blog — Help You Dwell
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Q+A: Do You Take Donations Away?

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We’re excited to continue answering some of our most frequently asked questions.

Q. Do you take away donations?

A. Absolutely!

This is one of the best parts of what we do! After we do the work of organizing and bringing order to your space, we would love nothing more than to clear away the excess and leave your home lighter.

If you have a specific place or organization you’d like your items to go, we are happy to make this happen. Some of our clients like to take their donations away themselves, and that is fine too.

We also love to match specific needs of local nonprofits and organizations with the donation items our clients let go of. This adds a lot of meaning to letting go of items you no longer need. There are countless groups doing meaningful work and serving folks in need in our community. We truly delight in finding useful ways to make an impact with our client’s belongings.

Let this be your encouragement… if you are holding onto clothes, accessories, or decor “just in case”, there is likely an organization who could use those items now!

 
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Spring Organizing + Knoxville Habitat ReStore

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Spring Organizing + Knoxville Habitat ReStore

Open a window and let the breeze in as you let organize your home this Spring. Keep reading to see the 4 steps to get you started! We're also excited to tell you more about a local nonprofit organization (Knoxville Habitat for Humanity ReStore) your donations can help impact. 

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Let's Celebrate Galentine's Day

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A special blog post just to cheer on some incredible women running businesses here in Knoxville. We are honored to be among so many women owned businesses and to work alongside our own team of over 26 unique and talented women. We love the services and products these companies offer.

So here’s to women doing great work!

A few ways to celebrate friendship with your gal pals:

  • Host a clothing (and accessories & shoes) swap

  • Schedule a girls night out at Zero Zero, Knoxville’s natural wine bar

  • Invite a few friends to participate in a pajama “secret santa” party where everyone brings a pair of jammies & goes home with a new pair too

  • Challenge each other to let go of a few household decor items, send photos in a group text & “shop” each other’s goodies

  • Bring a bottle of wine or unique cheese to a happy hour tasting event with your neighbors

  • Take a friend second hand shopping at Statemint West Knoxville’s sale (Feb. 13-16)

Happy Galentine’s Day to you!

5 Tips For Falling in Love with Your Home Again

 1.  Make a list of spaces in your home that need order.  Pay attention to how the space is currently used and what you'd like it to be used for.  Having vision and purpose for the space is key to getting motivated to start & finish. Try thinking about the things you wish you had space for in your home. When you start thinking outside of the box you may realize that you can re-purpose a closet into a crafting nook or a home office.

2.  Don't do it alone.  Call a friend, a family member or Help You Dwell to be a second set of eyes allowing you to envision creative ways to organize and re-purpose your space that you might not ordinarily think about.  Organizing with others helps you not get bogged down in the details and helps to make the decisions on whether to keep or share items with others.

3.  Make attainable goals, staying focused on one project at a time.  Set aside small, specific increments of time to accomplish your goals.  Setting aside an hour of focused, intentional time can be much more productive and less overwhelming than a whole day or weekend of work.

4.  Get supplies ready; trash bag, donation bag/box, "put away" bin (laundry baskets work great for this) and any storage containers you may need.  We recommend organizing before buying bins so you know how many containers you will need. If you prefer to buy storage bins before hand, make sure to keep receipts so you can return items you don't need.

5.  Get started. Half of the battle is taking the first step. Turn on some music, grab a bottle of water and stay the course so you can enjoy your space the way you've always wanted.

Shop With Us

Looking for the right products for your space? We can help find exactly what you need.

Shop our Amazon Storefront.

Don’t see what you need?
Reach out and we can help source a solution for you.

Valentine's Day Gift Guide

A few of our favorite Valentine’s Day gift ideas

A Hand Written Note. It doesn’t get much better than this. There’s something so thoughtful and intentional about some well meaning words in your own hand writing that goes further than a text or email or store bought card ever could. If you are short on words, just a quick little “XOXO” on a sticky note will work!

Something Sweet. You already know our favorite spot to grab local chocalate-y goodness, none other than Bradley’s. More of a pastry person? Hop into Wildlove Bakehouse for the croissant of your dreams. If your’e on a tight budget - store bought cookies are a simple sweet treat too!

Quality Time. This can be with your spouse, partner, or gal pals. Spend your Valentine’s Day evening participating in a hands on couples wood-working class at Able Trade. A few ideas: play a new card game, work on a puzzle while listening to your favorite music, get together to read quietly, go on a walk, make an over the top cheese board.

A Bouquet of Blooms or a House Plant. Instead of the stereotypical dozen roses, opt for something a little more creative and unique from a local florist. We love: Flourish Flowers, Sassafras Floral Design, and Melissa Trimble Floral. Peruse the variety of house plants available at Jacks of Knoxville and Oglewood Avenue.

Help You Dwell Gift Card. A Custom Consult or 2 hours of services would be a great way to show some love this Valentine’s Day. Give your spouse, sister, neighbor, or parents the gift of our services (organizing, packing, or unpacking). We can make progress in any area of your home. Let us help you get started with the organizing projects on your list.

Custom Consultation Gift Card
$125.00
Help You Dwell Gift Card
from $140.00

Which gift are you giving or wishing for?

Organizing Your Phone Photos + Videos

If you’re anything like me, you have a phone FULL of photos and videos. First off- this is a wonderful thing that we have such an easily accessible tool to capture real life moments with pretty high quality thanks to ever improving phone camera capabilities. While there are some priceless treasures in there, there are also admittedly lots of duplicates, accidental screenshots, and maybe ten thousand photos of a finger or carpet taken by my toddler. In order to fully enjoy your favorite photos, we’ve got to clear the clutter and create some order in our digital photos. This is also a really lovely way to reflect on a year, month, or week past as you go through images and videos to reminisce and streamline what you keep. Pro tip: attempt doing this in brief segments of time so you don’t get too sucked into your device. Set a timer for 10-15 min and see how much progress you make!

Remember that photos and videos you delete will still exist in your Recently Deleted album for 30 days so go for it!

Let’s clear the clutter…

Month by Month

Pace yourself by going one month at a time. Start with a quick overview of all the photos and videos from that month and delete the obvious uh-oh photos you didn’t mean to take, and then begin to cull the rest by making decisions regarding photos that look super similar. You don’t need them all, you are much more likely to use and enjoy just ONE that you saved out of a bunch. In this quick sweep, look for the ones your eye is most drawn to, the one your heart swells at, and the elusive photos with everyone’s eyes open.

Create Specific to You Albums

If you are someone who is always scrolling through your library to find something specific, consider creating a custom album in your phone to keep things you’re often referencing. This is great for things like: a specific recipe, something you snapped a photo of to trigger yourself to remember to follow up, or an exercise schedule. Creating an album puts selected items in a custom-to-you spot in your phone. One album we highly recommend creating and using is a “To Print” folder where you move your most favorite images that you’d like to incorporate into your home (more on that below).

Person Specific

If there are a few folks in your life whose faces appear continually in your Photos, you can now (in iPhone Photos or Google Photos) sort photos by a specific person. This can help eliminate unnecessary duplicates and allow you to choose the best out of a multitude. Be sure to “heart” or “favorite” your photos as you sort and delete.

Low Lying Fruit

The Utilities section of iPhone Photos is a great place to start- it auto populates folders of duplicates and screenshots. There are also folders of various types of files like videos, selfies, live photos, and portraits. These are groupings that allow you to approach sections of your library without having to go one by one through the whole library.

What Next?

Managing Storage

If your device is full - there are options! You could subscribe to additional iCloud storage or pay a small fee to other storage solutions like Google Photos - This is a great option to streamline your digital world if you have a gmail account. It allows all of your photos and videos to be stored in the cloud with unlimited storage (up to 16 mp an 1080p HD). When connected to wifi, all you have to do is open the app to begin syncing up all of your recent photos to the cloud. Then, you are able to delete all photos off of your device to free up internal storage, yet you still have access via the Google Photos app. Another great feature is the ability to categorize photos into albums that you can share with others. One fun feature is the ability to search for what photo you are looking for by keyword. Learn more about how to use Google Photos here. 

Sharing

Inviting friends or family members to a shared album can be a great way to share special moments. Give grandparents and close friends access to the photo album you created from your children’s birthday gatherings so everyone can share what they captured on their phones. Folks can even give a thumbs up or leave a comment on a photo or video. Here are some helpful tips for navigating shared albums on Apple devices.

Using Your Photos

Websites like Shutterfly and mPix often offer discounts for printed photo products. Artifact Uprising features high quality clean line designs for your photos. Coffee table photo books, paperback monthly photo books, calendars, and magnets are just a few of the ways to incorporate your images into your home decor. Another way to enjoy your photos at home is by incorporating a Digital Photo Frame (the Skylight or Aura are great options) or a smart home digital display like the Amazon Echo or Google Hub. These devices can display your favorite moments (and are easily updated from your phone).

PS - Are your little ones interested in taking their own photos and videos? A gift we love for kiddos is a kid friendly digital camera. It’s so fun to see the little glimpses and moments they capture with their own camera. Be prepared - you may have to incorporate a habit of clearing the countless blurry or blank images.

Looking for more inspiration?

Best way to Organize your Fridge

Are you tired of random leftovers and holiday meals taking over your kitchen and refrigerator? It’s the perfect time to give our fridge & freezers some attention.

A fresh year, a fresh start.

Whether you are hoping to save some time or money, putting some energy into your fridge will reap benefits to your everyday. Are you tired of wasting food or accidentally spending too much on groceries? Take these practical tips into account and you will be on your way.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Before you even open the doors, let’s handle the exterior. Take everything off - including magnets, lists, kids artwork, invitations, photos, coupons, and more. Give it a good wipe down once it’s clear.
All the items you removed should fall into one of 3 categories:

  • Discard what is no longer necessary (things like expired promotions and past event invitations)

  • Save and store items that are sentimental (things like photos and children’s artwork)

  • Place the pieces that either bring functionality (current sports schedule) or joy (recent family photo or art) back onto your fridge or freezer doors.

Magnetic picture frames for fridge from Amazon.

Now onto the inside - you’ve got this!

SYSTEM

It may feel overwhelming to do a one time fridge/freezer overhaul… so what if we implement a couple recurring habits to keep our appliances in neat order.

This one item may be a game changer for your fridge & freezer.

One way to save space and money is to do a quick inventory check of your fridge, freezer, (and pantry or cupboards) before doing a grocery run. While you’re in there, check dates and freshness of perishable items. For dressings and condiments, group the oldest ones together and pull them to the front so they are more likely to be used soon. Make a list of items that are running low or need to be replaced asap.

Secondly, schedule a reminder or task for yourself to do a quick leftover assessment the day before your trash is collected. We recommend dating your leftovers (this can be as simple as a sticky note, masking tape, or writing with whiteboard marker on Tupperware) so that there is no confusion about what food is fresh. Toss any food that is no longer good.

These two small actions will help ensure your fridge and freezer are not overlooked or overflowing with extra or outdated items, which will make meal prep and cooking much smoother. You’ll thank yourself later!

ZONES + CONTAINERS

Based on the needs of your home, create areas for the items you always have on hand (ie. school lunch items, baby food, fresh fruit, grab & go yogurts, etc.). We recommend using clear containers to corral similar items. This allows you to remove and discard the cardboard or plastic wrapping on food items so you can easily see how many you have left. Bonus points for using containers and bins that are dishwasher safe in case of a mess. This will also save you time & trouble in the event of a spill. The open top file box item below is actually a perfect fit for many freezer drawers (hack from The Home Edit gals).

PLACEMENT OF SPECIFIC ITEMS

As far as food safety goes, there is a way to best utilize the different shelves in your fridge. Food that does not require cooking should be on the higher shelves, while items that do need to be cooked are placed in the lowest areas to avoid cross contamination.

Placing a small open box of baking soda really does add freshness and reduce odors.

Example: cream cheese, fruit, and leftovers up top while raw meats should be placed in the lowest drawer.

Need a hand in organizing your fridge?

 
 

We would love to help. Our team of organizers bring a fresh perspective and resourceful ideas to create order in your unique space. Take this first step and you’ll be on your way to enjoying cooking, eating healthier meals, and saving money on groceries.

Finding Peace Amidst the Hustle

December is nutty. While this season carries so much joy, it is easy to get lost in the slue of invitations, party sign up sheets, gift lists, and gatherings. We wanted to share a few practical reminders to help you slow down and catch a breath this holiday season.

Say no to something.

This may come naturally or be a challenge for you, but either way it is essential. If we approach every invitation or suggestion as necessity - we will burn out. The same principle we preach all year around applies (maybe more than ever) now - if it’s all “important”, really none of it is “important”. Use discretion, pause, and consider a few things before rsvp-ing YES to everything that comes your way. This is a way of creating margin where possible in your day, week, and life overall.

  • Running from place to place with tired children? No thank you.

  • Sitting in traffic to arrive late and hurry on to the next thing? Let’s not.

  • Placing online order after online order frantically to realize you spent more than you intended? Not this year.

Schedule “downtime”.

Whether this is a routine rhythm in your houe or not, this is a great time of year to begin practicing it. Just like all of us humans need rest, maybe we should let our devices rest. Turn the screens off. Give your eyes and ears a break from stimulization. You’ll be amazed what you might notice - the smell of snowy air, the sound of birds or leaves rustling in the cold, the fresh air on your face. Take a walk, play a board game, light a candle, turn on the instrumental music. Basically, turn down the volume on all the loudness of life around you. You know when something isn’t working and you have to unplug it and give it a few minutes - this might be exactly what we need to do with ourselves.

A local favorite, Christmas Lemon Cookies from Ham’n Goodys.

Savor meaningful traditions.

Before you try to create a dozen special things to do every year, just pick one. Was there something you did with friends or family that was special last year? Schedule a time to engage in it again this year, it’s that simple - now it’s an annual tradition. It doesn’t need to be expensive or elaborate. For example - last year we decided to let our kids and our friends kids decorate sugar cookies with an ungodly amount of icing and sprinkles (while a majority of it was consumed during the decorating) then we took them on a freezing cold caroling blitz to some our friendliest neighbors. We laughed, we made messes, we cleaned them up, we cheered some folks up, and we decided we should do it again.

Looking for a new experience this season? Climb aboard the Christmas Lantern Express or snag a ticket to see the Polar Express in the beautiful Tennessee Theatre.

Remember what matters.

There are so many folks and organizations doing charitable things this season, so why not join in? Reminding ourselves (and our children) that this season of giving is so much more impactful when we remember it’s not just about us. Look outside your own home, or neighborhood, and to the needs of those less fortunate.

A few ways to give back…

Restoration House has an Amazon wishlist full of items needed to help the families they serve settle into their homes. Purchase a personalized photo gift for someone on your list, while a portion of the sales go to support the Secret Safe Place for Newborns of TN. Gather excess new and unopened items from your own kitchen or bathroom for the Angelic Ministries needs list. Make a difference in our local community by participating in one of the many ways the Knoxville Community Action Committee has organized this year. Provide a gift or volunteer your time Helen Ross McNabb’s Dear Santa program. Give financially or fill a “Gift of Change” gift sack for our friends at Helping Mamas Knoxville. Shop for new items for kids entering the foster care system on the Isaiah 117 House needs list. Show some neighborly love by hand delivering a poinsetta, fresh wreath, or holiday cookies to someone on your street.

Look back, to look forward.

As the year quickly comes to a close, don’t find yourself spinning from all the busyness. Some slow moments can turn a whirlwind of a year past, into meaningful reflections and insights. A writer we love, Tsh Oxenrider, has put together some End of Year Reflection Questions we love.

In what ways did you dwell well this year?

Raise the Tree Christmas Tree Farm in Knoxville, TN.

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