Organizing Your Kitchen & Your Life

In his 1975 book, Cooking as Therapy, Louisiana-born doctor Louis Parrish offered some advice for those who felt their lives were in a perpetual state of chaos: "Reorient yourself toward better organization by starting in the kitchen. . . . If you can organize your kitchen you can at least start to organize your life." On this week's show, we explore all the benefits that come from organizing your kitchen – from clearing clutter to finding lost treasures.

We begin with Kay Morrison, the founder of The Occasional Wife, a New Orleans-based company that is helping others meet their organization goals. The story of the Occasional Wife is just as multifaceted as the path Kay took on the way to founding the business. Kay joined us in the studio to tell us the whole story.

We also speak with Jason Cummings, a member of Kay's team who's armed with an encyclopedic knowledge of silver flatware. Jason heads up Found Assets, an Occasional Wife assessment service.

And finally, we speak with the Historic New Orleans Collection's decorative arts curator, Lydia Blackmore. At the heart of the HNOC is the Williams Residence, a 19th century townhouse located in the French Quarter. Lydia talks about preserving and cataloging all objects in the house while the building undergoes repairs. To give you a sense of the scope of the project – it took one year just to pack everything up!