This is a great idea for your walls, especially if you have school age kids (or grandkids!).

These frames have hidden hinges so that the front can swing open. Inside, there is room to store up to 50 pieces of paper (ahem, works of art). Makes for a dynamic display on your walls, and provides storage for the avalanche of masterpieces that come home from school. So if your fridge could use a break, pick these up while they’re on sale!

Check them out at www.dynamicframes.com.

The lazy days of summer are almost over and cooler weather is just around the corner. Now is the perfect time to clear out any lingering clutter you may have in your home!  Everyone knows that fall  brings big holidays, busy school weeks and cozy nights indoors, so take a bit of time now to edit what you have.  Keep what you love and throw a great garage sale with what you don’t. Your closets will thank you!

Now that you’ve de-cluttered your home do you need some help making it look its best? Visit the Style Store at thehomestylist.com and choose from one of my consultation packages. They’re quick, easy and totally affordable!

Summer furniture is made to be very resilient to the whims of Mother Nature. But as the summer season comes to a close, it’s a good idea to take the time to store your furniture properly. First you should take your typical local weather into account. Live up north? You will want to bring all your furniture indoors for the off-season – whether it be in a garage, sturdy shed or a dry basement.  Living a little farther south? You can probably get away with covering furniture with tarps, either custom made to fit your furniture or a regular one that is properly secured with bungee cords. Live in an area where summer never ends? Count your blessings while lounging on your deck in November, just don’t be surprised if we’re ringing your doorbell!

Now that you’ve put your home on the market, it’s time to stage it beautifully so it will sell quickly (and hopefully for an enormous profit!). One of the most critical areas in your home to stage is the entryway. You want to impress buyers the minute they step through your door, and in order to do that, your entryway must be tidy, inviting and effortlessly stylish.Because you never get a second chance to make a first impression!

Reality check: most of us are still living in our homes while they’re on the market, the operative word here being live. And life is sometimes pretty messy. Here at THE HOME STYLIST we have some easy solutions for keeping your entryway neat and attractive. For example, as you can see in this photo, corrale backpacks on hooks hung on kid level. Not only will it help make you look organized, it will actually help you be organized!  Want more great ideas for organizing your home? Visit us at our website, www.thehomestylist.com.

Have you ever had one of those mornings where you’re already a solid 10 minutes late, you’re running out the door (often trying to herd others out the door with you), when everything comes to a dead stop because you can’t find your keys/ your phone/ that permission slip that was sent home weeks ago and you’re sure you signed, you just don’t know where it is? Well, most of us here at THE HOME STYLIST have! In fact, we’ve had more of those mornings than we care to count. So what do we do? We go to our design guru for advice (yeah, working in the cubicle next to an acclaimed stylist does have its perks!).

Here are some great suggestions Julie Dana gave us:

1. Assess your family’s needs. Are important papers always going astray? Is there one or more members of the household constantly doing a last-minute shoe hunt when they’re trying to get out the door? Do keys and cell phones seem to grow legs and wander off? 

2.Create a command central somewhere in your home. Preferably a mudroom, but any place en route to the car will do and get organized!  Install hooks on the wall for keys and bags. Place a bench with some storage underneath (we love this one from Ikea, pictured here) so everyone has a place not only to remove shoes, but to store them. If possible, create a re-charging station cellphones, ipods and other essential devices (There are so many to choose from these days, it doesn’t have to be fancy. We found wall-mount cups, again from Ikea, for about $2.99 a piece that do the trick). Add a paper sorter and a wastebasket (the paper sorter for important papers that have to go with you out the door, the wastebasket for sorting through the junk that comes in your door) and you’ve got a space that could mobilize an army.

3. Stick to it! Make sure everyone uses the space to its full potential and you’ll see that getting out the door on time will become the easiest part of your day! 

As the weather starts to break and the sunshine highlights the dust bunnies and dirty windows, it is time for a really good cleaning frenzy.

Do you need some help? encouragement? a plan?

Check out this website: http://www.totallytogetherjournal.com/

The same blogger that did crockpot cooking everyday for a whole year (2008) has some great advice with a dash of humor to help you get your house organized, clean and meals planned. Sounds good, right?!

I like this website and blog because it makes the tasks not seem so overwhelming.
 

I particularly like her post on the huge task of SPRING CLEANING

http://www.totallytogetherjournal.com/super-simple-spring-cleaning

Julie