Cramped and Crowded?
"The cheapest way to add square footage to your house is to get rid of clutter and organize your space."
-- Bryce Cooper, Design on a Dime, HGTV
- Understand the best purpose for each room and organize around that.
- Change lighting, paint and layout to create a sense of openness and transparency.
- Rearrange existing furnishings and decor to open up space.
Too Much Stuff?
- Figure out the best way to store and protect your valuable possessions.
- Use closets and cabinets more effectively.
- Decide what to get rid of and what to keep.
- Build custom storage or use ready-made.
Need a Custom Closet?
- Custom-designed through Ridgewood Closets of New Jersey (www.ridgewoodclosets.com)
- Adjustable shelves and poles.
- Built in Ridgewood's own showroom/wharehouse, so any space can be accommodated.
- Long, medium and double-hang areas combine to maximize storage space.
- Laminate, acrylic, or glass doors for added protection.
Tips for the holiday season:
First of all, decide to not be stressed. Start each day by doing a little yoga - even one or two stretches - and repeating an affirmation to yourself, something like "Today I choose to be calm and walk through the world with ease."
Make a list of all the things that you think you need to get done between now and the end of the year. We often try to do more than we think we can because we have an ideal picture of what we should be in our minds. Then when we can't do everything on our lists by our deadline, we feel bad about ourselves. Be realistic and cross out half of them to get yourself out of the Guilt Loop.
Print out a blank calendar or if you keep your calendar on Microsoft Outlook, print that. Cross out the last week before the holiday that you celebrate. Take a look at your calendar - if you have appointments that week, move them or cancel them if you can. Give yourself that week to get the things done to make your holiday a peaceful and happy time.
See if there are any other appointments you can shift to January or cancel to free up time and space in your life this month.
Give yourself permission to say "no" when you are offered new things to add to your calendar this month. Even if every one of the invitations sounds fun, you will not enjoy the holiday season as a whole if you lose sight of the big picture and over-schedule yourself.
Take a look at your list again and try to group errands that are near each other. Schedule them on your calendar at times when traffic and crowds won't slow you down. Give yourself a couple of full days to do your shopping. Shop as much as you can online so that you don't have to add in travel time.
Get extra help. Have someone clean your house. Hire a neighborhood teenager to wrap your gifts, address envelopes for you, or watch your kids so you can get something done in the house.
Ask a friend or relative to cook a double meal and do the same so that you can trade off and have two dinners in the time that it takes to make one. Make one night during holiday week be pizza or take-out night. Give yourself a break.
As a reward for letting go of extra stress this holiday season, give yourself a gift - get a massage, spend an afternoon hiking or at a museum, go for coffee with a friend.