a beautiful first impression and welcome guests!