Wardrobe Boxes

Spring is always the busy season for buying and selling a home. People have been inside all winter and they are just too excited to get out. They plan on planting a garden, hosting barbeques, and just enjoying a new yard. They want to buy in early spring so they have time to work on their new yard before summer. There is also the benefit of buying in the spring to be able to do any repairs or renovations on the outside of the home. Not to mention the move will be in much nicer weather. No one wants to move and haul all of their belongings with snow on the ground. That’s why it is best to haul your cardboard boxes for moving in the spring.

You have to pick the right type of cardboard boxes, though. No one wants to be moving a box of heavy things and then the box bust on them. It is best to go with sturdy, durable boxes when it comes to moving heavy things. Packing your things into boxes you know won’t break is the responsible thing to do. It is also great to use the appropriate boxes for what you are packing in them. Yes, there are multitude of different boxes to choose from when it comes to moving.

The greatest box for moving that I didn’t even know existed is a wardrobe box. For so many times that I have moved I have had to just throw all of my clothes into a box. Even when I would try and fold them as neatly as I could, the clothes would still be wrinkled by the time I got to the new place and started to unpack everything (because let’s be honest, the clothes will sit in the boxes for a few days). This specific type of box is taller than regular boxes. It also has a bar across the top that your hanger goes right on! That way, your clothes are hanging up on your own hangers the entirety of the move. So even when I get a little lazy and wait a week to finally unpack my clothes, they will still be sitting nice and next to the closet just waiting for me.

Moving can be stressful, but it doesn’t have to be terrible. Make sure you are set to move during a nice day. Also make sure you are using the best boxes you can to make the move as smooth as possible.

Organization

As I start my third week staying at home I have resorted to all of the responsibilities I was trying to avoid the first two weeks. I did a little cleaning here and there, but I mostly left the hard chores until now. I could continue to put them off, but I really don’t think I should rewatch the same Netflix series for the third time in a row. I decided the bathroom would be my next adventure. There are so many cabinets and drawers filled with clutter and junk and things I even forgot I had.

My main goal is get everything off the sink countertop. I do not like the look of a messy countertop and it is so hard to keep everything clean when I have to move fifteen little bottles of products off the counter just to wipe it down with a damp rag. I much prefer to have things stored in the drawers below the sink for easy access and so the top of the sink stays nice and fresh. Maybe I could even put one little fake plant there to really make it fresh. Of course I would keep my soap dispenser, but I really think everything else is going to have to find another home.

One thing I have considered building is a little shelf area next to the sink. This would allow cute little mason jars to hold everyday items like toothbrushes and cotton balls. While I am thinking about hanging things on the wall I realize I have no decor in my bathroom at all. It really could afford to atleast have a few pictures or something here. Just recently I switched to a light blue and cream shower curtain. I could stay with this theme and add some blues and creams into the mix.

One thing I really need to organize is all of my jewelry just sitting in clumps and tangling. The way I have my jewelry makes it almost impossible to just easily pick something out and put it on. First I have to dig through all the intertwined chains to pick something, then I have to sit there and try to untangle it loose. Most of the time I end up just giving up and finding something else. My temporary solution for this is candy boxes. I do have to spend time taking all of the jewelry apart. But when it is taken apart all I have to do is sort them individually into candy boxes. The candy trays keep them seperate and safe from entanglement! I have even found some beautiful boxes so I think this could become my permanent solution.

Your Online Business

Most businesses are shifting to an online business model. It seems like brick and mortar storefronts are on the decline more and more in every town. People enjoy searching for a product at home, filtering through thousands of options, reading reviews, and then making a final decision all while they are sitting on their couch at home. This means marketing has also started to shift. More and more advertisements for online stores are popping up all over social media. Influencers are even being sponsored by these online businesses to show off their products.

One thing that most of these influencers have hit on is the packaging of their products they are receiving. Plain, cardboard boxes seem to be a thing of the past when it comes to these popular millennial and Gen Z websites. Almost any box is colorful or has a cute little logo from the company. It may just seem like novelty, but it really seems to get the attention of buyers.

Aesthetic has really seemed to be the word of the decade. Everyone is focused on how something looks and if it matches their personality or their style. Cardboard boxes are just another way companies can appeal to consumers. If there are cute ads of a model holding their beautifully decorated box, then more people are likely to check out that website. Amazon uses this with their “smile” packages. Everyone associates these boxes with Amazon, which is just a marketing scheme for them. Some companies even change up their design depending on the season or the holiday. So the boxes then become sort of a collectors item, and people are more inclined to buy at certain times of the year.

Even the size of the box is something companies have to consider. Are they just going to have one medium size box that every item(s) gets shipped in. Or will they have multiple sizes with multiple different designs? These are things to think about when thinking of marketing or branding.

Next, companies need to decide how these are going to get stuffed. They could look into fun, colored shredded paper. Or they could choose packing peanuts or maybe even inflatable fillers. Maybe each item could be wrapped in pretty tissue paper. The same amount of thought that goes into the outside of the package should go on the inside. Companies should always consider adding extra inside the boxes. A little friend referral of 10% off your next purchase really keeps the customer coming back to their site.


Holiday Decoration

As spring is upon us there are a lot of people starting to prepare for Easter. Easter is nice because it is another big holiday that is seperate from Thanksgiving and Christmas. Thanksgiving and Christms can be stressful because they are back-to-back. Easter is a few months later and a much more relaxed time for families to get together. The best part about Easter? Not having to scramble to find gifts for every family member! Families can really just get together to enjoy the food and the company.

My family has also had this tradition of making beautiful foods to display for the arrangement. Like I said previously, Thanksgiving and Christmas just seem to be rushed. We put together great food, but don’t think much about presentation. The pretty pastels are our favorite thing to highlight. The placemats, napkins, plates, and all of the decor are a light pink, purple, blue, or yellow. It is all a part of the art of the feast. LIttle candy eggs and candles throughout the spread.

One of our favorite decorations we have thought of over the years are candy boxes. This centerpiece has been such again for multiple reasons. First, we have the children decorate their candy boxes with all sorts of pastel paint. They always choose to draw such happy pictures to display. Then, the boxes are filled with candy and displayed on the tables and counters for guests to eat at will! It is so nice to grab little treats while waiting for the main course.

The best part about candy boxes is they are perfect for little to-go containers. The thing about large family gatherings is that everyone brings so much food! My family in particular loves to bring sweets, pastries, cakes, and cookies. These type of boxes are perfect to put leftover treats in. All of the treats are separate and will stay intact. Just remember to pop the whole box in the fridge when you get home! It’ll keep for a few days. I always love to enjoy my leftovers for at least a few days. Reward myself for having to prepare for the Easter celebration!

If you haven’t before, think about going outside the box for your decorations. These boxes are durable and will cost you next to nothing. They are fun, interactive little pieces and you can use them even after the celebration is over!

Dealing with Stress

This past summer I was feeling extremely stressed, overwhelmed, and generally hating on my job. I wondered if remodeling my office would help? So I pondered the idea and decided to give it a try.

I first started by sketching out different floor layouts of the items in my office, a desk five filing cabinets, two sets of drawers, and tons of computer components. Considering there are two entry doors and one wall of floor to ceiling windows the options were quite limited, But I did manage to come up with a couple of new options. So with those options I began measuring things to see if the options would really work. Of the two only one was truly feasible when it came to the computer components and not having to reroute Internet wire (and dig through my supply of cardboard boxes hoping to find more supplies that would help out).

Once I had the layout chosen and was sure it would work I began decluttering. I boxed up files that were potential purge items and move them to the storage room to deal with later. I went through filing cabinets and purged many things that I could with minimal effort, in other words I could toss at one glance. Then I had to unload some of the filing cabinets and a three-tier shelving unit so that they could easily be moved around to the new location. Unfortunately, my desk is a metal desk from the 1950s that weighs approximately 500 pounds so it had to be moved into the center of the room and left until it was time to relocate it to a new wall.

Next on the agenda was new window blinds. I couldn’t afford to get new blinds so I opted to buy paper shades and hoped they might work. Unfortunately they did not last and had to be replaced with the old existing blinds. I wouldn’t have minded so much for the money I was out if I had invested so much time installing the paper shades that faded within three months. I will chalk that one up to lesson learned.

Once everything was moved to its new location, the floors cleaned, the personal touches of family photos, cardboard boxes put away in storage, grand dog photos, mottos and core beliefs displayed I truly felt accomplished. I do feel it gave me a new hope for a brighter future, ad I do feel it relieved a little bit of stress. Truly, I do feel it helped me to move on to a new season leading to retirement very soon. So I say to you, if you are feeling the blues and longing for spring a little more than you should, maybe you need an office makeover? Happy remodeling at the job site!