Hello chic friends! I wanted to show you my lovely new headboard, but after arranging all the pillows and cushions nicely someone had a mad minute and did THIS. You can see Daphne's guilty look (yes, another guilty look) if you zoom in.
This week I still had heaps to do for my dad's estate so I don't get to start my *actual* decluttering and organising which will commence next week, however I have been doing step two in my mind. But let's rewind just a little bit, I'm getting ahead of myself. When I get excited about something I start charging ahead and forget that people can't read my mind.
So, the end of year project I have chosen, to completely organise, streamline, declutter and tidy my home I have now christened 'The Show-Home Life'. I want a show-home life! Or at the very least a show-home home :) It would be as if you were staging your home for sale. Making it look perfect and desirable, not a hot mess.
So that's step one: deciding what your project is. I know lots of you want to do the same, so please join the Show-Home Life bandwagon, but for others of you maybe your home is already in tip-top shape and you have something different you want to focus on. In that case I'm afraid you will have to come up with your own project name, but please do share it in the comments.
Step two is working out what is getting in the way between you and your desired vision. For me, I went through my whole house and made a note of the areas that are really bugging me. In no particular order they are:
My wardrobe needs sorting with the change of season. I also want to declutter any frumpiness that has sneaked in and have a closet suitable for a sexy and glamorous lady - obviously that's me in case you didn't realise :) My ideal closet is the kind in a closet company advertisement where there is six items hanging up and two pairs of shoes. I'm not going that extreme but there is a lot of room to improve between that image and how it is now.
My sewing room which is a great space off our garage has become the dumping ground for anything that needs a temporary home. I'm sure you have that room too. And the ironing board lives there as well, so having this room nice will make ironing more pleasant. As an example I overbought on feather pillow inners at a half price sale so it's either make covers and use them or move them on. I don't like to waste money and our sofas could do with more cushions (the casual sofas not the other sofas I showed in my Ralph Lauren home post here) so I will be sewing cushion covers as part of my show-home life project.
Various cupboards in the bathroom, kitchen etc that I haven't sorted for a while. Take everything out, streamline, put the winners back. Donate the rest.
My office! Oh my goodness, my office is almost a whole project on its own, because it contains files (both paper and computer). You can pack a lot of stuff in a small space when it comes to pieces of paper and Word/Excel documents and photos. Plus getting my financial filing and reconciliations up to date. At the moment I'm skimming the surface but I always feel immeasurably better and like I have a handle on my life when things are filed and up-to-date. And Brian Tracy, mega-guru of my success dreams says that you feel good about yourself and happy with life in general to the extent that you feel in control of your surroundings. Or something like that. Basically being neat and tidy and organised helps you feel good, and I am all for feeling good.
So, let's kick off the weekend with our Show-Home Life, steps one and two. Are you in? Tell me your project name if you don't desire a show-home life, and if you do, what areas are really nibbling at your heels at the moment? Please tell me a really big horror story :) Mine is that I can't stop buying perfume and scented body lotions and I'm going to have to build an extension onto the bathroom to house them all BUT not when I have a show-home life. No, when I have a show-home life I have a beautifully curated selection of current favourites which I love. I'm not going to declutter my body products and fragrances, but I am going to not buy any more until they are used. I really do love pretty smells you know but my input and output just got a little bit out of balance...
Have a wonderful weekend and please spill all in the comments! See you next week!
xx Fiona
PS. Have you played any Christmas music yet? I have :) I watched a Rod Stewart concert in a castle in Scotland a few weeks ago (here). It was wonderful! Christmas music just makes me feel so happy. Find out you can make your Christmas more chic and simple with my book. I promise you will get new ideas on how to enjoy your holiday season more. You can read it on Kindle or in paperback, on Amazon here.
You can find me here too:
My end-of-year project (well, actually just for the next month or so) is my "Get my next book in shape so it can be published" project. That's not a great name, I realize! Maybe "Operation: Book #2." The book is mostly written, but I've found that editing can take a lot of time. So I'm ready to focus on that!
ReplyDeleteFiona, I took your writing course the first time you offered it a couple of years ago, and it was so encouraging and inspirational to me. I really have appreciated the amount of thought and work that went into creating it. You did a great job.
I absolutely LOVE the idea of giving the project a fun, meaningful name, one that inspires you to actually do it. I'll have to think of a name for mine. My goal is to have a home that is company ready every day, welcoming, completely organized, decluttered and ready to enjoy the holiday season. I find I fluff and clean my home differently if I know someone is coming over and I always love the end result. I want that feeling for myself every day.
ReplyDeleteHi Fiona, I've joined onto your project, via my blog, and linked it back to last week. I know what my project is: continue writing my book, and what is getting in my way is my life is too busy. But, I've started on a general declutter and organise, or rather, how I personally do it. Because I can never finish anything until I "clear the decks".
ReplyDeleteIt is the start of winter here in the UK, so I am going to focus on decluttering for the next few months. I have a week off of work next week so will be able to make a great start.
ReplyDeleteMy second project is home decor - I live in a small apartment and when deciding on the style of decor, my husband suggested thinking along the lines of a 5 star hotel suite. We have the basics in furniture, but it is adding the small touches such as a vase of flowers, nice candles, nice toiletries, bowl of fruit etc. I am having a lovely time online looking up pictures of luxury hotel suites for inspiration.
I love he 5 star hotel suite idea!
DeleteProject 5 star bathroom! Living in a little Welsh cottage that has needed upgrading but we couldn't afford not to live in it at the same time. No running hot water for over a year, toilet flushes using a bucket...ah, new bathroom goes in first week of November. The joy, the bliss, decorating will need to be done but should all be done by Christmas. I agree with Anonymous from the UK, small gives opportunity to really ramp up the slick and sleek luxury hotel element!
ReplyDeleteListened to Christmas music? Fiona, you have to be joking? It's October, there are two and a half months to go before Christmas! It's bad enough that husband hums a Christmas carol at any time during the year because they're the only tunes he can remember, ha ha!
ReplyDeleteI'm actually surprised you want your home to resemble a show home. Yes, have a home clean and tidy, your wardrobe containing only the clothes you want/need, and so forth, but remember your home is first and foremost a home, a place of sanctuary, where you and your husband can relax. Too much de-cluttering can, if one isn't careful, result in just a few items of furniture in a large open space where even a dent on the sofa where one sits looks rather forlorn, even sterile. So tidy by all means, but don't go mad. Keep things for posterity. I often think how wonderful it is that my family kept things and now I have items such as my grandparent's receipts for their wedding reception in 1897, when they had a "carriage and pair" to take them to the ceremony (in days before motor cars).
My project is, as always, to wake up tomorrow. Taking each day as it comes. That's the best project I know.
Oh, love what your dog has done to your bed. Aren't animals funny!
Margaret P
For my Show Home life, I have two areas that I want to tackle. The first one is my garage. It's turned into a real dumping ground so I need to clean it out and organize the remainder.
ReplyDeleteThe other area is my craft room/home office. I have several unfinished craft projects to make and complete, then it needs to be cleared out and organized.
My goal today is to head out to my garage and make a significant dent in my garage chaos!
Cindy R
I can't have a show home. My husband is just not a show home kinda guy (although he would tell you different!) So I have to sneak up on this one. I like the idea of a 5 star hotel starting point. On the other hand, I am an avid collector of china (although I have sworn I won't buy anymore) and I have a suitably embarrassing collection of sewing machines and craft supplies - a double garage has been converted to house these. You've given me so much to think about.
ReplyDeleteLove this, so count me in, Fiona. I’m almost happy with most of the house, most of the time. My current job isn’t overwhelming, but by the end of the workday, I find I’m just done. What has slid has been the yard (garden? no it doesn’t qualify. yard it is.). Now that the sun has risen today, I am going out to the front corner. I’m going to start winter prep, and care and beauty are going to sweep in a band across the property. Wish me luck!
ReplyDeleteProjects inspire me, so count me in! I have decluttered quite a lot over the past few years, and continue to maintain, especially with purging clothes. Sentimental are tough but I have managed to whittle my adult childrens toys and books to the very favourite few. My project now will focus on photos and prints (Image project) on the walls and sort through electronic photos which can still be clutter considering how many we take lol.
ReplyDeleteLove this idea, Fiona looking forward to your progress updates!
Cheers Rita from Victoria, canada
Hello Fiona. What a great tip and makes perfect sense, I have and enjoyed all of your books very much, this one however I missed but will get on that! Cheers Rita
ReplyDelete