We love watching the show Hoarders because it makes us feel quite tidy by comparison. But the truth is, we sometimes feel like we’re one tchotchke away from becoming an episode.

Instead of throwing away all our extra doodads to make space for more, we’re turning to Upstage Montreal, a new Montreal business that provides services in interior decor, home staging and organizing. After putting up some shelves, cleaning out our closet, and creating a new footwear filing system, we were good to go, but owner Keren Blankrot left us with these earth-friendly tips for keeping our space systematized without sacrificing style.

1. Prevent spring purges by choosing quality over quantity and investing in pieces you love. This will ensure your belongings have the longevity factor.
2. Turn an old, dysfunctional item into something new. Use an old card box to store paper clips or reupholster a chair to give it a new life.

3. Your junk is another person’s treasure, so give anything away that you aren’t using regularly (i.e. clothes, books, computers, electronics). Check out www.freecycle.org

4. Create space by building upward with closet and shelves. Keep a step ladder on hand so you can reach!


Now all we need is an intervention for our shoe habit. —JN

Upstage Montreal, 514-915-5532, www.upstagemontreal.com

We calculated the time needed to work, sleep, exercise, eat, tidy, shop and socialize, and realized that we’re going to need an extra day per week to make it all work.  

Since we can’t bend time, despite our best efforts, we’re going to subcontract some of the duller items on our to-do list to the task runners at Taskhire.ca. We posted prices for our most boring errands, like grocery shopping and driveway shovelling, and waited for Task Runners to apply for the job. Then we did what we do best: delegate.

Now to find someone who can bend time for us.

www.taskhire.ca

Don’t tell our boss, but we start counting the minutes to lunch about 15 minutes after our morning latte.

We’re even more impatient for mid-day now that the Ferreira Group has started their corporate catering service, LunchMontreal.com, delivering recyclable lunch boxes ($18 each, free delivery on orders of 10 or more) in the downtown core. We loved the light Niçoise salad with new potatoes, tangy capers, and freshly seared red tuna and gobbled down the satisfying duck confit wrap with a side of organic quinoa salad. And each meal comes with your choice of fresh fruit salad, natas, or macarons for dessert.

Noon never seemed so far away.

LunchMontreal.com

The entire family is camping out chez nous for the holidays and dust bunnies have colonized in every corner. Instead of enduring our mother’s disapproving looks, we’re bringing in experts.

My Concierge Plus’s new eco-friendly cleaning service uses only natural products like vinegar, baking soda and lemon juice, and leave lovely handmade soaps on their way out.  Your home will be clean, fresh and toxin-free, leaving you with nothing else to do but be the hostess with the mostess.

My Concierge Plus ($85/4 hours), 514-928-4356, www.myconciergeplus.com

We love wandering the stalls at Jean-Talon Market but who has time to take all that fresh produce home and actually cook it?

Luckily, Milliner Créativité Gourmande will do it for us. This mouth-watering boutique uses seasonal ingredients to create frozen dishes (many gluten-free) that beg to be taken home and heated-up. Choose from Milanese Osso Buco ($16.25), grilled grain-fed chicken with homemade ratatouille ($10.25) or a lamb tagine with vegetables and fruity couscous ($10.25). They’ll even prepare and deliver four-course gourmet lunches straight to your door.

Now if only they did laundry….

Milliner Créativité Gourmande, Marché Jean-Talon, 7010 Henri-Julien, 514-270-0004, www.milliner.ca

He’s on his way over for dinner and ordering greasy souvlaki is definitely not an option.

Make a quick stop at Ian Perreault’s Prêt-À-Manger and pick up restaurant-worthy fare at an affordable price. Choose from the weekly menu ($25 per person), which features an entrée, a main course and a dessert, or pick a few selections from the a la carte menu offering everything from ricotta ravioli stuffed with mushrooms and duck ($17) to salmon with rosemary and pink grapefruit vinaigrette ($12).

Dim the lights, uncork a bottle of wine, serve on fine china and you’re in for a four-star evening.

Ian Perreault Prêts-À-Manger, 1248, Bernard St. W., 514-948-1248, www.ianperreault.com

When traveling, even internationally famous pop stars don’t want to schlep strollers and cribs. So when a certain girl band performed in Montreal last winter, their entourage included several tots and they rented all their paraphernalia on arrival.

Next time pals are visiting Montreal with babes in tow consider Travel Buggy.This family-run business rents baby essentials by the day or the week, and its rotating stock includes Quinny strollers, full-sized wooden cribs, room monitors, high chairs, and booster seats. Best of all they deliver downtown for free and set up everything for you.

All items are safety checked, cleaned and sanitized with environmentally-friendly cleaning products. Minimum orders are from $50 (singing and dancing lessons not included).

Travel Buggy, 514-659-2323, www.travel-buggy.com

For info on baby equipment rentals in Vancouver and Toronto, click here.

We like to think of ourselves as fabulous multi-taskers, but who are we really kidding?

The dog needs grooming, the fridge is empty and our bathroom is a disaster. Can’t afford a full-time maid? Hire your very own Girl Friday to help run your life.

My Concierge+ will take care of all your day-to-day errands: from gift shopping and wardrobe updating to booking travel, getting the car repaired and shopping for groceries.

Phew! Now you can relax and enjoy being the organized glamour goddess you know you are.

From $30/hour, My Concierge+, 514-928-4356, www.myconciergeplus.com