Bay Meadows

Meet Kat Reichmuth owner of The Simplified Life, a Peninsula based professional home organizing company that gets you back to the simplicity that can bring true joy and contentedness to your life. Kat is our featured partner for our January Rubbing Elbows event, a specialty lifestyle event handcrafted for our Bay Meadows homeowners and their guests.  With a perfect 5 star rating on Yelp, we are certain that if you suffer from chaos – Kat is your Superstar. Kat graciously shared some helpful tips when we recently interviewed her, including where to take your electronic waste, how to keep the kids rooms streamlined, the best tacos in town and how to get your adrenaline pumping. Get to know Kat here:

Q: What are clients most surprised to find after their first session of getting organized?

There are two things. One is that they had a lot more stuff they were able to discard or donate than they previously thought and the other is that they honestly enjoyed themselves.

Q: Is there a certain room that seems to be a problem area for most people?

You may have guessed this one…closets. Most people tend to wear about 20% of what they own and generally have a walk in closet sized wardrobe shoved into a single door sized closet. Once we pare down to what people actually feel good wearing, they find they don’t need to call California Closets. Their existing closet with just one hanging bar is actually plenty.

Q: 3 must-have products to get organized include:

Sterilite or Rubbermaid plastic bins. These seem to be the sturdiest and even the messiest of homes can be contained with the right bins.

The Ikea Expedit bookshelf. It is available in numerous configurations and is my number one most recommended piece of furniture for kids rooms. With the baskets placed in it, it gives a uniform look on the outside with plenty of space for toys in each basket.

A plastic, portable file box. Everyone needs a small portable file box to file their most active files. We’re not talking tax documents or birth certificates, but more along the lines of utility bills, credit card statements and receipts. This is ideally placed in your “command center” where all of the family’s documents land when they enter the house.

Q: Any special advice you’d share with someone moving into a new home?

In an ideal world, the sorting and discarding would have taken place before moving. If that didn’t happen, then as you’re unpacking each and every box, you need to ask yourselves a few questions about each item. When is the last time I used it? Is it broken or worn out? Does it bring up bad memories of a person, place or time? If you haven’t used it in a year, it’s broken, worn out or riddled with bad memories, it’s time to send it on its way. Don’t let it fall to the back of yet another closet where it will sit until you move again.

General Donations

St. Vincent de Paul
(650) 347-5101
40 N B St, San Mateo, CA 94401
www.svdp-sanmateoco.org

Goodwill
(650) 293-8500
28 W 25th Ave, San Mateo, CA 94403
www.sfgoodwill.org

Electronic Waste

Green Citizen
(650) 493-8700 ext. 103
1576 Rollins Rd, Burlingame, CA 94010
www.greencitizen.com

Shredding

Shred Center
(650) 525-1819
www.shredcenter.com

Hazardous Material

San Mateo County
Free pickup
(650) 363-4718
www.cityofsanmateo.org

Bulky Item Pickup

Recology
(650) 595-3900
www.recologysanmateocounty.com

Q: Living “The Simplified Life” allows me more time to:

1. Go walking on the beaches along the coast with my boyfriend. He loves hiking and I love collecting rocks and shells so we both win.   And it only takes about 20 minutes from San Mateo to get over there! Pacifica’s beaches are great for strolling and Moss Beach has amazing tide pools.
2. Catch the first matinee of the day for a movie at the Century 12 Downtown Theater. It’s only $7.25!! What a steal.
3. Visit the farmer’s markets and take advantage of the awesome produce we have here. I particularly like the 25^th Ave. Certified Farmer’s Market held on Tuesdays from 4-8pm (May – October) at 194 W. 25^th Ave. San Mateo
4. Go to GoKart Racer in Burlingame and get a lap in. Nothing gives you a shot of adrenaline like those gokarts! Great for the family or a fun and different date night.

When in San Mateo, I must eat at Taqueria La Cumbre (order the veggie quesadilla or the carne asada tacos)

The Celebrity that I’d nominate “Most likely to live The Simplified Life” would be: Well, definitely not Kim and Kanye. I’d have to say Jennifer Lawrence. She seems like she keeps it the most real. I think we’d be hard pressed to find her in a club drinking Dom or riding around being fancy on a yacht. She’s more likely to be home with family.

Favorite Quote: If there is a sin against life, it consists perhaps not so much in despairing of life as in hoping for another life and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this life.” Albert Camus

Animals calm me.

Being outside in the sun energizes me.

Current Obsession: Welding. I’m helping to do some welding on my boyfriend’s ’55 Cadillac. Also, arm warmers. I’m always cold and I just found an amazing pair of arm warmers at Whole Foods.

Need more organizing ideas? Be sure to visit our Pinterest Organize Board.

As we develop community, we want to see how you live or play at Bay Meadows. Share your fun lifestyle photos with our community by using #baymeadowslife. You could WIN $50 or our Grand Prize of $500 at the end of 2014 and be featured in a live pop-up gallery exhibit event.

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