Wise words from Kay Wade,
as she describes how she keeps her closet organized.

"\Clothing needs to be organized by category so that you can always find it. By category, I mean pants, shirts, sweaters, t-shirts, jackets etc, Within category I like to colorize then I always know where a particular color item can be found. For accessories the same holds true. All belts together, all handbags together, I do like all my sweaters folded, but I keep all my cashmeres separate, in drawers, by color. My good shoes I keep in boxes with pictures of shoe on front, my casuals I keep on shelf by type. All sandles, etc together by color. Last hint if your closet is too crowded purge, you cant find anything when things are squashed together."

Got a load to purge?
Check out your local donation centers like Good Will, Salvation Army or the Vietnam Veterans of America who will do house calls to haul away your donated goods.

Everyone has a guilty pleasure - which doesn't seem so guilty to other people,
but to you it's just something small and little you generally hide.
Myspace is a guilty pleasure of mine as well as Hollywood trends, so when I saw the feature for Famous Hangers on Myspace, I jumped at the chance to see what this is about.





"'Sorority Row' star Briana Evigan invited MySpace into her closet where we get a glimpse of her eclectic style. There we find personalized sneakers, her grandmother's vintage coat and a pair of boots she says she traded dance lessons for! There is no doubt that this down-to-earth beauty has fun with her style."

Through the spotlight she digs through an insanely small closet (quick someone call Closet Factory!) and pulls out dresses on wire hangers (NO WIRE HANGERS EVER!), but she shows us her favorite dresses by BCBG and talks about dressing up simple pieces with just the right jewelry.

Famous Hangers - Briana Evigan



Visit Famous Hangers to see what other celebrities keep in their closets, including Denise Richards and her fabulous approach to organizing her shoes by storing them in shoe boxes, with clear pictures of the shoes pasted on the front. Genius!

We just found out that our cute little 4 plex has been foreclosed.
It's been a sad and stressful weekend for all of us, as we've grown
so close to each other over the years.
None of us want to leave our lush vegetable gardens,
our chickens or each other.

With all of this going on my neighbor Erin and I decided
to treat ourselves to some retail therapy and cute photos!

We're both fans of colourful textures and simply loved
these bohemian / Indian inspired floor pillows


photo credit: Keith Scott Morton



They're wonderful to bring out when you have extra company,
and can easily be stored away or used to add a touch of colour
and texture to your decor!
We decided to take some our beautiful pillows and mismatch
them up with some fun and vintage inspired table cloth prints.

It just doesn't feel like fall yet . . .

I've been reading this book, Organizing for the Creative Person by Dorothy Lehmkuhl & Dolores Cotter




Inside it gave a great tip on how to organize your time,
by figuring out which projects are most important and should be attended to first.
This was a huge help for me as I'm a rather spastic and frantic thinking person.
My ideas will bounce all over the place and when I sit down to work on them I
suddenly find my mind blank.
Well this helped me capture and hold onto those precious ideas,
so now when I sit down to work, I find myself centered and able to FOCUS.
Or as the book says:

F = Follow
O = One
C = Course
U = Until
S = Successful

"Decide in advance which road you want to take, and then pursue it until you reach your desired destination.
It's all right to have several goals, but set aside realistic amounts of time to concentrate on each goal separately. This might be just fifteen minutes a day, one day a month, or two weeks a year. You can work on different goals at different times, but if you work on too many, all of your time will be taken up, with little achievement to show for any one of them."

Work on Your Highest Priorities First
First of course, you need to know what your goals are.

I started with a list of my personal goals,
. Start the Women's Initiative class
. Finish my website
. Complete the website for my make-up artist
. Contact my printer for test prints
. Halloween Gallery Show
. Catch up on photoshoots
. 30 - 40 hours of internet and blogging work per week

Now that I have my list down, it's time to prioritize them, but how do we do that?

Urgent Versus Important
Urgent is a word that signifies something that needs your immediate attention.
It might be a project that's due today, a child crying, or a ringing telephone.
Some things that are urgent are also important - a fire alarm or a summons to the boss's office.
But others are not. That ringing telephone may just be a salesperson or a friend calling
to gossip - something you can deal with later, or not at all.
Conversely, important tasks are those that will help you achieve your goals. Often these are not of an urgent nature, so they don't command your immediate attention. But if you keep putting them off until an "opportune" time - because you're too busy with "urgent" things - they may never get done.
Without careful consideration, people are inclined to tackle their activities in the following order:

1. Urgent and Important
2. Urgent but not Important
3. Important but not Urgent
4. Not Urgent and not Important

For you to achieve your dreams, however, numbers two and three need to be inverted."

I am guilty as charged.
I've always been the type to put off things that are important but not urgent,
until they become both important and urgent

So let's take a look at what they have to say . . .

"1. Urgent and Important
This category represents emergencies, deadlines and short-term goals.
If, for instance, heavy equipment breaks down on a large construction project,
making repairs overshadows the importance of other work because the costly
equipment and workers are idled until it is fixed.

2. Important but not Urgent
Attempt to spend your greatest amount of time doing work in this category.
The reason for this is that when proper planning is done, crisis and other urgent matters
are virtually eliminated and work can be done in a proactive mode, rather than in a reactive one. (Proactive means making things happen - the opposite of waiting for things to happen and then reacting to them).

3. Urgent but not Important
This category is the greatest pitfall for most people.
Things like telephone calls, informal visitors, e-mail, all need to be assigned priorities.
Just because something is in front of you, doesn't mean it needs your immediate attention.
Spontaneous ideas also fall into this category. Many people have found themselves sucked into a new great idea that contributes little or nothing to their goals.

4. Neither Urgent nor Important
Finally, busy work and real time-wasters fall into this category.
This also includes unnecessary perfectionist work."

Now that we understand what each category stands for, it's time
to organize our goals. Here is an example of mine:

1. Urgent and Important
. 30 - 40 of internet and blogging work per week
. Finish my website

2. Important but not Urgent
. Start the Women's Initiative class
. Planning the Halloween Gallery Show
. Catch up on photo shoots (professional gigs)
. Planning and organizing my schedule

3. Urgent but not Important
. Contact my printer for test print
. Complete the website for my make-up artist
. Catch up on photo shoots (personal art)

4. Neither Urgent nor Important
. myspace
. visiting friends
. stumble upon


Now that you have your goals and tasks organized,
it's time to fit them into your schedule!
I have a little project I'm working for an easy
and visual way to place together the tasks along with time frames
which I will share as soon as it's finished.
Until then - show me your creative ways on what you do to organize your time and goals!

Beautiful and elegant light switches from Forbes and Lomax,
invisible so the colour or pattern of your wall can shine through.

Many people these days are working out of their homes,
and have been integrating their offices into their
living areas.
Here's a great idea of what one man did to his San Francisco flat.
His home office sits behind panel doors, which hide the bedroom
while he's working, and then allows his office to dissapear
when he's finished.





I can see this done with Closet Factory's white melamine, with frosted glass shelves to give off the illusion of space
and help radiate light while you're working.

Christien Meindertsma's work has been featured in galleries
across the globe, including this year's
"Designs for a Living World" at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York
and "Farmer in Search of Style", Designhuis, Eindhoven.

What drew me to her works was her unique hand knitted rug design,




I can just imagine rolling around on this wonder
with my little miniature pincher bouncing about.
It looks like the perfect place to snuggle during
cool fall evenings with a nice warm cup of cider.

To view more of her work, visit her website,
www.christienmeindertsma.com

I recently painted my Victorian studio bright white with black trim.
Since I love to draw on the walls (a habit I never broke as a child . . .)
I decided to use black chalk board paint.
As much as I LOVE black chalk board paint, I would constantly
talk about how they need to make a dry erase paint as well.
I was TICKLED PINK when I saw IdeaPaint!, featured
at Dwell on Design, LA this year!





Now I'm going to share with you some creative ways that you can
use chalk board and IdeaPaint in your home!



Photo Credit : Apartment Therapy


Photo Credit : Martha Stewart




Photo Credit: OhdeeDoh


Photo Credit: 3rings

With the change in the economy and loss of jobs, many people are reevaluating their job options and taking their career into their own hands. Starting up your business can be a fun venture, especially if you’re doing something you love, but even a great idea can only go so far. You may be thinking that’s why you focused on your wealth corner, or rushed to add the essence of water to your career area and placed touches of inspiration in your creative room. Now you need to find clients - other people who are interested and want to invest in what you have to offer, and they need to find out about you. Today this is what we will focus on, setting out a beacon to the world to come and see what you have been brewing.

Illumination of this area will help you find your way through this tangled web that is the modern world today. A lighted path is much needed where hopes have been dimmed. Fuel this energy with fire like attributes like the color red, flames, candles, lights! If you are lacking inspiration then stimulate it by placing mirrors, fantastic art, flame like colors and shapes.

Delicious red woods are a great way to add that flaming touch to your closet, wardrobe, office, or entertainment unit.

Solid, sturdy, safe. A place of contemplation and meditation. New beginnings and establishments. This is where you come for inner peace - to connect with yourself and your mind. A bedroom in this section of the home will be a quiet place where you can get much needed rest after a stressful day. A reoccurring theme you’ll find in Feng Shui is to keep an area open, clean and clutter free. For this section of the home heavy furniture, chests and cupboards are best to help ground and center your mind.

If a strong sense of self is what you are seeking - boost the energy here by placing items in a triangular form. This will add a sense of fire without over powering your mind.

Take a look at the entertainment unit designed by Closet Factory. The structure of this unit is heavy, creating security while the warm colors create calmness. Take note of the subtle triangle form that has been created here - a wonderful consideration for this area of your home.





While a projection in most areas of the home is considered a good thing - here it’s not the case. You want your home to have a sense of symmetry and stability. To counteract an overflow of energy in this area, place metal objects and curved shapes here. A small meditation sand garden would be perfect here.