My Organized Biz » Family

Organizing a Studio in a Loft

Mary Emma Allen — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 06:00:52 +0000

In reorganizing our multigenerational home, now that granddaughter is away at college, my daughter found she could utilize the loft area for her sewing and fabric design studio.

Loft space image: sxc.hu

(One side will retain a bed and space for Kara.) However, the sprawling sewing nook and storage in the living room will be moved to the loft.

This has become an extensive project as the family:

Repainted the walls, which involved looking at many paint chips.
Finished the floor (there was only a subfloor before)
Built permanent railings on either side of the chimney for the portion overlooking the living room.
Decided to paint the remainder of the upper half floor which contains a bedroom, bath and hallway.
Moved and reorganized

However, this will be a delightful studio for our daughter and give her the sewing and design space she’s desired, even though it’s not huge. This also gives Kara her place when she’s home from school.

How have you reorganized to have a studio, office or work place?

(Of course, the loft space pictured is much larger than ours!)

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Pearl Harbor Day – December 7

Mary Emma Allen — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 06:00:16 +0000

Take time out from organizing to remember Pearl Harbor Day or learn about it and significance to our United States heritage.

Veteran's flag image: sxc.hu

I don’t remember the day Pearl Harbor happened, but I recall when the war was over. Our teacher, at the one-room school, learned of the occasion and let us out from school immediately, so we didn’t have a full day.The siren at the local firehouse was sounding, people in cars blew their horns as a friend and I walked along the road toward our homes. My mom was excited because it meant Uncle Al would be coming home. By then her brother was serving in Guam as an Army Air Corps plane mechanic. We only heard from him periodically, when letters with words cut out (there was censorship of soldiers’ mail in that war).Uncle Al was proud to have served for his country’s freedom and kept his dress uniform to be buried in many years later. He also wanted his medals pinned on his jacket. The flag over his casket was folded and handed to my mom, his only surviving family by that time. She later gave it to me, “Take care of Uncle Al’s flag.” Unspoken were the words, but the thought was there…”and remember the men like Al who fought for our country’s freedom.” Which we do on Pearl Harbor Day.

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Take a Day Off from Organization – Enjoy Grandparents’ Day

Mary Emma Allen — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 00:18:59 +0000

Some days you opt out of business organization, and even business. You spend it doing just what you like, or like today, celebrating Grandparents’ Day either with grandchildren or reviving memories of your grandparents.

Write down some of the memories you have of grandparents and grandparenting. Yes, you can organize them and photos to create a memorable heritage for your grandchildren. So I guess you’d be organizing in a way. With some people, too, this might be part of their business.

Since I teach family history and scrapbooking classes, any pages, albums or journals I create regarding grandparents could be shared with my students to give them some ideas for perpetuating their family heritage.

Tape or video conversations with grandparents, grandchildren or your own to have for future reference. Some people prefer this method of organizing memories, rather than writing them down.

Look at family memorabilia. I have a horsehoe door knocker my grandfather made. Probably my daughter and grandchildren don’t know why I’m hanging onto this piece of memorabilia. Have I thought to tell them. Grandpa had a forge and shop where he made and repaired shoes for the horses he and Father used on the farm and in the woodlots. I vaguely remember him working in the shop when I was a young child.

He made this door knocker…a horseshoe attached to a metal plate which announced visitors when lifted and let fall. When we sold the old farmhouse, after Mother and Father’s deaths, I salvaged the door knocker.

How do you enjoy Grandparents’ Day and organize memories?

(Image: sxc.hu)

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Keeping Organized Midst Interruptions

Mary Emma Allen — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:02:18 +0000

When your businesses consist of home businesses, reorganization in the home affects one’s time and work load. We live in a multi-generational home with six of us using space that originally was shared by three, then two when our daughter left home. Now, due to various circumstances and health situations, her family of four live with us.Now that our granddaughter has left for college, there’s some rearranging going on as far as bedrooms and business space is concerned. So while we stop, or take moments out, to rearrange and reorganize (and set the extras out for another yard sale tomorrow), business matters get squeezed in between.
How does one keep on track with business when other activities are going on? In the midst of all this, my laptop crashed, so I have so work around hubby’s schedule at his computer.

Decide which items are absolutely necessary, which deadlines MUST be met today…before I leave for my evening job outside the home?
What can I rough out (I do much writing online as one of my businesses) and then refine tomorrow?
What e-mail correspondence needs to be done today…and what can be left? (I do much of the correspondence and billing for my husband’s home business.)
How can I organize for the yard sale so it’s set up and ready to go early tomorrow morning? Here I can delegate.
What else can be delegated? Since others can’t do my writing, I can delegate cooking.

How do you keep on track and organized when the unexpected arises?

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Boomers Organize Grandparenting Time

Mary Emma Allen — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:22:13 +0000

Many boomers are grandparents. Some live near their grandchildren; others are at a distance. Some take on babysitting duties; others only visit occasionally, due to distance and time logistics.

What happens when you have a small business that consumes your time, too? You must organize your business and grandparenting time.

“What! Organize your grandparenting time! Schedule your grandchildren into your life!” some people may gasp in horror.

Boomers are entitled to their life and business. Perhaps the business is enabling them to be independent, so they aren’t dependent upon their children.

However, to be part of their grandchildren’s lives…to help parents, too, it may be imperative to schedule or organize your time for the youngsters. This can be especially true if a boomer has a home business, whereby children and others often don’t think grandparents have a schedule to keep or deadlines to meet.

One grandmother, who has a home business and grandchildren living nearby, does schedule time with them. There are days she’s available for babysitting, but she makes it clear she’s not a “built in” babysitter. She has commitments involving her business. Specific days, or parts of days, are set aside for the grandkids. She’s flexible, but when she’s busy with her business, she’s not available for babysitting.

How do you organize your grandparenting time if you have a small business or home business? Do you drop everything at your children’s or grandchildren’s whims? Or do you make it clear that there are business commitments, just as there would be if you had an outside-the-home job or worked for someone else at a small business?

What techniques do you use for establishing business time and grandparenting time?

(Image: sxc.hu)

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