“Woke up, jumped out of bed, dragged a comb across my head….” No, not really, but as usual I feel like I am on a dead run! I have already answered email, corrected a drawing for a client, listened to the protests of my two children as they nestled deeper under the covers when told to get up, cooked eggs, sewed a button on a pair of jeans, corrected and collected homework, snacks, and snow pants to pack into back packs, arranged play dates, and yelled the traditional morning cheer “BUS, …. RUN!” all before 8:00 AM.
Not that I believe in anyway that my morning is unique. I know all moms with school age children experience some version of my morning. Seems that no matter how organized we are, we all still experience that momentary panic, “are they gonna make the bus?” This scenario is part of the inspiration for my new blog. If you know me, you know that I am an interior designer obsessed with ways to organize and simplify my own and my clients lives. My company, Simple Solutions Design and Organization, sister company to Dorsey Furniture, focuses on order of space through professional design and organization. The purpose of the Simple Solutions blog is to create an interactive forum for residential design inspiration, organization information, and lifestyle tips.
The emphasis is on SIMPLE. Life is complicated enough especially in the current economic climate. Not only is money tight for most families, but nerves are too. Hopefully you will find the information exchanged here useful, inspiring, and just plain entertaining. For example, you will notice a catagory labeled “Simple Recipes.” This catagory is dedicated to recipes containing 4 to 6 ingredients give or take. At my house if it has more than that, it doesn’t get made. Notice the catagory “Simple Solutions.” This is where each week I will provide you an organization solution to the “clutter” issues we all deal with. This week it’s electronics charging cord storage, coming soon…
My favorite, watch for the category labeled “Simply Beautiful.” This is the forum for inspirational design tips for every room of the house. Ideas from some of the best designers in the country. Lastly, the category labeled “Simply Free”is a listing of household items that are just that, FREE.
If you know me, you know that my husband is an environmental engineer. All day long he dreams up ways to make, the wanna be consumer in me feel guilty. For over 20 years I have had to justify each and every piece of furniture, accessory, piece of art work, or new ironing board cover I have brought into our home. The question is the same each time; “What will we do with the item that this item is replacing? ” Annoying as this is, he has made me a better person for it. When I shop for things for my home I immediately ask myself, do we need this? Sometimes the answer is no, but I want it ! Often the purchasing decision is delayed until I find a suitable new home for the item being replaced so as not to contribute to the landfill and global warming issues.
Further complicating the issue is that I am in the business of selling furniture, accessories, art work, and household items to my design and furniture store customers. Several of them have the same issue: What to do with the perfectly good items being replaced? Many times I have arranged for items to be picked up by charities, donated to someone who has a child going off to college / first apartment, or to another family whom I know is looking for that item. I have always wanted to create a “clearing house” for the many items I see heading for the end of the driveway or the local dump. Well, now we have one. It is a “virtual” end of the driveway, sign attached “FREE!” community forum. Watch for this feature sometime in the next week.
They won’t all be my ideas, some will come from other designers, architects, design bloggers, and I hope ideas for articles, recipes, free items, and stimulating conversation will come from YOU. I encourage you to post a comment, add a favorite recipe, or post an article that you might want to give a second life to. The more interaction we have the more inspiration for simplifying our hectic lives.
