Testimonials: Columns
“Angela Hoxsey is an organizational Maven. She is fast, efficient and a pleasure to work with. Angela makes getting and staying organized easy with her helpful tips, tricks and knowledge of organizational products. I hired Angela to help me prior to and after a large home remodel. She helped me to declutter, purge and organize multiple rooms in my home. I loved working with Angela, she helped me streamline my home and I enjoy the organizational benefits everyday! ”
Susanne Hudson, Napa, CA
“I’m thrilled with what you helped create. It totally blows my mind how quickly you work and I love your thought process. Fantastic!!”
Dona Bonick, Kopol Bonick Photography, Napa CA
“Angela is always thinking about my organizing issues and often sends suggestions and helpful advice and ideas, even when she is not physically on the job with me. She comes up with unique solutions completely customized to my business, home and personal style—things that I never would have thought of on my own...”
“I can totally trust Angela’s taste and rely on her honesty about what’s working and what’s not with regards to my wardrobe. That said, she is always respectful—if I say I want to keep something, she respects my wishes...”
“I have a lot of “stuff”, and Angela has always been non-judgmental about my collections, while helping me to make smart decisions about how to lose things that I do not need. I value her wisdom, her experience and her perspective. She is a joy to work with, I look forward to our time together and dread to think what my home, closet, garage, life would look like without her expert guidance!”
T. Beller, Verve Napa Valley
“Angela is my dream girl! I was referred to her to help me prepare to move after living in one house for 27 years. She was fantastic in helping me get organized and declutter years of gathering too much of everything...!”
“Angela took me from panic, and an overwhelming moving experience, to an organized new home. She is a pleasure to work with, has lots of energy, while always maintaining a positive attitude. I think she is "THE BEST"!!!”
Sheila Sosnow, Piedmont, CA
“Have you ever accidentally run across someone who just COMPLETELY changed your every day life for the better? And you couldn't imagine your life without them? That's how I feel about Angela. Angela came into my fairly organized but slightly hectic life completely by chance. I wasn't looking for anyone to help me organize or streamline my life because I didn't really think I NEEDED it. And just in the same way that she seemed to just quietly float into my life, she helped me with such kindess, grace and ease.”
Lindsey Wiseman, St. Helena, CA
“Angela has a real gift for seeing what needs to be done and pulling it all together. I have worked with many organizers in the past, but none as efficient and focused as she. From my office to the garage, Angela has helped create a system that works
for the long term!”Karen Schuppert, Napa, CA
“Angela Hoxsey was the best referral that I have ever gotten. Needing to get my house ready to sell and declutter the 20 years worth of accumulation was no easy task. She was fast, efficient and a joy to work with. The best part of working with her was her cheerful yet no nonsense way of getting you to decide 'keep, trash or donate'. . . Love it!”
Cherie Melka, St. Helena, CA
“We spent four hours organizing an enormous amount of paperwork and I feel like I just got a massage!”Joanne Maher, St. Helena, CA
“Whether you are prone to chaos, pretty organized yourself, or a combination of both, Angela Hoxsey can help you bring order to your home. Yes, you could do it yourself, but most of us have so many competing demands on our time that organizing tasks easily fall by the wayside. Angela has brought her professional touch to my home, demonstrating every time
the lasting value of an expert.”Karen Saeger, Ph.D., Berkeley
“You can smell the sanity. Angela is worth her weight in diamonds.”
Masako Takahashi, artist;
San Miguel de Allende/San Francisco
Columns
Silver medal shopping
In my 20s and 30s I was a wine judge, and wine in competitions is judged by the sip and spit method. We usually judged anywhere from dozens to hundreds of wines in a day-long or weekend competition. Although these competitions are fine for weeding out obviously flawed wines, I never felt that they could tell a consumer very much about which wine he or she would enjoy with dinner. Gold, silver or bronze? Was a gold that much better than a bronze?
Often the gold would win the sip test, but the wine that I could enjoy an entire glass of — the kind of wine that leaves you looking longingly at the empty bottle — was more likely to be a silver or a bronze. In numbers parlance, the 95-100 point wines might be great at first sip, but the wines in the 80s and low 90s might be more enjoyable over the course of an evening and with food.
So how does this pertain to organizing? While reflecting on one client’s impulse shopping dilemma, I thought of wine competitions. The latest, “statement” handbag is like the sweeter or bolder wine — fantastic at first, but maybe not so enjoyable for the long term. When the credit card bill arrives, will you feel better about the high-ticket dress you haven’t found the occasion to wear yet or the perfect pair of pants that go with everything?
Impulse shopping almost always leads to clutter and financial disarray. Those adorable pheasant-shaped salt and pepper shakers may be the item that puts you over your credit card limit. Back away from the antique sterling oyster forks. Unless of course, you really, really need them. Or want them. (Full disclosure: I bought a set four years ago and have never used them. You can find them on consignment at Lolo’s next week.)
Every now and then, we might need a gold medal item that doesn’t have to justify its price. Two examples are a wedding dress or a lobster dinner in East Hampton. But for the most part, a shopper with his or her house in order looks for things that he or she will enjoy for the long haul — the silver and bronze purchases. Here are a few habits that are tried and true:
• Walk away for at least 24 hours. I find that if I leave the store, those shiny “Gold Medal” items will lose their luster within a few blocks, but the more useful or more wearable items — the silvers and bronzes — will stick in my memory overnight. Mulling over my purchases and considering the pros and cons makes me feel like a grown-up.
• If you are in a shopping mood and recognize that you are shopping for pleasure, not out of necessity, then by all means avoid any stores that do not give full refunds on purchases. The last thing you need when you experience buyer’s remorse is “store credit only.”
• Save your receipts and be responsible. Don’t remove any tags until you are 100 percent sure you love and will use your purchased item. Be sure you note the date by which you need to return it if you decide to, and honor that date.
• Look at your last three credit card statements. This can be like dunking your head in cold water.
• Actually dunk your head in cold water — dive into a swimming pool, go for a jog, go to a yoga class. A change of scene and physical movement is such a perspective-changer. You might decide that what you need is not an Alexis Bittar necklace but more defined abdominals or a better upward facing dog, which are free, courtesy of daily practice. Or you may decide, due to an exercise high or sudden enlightenment, that you need for nothing; all is right with the world.
If you can employ these habits regularly, you won’t be as popular with Restoration Hardware and Tiffany — you will lose your gold medal shopper status. But shine on silver medalist! You will become a saner, savvier, more responsible — and more organized — being.
Angela Hoxsey is a professional organizer based in the Napa Valley. For information about her services, go tohouseinorder.com or call 738-4346. Like House in Order on Facebook for more organizing tricks and tips.