A special collaboration, IKEA has funded award-winning documentary maker Boris Bertram’s latest project – “The Human Shelter: An Expedition Into What Makes A Home”. Currently touring the international film circuit, watch the trailer and learn more… Told in seven “chapters”, the film weaves its way in and out of different dwellings around the world.
This is a great time of the year to bundle-up some concierge packages before we know it Christmas Morning will be here.
Wouldn’t you love to enjoy yourself this Holiday Season? Cook, if you want to cook, clean if you want to clean, wrap gifts if you want to.
If you DON’T want to do all those time-consuming tasks, I Do . . . I can help with my personalized concierge packages. I have created two new systems just in time for this busy season coming upon us.
The new services – Speed Cleaning System and Speed Organize System, if you bundle up! just these two . . . Man oh man you are on your way to sitting back enjoying your glass of wine and most importantly enjoying your Family Time without the stress.
Clearing surface clutter is important for your mental well-being. It’s also an important first step for bigger projects down the road, such as deep purging, deep cleaning and Whole House Organizing.
To help anyone organize you need to start somewhere. Choose a starting point: one shelf, one desk drawer, that pile of papers on the desktop. Start with the easiest spot first.
Instead of looking at the WHOLE organizing project, I have found that breaking down the project into smaller parts can be beneficial for some, and look more confusing for others. Years ago after attending a workshop, I started using THEMES with some of my clients that were struggling with getting and staying organized.
How it works with a client that suffers from maybe some level of ADD/ADHD, Chronic Disorganization and/or Hoarders is “a theme is a way of holding a whole together while you take it apart” said by Judith Kolberg. I have an example of a theme I used years ago with a client.
The client was a nurse, going to Med School to become a doctor, had two daughters enrolled at dance school, one daughter in sports, plus the family volunteered. Her family consisted of four daughters ages 3 to 12 years old, and a husband. The client loved the Theme: Nurses Station, we worked together with the family to set-up a nurses station in an area in the dining room. This family was not using the dining room to eat meals, so I thought it would be a great way to get them back to a gathering space.
We picked a 2’ x 2’ (approx) area in the corner of the dining room. We hung on the wall a big beautiful calendar (COMMUNICATION CENTER) that the family picked out, under the calendar, I hung a nice sturdy shelf (SUPPORT) to hold highlighters, pens/pencils, post*it notes, etc. Underneath the shelf, we placed a file cabinet (SECRETARY). It had been sitting in the basement filled with Barbie & ken and all their stuff (if you’re wondering, they were evicted – they did not go quietly!). I cleaned up the file cabinet to almost new, placed it under the shelf. The secretary held all the information for each family member (patients). The file cabinet included all the things the family loved to do together; hiking, vacations, volunteer work, all the invitations, save the dates, and anything else to help this family function efficiently, with peace of mind and most importantly FUN! Between the wall and file cabinet on the left hand was a Tote (SUPPORT) for the library, dry cleaning, repairs, consignments, etc. There is one picture missing – I placed a basket on top of the file cabinet for all the mail, instead of throwing on the couch, the stairs, or countertops it has its own home.
“Holistic Organizing is not changing behavior, it just modifies it.” ~ C.C.
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Grab a seat and cup of coffee . . . it’s always on!Overshadowed by World War II, home design in the early 1940s was quite creative. As the European designers and artists fled to the United States, bringing many new ideas, development of new designs remained at a stalemate until shortly after the war ended. This was primarily due to material shortages. As production picked back up, people were ready to start new lives, which included Redesigns of the homes, especially rooms that would accompany guests.
Fabrics
Floral patterns were popular for bedrooms, living areas and wallpapered bathrooms. For the kitchen and dining room we had cherry or apple motifs, gingham, or checks, with roosters and chickens. I am still loving the roosters!
Furniture
While primarily mix with the 1950s, it was the 1940s that introduced chrome dinette sets with Formica tabletops, as well as glass drawer pulls, and chrome and vinyl stools, into the home. Bentwood furniture – made by soaking or steaming wood and bending it into curved shapes and patterns – were coming into fashion.
Flooring
Linoleum – especially in bold geometric patterns – was top choice for the kitchen. The material was strong and lasted many years, despite the fact it required lots of regular maintenance to keep it clean and shiny.
New Technologies
The 1940s brought to market the wooden radios and phonograph consoles, as well as fabric covered televisions to add luxury to a room. Families would often sit together to hear or see shows with their fashionable TV Trays (my grandmother bragged that hers had wheels), and guests would be included for momentous events.
Colors
The decade was riding on the edge of two primary color palettes. Art Deco – included the ’20s through the early ’40s and reflected a shift to lighter and brighter, more neutral shades with metallic undertones. Pastels were a huge favorite for home interior decorators.
Overall Look
While the mid- to late-1940s introduced many new design concepts and materials, most households still kept it simple when it came to the overall look of a room. Primary focus was put on the family – open space was key. Even in modest homes, updates were often made to “enliven” the look in the home turning the focus from wartime; sad and dark rooms to peacetime; happy and colorful interiors. Clutter-free was key, even in family rooms, bathrooms, and bedrooms as everything had its place. Living a free and simply life with clarity and purpose . . . That’s the Life of The Successful!
Peace & Harmony ~ Cheryl
Our homes are mirrors of ourselves. They reflect our importance, our character, or indecision, our spirit and our desires. Our homes tell a story about how we feel about ourselves and the world around us. A home is more than just a place to lay your head and seek comfort from the elements. Your home IS A BEING, it’s the essential nature of how we combine our spirit and soul to attract energy or drive away energy.
Everything is Energy – if your home is full of clutter it is driving away good energy. Your home is not separate from you, it is an evolving Being of you, and the home members. Learning to bond with your living spaces can contribute to creating a life that is balanced and in harmony with the positive energy of all that surrounds you.
Here is the process I have used for the last 20 years to help clients sort through their clutter and bring back the positive energy into their space, and find the Being of the home. As you are going through each zone (areas) of the home – Pick up each object, make a decision of Trash, Keep or Recycle box. There are going to be items that will need to be transported to others zones, they need to be placed inside the Transit box. At the end of sorting in that zone, take the transit box and relocate the items to the decided zones. If any of these areas are already full because you haven’t cleared the clutter yet – leave the items in the Transit box until you complete those zones.
Decide now that everything that takes up the space in your home has to have a valid purpose of Being there. Ask yourself “Does it pass the Clutter-Test?”
Does it lift my energy when I think about it or look at it?
Do I absolutely love it?
Is it genuinely useful?
Repeat to yourself as you sort through your items, “It’s safe to let go“. Clearing clutter is about letting go and trusting the process of life to bring you what you need when you need it. Anything you are keeping for those “just in case” moments, you are keeping out of fear. If you have a lot of clutter, you may need to go through this process several times before you feel ready to ‘let go’ of some things.
In the past, I have had a few clients wanting this process to go quickly – having a hard time making decisions of letting go and getting frustrated with themselves. They would then keep canceling our organizing sessions making it even harder for when we would have to restart the sorting process. I finally would convince them that working in a positive – small – forward motion worked better than consistently restarting the process. I would suggest 2 Organizing Sessions / Per Month for a year. They would be surprised by the compounding effect of getting rid of the clutter at each session, most of the time it would take less than a year to clear clutter from their home.
At the end of the clutter-clearing process, not only will you be able to breathe easier, but your home will have a new life and a new BEING.
Peace & Harmony ~ Cheryl
Lifestyle by Design 