Episode 317: Declutter Your Room, Your Mind & Your Life with Ria Safford, Professional Organizer & CEO of RíOrganize

Summer always seems like the perfect time for those organization projects you mean to do all year. This week’s guest, Ria Safford, is here to help us get organized! She is the go-to celebrity professional organizer and CEO of luxury home organization business RíOrganize. This mama started her side hustle to help other moms, and now it’s a full blown business with a team who has organized for people like Paris Hilton and Jen Atkin. She share tips on how to shift your mind into organization mode, create a system that works for you, and most of all reminds us that it’s okay to be messy. Organization is a process - whether you’re tackling bathroom drawers or something in your life - you just have to be willing to ask yourself the right questions. 

More about Ria: It all started 10 hours after she gave birth to her son when an inquiry from Jen Atkin came through. Knowing this project would change her career, Ria didn’t think twice with her instant reply - “When do you need me?” She was right. Organizing Jen Atkin’s closet in 2019 did blow her business up. Today, Ria has worked with top-celebrity clients such as Chrissy Teigan, and Paris Hilton. 

 As a mother of three, Ria felt chaotic and found resolve in decluttering and organizing her home. Her home began to feel like an outward expression of her internal state with a cluttered home leading to a cluttered feeling in the mind. With this revelation, she set out to help others find peace of mind by cultivating and curating functional living spaces for others. She set out to organize spaces, sure, but she really set out to help improve the intimate spaces we spend most of our lives within.

Easy steps to start getting organized

• Have an organizing mindset

• Empty you space completely. Start with a blank canvas.

• Categorize all your items before you purge.

• Before you purge, make sure everything is in the right room.

• Space planning - understand what your daily habits are, daily routines, things your grabbing regularly. When setting up a space, have your most used items first and work your way back.

• Once you have this planned, then shop for product & labels.

Organizing like this isn’t for everyone! Make it make sense for you and your life.

Pick or Tip of the Week

Bricia’s pick this week are these disposable makeup wipes from Clean Skin Club. They’re better than using a hand towel or cotton balls because they’re dry and biodegradable.

Sticking to the theme of organization, Paulina finally found a set of small drawers that fit under her bathroom cabinet. She keeps extra bathroom products like q tips, pads, even the makeup cleansing wipes that Bricia mentioned.

She also has a tip - when you begin to search for items to help your organization process, don’t just buy random baskets and drawers because they’re cute or they’ll look good in your space. Buy with intention. Measure your space and then take your measuring tape to the store and measure the products! Paulina actually shops with her measuring tape now so she can do this.

Links

Visit Riorganize.com to learn more about the services and to submit an inquiry.

Follow Ria on Instagram @riorganize - she’s always sharing tips!

Shop Ria’s organization product lines at Target and Amazon.

Episode 303: Empowerment, Support and Strength: Learning about Community Resources with Jessika Ahlberg of My Safe Harbor

Shining a spotlight on community resources is something we love, and today’s episode features one of our favorite organizations. This week we interview Jessika Ahlberg, program director at My Safe Harbor in Anaheim, California. This organization focuses on empowering mothers and strengthening families through education programs and community get togethers, and the success rate of program graduates is awe-inspiring. These are mothers who want to learn, work hard and support themselves and their families in ways that might not be possible without the resources provided by My Safe Harbor. We are honored to be able to donate to this wonderful group so that they may continue to support local moms who need encouragement in their lives and with their families. To learn more about this group and how you can help, listen to the rest of this episode and visit MySafeHarbor.org.

Before the episode, Bricia is talking about her new cookbook and the full on photoshoot production thats happening at her house! She also talks about last weekend, where the entire Lopez family got together at the park for a carne asada cookout for the book (and we taught you the right way to secure tables at the park LOL) and she also talks about her son’s freak accident.

A lesson from this episode

“You can’t be a good mother without mothering yourself first.”

Pick or tip of the week

Paulina’s pick is The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. She’s read it multiple times before and Bricia suggests even reading it once a year. Paulina goal is to pass the book around to everyone in the restaurant staff because she feels it always has new lessons to provide, no matter how many times you read it.

Bricia’s tip is from their life coach, Victor Pierantoni. He gave her a tip on how to take visulization to the next level. You visualize it from three points of view and read it every night. Check out their tips below and let us know if it works for you!

How to Visualize Your Goals into Reality

1. Write it in your goal down in a journal as if it’s happening.

   example: You want 5 kids.

2. Visualize someone talking to you about your goal and write it down as it someone is talking to you about it.

   example: “Omg Bricia, I can’t believe you have 5 kids!”

3. Visualize and write it down as if two people talking about it together.

   Example: “Wow, did you see Bricia has 5 kids?! How does she do it?”

   “She’s such a great mom! Her kids are great and so well behaved.”

Links

Learn more about My Safe Harbor on their website. You can also follow them on Instagram @my.safe.harbor and like their page on Facebook.

Episode 198: Child Safety & Home Organization with Dr. Kendi

June is National Safety Month. This week we’re talking to Dr. Kendi, Medical Director of Safe Kids Worldwide, about the best ways to keep your home safe & organized for your little ones. We also talk about why it’s important to start baby proofing BEFORE the baby arrives and we ask her to answer your Instagram Story questions. 

This episode is brought to you by our friends at Tide.

Our Conversation with Dr. Kendi

Let’s start with baby-proofing 101: When you are introducing a child into your home, at what point should you start childproofing? 

Do you have any personal hacks when [standard baby proofing] items don’t work? Are there any products that you are absolutely loving right now or that you can recommend?

What is the #1 injury or accident you see in your patients that can be fixed with organization or safety precautions?

How worried should I be about [my kids] putting dirt, bugs or plants in [their] mouth? 

What information should all parents leave behind for a babysitter, parents or anyone who is watching their kids [in case of emergency and] at all times?

How do you keep your little ones away from the stove or oven?

Is there any cleaning supplies that are safe and natural for kids/family and pets or do you recommend that people start making their own?

At what age is it appropriate to start letting them use knives or sharp objects around the kitchen? 

For a curious child, getting ahold of laundry packets can be extremely dangerous, and they need to be handled with great care to prevent unintended exposure. Do you have any tips on how to limit that exposure?

How do you secure a home with stairs and a toddler who climbs over all the baby gates?

I’ve seen videos of kids climbing over and escaping their cribs. What advice do you have for those parents? 

How do you secure the front door with a toddler/child that can reach all the locks?

How do you recommend hiding TV/internet/phone wires from teething children?

Do you have any safety tips when leaving tweens/teens home alone? What are some skills the kids should have in order to be left alone? 

How do you organize hazardous toys that your older children love but could be a choking hazard for little ones?

Pick or Tip of the Week

We must love keeping tidy if all of our picks have to do with organization and cleaning. 😂 Dr. Kendi has a busy schedule as a full time physician, researcher, and with her husband & daughter. She is loving Google Keep, a new task list app that updates in real time. She can jot down notes, attach pictures, and create a grocery list to assign to her husband on her busiest days. 😉 It’s now available on the App Store for iOS and Google Play for Android. 

Paulina suggests baskets as her organizational tip. From tiny baskets to big baskets, she has them filled with toys in the living room, bedroom, and the hallway. Not only do they look pretty, but they also hide the mess!

Bricia’s cleaning pick is the Tide PODS Free and Gentle: Laundry Detergent Packs. Not only does the white box look great when it’s high up on the counter, but she loves them so much more than the liquid detergent. Who knew there was so much innovation out there? 

Links

Visit Popsugar.com for more tips on how to have a tidy & safe home and look for the article titled, “Unexpected Areas en Tu Casa That Could Use a Kid-Safety Upgrade”.

For more tips on child safety around the home, check out this video here.