Declutter Weekend

Here are some ideas if you're not planning on spending the whole weekend shopping:

1. Organize your bathroom cabinets. Throw away anything you haven't used in a year (moisturizer that you hate the smell of, hair products that don't work, etc). Put similar products in bins together, grouping hair, cleaning, and soap items together. Replace and toss disposable cosmetic tools, and give all your cosmetic brushes a good shampooing.

2. Empty your linen closet. Refold towels and sheets, removing ones that aren't in good shape for your rag pile. Throw bathroom and guest items into appropriate bins or baskets. Designate shelves for different uses. For instance, in my linen closet there is a shelf with extra pillows, a shelf for sheets, a shelf for towels, a shelf for table linens, and a shelf for pet items.

3. Clean out your "junk drawer". We all have one. Mine is filled with chip clips, paint chips, tools that belong in the garage, flavored tobacco, and all sorts of other things that need a temporary home five minutes before guests arrive. Put everything into its appropriate place.

Hopefully a little time cleaning will make you feel just a bit more relaxed as you enter a season of shopping, wrapping, writing, decorating, baking and cooking.

November Rain

It's been practically a month since my last blog post. Whoops. I guess I just have a lot going on right now.

I am dying to start decorating for the holidays. I'm planning and collecting and buying, and even doing some DIYing. Ooh, that rhymes. Last year my mantel was a terrible police lineup of one-size nutcrackers. It lacked dimension and height and creativity, and that over-the-top showiness that is easiest to get away with at Christmas. I'm trying to collect some great images of mantlescapes and tablescapes in whites, silvers, golds, and other not-so-red-and-green designs. So, just for you, some inspiration: