Ocean Interiors, SHIPSHAPE ORGANIZING, ideas and gear to keep your house with minimum effort so you can go to the beach!

Ocean Interiors; Coastal Decor and Design inspired by the sea.

Latitude: 44.64625
Longitude: -64.06723

Simplify Your Life!
In Times Of Excess Responsibility. Seek Simplicity!

Clutter Buster Ideas
One of the biggest challenges people face is CLUTTER, both dealing with it and avoiding it. But, according to experts, there's really no need to stress over "mess", especially if you learn how to clean up your act, BEFORE it gets out of control.

Clutter is Costly
Are You Aware. "The Wall Street Journal reports that the average American business person loses six weeks a year searching for lost or misplaced articles from messy desks and files. Six weeks?"

What's Your Clutter Personality?

Tips on How To Conquer Clutter!

Time to Get Organized
Some argue that the pursuit of perfect order can exact a huge cost in money and time, producing needless guilt and anxiety. By Marilyn Gardner

Battle of the Basement - Spring Cleaning
According to a recent survey, nearly two-thirds of all adults do a spring cleaning, with the kitchen first on the priority list at 29 percent and the basement dead last at just 2 percent.

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OCEAN INTERIORS - SHIPSHAPE ORGANIZING
If You're Lucky Enough To Live By The Sea, You're Lucky Enough!

“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind,
of what, then, is an empty desk?”
–Albert Einstein

www.potterybarn.com

Try to stop clutter at the door, an Ocean Interiors home may be free spirited,
but shouldn't become an obstacle course.

You'll notice the below information actually describes Nautical Style, Coastal Design.
If you do nothing else but make the following changes you will have succeeded in transforming your home.

In Times Of Excess Responsibility. Seek Simplicity!

When you feel exhausted and overwhelmed by responsibilities and obligations:

Clear obstacles from passageways.
Minimize collections and decorative details.
Combine light, neutral colors with golden tones of natural wood.
Remove light-obscuring window treatments to fill rooms with soul-warming sunlight.
Replace wall-to-wall carpeting with natural wood flooring.
Choose lightweight, functional tables, shelves and seating.
Emphasize confident straight lines.
Seek symmetrical, balanced arrangements.
Ensure that all doors and windows open easily, even if you rarely use them.

www.simplify101.com

Above is NOT my office! I only wish it were.
http://design-milk.com/pretty-organized/

2007 American Express Magazine Ad - Tina-Fey

(Actress and comedienne Tina Fey, 37, is featured along with her daughter,
Alice Zenobia, who turns 2 tomorrow, in new print ads for American Express credit cards.)

I work surrounded by piles of paper, teetering lampshades, draped yards of fabric, measuring tapes of all sizes and colours, scribbled notes of brilliant ideas (?) and magazines, magazines, magazines - because for me "Out of sight - Out of mind" forever! So every once in a while when it all gets to be too much, I ransack the whole room - usually with help - because organizing a whole room in a day is much more fun with a friend - the truth - they make you toss things you'd stuff back in there until next time. The point is know your "clutter personality". Then organize accordingly - makes life easier (and if you repeat any of this I'll deny it all!)

FindArticles - The office: don't let your messy office hold you back—clear the clutter, spruce up the design, and organize the space so it works for youEntrepreneur, Oct, 2005, by April Y. Pennington

MSNBC Readers' Messy Desks

CLUTTER BUSTERS: Simple Strategies For Cleaning Up Your Act!

One of the biggest challenges people face is CLUTTER, both dealing with it and avoiding it. But, according to experts, there's really no need to stress over "mess", especially if you learn how to clean up your act, BEFORE it gets out of control.

1. Front and Center: Deal with items such as loose change, keys, mail, etc. right at the front door. Consider a console or nearby shelf on the wall on which to place things neatly and out of the way. And, don't forget to sort mail immediately tossing anything you'd consider junk (though that doesn't include bills).

2. Book Ban: Get rid of old books and magazines that are piling up on the table, nightstand, or on the office or living room floor. Consider donating books to hospitals, hospices, nursing homes or to your local library. You can donate magazines to your local salon, doctor's or dentist's office. Organize books and magazines you intend to keep on shelves or in a smart magazine file.

3. Counter Countertop Clutter: Make it a "ritual" to clear off tabletops and countertops when you are finished using them or before you retire for the evening. And, don't let things pile up. Also make sure to have a safe storage spot for remotes and think about getting a universal one to program most of your entertainment systems, limiting the confusion and the clutter.

4. Fun And Games: No doubt children want and need toys, but they certainly don't need to have them "everywhere". Make sure you clean up after really small children or help youngsters clean up after themselves. Have a designated play area in your home and a storage crate to hold the essentials. and think about color-coding each crate for each child.

5. Take A Load Off Doing The Laundry: Make sure everyone knows to put their clothes in a hamper (not on the floor) when they are dirty or when they take them off. And, make sure you separate whites, darks, and colors beforehand. Finally, consider doing a load of laundry in small increments, before each basket is full, to avoid laundry overload.

6. Learn To Bottle Things Up: Open bags can take up lots of space and simply look messy. Consider instead storing chips, nuts, etc. in pretty glass (or plastic) containers that can be moved from room to room, offer airtight storage, can easily be stored or displayed.

7. Stop Playing Hide And Seek With Your Hardware: Instead of rummaging through boxes, drawers, etc. for the necessary, nut, bolts and screwdrivers, consider investing in a pegboard. You can buy a sheet at your local hardware store and hang it on an "inconspicuous" wall, then purchase the accompanying accessories designed to help you organize.

By: Jason Flintstone: LIFamilies.com - Family community for Long Island, NY

http://www.organizetips.com/clutter2.htm

Here are a few statistics for you:

The average working person spends less than 30 seconds a day in meaningful communication with their children. OK now, this one can't be reversed!!

In the last 20 years, working time has increased by 15 percent and leisure time has decreased by 33 percent.

Not looking good.

None of those worked? I bet there were some butterflies in someone's tummy. That's all right, cause now I'm going to hit you where it hurts. Let's look at this in terms of dollars and cents.

Are You Aware. "The Wall Street Journal reports that the average American business person loses six weeks a year searching for lost or misplaced articles from messy desks and files. Six weeks?"

That translates into a loss of $3,125 for each $25,000 employee, when an hour a day is spent unproductively. Multiply that toward your hourly rate, or by the number of employees in your office. This unproductive time amounts to a significant financial loss for a business. But if turned around organizing can make you a better profit.
(-Dr. Donald E. Wetmore}

Kyna Morrison Owner/author www.aptorganizing.com

What's Your Clutter Personality?

by Cynthia Townley Ewer
Editor, OrganizedHome.Com

It's silent. It's sneaky. It creeps about in corners: clutter. As the weather warms, it's tempting to launch an all-out battle in the war against clutter.

First, though, know your enemy! There are as many reasons for household clutter as there are clutterers. As Pogo says, "We have seen the enemy, and he is us!"

Take aim on your household's clutter problem by going to the root of the problem: your own thinking. Do these clutter voices strike a chord?

This page comes from OrganizedHome.Com: clean, cut clutter, get organized

http://organizedhome.com

A Perfect Mess: The hidden benefits of disorder.
How crammed closets, cluttered offices, and on-the-fly planning make the world a better place.

Do you have a messy desk? Welcome to the club - most people do. And if you're like two out of three people, you feel guilty and ashamed about it, as well as about the lack of neatness and organization in your home, your office, your schedule, your parenting, and everywhere else in your life. And other people probably give you grief about it. But are messiness and disorganization really such terrible things? If so, why do people who keep their desks very neat spend an average of 36 percent more time looking for things at work than people who keep a fairly messy desk?

http://www.aperfectmess.com/

back to top

www.potterybarn.com

Conquering clutter is easier said than done for those of us who cannot resist—stuff! If you frequent garage sales, antique stores, malls and flea markets—or—if your home has become smaller over the years due to a slow accumulation of things, than there are steps you can take to organize everything. The following article offers strategies to cope with clutter room by room while providing storage solutions and organizational management of your household items.

Generally the living room is where you entertain company so it makes sense to begin there. For living rooms that are truly lived in, shelving makes a big difference provided you keep your shelves organized. Bookcases and shelving units can easily become cluttered so consider well what you need them for. One option is to purchase colored boxes that match your décor and store magazines, photos, candles, cds and other odds and ends in them. This way, guest only see the neat arrangement of pretty boxes punctuated with books and interesting bookends.

Also, instead of pedestal side tables and an open style coffee table, purchase trunks to be used as tables. Many coffee tables are designed to enclose items like books and photo albums. This is a practical way to keep your stuff handy but out of sight at the same time. Try to limit furniture to essential pieces even if you switch pieces seasonally. An overcrowded room is an uninviting space.

Unfortunately, most bathrooms are small—too small for all the stuff that needs to be there like towels, toiletries, cleaning supplies, etc…If space permits, a water-resistant chest at the foot of the sub is an alternative spot for towels and will free up linen closet space for other items you need stored there. There are also inexpensive shelving units that sit above your toilet for additional and attractive storage. And, instead of shoving items all about your medicine cabinet, arrange them in small tins or containers for a more organized look.

The master bedroom should be a place of relaxation. It may be hard to relax when all your clothes are spilling out of your too-small closet. Instead of purchasing another dresser, buy or even make a simple free standing armoire. Angle it in front of a corner. Not only will you have a more space to hang clothes, you’ve created a storage spot behind it where you may store totes of out-of-season clothes. If the top of the unit is flat and sturdy enough, stick your television up there or decorative baskets filled with linens.

Try to make the most of all your space—even under the bed. There are shallow totes available made to fit under the bed. These are perfect for magazines, craft supplies, shoes, wrapping paper, etc…Again, keep furniture to a minimum. If your chair becomes a discarded clothing magnet, get rid of it since it’s not used for sitting anyway. A stack of decorative hatboxes makes a charming and useful storage element for socks, pantyhose, greeting cards, jewelry, etc…

Children’s bedrooms need particular attention on a regular basis. If possible, devote an entire wall to a shelving center. Plain wood works best and may be bolted to the wall in a series of box-like shelves that will hold plastic bins and boxes of toys. Keep soldiers in one, dolls in another. Begin teaching your children how to organize by storing each type of toy separately.

Basements can become extremely unruly with clutter. Best thing to do—take a weekend (or a week) and empty it out. Put up several industrial shelving units available at most home improvement stores. Arrange them in aisles so both sides of the unit are accessible. Then, holiday supplies on one, nostalgic high school and college items for another, household cleaners on another and so forth. If the look bothers you, section off a corner and put up decorative screens.

Finally, treat yourself to a trip to a storage or container store for as many organizing gadgets as you can afford—and then use them. Often the problem of clutter is that there is not an adequate space to keep them. An alternative might be to visit a flea market where you’ll find boxes, crates, shelves and many odds and ends you may be able to fix up and use in your home or garage.

Copyright © 2005, Ian White

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ian_White

world clocks, perpetual calendars, count down to important events etc.

Time to get organized - but not too much?

Some argue that the pursuit of perfect order can exact a huge cost in money and time, producing needless guilt and anxiety. By Marilyn Gardner

High on many people's list of New Year's resolutions this week is a two-word goal: "Get organized."

Determined listmakers dream of pristine rooms, uncluttered desks, color-coded closets, even alphabetized spice racks. They vow that this year they'll vanquish the disorder that surrounds them. "A place for everything, and everything in its place" becomes a longing, a mantra, an enduring dream.

Down with messiness! Up with neatness! Or maybe not.

Today a fledgling pro-mess movement is gathering steam. Its advocates argue that the pursuit of perfect order can exact a huge cost in money and time, producing needless guilt and anxiety.

David Freedman, author, with Eric Abrahamson, of a just-published book, "A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder," sums up the new philosophy by saying, "A willingness to embrace mess can be a celebration of life."

To anyone who loves order, that premise can be hard to embrace. Who wants to step over clutter or search endlessly for keys?

Charting the rise of a "thriving industry of get-organized gurus," Mr. Freedman notes that home-organizing products constitute a $6 billion industry. Closet-organizing systems rake in another $3 billion. We tell ourselves that If we just read the right books and buy the proper storage bins, life will be blissfully under control. On the assumption that we can't do it ourselves, an army of professional organizers stands ready to invade our closets and reorder our files - for a hefty fee. The message is clear: Americans are sending up a giant SOS, which in this case could stand for Sort Our Stuff.

Sitting in the sunny kitchen of his family's gray colonial in Needham, Mass., surrounded by children's art on the walls and a friendly jumble of pictures and cards on the refrigerator, Freedman calls messiness "a huge source of tension" in relationships in America.

"If you have big differences, and you're not willing to compromise, it can become a real wedge in a relationship," he says. Although some people clearly fit into one category or the other, he finds that most are a "really interesting mixture." In general, women consider themselves neater than men, although men often disagree. In some cases, one spouse is neater in every way.

"My wife is messier than I am," he says. "But there are some things that drive her nuts. My computer on the kitchen table drives her nuts."

Like many couples, they go through mess cycles. "We used to have a lot of arguments about mess. Working on the book made me reconsider whether it was ever worth it to argue about straightening up."

Freedman describes Americans as "sort of medium on the mess/neatness spectrum." He ranks Italy high on the list, noting that people there are more comfortable with messiness. At the other extreme is Japan, a "very neat" society.

For Americans, the problem has gotten worse. "We're a very acquisition-oriented society. We have become terrific at getting things, and not so good at getting rid of things."

When I was growing up, I was aware of only one messy house on our street. Dirty dishes piled up in the sink. Folded laundry crowded the dining room table, waiting to be put away. And no wonder. The family had five children, and the wife worked part time in her husband's business. The rest of us took neatness for granted as our homemaker mothers straightened to shiny perfection.

Today, working parents find those exacting standards hard to duplicate. Defending children's messy rooms, Freedman says, "Kids have a lot more to do, and a lot more creative outlets. Creativity is very deeply entwined with messiness. Some parents recognize that it's more important for kids to be stimulated and nurtured and to be creative than it is to be really neat."

Children, Freedman continues, live in a "very busy, very messy environment" of massive backpacks, iPods, cellphones, and instant messages. "They thrive in it. Test scores have been rising for kids." At the same time, he finds plenty of young people who are "neat freaks."

Freedman is not saying that messier is always better. Nor is he making a case for being a slob. It's a matter of finding a balance. "In good ways," he adds, "we are destined to get more messy - less ordered, less structured. The world is fast changing. Change is the enemy of neatness. Mess embraces change."

He advises those with a modest amount of mess to appreciate it. "A modest amount is comfortable. It's expressive and highly personalized."

But to the relief of those who love order, even mess apologists have their standards. "It feels good to straighten up," Freedman says. "I appreciate neatness."

from the January 03, 2007 edition - the Christian Science Monitor

As spring approaches, so does the dreaded spring cleaning. According to a recent survey, nearly two-thirds of all adults do a spring cleaning, with the kitchen first on the priority list at 29percent and the basement dead last at just 2percent. The two main reasons the basement is dead last are that it’s the most cluttered part of the house, and therefore the most work, and becaue nobody wants to spend a beautiful spring day digging around the basement.

So we suggest you separate the basement from the rest of the spring cleaning which you normally do in April or May, and do it now when the weather’s still pretty lousy.

Here are some ideas to make the task easier and to get some additional benefits from it:

Make it a family affair. Set up the CD player, grab everybody’s favourites, and go to it. You'll find the work gets done quicker and doesn't seem as much of a chore.

While cleaning, check the walls and floors for any signs of winter damage like cracks or water seepage. Note any problems you find and have them fixed before they get worse.

De-clutter by throwing out stuff you no longer need.

Free up floor space by using shelving units or labeled stacking plastic storage boxes.

Combine the cleaning with garage sale preparation. Set aside a section of the basement exclusively for garage sale items and as you place them there record them on a list that you can review later for pricing. Or if you're not interested in having a garage sale, set aside items for pickup by a local charity.

www.presidentschoice.com

What they found was that you don't need to build new storage (though there is a plan for an "everything closet" to cover all needs). Once you start arranging by shape or color or you invest in some great old cabinets or baskets, what was once clutter can become a collection. Vintage or new pegs and hooks are great to look at and can hold it all, from necklaces in the bedroom to coats and hats in the mudroom. Old benches can be stacked as bookshelves. Runners can be installed on the bottom of kitchen shelves, doubling your storage space for stemware. Drawers can be retrofitted with special slots for your silver, or you can amass a collection of pressed glass and use it to display your cutlery.

A Place for Everything is filled with stylish and sensible advice for clutter control in kitchens and dining rooms, living rooms and dens, bedrooms, baths, sheds, and basements. And tucked between the chapters are special sections with ideas for coping with photographs and collections, paper and pencils, and countless other little items. What's more, A Place for Everything gives you a chance to peek behind all those closed doors.

LYNN E HURST, P.O. BOX 431, HUBBARDS, N.S., CANADA, B0J 1T0

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