Decor-Blog.com

Hey are you like me right now? I think this time of year affects everyone the same. Winter just seems to be dragging on and on, and since we are mostly stuck inside of the house, we get sick of looking at the four walls (and possibly each other!).

Well, here is an inexpensive way to change all that! Candles and flowers! There are so many places for candles and flowers in and around your home. Candles and flowers can bring instant warmth (not to mention lovely smells to your house!) Flowers can bring instant color to any room. There are endless possibilities on displaying both.

Here are a few ideas for candles -
Candles can be used in the front hallway to welcome guests or in any room for that matter. For some reason, people tend to gravitate to them. Thrift store glass wear, mason jars, small wood bowls on top of a small mirror are all good holders for candles. Floating candles can be floated in any sort of bowl. You can get a pretty clear glass bowl at a thrift store (even a desert bowl) and put a drop of food coloring in the water and float a candle on the water and viola, you have an instant center piece.

If you have several small jars or glasses the same, line them in front of the window, or on top of the mantle of your fire place. I know someone that has a grouping of different sizes and shapes of glass jars with candles in each in their fire place. Group several candles that are different sizes, but the same color on an old wooden plate or on a cake stand to create an interesting focal point. In the fall, hollow out small pumpkins and other gourds and arrange them as a center piece each gourd having a tea light candle in it. I have candles in my bathroom. When it's mommy time (a rarity at best) and time for a soak in the tub, I fill the bathroom with candles. And of course, what is Christmas without candles? A large, fat red candle on the dining room table with small evergreen boughs is a perfect way to celebrate the season.

Of course always use caution when using candles. NEVER leave candles unattended and do enjoy them!

Ideas for flower display:
Think of offbeat and rather quirky ideas for flower display. Like in the bathroom, I have them in an antique toothbrush holder. a blossom in each slot. Or in the kitchen, display your bouquet of flowers in a pretty tea pot or tea cup. Small vases or small glasses (or for me, I collect cobalt blue glass and have many shapes and sizes) and put a bloom in each one of them and line them up as a center piece on your table, or in a windowsill. Or use clay pots with little plants in them for the same idea. (a miniature indoor herb garden perhaps?) Even the heads of flowers can be displayed. No stem? Not to worry. Get out a pretty saucer and put in a bit of water. Even a bouquet of dried flowers can bring enough color into a room to make it look special.

There are so many affordable ways to bring color and warmth into a room or house by using candles and flowers. And maybe, just maybe that will give you the lift you need to survive the rest of the winter.

So, your baby has outgrown the nursery decor or you toddler is ready for a big girl's decorating scheme. How do you pick elements for your child's room that are fun, but also functional?

Think Storage

Kids have lots of stuff. Lots and lots and lots of stuff. So, one of the most important things when creating a design for children's rooms is to plan for lots of storage. Bookshelves, chests of drawers and armoires are all good. Closets with storage to maximize the space are excellent. But, what can you do when space is at a premium?

Beds will built in cupboards or drawers are a place way for kids to stash some of their gear. Or, make sure your bed-frame sits high enough so you can stash some generously sized storage boxes underneath. Still need more space? Think vertically and put shelves up high to store decorate and collectible objects that do not need to be readily accessed.

Color and Theme

When picking colors and themes for kids' rooms, it is a delicate balance. You want them to have an environment they love, but for it to be something they won't outgrow in a week. Since paint is fairly easy and inexpensive to change, you can either let your kids pick a bold favorite for the walls or pick a classic to adorn with other bright elements.

Try to select a theme that can grow with your child. Classic themes for girls include floral designs, princesses, butterflies, fairies and beach-inspired designs. Boys may enjoy nautical themes, vehicles, dinosaurs, animals, bugs and designs inspired by adventures. The theme should reflect your child's interests, but allow for additions and growth as he matures.

Use less expensive consumable or easily replaceable items to add trendy elements to the design. For example, an undersea room can easily support a Sponge Bob theme by using throw pillows, posters and a few other inexpensive elements with the character motif. Then, when Sponge Bob is outgrown your child is left with the more classic undersea decor. Your daughter loves everything Cinderella? Get her a castle shaped bookshelf and a frilly satin coverlet, but keep the glass slipper and carriage motif for the toss pillows, the nightlight and some collectible figurines. This also works well when two girls with different interests are sharing a room; choose a couple complimentary solid colors and let them accessorize in small ways on their own beds and dressers.

Keep large furniture items in classic designs, and instead customize things like fabric, wall art and other accessories. Choose a classic lamp base and place a themed shade on it for an easy way to carry the design of your choice into the lighting.

Over the years, we all tend to gather all sorts of odd things that clutter rooms in our houses and make them look like the mess they inevitably end up being.

I discovered a rather simple way of solving this problem – at least in the living room. You may agree with what I did or disagree or just pick up an idea or two from the whole experience. Whatever you do, my hope is that all you fellow clutter-prone good people out there will gain something from this.

At first glance the simple thing to do would be to bite the bullet and throw out everything and redecorate from scratch. Even if you can afford to do it, I wonder how human all those folks who do this are.

Virtually everything I have in my house has some sort of sentimental value to me and there are some particularly “ugly things” (as my wife likes to call them) that I am very attached to and fond of. How else would the said item be still comfortably perched somewhere in my living room (of all places) and not with the trash? Either it reminds me of something or somebody, or some previously special person gave them to me. Or I picked it up at that time when… well, you get the drift.

So no matter how horrible my place looks, how do I just wake up one morning and get rid of everything?

So this is what I did. I made a firm decision not be overly ambitious and to do one room at a time, starting with the living room. That way I was sure of retaining the consolation of having plenty of space left to keep sentimental stuff that I was forced to remove from the living room.

I hope writing this article will give me the inspiration I desperately need to proceed with my redecoration exercise.

First I had to decide what new look I wanted. I seriously considered both contemporary and rustic. Then I picked out the items in the current mess that I could still keep without compromising the new look I wanted. Here with a little creativity you will be amazed at just how much you can keep - at least I was.

In my case I decided to go rustic, which was no sweat since I’d collected so much authentic African stuff. Still I believe that any look you choose should be fairly easy to achieve when you have decided on exactly what you want. Picking out items at the furniture store is really no big deal.

I love those rough hewn wood beams and the whole rustic touch that creates a feeling of simplicity, warmth and sincerity. And that is exactly what I got.

I’m starting to slowly get used to doing without most of my old stuff (the old couch’s absence has been a little more difficult to get over, although it is still in the house somewhere - I won't tell you where).

By the way, anybody out there with a clutter cure that works? I kind of need it.

The cliché ‘one mans trash is another man’s treasure’ is as true in interior design as it is anywhere else.

Your rooms do not have to be seamlessly themed. The furniture, the paintings, posters or fabrics in the drapes do not have to match. They can be of different periods, materials and color and still co –exist quite companionably. A piece of 50’s retro extravagance will be alright in the company of a shaker settle. It’s a matter of discernment, individual taste, confidence and style.

Do not be misled that chic belongs to the wealthy or is something defined by glossy magazines intent on marketing whatever is the current look.

Your rooms are yours to live in. Any ‘look’ you give them will feel imposed if it doesn’t resonate with you.

I sit typing this in my study. The charitable would call it ‘shabby chic.’ The less well disposed might be tempted to call it ‘a mess’. I call it mine and like it.

The things I choose to put around me are there because they meet two criteria and neither of them has to anything to do with monetary value or current decorating fashion. Those two criteria are simple.
Is it beautiful?
Does it function how I wish it to? Is it necessary and useful?

The first is a question of perception. Another cliché defines it well: ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’. Therefore my collection of 1950’s plaster women’s wall heads is delightful. Yes, I know they’re idealized but they speak to me of that age so clearly. They were never expensive and always regarded as ‘low brow’. That they are now quite collectible is a plus. I like them. They make me smile which fulfills the second of my criteria. Smiling is absolutely necessary.

Using my yardstick, my very old desk circa 1900, with its battered edges is equally lovely. As is the 1940’s rubber bladed fan, my high tech new comfortable chair, the old tin trunk covered with cushions rescued from a thrift shop( chosen because they were tapestry and someone had poured all that effort into them), the floor to ceiling book shelf filling one wall with all my favorites, old and new, a rug on the day bed my mother hand spun the wool for and knitted up, an old sea captain’s chair and the carpet coming from the end of a roll ordered by a local church. It’s deep olive green with a repeating gold fleur-de-lis: a classic. Then there’s the huge wicker basket brim full to tumbling over of gorgeous fabric samples: flamboyant, subdued, sumptuous and simple.

My room. It could be nobody else’s. Victoriana sits side by side with Art Noveau and Deco. Kitsch and fine art hang in close proximity on the wall.

In this room I am not a visitor. I am me.

Be bold. Have fun. Find out what you really enjoy and go for it.

When Charles and Ray Eames designed and built the Eames lounge chair, their goal was to create a simple and practical lounger. The leather chair and matching ottoman used their trademark molded plywood and bases of cast aluminum supported the rest of the streamlined elements. Think you haven’t seen an Eames chair? Even if you have not seen an original, you would surely recognize the stylized design in the numerous knockoffs that dot furniture stores around the world. The chair has clearly inspired generations of furniture designers and the original is still sold today.

Also considered classics are Eames upright chairs. Their distinctive molding for seating comfort revolutionized the forms of dining, office and occasional chairs. Recreated today in fiberglass, molded plastic, various metals, wood and other materials, the chairs are ubiquitous in any haven of modern design.

The postwar designs of the husband-and-wife team, Charles and Ray Eames, modernized furniture with their accessible creations. Unlike many items designers deemed modern, the Eames paid special attention to comfort. They also focused on keeping their designs affordable. Inspired by science and technology, the Eames’ designs capture natural beauty and elegance in a way nearly unequaled. And, their efforts were always fueled by a desire to benefit the people around them.

Whether you love the traditional country look, the rustic country look or the eclectic country look, how can you achieve it?

Antiques these days tend to be a lot of money at markets, but antique flea markets can sometimes enable you to scoop up a bargain. Sometimes family members or friends will contribute to this cause. (I have a church pew that is over 100 years old that my friend bought me for my birthday). Garage sales sometimes are great as well! (she bought the pew at a garage sale) This may not for everyone, but where I live, about once every few months they have large garbage pick up. If you look around and (I find its best to ask permission if I am going to pick up during the daylight hours) and make sure its in good repair, you can occasionally pick up a good piece of furniture. Also, thrift stores are great for this as well. And don't forget the for sale adds in your local paper. My sister-in-law got a wonderful hutch that way for not a lot of money. Or maybe you know someone who is an artist or a woodworker and can commission some work from them... Whichever route you choose. It's worth your while to look around.

My taste is very much country leaning towards eclectic. Wicker is also nice for this look. Most pieces of furniture that you purchase can be spruced up with a coat of paint. If you buy dishes or bric a brac, you are best to wash it with soap and water. Wicker and other furniture can be vacuumed off first, then washed down with soap and water, and set to dry and then painted. Spray painting is the most fast and effective way of painting furniture. Start by spraying a small segment, then moving on segment by segment until the whole piece is covered to your liking.

I have been fortunate enough to get a lot of items by going these routes. I have a few antique tables and quilts that were given to me by family members, a dresser with drawers on a big garbage night (which I cleaned and repainted and use in my daughter's bedroom). Countless plates and other goodies at thrift and garage sales. (I was fortunate to get an antique set of toy blocks for 75 cents at a garage sale. I have also managed to get a few pieces at antique stores and flea markets of things that I have collected over the years (such as cobalt blue glass and antique books and glass flower frogs).

Also, studying magazines on country decorating can be helpful with layouts and ideas and keep you informed on flea market sales or antique stores that maybe happening in your area. Library books on decorating can also be a source of information.

No matter what type of country you like, do some research, shop around and see what appeals to you and just jump in and go country!

by Jessica Blaszczak

When I moved into my first apartment after I graduated from college, my father gave me some of his old furniture. Some of the furniture that he wanted me to enjoy. Well, some of the furniture that he wanted to throw away, actually. So, naturally I accepted and thought, "Cool! Free furniture!" Like I mentioned before, I just moved into my first apartment and I wasn't picky. Poor, not picky. In fact, it wasn't below me to go dumpster diving, if you know what I mean. But that was years ago...

Anyway, one piece of furniture that my father bequeathed me was a huge hutch wall unit. This thing was big, brown, and ugly. The wood was probably a mixture of the cheapest wood available and, let me tell you, it looked cheap. It was darker than pine but lighter than oak and heavier than a 4x4 truck. When the movers finally lugged it inside the apartment, I simply said, "please, put it there" and motioned to the wall closest to the door. They groaned because they had to move it a few extra inches. Did I mention that this thing was dreadful? Nevertheless, I didn't care because I was getting free furniture.

So, a year went by and I started making money. Not enough money to buy my own furniture (I was a writer), but enough money to realize that this hutch was never going to scream "good taste." So, I stood there and softly muttered to my ugly furniture, "Well, hutch, we've had some good times, but it's time for a change." I bought a home furnishing book and got to work.

The first thing I did was strip the varnish. I sandpapered the entire gigantic wall unit from ugly top to ugly bottom. When I was finished with the sandpaper, I took a minute to reflect on my work. I didn't think it was possible but I was wrong. The thing looked worse than it did before I began. Now it was ugly and roughed up. I prayed to a higher power that this was what I was suppose to do, otherwise I be stuck with a splintered mess.

The next step I performed was painting the whole thing red. "Red," you ask? Yes, red. I had a plan. I painted two coats of "Pure Red," and about five hours later went bed exhausted and covered from head to toe in paint. As soon as I got up the next day the paint had dried. How exciting! I finished breakfast then painted one coat-only one coat of black paint over the red.

The hutch was looking pretty good. Now, after eight hours of impatiently waiting for the paint to dry (Now I know where the expression comes from. It really is boring to watch paint dry.) came the best step. I grabbed my trusty sandpaper again, and started scraping it against the black furniture. I scuffed the hutch long into the night until I reached my final goal. From under the black paint you could see patches of red paint shinning through, which gave the hutch a beautiful weathered look. And that was exactly what I was going for. With a simple coat of varnish, I was finished. Success! I had turned an ugly, unwanted, and unloved hutch into a piece of classic furniture that I will keep forever. Well, at least until I have the money to but something better.

Your home is the ultimate reflection of the person you are, and should incorporate your own sense of style, your likes and dislikes. Unfortunately, home décor can be extremely expensive and that can get in the way of your home actually looking like the home of your dreams. If you are looking to re-decorate your home, it is not necessary to spend a fortune. Decorating on a budget can be fun, and with a little creativity you can have both a great looking home and money in the bank as well.

One of the best resources for those looking to decorate their homes on a dime is the local thrift store. Think of the old adage, “someone’s trash is another one’s treasure.” You can hardly imagine the amazing assortment of furniture, wall art, knick-knacks, and dishes you can find in any local thrift store. Whether you are looking for such items or are simply looking for ideas at thrift stores, you may have to spend some time sifting through the numerous racks and shelves of goods. But, in the end, it is usually worth it. Dishes and glassware at thrift stores are a minute fraction of the cost of comparable brand new items. Mixing old and new items is the new trend in home décor, so picking up a few choice items at a thrift store is the perfect way to do this. In addition to your local town thrift store, look for White Elephant stores and Salvation Army stores near you as well, as they too can be treasure mines of home goods.

Once you have picked out some select pieces of recycled furniture, one of the easiest and most affordable ways to spruce them up is with a fresh coat of paint. Paint comes in virtually every color you can possibly imagine; so you can pick a couple that truly reflect your personality. Paint is also a great and inexpensive tool to use on your walls that can completely change the look of an entire room. If you don’t want solid colored walls, you have numerous options. Think about sponge painting or using stencils. You can also paint a border around the base of your walls for a professional, finished, look. Painting provides you with an affordable way to get creative and liven up the look of virtually any room in your home.

Finally, when you are decorating on a budget, you absolutely need to be open-minded and creative. There are always inexpensive substitutes for the pricier decorating tools – you just need to be open to them. For instance, instead of expensive shelving for walls, paint a couple of wooden crates and hang them on your walls for a different looking storage option. Or, when you have your heart set on new window treatments, instead of spending a fortune, enlist a friend who sews to craft you a unique set of one of a kind curtains. Decorating your home can be fun, easy, and even affordable. All it takes is a little time, effort, and creativity, and you will be well on your way to decorating your home on a dime.

Given the choice, would you rather repaint a room, refloor a room, or enliven your upholstery?

I always choose upholstery, because it’s cheap, easy and fun!

Accessories and furniture are always an interesting blend of function and fun – depending on your personality and taste, your rooms could be filled with cosy pillows, or austere and bare, functional to the max.

It’s that balance of comfort and life that each of us find with experimentation.

And accessories don’t need to break the bank.

Simple things, like turning old blanket covers into loose throws, or buying fabric and making slip covers guarantee an instant look change that is startling and fresh.

Got some extra towels?

Slip-stitch them around cushions for fluffy, cuddly fun!

Your seating looking lacklustre? Choose some vibrant cloth and cover it loosely…or tuck and ruck, expressing your personality with the folds.

Rag rugs, patchworks and cushion covers are ideal uses for old dresses, and other pieces of scrap fabric, giving a whole new meaning to shabby chic. Don’t toss out those old clothes; keep them to liven up your upholstery!

Furniture adds what a house or room lacks in the interior designing. Wood has always been the most used material for showing artistry involved in carpentry, but furniture can also be made of stones and recently, plastic has made a whopping start in the market. This has much to do with the protection of trees, which were leading to the global danger!

But whatever, one may say, plastic can not give that aesthetic look, which can be obtained from wood and rocks. And wood still tops the list for that impeccable artistry. There is no match for it in the furniture market. The carvings and cuts that you get in wood, by any means, can not be obtained in any other material.

Furniture can be purely for non-decorative purpose, but even to this application, furniture can add an different look. Home-furniture, office-furniture, garden-furniture and there are lot more areas where you can use this furniture. Chairs, stools, benches, couches, bed are a few articles that are most popular with the carpenters. However, there are many more applications of this art in decoration, which involves wall decoration, staircase decoration, porch decoration, and roof decoration. There is a certain silence when you enter a room, which has some artwork done in wood. The decoration and wall work is done for making the room acoustically suitable for music-rooms, lecture theatres, auditoriums, etc.

As we have already talked that wood is mostly used, we must not forget that there are different types of wood, and they have very diverse properties according to their nature. All the wood can't be used for making furniture. And if you are not sure then consulting a professional on this topic is a good option. And in other case, if you have decided to buy it from a show room, or online shopping, then you will have to select the quality and the rate price, as the selection of wood is their work.

It is not necessary that only wood be used in making the furniture. Coconut coir, clothes, filling stuff, and metal springs are also used for providing more flexibility to the furniture for its domestic use. It all depends upon the application of the furniture, and somewhat on personal choice. The furniture can be a combination of wood and rocks also. You can order whatever you like and the workmen will give you the required piece, in more beautiful than you ever though it would come out. Money is always the problem, as these articles grow costlier and costlier, as you choose more artwork, but nothing can mar the spirit of a true passion, however!

Regardless of whether you are single, childless, or caring for a family, maintaining a spick and span home is difficult. In our hectic lives we all have good intentions in terms of keeping our homes in tip top order. Unfortunately we often fall short of the requirements we set for ourselves and don’t know how to get back on track. I am certain that we all have walked into the house of a friend, family member, co-worker, etc and cringed at the sight of how tidy they are able to keep their home.

Some have a natural obsession and posses superhuman energy that enables them to have a fulltime schedule, yet have enough strength to straighten the house every night – even if it means only getting five hours of sleep. Others live in households where everyone does their share. These fantasy homes are rare and far in between. For real everyday families the situation is not as easy. It takes time to keep a house dust and clutter free, especially when you feel as if you are always on the go. We often find ourselves in cleaning dilemmas. Either clean up the makeup left on the bathroom counter or be late for work. Fold the clean laundry that has overtaken the bed, or sleep on top of it. In hindsight it does not require much time to do simple tasks such as folding the laundry as soon as if comes out of the dryer, unloading the dishwasher, vacuuming the floors, etc. However when you feel as if you are in a constant race against time, it is easy to put chores off until later. When later begins to take over your house there are simple tips to help you regain control - and stay in control.

To de-junk, de-clutter, and clean a house you should schedule one day, or a weekend, where you are able to devote time to cleaning the house from top to bottom. If you are single this will be easier. If you have a family, coordinate the time so everyone will be available. Take this time to get rid of old clothes, paper, anything you do not need or use. Assign task. Have some responsible for the bathrooms, bedrooms, kitchen, etc. The goal is to make the house so clean that it looks like it could appear on the cover of a home magazine. Once you have regained control of the house, the key to staying in control in maintaining the cleanness. This type of thorough cleaning should be repeated once a month. There are certain areas of a home that will need tidying everyday, such as the bathrooms and kitchen. I recommend that you keep disinfected wipes and window cleaner in each of these rooms. Cleaning messes will be effortless and only take a minute out of your day. The number one reason why houses remain clutter is because personal belonging are left all over the place. Each member of the household should make a pact to return items to there proper place once used. It would be helpful to run the dishwasher at night and immediately unload the dishes when they have cooled. Used dishes can be placed directly into the dishwasher and help alleviate having a sink full of dirty dishes.

True, there will be occasions when you may not have time to tidy. To combat this problem I propose that twice a day you set a timer for 20 minutes. Within this 20 minutes you quickly spot check the house and take care of anything that may need organized. This could be folding laundry, sweeping the kitchen floor, taking out garbage, putting away toys, etc. For chores that may take more time to complete such as dusting and vacuuming, choose two days a week that you will be able to complete these household tasks. Set an hour limit and plan to clean within that limit. It will take time to adjust to a cleaning schedule, but it is important to keep the routine. In a few weeks the schedule will become a habit and you will notice a more organized, clean home. If you are still having trouble keeping control, I suggest you try an inexpensive maid service.

Swept up by the current national poker craze, my friend and I embarked on an endeavor of epic proportions. We decided to build a poker table. Seth and I have been friends since nursery school, if not earlier. The summer before his wedding we decided to take up the challenge of building a poker table together. He has not yet moved into his new home with his wife, so every free afternoon and weekend was spent in his parents garage, planning and building this final project of his single life.

Seth had originally approached me with the table idea in late may. He had come across some plans on the internet and wanted to put them to use. I was interested in taking up the project until I saw the plans he was referring to. It consisted of using a common folding card table and putting the foam cushioned felt poker top on it. Needless to say it was a bit disappointing, and more importantly rather ugly. I convinced him we should take it up a notch and build the table base to felt from scratch. It was not exactly an arm twisting matter, and soon we found out selves within Home Depot.

There were a few issues, for one neither of us had built anything aside from the candelabra in wood shop. The other problem was that all out tools were under the prior ownership of Seth’s grandfather, or we at least of such an age, and in equally poor condition. Void of a clue, and any sort of decent blueprint we purchased the first batch of particle board for the table top and went to the garage.

That first time in the Depot was an exciting one, so much to buy, and theorize what we could use to make our table stand out. Little did we know that due to error, mistake, and necessity we would have to drive the fifteen minutes to and from the store almost every day we did any work at all. These reason’s included but were not limited to the following, Too few screws, Too many screws of the wrong size, rent a jigsaw, purchase blades for the jigsaw, purchase the correct blades for the jigsaw, purchase the actual correct blades for the jig saw, return the jigsaw, buy some more wood, buy some more wood, get wood stain, get the correct wood stain. The list goes on and on.

There was some luck that passed out way, for instance Seth’s then fiancé’ is a high school math teacher, who was full of the correct equations needed to ensure proper measurements, and since she was so kind in providing the equations we had no problem with letting her do the equations for us. As it turned out I was pretty handy with the jigsaw and Seth was pretty handy with the drill. It took more then a few days to get either properly working, but oh man once they were….look out.

Improvisation is a key when ever you are building something with no real clue as to how it will turn out. We had the hexagonal tabletop cut out. The problem was what to do for a base and legs. There was the simple option of drilling in three or four wooden posts into the top and leaving it at that. The four legged table image was not for us however. We wanted something classier, something more extravagant, some thing way beyond our skill level. Thus we returned to Home Depot for some on the spot inspiration, which we found in the form of an unfinished fence post. The post had the girth enough to act as a single central leg of the table. It was carved in a more curvaceous style then a simple rectangular block, and was very receptive to the application of wood stain. We had the leg but needed feet. We briefly explained our idea to a floor man at the Depot, who gave us a quick laugh and then walked away. Not discouraged, we came up with the idea of building a smaller and more ornate shadow of the hexagonal table top for the base. The result was a hexagon with four triangles cut out leaving a perfect cross with into balance it out. Finishing it off we put in four ninety degree banister accents on the cross wood where the post met the base. As an added bonus we put in four under table drawers that could hold poker chips and scotch glasses.

Seven month from the starting date, 263 screws, 8 square feet of high density foam, 12 square feet of felt, 3 cans of wood finish, half a tube of gorilla glue, one fence post, and 8 banister accents later, we had one fully functional poker table, and all twenty fingers. Soon after Seth moved into his new home and with him went the poker table. Seth has since got married and I have moved on to other non table making endeavors, and still after all of the work, the sweat, and the bleeding, we can not gather enough people to have a decent game of poker.

Is clutter taking over your house? Well join the club! Just how can you conquer it?
Well I have not conquered it, but I will share a few ideas of things that work for me.

A place for everything and everything in its place - ha! Not in my house! I live in a house where people drop stuff where they happen to be at that moment. I have a lot of really nice looking baskets placed in strategic spots throughout my house, ie: like the front door for mail and keys, in my kitchen for bills that need to be paid, in the bathroom for my daughters' hair doodads.

Fortunately, we have a great re-cycling program here where i live, so if in doubt, out it goes! Junk mail has very little chance of reproducing in my house. Thats the key, put the mail in one pile and junk mail in another. Immediately toss the junk and put the bills in the basket in the kitchen. I actually bought a basket with 4 slots. One with bills to be paid, one with new bills just coming in, and another one with school notices in it. (the trick there is to train your kids to deposit forms and notes in there and not leave them in their backpacks for months).

What's under your bed? (Dust bunnies don't count) There is a lot of storage space under there. Why not use it for the storage of off season clothes? (or in your child's room, use it for storing toys that they don't play with much). BUT before you do that. Sort it out. If you haven't worn it for a couple of years, what's the chance you will wear it now? Toss it! There a large variety of charities that will be willing to take them off your hands.

The same goes for kids clothes and toys. We have a yearly garage sale to dispose of them. (You MUST make sure that everything is in excellant repair). I also pass along some stuff to friends and relatives too. And of course, some I save for the next child in line. I have an old dresser that is stored in the garage for strickly that purpose.

Clutter is an ever present part of daily life. Its not an easy thing to deal with, but if you do a little every day, staying on top of it will be a piece of cake!

Check back soon for furniture and home related articles. Once we begin posting articles, you should find fresh content here every couple of days. Some of the topics you may find here in the future include:

- Selecting the right materials for your furniture
- Advantages and disadvantages of different types of wood furniture
- Home decor color coordination tips
- Accessorizing your living space
- Leather furniture buying guide