Learn how you can get your home organized with my easy step-by-step organization course. My course is full of organization ideas as well as home organization tips and tricks to get your life and home organized and keep it that way.

ONLINE DECLUTTERING COURSE

For the past several months I have been putting together my Online Organization Course, The Balanced Home. I am excited to teach you my decluttering and cleaning process. These processes also teach you how to create simple routines and cleaning schedules which allow you to naturally maintain your clean and organized home.

No need to hire a professional organizer, or live with the clutter because you will have the skills and learn how to overcome any mental barriers or fears you might have to get started!

WHAT DOES THE ORGANIZATION COURSE COVER?

The Balanced Home Organization Core

($1,000 Value)Contains my core Decluttering and Organization Processes, which shows you how to:

Learn how to declutter and organize your home–by learning processes and techniques that really work!
Deal with stuff you don't know how to get rid of
Understand what qualifies as hoarding
Understand how to overcome hoarding tendencies
Deal with your junk room or junk drawer

The Tools

Workbook, Resources, Labels, and More ($250 Value). Contains everything you need to help guide you through each lesson, including:
An easy-to-follow workbook to guide you step-by-step through the lessons
Printable Labels
A vision sheet for your home
A working checklist of tasks you can accomplish in 30 minutes or less
Shopping and To-Do Lists
Monthly Calendar and Weekly Schedule

The Mental Foundation

The best processes to overcome mental barriers from Tony Robbins and Dean Graziosi's Mastermind Course ($200 Value). Helps you to find the time, the energy and the motivation to organize your home by:

Discovering your “true, internal why” -> what motivates you to want an organized home
Helping you clearly identify what is holding you back from success
Teaching you how to organize your schedule to create new pockets of time
Helping you discover what is most important for you to accomplish with your time, as opposed to just urgent or habit
Helping you cut out the things that aren't important and identify gaps in your schedule you can dedicate to working on your home

Your Ideal Home

The best processes to set and achieve your vision by breaking it down into actionable steps ($300 Value). Teaches you how to break down an overwhelming project into small, manageable steps, by:

Clearly defining your goal and vision for your home
Learning how to evaluate specific rooms and identify what you want to be improved
Identifying specific, easy to complete tasks in each room that will contribute to your overall goal without overwhelming you
Getting your family or others involved in the process

Cleaning and Maintaining

The best processes to clean and maintain your home after it has been organized ($200 Value).Teaches you how to maintain your home once it is clean and keep it organized, by:

Providing you with the basic cleaning routines you need to naturally stay in control of your home
Teaching you my amazing “Ten-Minute Clean-up” process, which allows you to clean an entire floor / room in ten minutes or less!
Showing you how to establish routines with your kids and other members of the family
Sharing important resources such as chore cards, favorite cleaning products, and a deep-cleaning checklist, and more
Explaining the laundry routine we use in our home to get our laundry done every week without even thinking about it
Teaching you how to deep clean your home after it has been decluttered and organized
Showing you how to help the other members of your household be on the same page and not “unclean” your home

During the course, we will:

Show you the process of how to go throughout your home decluttering, cleaning, and organizing. Then you can take this process and go throughout all the rooms in your home–including the bathrooms, kitchen, craft room, home office, basement, entryway, playroom, garage, attic, and all other rooms in your home–cleaning and organizing.
Clean out and organize not just the rooms themselves, but organization spaces such as closets, shelves, drawers, and bookshelves.
Learn how to properly use organization equipment, such as bins, drawer organizers, storage bins, food storage containers, lids, and baskets.

The Private Balanced Home Community

(BONUS – Priceless). Provides a community that you can go to whenever you need a place where you…

Seek inspiration and ideas from others
Receive support and motivation from others
Share your successes and see the successes of others as we all work towards finding balance and clarity in our homes.
Can ask questions and let me know what you may still need help with so that I can continue to cater the course to your needs

What Do People Have To Say About My Organization Course?

“This course was instrumental in helping me organize my space as well as my time. As a busy mom, I have a better grasp on what my days need to include so that I can enjoy my family rather than spend my time spinning my wheels cleaning up after everyone.”
“The Balanced Home Course helped me to be the “professional organizer” for my family! Simple steps to follow, check lists, printable labels, suggestions and worksheets will keep you on track to successfully maintain your own balanced home.”
“I am pretty sure I have solved more issues with the seven layers and clarity tool than I have in 6 months of therapy!! I think this course is going to help much more than my home. Thanks Amy!!!!”
When I realized I had been overcomplicating the idea of organization, that simplifying was a key component, then things really started to fall into place!”
When I realized I had been overcomplicating the idea of organization, that simplifying was a key component, then things really started to fall into place!””

HOW TO GET MOTIVATED TO ORGANIZE YOUR HOME

HOW TO OVERCOME FEARS AND MENTAL BARRIERS

I asked and these are the things that are holding you back from getting started! I made sure my course helped you overcome your specific fears and developed processes to address each of the concerns below. Have you ever had any of the same concerns?

“I don't have the time.”
“I don't know how to break it down into manageable chunks.”
“How do I balance other activities?”
“I don’t have enough energy / motivation.”
“I'm overwhelmed and don't know where to start.”
“I'm scared / unable to commit.”
“I don't trust myself.”
“I don't have the confidence I will finish.”
“How do I maintain / keep on top of it?”
“I have a hard time with inconsistency / finding balance.”
“I'm afraid of quitting too soon and having it be a mess.”
“How do I build the habits and routines?”
“Keeping it clean and organized”“Staying focused and not getting distracted.”
“What if I have physical limitations.”
“I don't have the supplies / resources / money (i.e. containers etc.) / storage space.”
“I don't want to part with things.”
“What Do I do with all the stuff? Donate? Kids?”
“What if I need it later?”
“My family has stuff they want to keep.”
“Family is not being helpful or even counterproductive… How do I get my family on board?”
“No sense of design / vision for what I want.”
“Lack of knowledge.”
“Afraid of not doing it right.”
“Being okay with not having it perfect.”

STILL NOT READY TO BUY?

Because I know that sometimes it can be difficult to take that initial leap of faith, I wanted to give you something that would allow you to get your feet wet a little, something that you could access RIGHT NOW. I think you'll like it. I've opened up a “sneak peek” section of my course, where you can access one or two of the lessons that are a part of The Balanced Home Course. If you click the button below you will be able to create your own personal account / log in for the course and access the “sneak peek” videos.

OTHER ORGANIZATION PROJECTS

If you are interested in taking a deeper look into some of the spaces in my home, check out the following posts!

10/21/2010 · 22 Comments

Photography with Kristen Duke~Decorating with Portraits

Kristen Duke Photography· Photography Tips

I've shared this on my blog, but I know a lot of you don't check that, so I had the idea to share this blog post with all of you here, since THIS is a passion of mine.

I have this dream that I want to share with the world. Now stick with me and hear me out. My dream is but a simple one—to beautifully display family portraits around your home. I’m not just talking about professional images (though I do know someone who can help you with that) but the images of your family that tell a story, share an adventure, or just show off how cute you are as a family.
Though your children may not notice those images enough to mention every day, it is tucked in the back of their minds, and they feel the security that they are in a loving family. Parents, do you want to know the secret to raising loving, creative, honest, self-confident kids? By nurturing their self- esteem. How better to nurture that self-esteem than to decorate your home with THEM! In her book “The Magic of Encouragement,” therapist Stephanie Marston suggests placing portraits of your child being loved next to their bed, or on their walls. These images will be “the last thing before they sleep and the first thing they see when they awaken.” Images speak louder than words.
And moms—make sure YOU are in some of those images! Your children NEED to see you loving and squeezing and adoring them. They need to see that family portrait engrained in their memories as they pass through the revolving front door every day because they DO notice. We love to look at our children (and so do they) but they also need to look at you. Don’t worry about the fact that you still need to lose that last 15 pounds, your children love you for you, and you need to be remembered at this time in their lives.

In my opinion, each room should have at least one picture displayed. In rooms with larger walls, large prints can either be clustered together in varying sizes or standing alone. Have you ever seen what an 8×10 looks like hung on a big wall all by itself? It doesn’t look right—it looks too small! I do think that if a cluster of 8×10’s are huddled together on a wall, it works better. But ideally, an 11×14 is the smallest that should go up on a wall—16×20 is even better–20×30 every better! I try to educate my clients on the importance of large portraits. They are scared, worried how it will look, then when they see it, they LOVE it! Something about BIG just doubles the happiness, not to mention the visibility.

I used to worry that people would come to my home and see family pictures everywhere and think I’m vain for displaying so many prints of my family. Well guess what? I love my family more than anything and it's true—I think we are AWESOME and I love to look at us! I much prefer my family to black ironwork wall hangings. When I go to friends or strangers home, my favorite thing is to walk all around their home and silently peer into their frames, have a glimpse into their lives. I still love to go to my moms home and look at all my childhood pictures. She has them going down her stairwell with portraits through the years. I LOVE it!

I want my children to feel that family togetherness, the unity. I want the pictures displayed around our home to remind them that they are a part of a family who loves them. This is my wish, for me and for you. I want to get those great family moments off of the computer and onto the walls. It doesn't have to be expensive either. I am a big fan of professionally printed images and will only sell that to my clients, but if the quality is lower, it is better to have that than nothing. A 16×20 at Sams club is around $10 (don't quote me on that). I say to print that, make sure you love it, then if you want better quality, seek a higher end lab.

Here are some snaps from around my home.

To the left of the window is a 16×20 canvas. I wish it were bigger.

Off of the entry, I have these two prints that are 20×24. I got the frames for $2 each at a garage sale and painted them!

Below is a little entry off of our Master, I put a wedding pic there. It is an 11×14, I wish it were bigger, too. I like to have a few wedding pics around not only for myself and hubby, but to show our children how much we honor that day. I think I need to make this a little cluster of frames.

In our Master, I have prints only of my hubby and I. The kids are everywhere else in our home, but this room is about us. I have a few other wedding and engagement pics on our dresser.

This is in the kitchen right by the back door to the garage. I thought it needed a little something and I put an 8×10 print of my 4 kids in the bluebonnets next to a lightswitch and security system. Painted the frame green.

Upstairs, in the gameroom and on the left, I have one of my favorite images of my hubby on his bike with the kids watching on the sidewalk (5 years ago). It is a 16×20. Going into the hallway, a cluster of 5×7 prints in a collage type frame (see 2 below for close up). Then a frame of my hubby and I in our dating days hangs in the hallway by the girls room. I made it for our wedding reception and love looking at it.

My girls room, I took a similar shot of them at 9 months old, it is a 16×20 on either side of the window.

The 5×7 collage frame. Lots of random around the house moments as well as out and about. Some of my favorite images here. I want the everyday moments to be represented, too. Not just our “photo shoots.”

This print below was a 24×36, but I trimmed it down to fit this frame. I love the large easel, and perch this in the corner.

My boys old room, these are 20×30's of them playing sports.
They helped me pick out which sports shot to include.
Our kitchen. This goes along with my rule to not put 8×10's on the wall unless clustered together. This is plate rack and the 8×10's are mounted on a hard board so they stand alone without a frame. I change these throughout the year.

There you have it…now share with me! Don't worry if they aren't perfect. I try to do a regular feature on my blog of images readers have sent to me of how they decorate with portraits.

P.S. Did you hear that I am competing on crafting with the stars? Eeeks, so crazy! Amy (the creator of this blog) is a “star” working with another competator. Check Sew Dang cute on Sunday or Monday to vote.

P.S.S. Come to my blog to see my most recent exciting portrait decoration and to submit your images.

About Amy

Amy Huntley is the owner/author of The Idea Room. A mother of five, who enjoys sharing her love of all things creative in hopes of inspiring other women and families. Never miss a creative idea that she shares by connecting with her here, or read more of her posts.

« Trick or Treat Bag Patterns

Cheesy Brocoli Soup »

Comments

Elle Belles Bows says

10/21/2010 at 1:15 pm

Thanks for posting the ideas on decorating with family photos. We just had some great photos done by an amazing local photographer and this really helped! Thanks! Kerri

Reply
Erin says

10/21/2010 at 2:58 pm

Wonderful advice! I had never thought about displaying pictures of kids being "loved on". I really appreciated this article. Thank you!
Erin at inbetweenlaundry.blogspot.com

Reply
Kristy@ThatGoodPart says

10/21/2010 at 3:00 pm

What a wonderful way to show your family how much they mean to you! We recently painted – well a year or so ago now! lol I'm getting tired of looking at bare walls but I haven't known what to do until now. I've been inspired! Now I just have to get some pictures and frames!!! :)

Reply
Angela says

10/21/2010 at 3:07 pm

Thank you for your inspiration and sharing how important seeing those family photos are. I will try to pull them out of the box and put them on the wall.

Angela
SimpleCreations

Reply
Rosie says

10/21/2010 at 3:14 pm

Thank you sooooo much for this post! We moved into a new home in January and I'm still trying to decide how to decorate. I love to decorate with photos but thought that might look kind of vain too ;) You've inspired me to just do it. Thank you for all the ideas on how to display. You rock!

Reply
Amber says

10/21/2010 at 4:31 pm

I agree with the above comments…thank you for your post! We painted our living room walls, and I still hadn't decided how to decorate them. Thank you for the great ideas!

Reply
Tim & Katie says

10/21/2010 at 5:13 pm

Thank you so much for posting this. I just took down a few photos because I was beginning to think that I needed more "art" and less family. Well, guess what?! They are going back up on the walls! I love my family, why not show them off? It's my best accomplishment to date.

Reply
La Familia Garcia says

10/21/2010 at 7:07 pm

That is wonderful advise! I just love how inspiring you are and not only "how-to" but a very thoughtful WHY!! I want everyone to know how "family" our family really is!

Reply
Gabby says

10/22/2010 at 3:38 am

Great post.

Reply
James and Monica says

10/22/2010 at 4:59 am

What a great thing! Thank you so much for this post! My friend Erin, from Pink Daffodil Photography actually just did a post on sizes! She has examples of what certain sizes would like on a wall! And this post just goes along perfectly. Thank you, thank you!!!

Question: how often do you switch out the pictures on the collages? As the kids gets older? with the season? I struggle a lot with that. Thank you.

Reply
Deanna says

10/22/2010 at 12:38 pm

I love to print black and white photos for cheap at office depot – nice and big! But sticking them to the hallway with tack looks a little . . .college dorm-y.

Any thought on how to attach a photo straight to the wall (sans frame to save on bulk in narrow hallway)?

Reply
Bugg's mama says

10/22/2010 at 3:41 pm

This is really helpful advice. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and talent, Kristin.

And, Amy, you get your groove on here. I love it! I made your cinnamon swirl pancakes this morning and we loved them. Thank you!

Love, Bree

Reply
Kristen Duke Photography says

10/22/2010 at 8:42 pm

James and Monica–I don't p lan to switch them out, just add to them. I like to keep the oldies up, too:)

Deanna–I would try to at least adhere the picture to some straight surface, either thin wood with mod podge or a thick poster board. THen you can mount it with industrial strength velcro!

Reply
Preston says

10/25/2010 at 2:30 pm

I love the post but have one question: how do you mount the 8×10's on hard board? Looks awesome!

Reply
Kristen Duke Photography says

10/26/2010 at 6:12 pm

Preston, there are a few ways to mount prints. I use a pro lab, and when I have 8×10's or larger, I always mount the prints. It keeps the paper from warping from humidity and keeps it nicer longer. You can also mount on a foam board yourself and add some mod podge. I am pretty sure a lot of print companies have mounting options now, too.

Reply
Mandy Frehner says

10/27/2010 at 4:56 am

Spray adhesive and form board work great if you are on a budget. Walmart and Costco both with mount pics on heavy board/canvases. Fabulous article! Thank you!

Reply
Myrnie says

10/29/2010 at 3:53 am

Love this! We have an enormous wall that we are slowly filling in with a collage of family pictures and portraits- the kids love finding themselves, their parents, etc. :)

Reply
The Mom of 'em says

10/29/2010 at 3:58 am

SO helpful! Thank you!!!

Reply
Heather says

10/29/2010 at 12:10 pm

Great post! I love photography & I love decorating with it! Here is my favourite display of family photos in my home right now: http://heathernow.blogspot.com/2010/04/now-forever.html
It's a collage of 6 12×12 prints that are framed in (I think) 14×14 frames, with a framed statement above.

Reply
Jen says

01/27/2011 at 1:56 pm

Beautiful photos and wonderful ideas. My 2 yr twin boys often point out to me a photo I took at a beach last summer that is in our living room. But I still can decorate many more rooms in our home besides our living room and their bedr w/ photos of our family. Thank you.

Reply
Jeanne says

02/05/2011 at 6:29 am

This is such a great post for me to read. I LOVE to take pictures of my kids, but I really fear hanging things on my wall, just because I am not super great at figuring out what should go where. But recently I painted a wall in my living room and I want to get some prints made of some of my favorite shots of my kids (many of which are casual- my favorite I think) and get them on the wall! I am so glad I came across this post- I will have to save it to refer to. I love your blog by the way. Just been poking around the past few days here and there- so great!

Reply
jared says

04/26/2011 at 1:57 pm

You are a Saint for putting up all this detailed info. I laughed out loud at the little picture of the baby on the bed laid sideways. People at work think I’m going crazy. Awesome.

I really appreciate all of this outstanding information. Thanks!

Reply

Categories

Home Organization Course