Thursday, February 7, 2008

organizing the little stuff


So, a few years ago, I was having a problem containing all of my pens, paperclips, thumbtacks, and post-it notes. It seemed that all of these tiny necessities were clogging up the work surface of the desk and were constanlty getting misplaced. Enter my-now husband into the picture, and the problem multiplied by like ten. As the desk became a breeding ground for paper clutter, the pens and scissors and checkbooks also started spontaneously reproducing and disappearing all at once! A black hole for office supplies, if you will. So, it was IKEA that came to my rescue as it has many times since then. The Fira tabletop drawer unit is the perfect containment device for such small office staples. However, with its nine identical drawers, it too can become an overgrown junk hotspot unless properly labled. Try letter or number stickers or stencils. My labels are made from mini scrabble letters found in the scrapbooking realm of your local craft store. If you are really anal retentive, you can even partition off the individal drawers to hold two or three different types of items. For some office flair, paint it a festive color to accent a piece of art or photograph hanging nearby. I applied a white wash to mine to keep it clean looking, but it just might be time for a little makeover! Maybe light blue?

Monday, February 4, 2008

my intentions:blog+design

I present to you my design + blog manifesto. My mission is to offer a fun mix of design and organizing advice, simple and budget conscious projects, and inform you about inspiring products and websites. In my mind I see slideshows, audio, video and on-the-scene photography of what I am doing, creating and seeing. I envision helping freinds with design dilemmas and blogging about it. I see going on creative excursions to cute design shops and letting you in on my finds. Maybe I'll puruse the internet and find the hottest colors for spring and inform you of how to incorporate them into your existing decor. My end goal is to get my design and organizing ideas out to anyone who will listen and have fun while I do it. So far, I am having a great time satisfying my creativity and it is my hope that a few people out there are taking it all in.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

defining your style

What is your style? Can you describe it in one or two words? Does it take more like a phrase or a paragraph? For me, it is a tough thing to verbalize in a way that makes sense, since my style is always evolving. Plus, I feel that a lot of the styles I enjoy contradict eachother. Cottage and modern. Contemporary and traditional. Ecclectic and simple. Cozy and clean. I love certain elements of all these looks. Therein lies both the beauty and the challenge of creating a design look that is truly your own. The task at hand is to choose pieces that exhibit each of these qualities and bring them together in a way that is complementary. There is a delicate balance in mixing styles and periods of furnitre, for you do not want one to dominate the other, but just to contrast and enhance. So, today I bought my bulliten board and this week I will get to work on pinpointing what designs inspire me. It will be crucial for me to eliminate any image or pattern or piece that I am not in love with. Hopefully, the result will provide a clearer reflection of what my style is. Maybe I can start implementing some of the new trends that may develop. The other side to this question of style is: what have you already got? Do you love any of it? Are you just making do at the moment? Most of us can't totally start over or rush out to purchase all of the furnishings of our dreams. But we can do it in stages. And we can do it on a budget.