BirchTree Organizing

20 minutes, big payoff!

✨Seeing all your food – faster planning.

✨Easier access to everything – less shuffling and scrambling.

✨
Clear zones – less waste and duplicate purchases.

✨The result: less frustration and more time and money!

For even more reasons these products are my fridge favourites and where you can find them, click the link on my stories, also saved to Blog Highlights.

Do you use any of these in your fridge?  Did I miss your favourite fridge organizing product?  Let me know in the comments. 

My only complaint about Summer 2026?

It went by far too fast!

With fall officially arriving on Tuesday, I thought I’d share a quick summer recap in photos.

Some highlights included:

🛟 Tubing at the Elora Gorge

🌊Hiking in a river to a waterfall in Niagara,

🏄‍♀️Paddleboarding

⛱️Beach fun

🏎️Go-karting

⚽️Coaching my daughter’s soccer team (Go Wildcats!)

✈️A visit from our Winnipeg family

🌸The gorgeous Anchorball exhibit at the Royal Botanical Gardens

📖Reading in our new hammocks

🎡The Western Fair

🍕LOTS of Pizza making

🤗And enjoying lots of delicious food and drink with friends and family.

Oh, and I did some great organizing with clients too. Pictures coming soon!

Tell me, what was one highlight of your summer?

And yes, I know some of the emojis aren’t technically correct - I went with the closest match!

timeforwhatmattersmost

You can’t keep it all!

So, here are 4 questions to ask to help decide what to keep and what to let go of:
 
1) Consider the creativity and effort. 

✨Is it a stock art project the whole class did or did the piece require a lot of creativity and effort? 

✨Does it showcase your child’s style and personality?
 
2) Does it hold sentimental value? 

✨Is there hand, foot or fingerprints. 

✨Does it contain a special message? 

✨Does it remind you or your child of a specific time or event that is meaningful?
 
3) Is it a representation of your child’s best work? 

✨Prioritize keeping items that showcase a significant achievement, milestone, development, skill, or their best work.

✨For example, one printing or writing example from the start of the year and one from the end of the year is enough to demonstrate their development/progress.
 
4) Does it take up too much space? 

✨ Science projects and 3-D art creations take up a lot of space and can contribute to clutter.  If they’re meaningful, consider taking photos of these items and storing them digitally.

Remember, keeping too much makes it difficult and overwhelming to enjoy any of it and often impedes your enjoyment of your space as well.

When you focus on keeping only the best, most meaningful and favourite items, it’s so much easier to enjoy the memories they represent, which is the whole point, right?

Tell me, how do you manage school papers and art? 

Here’s the good news👇

You can get from NOT chic to chic!
 
You don’t need a perfect home, you just need fewer things competing for your attention and simple systems that work for the life you actually live.
 
And I can help with that! In fact, I’ve helped so many people do just this over the last 7 years.
 
So, hit follow and let’s take back your space, time, and energy together!
 
Tell me, which “not chic” thing from above do you relate to the most?
 

RBG Anchorball = 🤗❤️💐

I’ve been OOO and offline for a bit and one of the most fun things we did during this time was explore the Anchorball installation at the Royal Botanical Gardens.

If you’re into gorgeous art, beautiful plants and flowers, experiencing something different, or just getting cool photos, this exhibit is for you!

Swipe through for some of our favourite pieces, spots and photos.

This doesn’t even come close to capturing the entire installation and the gardens, but gives you a little taste!

It was a 10/10 experience and I highly recommend checking it out. (Not sponsored, just really enjoyed it and love sharing cool, local experiences)!

What’s something fun you’ve done this summer?

The last habit?

👩‍🔧 Maintenance. You have to perform maintenance on your systems.

Life shifts, and things can pile up for various reasons. What worked before may no longer suit your current needs.

The key is to catch the need for change BEFORE the old system completely fails, leaving you surrounded by clutter and having to start from scratch again.

Two examples from my home:

1️⃣ I do 5-minute maintenance/re-set on my pantry every 1-2 weeks; it’s a highly used common area with new items constantly coming in and out that doesn’t always get put back perfectly, so it needs more attention. 

But because the systems are in place, it only takes 5 minutes to re-set it.

2️⃣ I do a yearly maintenance/re-set of my linen closet; not many new items come in or out of it so, it needs less attention and also usually only takes 5-10 minutes.

It’s about finding what works for you, your spaces and your family.

So remember, if you feel like you can’t “stay” organized, it may be less about the specific systems and more about the daily habits, or lack thereof.

For more details on these habits to stay clutter-free and organized, check out BirchTree’s blog post, shared to my stories and saved to Blog Highlights.

Do you practice any of these habits? Do you think you’ll start? Let me know in the comments below.
 

You can’t take it with you!

Keeping everything isn’t less wasteful and it isn’t financially or environmentally responsible.

It’s avoidance and delaying the inevitable.

One day it all gets cleared out.

Most often by someone who didn’t choose it and probably doesn’t want it.

So why choose to continue to live with the clutter and pass the decluttering burden on to a loved one in the future?

Let me repeat: You’re NOT reducing waste by holding on to everything.

You reduce waste by changing what you bring in.

So, let it go!

Did you need the hear this? Tell me in the comments.

#519

Wishing all the dads and father figures a very Happy Father’s Day!

If I could help organize one space for the man in your life, or if you’re a man one space for yourself, what would it be?👇

Small space, BIG function!🙌

A dorm room (or any small bedroom, bathroom, closet) doesn’t have to feel cramped or chaotic, you just need the right systems! 

Check out all 15 of my favourite small space storage and organization tips and systems that maximize space and function while still creating a cozy, personalised setup that works for you.
Links to everything in my stories.

Did you go away to school and live in a dorm?  Let me know below. 

I was fortunate to be at Innis Residence at U of T, which was apartment style so, I had my own (tiny) bedroom and only had to share a bathroom (that had no storage) with one roommate.