Longing for a New Cigar Box

I used to love getting ready to go back to school in the fall. It meant everything was new, and not just my clothes. Not only did I get new notebooks, but also pens, pencils, crayons - and that wonderful new cigar box to hold it all. Those days are long past, but when September arrives, I find myself yearning for things to help me organize my office, but (just like that cigar box) aren't necessarily intended to do that. So assuming some of you have a bit of the same yearning, I've taken the liberty of sharing with you a few of my favorite repurposed office organizing tools.

This is a great office organizing tool!

One of the things I love is the 3-tiered hanging baskets often used in the kitchen to hold fruit. While useful in the kitchen, they work very well in my office to hold things that clutter up my desk, like checkbooks, mail, and Post-Its. And while the more traditional style works just fine, and comes in all kinds of different materials (even copper!), I really like this cutie.

Mason jars are also great organizing tools. While I love them for outdoor summer decorating, they are wonderful ways to corral paper clips, pens, and scissors in my office. Egg cups are also a clever way of organizing smaller items like stamps. And if you set up a pegboard, you can easily attach either of them to the board to keep them off your desk. For the Mason jars, put them into a wine rack to keep them together in one place.

Gym baskets are a great tool to keep projects separated. Whether it's notebooks, folders, or (in my case) fabrics, photos, paints, and miscellany for different clients, putting what I need separated by client makes life so much easier. If  your "clients" are different projects, they work just as well.

Of course there are all kinds of beautiful, colorful tools ready-made for office organization. But for me part of the pleasure is in finding unique uses for objects I love. Whichever you do, just make sure it brings a smile to your face every time you see it. That can make an office day a fun day!

How Can I Make These Go Together?

This is the top question I've been asked by my clients in recent weeks. It seems we all have things we have collected, inherited, been gifted, or purchased at different times in our lives that we just plain love. Or at least like and are not quite ready or able to part with for whatever reason. So this means we may have quite an interesting mix of colors, fabrics, textures, or styles that need to work together in a room. 

This neutral palette and repeat of shapes makes a very cohesive
and comforting room.

And there's really no secret to making that happen. Simply find a common denominator or two to pull it all together. That could be something as big as carrying a fabric through a room on two very different chairs, with perhaps a throw pillow or two on the sofa. Or keeping the basic palette neutral (think floors, walls, large furniture), with perhaps a small touch of color - or lots of color. Either way, the room feels very pulled together.

The white walls, flooring, sofa, and dining chairs
are the perfect backdrop for the color, making
all the furniture "go" together.

Despite being very different styles, the furniture
in this room works because it's all the same color.

And of course painting the furniture, or refinishing it so the finishes blend works. It's amazing how different furniture styles can suddenly work when they are the same color.

So if it works for you, make it work in the room - with just a few simple tricks!

Design "Rules"

I really dislike talking about the "rules" of design. But I realized there are a few things I do consider important - keeping in mind of course they may not work for everyone. So I'll call them suggestions - Ann's Suggestions.

Similar sofas......

Two different looks

First, choose a neutral sofa. That doesn't mean boring. But a sofa may live through a few incarnations of a room, so select one that will transition easily. That means a "neutral" color that will go with different colors over time. And a fabric that will do the same as well as go with different styles, should you decide to shake things up a bit.

Second, stop listening to those other voices in your head, telling you what you "should" do. Just because your mother loves it, or your best friend, doesn't mean you have to. Does your mom see beautiful red accents in the room? You really prefer orange and yellow, but maybe she's right....she isn't. Go with what you love. As long as you're using it for accents, you will be fine! And much happier.

Too much black? Keep just the mirror.

And finally, a touch of black really can be grounding. A little or a lot, it adds not only grounding but sophistication.

Enough of "rules", although maybe there are a few more to come .. .

If Loving It Is Wrong, I Don't Want To Be Right

Silver Dollar

When we moved last summer into a house we love, I decided to paint the guest room - one of three rooms upstairs - a beautiful Benjamin Moore color called Silver Dollar. I paired it with accents of deep yellow with hints of orange. Then I painted the room next door which is my office (the third room is a bathroom) Henderson Buff and paired it with - you guessed it - gray accents.
And I LOVE it. Silver Dollar looks absolutely gorgeous - and totally different -- in all shades of light and at all different times of day. And when I'm in my office, I feel like I'm inside a warm, light-filled cocoon. And the transition from one to the other is fabulous.

Henderson Buff

And then I read an article by an industry "expert" who said gray is now out and beach-y (read pastels) are now in. Really? Now what do I do?

I do exactly what I tell my clients to do. If you love it, buy it, use it, find a place for it, live with it. Because nothing makes us happier than being surrounded by things we love. And nobody else has to tell me - or any of us - what those are.

Of course there may be appropriate ways to use the things we love. We want to make sure there is a connection, a way to pull everything together so that it feels like it belongs. In my case making the smallish rooms in a smallish space flow together makes the space feel connected and larger. For you, it might be fitting in that beautiful antique piece you had to have, despite the fact that your home is mid-century modern. Of course it will work! Just make sure there is something to tie your special piece with the rest of the room. That could be a color, a texture, a shape - something that makes the room feel tied together despite the disparity.

So if you love it, it's yours. And don't let anyone else tell you differently. And to see ideas and ways to make disparate pieces and styles work together, check out my new board on Pinterest.

Spring......Really?

It's  hard to believe spring is really just around the corner. Despite the birds singing and chasing each other, there's still a LOT of white outside. Even when it feels a little warm, there's no place to sit as everything is still covered with snow. But a quick trip into Target past the towel aisle reminded me of the gorgeous colors that will soon be coming our way. Seriously, it was the towel aisle at Target that got my juices flowing.

And now I really must have some color around me. Yes, it still has to be inside. And no, I don't want it to clash with my decor. And no, I'm not talking pastel Easter eggs. I want COLOR!

So I started with some tulips, mostly yellow. I'm a sucker for yellow and gray, so I think they are lovely in the guest room, despite the winter photo in the background. 

But this is the guest room......what about the rooms I see all the time? Maybe a little forsythia. That says spring. Of course I can't find mine under the snow, but Pier 1 has lovely fake stems. And I'm that desperate.

There seems to be a yellow theme going on.......but yellow is a neutral, isn't it? And it's so warm! But it needs to be very vibrant or it does border on pastel. So I'm thinking some brighter colors. Colors that really jump out at me. Colors that remind me of those beautiful towels in Target. In a room where I spend a lot of my time.  And then I realize how easy this is. I can surround myself with every color of the rainbow - deep greens, blues, purples, yellows. Spring colors that ignore the white out my window. Colors that make me smile. File folders!

Okay, so I'm easy to please. But those file folders will make me smile every day! Looking for a little inspiration to make you smile? Something perhaps a little more exciting than file folders? Check out my latest board on Pinterest.

Focus On What's Important

I was recently interviewed on a local television program and was asked what room in the house I thought people neglected the most. This is a no brainer.......the master bedroom. We usually focus on the rooms people will see, rather than the room where we spend the most time and need the most to rest, relax, and get a good night's sleep.

I understand why we all want to make our public rooms pretty. But it's very easy and not expensive to have a warm, inviting, comfortable bedroom. And I think it's important to our overall mental health.

Photo Courtesy BHG

The first thing to do is remove clutter. Waking up every morning to the laundry that hasn't been put away, yesterday's clothes on the chair, and disarray on all the surfaces isn't the best way to greet each day. Not to mention making it difficult to sleep at night because of the guilt. Don't make your bedroom the catch-all room. De-clutter once, then spend a few minutes each day making sure it stays that way.

Keep your bedroom the place where you rest, relax, and retreat. That means remove the exercise equipment, office/work area, and - dare I say it - the television. If you're addicted to watching television from bed, I probably won't get far with that one. But there are many, many studies that equate watching television from your bed is not a good thing for a number of reasons. But it that's not a change you're willing to make, do what you can about the other two. Get creative about using other space, especially for your office. What about a staircase landing? Or adding shelves and a desk to a little-used closet? If it has to stay in the master bedroom, at least make sure it's in an area that can be separated from the rest of the room, if only by an attractive screen. I purchased a great Shoji screen for a client at a very reasonable price from Target, which has plenty of other styles to choose from as well.

Add some texture. Bedrooms are lots of hard surfaces, other than the bed. So add panels at the window (make them stationery if you don't need them for privacy), An upholstered chair is always a wonderful touch if there is room (as long as you don't use it to hold yesterday's clothes). And so are decorative pillows, a throw, and a live plant. Even round shapes can soften the hard lines, so change your lamps or bedside tables to
softer lines.

The bottom line? Find the peace you deserve in the room that matters the most. And without breaking the bank.

The Decorations Are Down......Now What?

I realize there's still a week to go before Christmas - and two for New Years. But I'm already not happy about the holiday decorations coming down. All the beautiful lights, shiny baubles, gorgeous trees.......and then the bleakness of winter. But there are a few ways I have found to combat the blues that come with January. In case you feel the same way, you might try a couple of these ideas.

One of my favorites is to bring nature inside. Of course, this is often a decorating strategy for the

BHG

holidays as well.So keep those pine cones in a beautiful bowl on the coffee table - and add some fresh evergreen. Or fill an apothecary jar with nuts, pine cones, cranberries or even pieces of bark for the dining table or on the mantel.

 While lights on a ficus may not be the answer, what about keeping bare branches decorated? Cut them from your yard, place them on the floor or the mantel, and line
them with white lights or silver balls for a beautiful effect, sure to warm the winter.

And just because Christmas is gone doesn't mean your wreath has to be. Substitute the holiday wreath with one made from herb leaves for look and smell to last through the winter. Not to mention the wonderful cooking opportunities!

So don't let the end of the holidays end your creative decorating. Keep the winter warm and inviting with a few of nature's gifts!