Featured Designer from Du Verre The Hardware Company

William Harvey is a featured designer of Du Verre, The Hardware Company. Link on his name to read more about his influence in arcitecture and design.

Alaska Premier Closets is proud to offer and sell this beautiful and unique line of specialty hardware, all inspired and designed by artists. The Du Verre line is one of many distinctive products we sell retail from our showroom.

Lotus by William Harvey

We especially love Du Verre hardware, not just because it is so beautiful, the product is also friendly to our environment. Du Verre is forged from 100% recycled aluminum.

Visit our showroom at 507 E Ship Creek Avenue to see the full line of available hardware by Du Verre.

Hardware Pulls by Du Verre

Sunday, June 19, 2011 is Father's Day. It is not too late to get Dad an awesome gift that WILL end up in the garage.

A $500 gift certificate will cover the cost of on 78 inch wall unit and get you a slatwall garage starter for FREE.

This kit is valued at $99.00.

Call us at 278.2288.

Don't Forget Dad!

Are you getting ready to show your dad how much you appreciate what he does for you and your family? You have a few weeks to do something really special. Sunday, June 19th is a day to honor our Fathers. The first official Father’s Day was celebrated 101 years ago on June 19th, 2010. Though it is primarily a secular holiday, the first modern Father’s Day was celebrated in a church. There seems to be two possible origins for the establishment of the annual holiday we now celebrate.

It is believed the first Father’s Day celebration took place July 5, 1908 at Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South, in Fairmont, West Virginia. It may have been Grace Golden Clayton who suggested her pastor perform a service following a mine explosion in nearby Monongah to celebrate and honor fathers. In that explosion, 361 men lost their lives, most of them where fathers and many of them recent Italian immigrants.

Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd of Creston, Washington, a town near Spokane, is said to be the driving force behind the establishment of Father’s Day as legal holiday. While sitting through a newly recognized Mother’s Day church celebration in May of 1909; Mrs. Dodd thought how could she honor her father who on his own raised his children? William Jackson Smart, a Civil War veteran was left with five children and a new born baby after his wife died during childbirth.

The following year, Mrs. Dodd petitioned Spokane, Washington city leaders for a day to celebrate fathers. She suggested June 5th, her father’s birthday. With not enough time to make arrangements for the celebration, the first official Father’s Day was scheduled and celebrated June 19, 1910.

President Woodrow Wilson felt so strongly about the day, in 1916 he traveled to Spokane to speak at Father’s Day service to mark the special day. Moving forward to 1966, President Lyndon Johnson officially declared the third Sunday in June, each year, Father’s Day. Though support was widespread, it wasn’t until 1972 when President Nixon established the third Sunday in June as a national day for us to officially honor our fathers.

What began over a hundred years ago to honor the devotion and love of a father for his children is still celebrated every year. Don’t forget your father on June 19.

“You Have Too Much Stuff If…”

Garage Organization Tips from ‘The Closet Divas’

In a survey by National Association of Professional Organizers, 96% of respondents claim they could gain more time at home if they were better organized. I am here to help you through an organization process to gain a bit of time that you can spend on family, friends, and fun.

If you are living in an environment where clutter is taking over your living spaces… “You have too much stuff”. Belongings, collectibles, mementoes, call it what you will, can take over your life and occupy your thoughts, time, and money. Maybe you’ve heard Jeff Foxworthy‘s comedy routine, “You Might be a Red Neck If”, followed by a long list of funny analogies. Well, I have come up with my own analogies for a clutter bug – someone who has too much stuff…
• If you are paying for a storage unit just to contain the overflow – you have too much stuff…
• If you are purchasing an abundance of plastic totes or containers – you have too much stuff…
• If you purchase duplicates for items you know you own but cannot find – you have too much stuff…
• If you cannot park your vehicle in your garage – YOU HAVE TOO MUCH STUFF… the list goes on.

Where is this leading? Into the garage! For many households the garage is an extension of the home. It often double duties as the pantry, garden shed, wood shop, playroom, dog grooming salon, man cave, you name it. But all too often the garage becomes the dumping zone for things we don’t have a place in the house for, or we just don’t know where to put. Those clean work benches look so inviting for the boxes of toys you found time to clear out of the kids’ room, and what about the fish tank where James , the fancy gold fish used to reside. Don’t ignore the exercise equipment in the middle of the garage, collecting dust sitting where the car should be, not to mention the over abundant stacks of plastic totes filled with college notes and papers you have been holding on to. Really, do you need all that stuff? Wouldn’t it be great to jump into a warm car on very cold, snowy, winter day? Or stay dry when the rain is pouring down?

There is no time like spring to take back your garage and repurpose it for its original intent – PARKING YOUR VEHICLE! Now you ask, “How do I get started”? When I start a project for a client, I have them tell me what their vision for the space is. Create a vision and then a plan based on your family and their requirements. Determine what is really necessary. This is where the task may get a bit difficult. With your vision in mind proceed to de-clutter and reorganize your entire garage. Plan to keep only the things that add value to your life!

Apply the following tips or ideas to help you to accomplish a well organized garage project. This is a macro approach, but will get you started. If your garage is overflowing and you don’t know where to begin, break the project into tasks, zone by zone. Don’t allow too much time between tasks or you will find stuff piling back up.

A. Define zones or areas within your garage to store like items, i.e.
• Gardening
• Workshop for power or hand tools
• Pet
• Sports
• Mud room, etc…
B. Then begin by removing and sorting like items into piles of keep, donate, or sell.
a. Deliver or arrange for pick-up of your donated items as soon as possible. They are out of the way, out of your home, and out of mind.
C. Start in one corner and work your way around the garage. As you come across items that belong in a different zone or area, place in that space – they can be organized as your move to that area.
a. For example: You have started in the gardening zone and you come across tools or sports equipment. Decide at that point if you really need the item. If not, then donate or sell. If you are keeping items, place them in designate zone of your garage. I recommend reevaluating whether you need to keep all the sports equipment you have moved into the sports zone.
b. Maybe you have come across those boxes of toys? You were getting rid of them anyway, now is the perfect time to donate them.
D. Now that everything is sorted, you may need to decide how to store what will remain. Here is your opportunity to repurpose some of the plastic totes that once contained your college papers. Don’t be afraid to get rid of the totes you don’t need, especially if you are inclined to fill them up again.
a. Designate a place for every, and keep everything in its place.
b. Utilize appropriate sized containers to for storage. The goal is to keep things from migrating into zones they don’t belong.
E. Go Vertical by using the walls and ceiling space to get your belongings off of the floor, this is valuable real estate.
• Install wall and loft shelving units like the ones HyLoft offers
• Install storeWALL products that allow for a wide variety of easy access storage options.
• Hang your bikes and other items from the ceiling

Have a garage sale or post items to online sites. Send that clutter home with someone else; make some extra money at the same time. You may even cover the cost of the new storage solutions you installed to keep the things you really need under control. Always remember to keep it simple.

If your job is too overwhelming, hire a professional organizer who can assist you in the process. Maybe just to get you started. Getting started is often the hardest to take.

Spring = Organized = Clean

the closet divas tips:

It’s that time of year we begin to daydream about – SPRING! What are we going to do with all this extra daylight? One thing I know for sure – dust more!  All that glorious light comes through our windows to expose the hidden layers of dust and piles of belongings that has accumulated over the dark, winter months.

When I think of spring, I think of fresh and new. This is a great time of year to de-clutter and reorganize the “buildup of belongings” that built-up over fall and winter. It is perfect, because the weather is fluctuating; it’s not quite sure what it wants to do. And, fishing hasn’t started. You can have your projects completed in time to enjoy, guilt fee, our great Alaska summer.

To help you get started, use the following five steps to guide you through a de-cluttering and organization process. I believe in keeping things real simple. Pick one room or area of your home or office you can complete in a limited amount of time. This could be a linen closet in the hallway, craft area in the family room or a child’s closet, the process is always the same. Whatever the area or the size of the project, plan your time to stay with it until the project is complete. Dragging projects out can lead to discouragement. Keeping it simple will set you up for success and give you motivation for the next looming project.

These five steps can be applied to any project you take on, whether you do-it-yourself or hire a professional organizer

1.    Select one space or area for your de-clutter project. Take some time before you begin and define or re-define the use for this space. Then imagine how you want it to look when you are finished.

a.   Consider what storage containers, baskets or other solution you may need and have them on hand. This will save you time and keep you on track.

2.    Start by removing and sorting all the items from this area.

a.   Take the opportunity to clean while everything is off shelves or out of the area.

3.    Keep, donate/give away, and sell. Create three piles and as you remove and sort, place things into one of these piles. If you are not the person who can sell items online, at a consignment store, or a garage sale, then you just have two piles.

a.   Think about whether you “love it”, “hate it, “like it” to help guide you through this process.

b.   For clothes, remember the 80/20 rule. We wear 20% of what we own, 80% percent the time. So, if it doesn’t fit or hasn’t been worn in a year, let it go!

4.    Group all like items together (this can begin during the sorting process), i.e. blankets, sheets, and towels or pencils/pens/crayons, notebooks, and paper. The plan is to have items ready to place back into your space, together in one place.

a.   Prepare to place your belongings back into their designated space so fold, stack, organize

b.   Place small items into bins, baskets, containers. This keeps them confined so they are not floating around. This also allows you to pull out just the containers you need and then, put them back when you are done.

5.    Take action on the keep, donate/give away, or sell. Place all the items you decided to keep back onto the storage areas.

a.   This could be on shelves, into drawers, baskets, or containers.

b.   Hang or store clothes according to a system that works for you. Long to short, short to long, color coded. There is no right way to do this, but keeping like items together is the standard.

On-going Organization Tips:

·         Put things back in their designated spot, immediately, after you are finished with them.

·         If you haven’t used something for a while (one year for clothes), ask yourself “Will I ever use this again?” “Do I really need this?” If you answer, “No”, then let it go.

·         Identify areas of your home that attract clutter and set aside time once a week to just keep up with every day “clutter-ups”.

Amazing Craft Room Ideas

"All You Need is LOVE"

“All You Need is Love”
It was a simple message in a song written by John Lennon, credited to Lennon/McCartney. The Beatles first performed the song on Our World, the first ever, live global television link. Over 400 million people in 26 countries were estimated to have viewed this satellite broadcast on June 25, 1967.

According to Wikipedia, the Beatles were asked to come up with a song containing a simple message to be understood by all nationalities. "It was an inspired song and they really wanted to give the world a message," said Brian Epstein. "The nice thing about it is that it cannot be misinterpreted. It is a clear message saying that love is everything."

As Valentine’s Day approaches we all think about the one we love and what to get them? We can shower them in flowers, give them a box of candy, and even propose marriage. OR, think outside the box and give the gift of organization. We have gift certificates available that can go toward the closet of her dreams or an awesome entertainment center for his man cave.

You are asking yourself what does this have to do with getting organized. Everything! A well organized life offers more time to be with the one you love the most. You can do this with the gift of organization.

For Valentine's Day, think outside that box of candy you are planning to give the one you love. It will be gone in a few days and all the guilt sets in.

Instead...  give a gift certificate toward the closet of her dreams or that entertaiment center for his man cave.