Honestly, I get the urge to keep everything “just in case,” but I’ve found that dumping old photos into a shared Google Drive folder works better than trying to shoehorn them into Keep or Trello. Notion’s cool for big projects, but it gets overwhelming fast if you’re just tracking receipts and paint colors. Sometimes simple is best—otherwise, I spend more time organizing than actually getting stuff done.
Sometimes simple is best—otherwise, I spend more time organizing than actually getting stuff done.
You’re spot on about simplicity. I’ve tried a bunch of those “all-in-one” apps, and honestly, most of them just end up being another thing to manage. For renovation stuff, I stick with a shared Google Drive for photos and PDFs, and then a single spreadsheet for the big details—budget, contacts, paint colors. If I start adding in more tools, it just gets messy and I lose track of what’s where.
One thing I’ve found helpful is to set a reminder every couple of weeks to actually look through the folder. Otherwise, I tend to just dump files in and forget what I even have. It’s not fancy, but it works. I get the urge to keep everything “just in case” too, but sometimes letting go of the extras makes the important stuff easier to spot. At the end of the day, whatever keeps you from getting bogged down is probably the right approach.
I totally get what you mean about all-in-one apps just becoming another thing to wrangle. I’ve gone down that rabbit hole too, thinking more features would mean more control, but it usually just leads to more tabs open and more confusion. I’m with you—Google Drive and a basic spreadsheet have saved me so many headaches on my projects.
One thing I wrestle with is keeping receipts and invoices organized, especially when contractors start texting photos or emailing random docs. Do you just dump those into your Drive too, or have you found a better way to keep track of all that stuff without it turning into a digital junk drawer?
One thing I wrestle with is keeping receipts and invoices organized, especially when contractors start texting photos or emailing random docs.
That’s been a pain point for me too. Last year, during our kitchen reno, I tried just dumping everything into Drive folders by month, but it got messy fast—especially when the plumber sent receipts as screenshots via text. What’s worked better for me is using Google Photos’ “scan” feature on my phone to snap pics of paper receipts right away, then uploading those directly to a dedicated “Renovation Receipts” folder in Drive. For emailed docs, I forward them to myself with a consistent subject line so they’re searchable later. Not perfect, but at least it keeps things from getting totally out of hand...
Honestly, I’ve tried the digital folder thing too, but I always end up losing track of what’s where—especially when I’m juggling paint swatches and tile samples at the same time. What’s actually saved me is going a bit old-school: I keep a big accordion file in my studio labeled by project and category. It sounds clunky, but there’s something about physically tucking away a receipt or scribbled note that helps me remember it later. Digital’s great, but sometimes my brain just needs paper to make sense of the chaos...
