How to Buy Art

Anytime your redoing your home or getting into a new one,

you will have to consider the artwork in your space.

ART will change the overall feel of your room. I'm gonna give you

 5 Interior Designer tips to consider before you shop.

1. What is your budget?

 Allow 20-30% of rooms allotted total money to spend. A home can 

seem really empty without the proper amount of art.

2. Do you want original artwork or remade prints?

This is preference. You can start with prints and always work

 your way towards original art as you go.

3. How do you feel about photography, mirrors, and other items

mixed in? 

Photography and mirrors can help balance out your space.

Make sure to take pictures of your room with you to shop. This way

you can refer back to exactly what you need in the room.

4. What is the desired size of the piece your looking for?

You don't have to cover the entire wall, but think about

 bigger pieces for larger areas or collage groupings.

5. What style of artwork do you want for this room?

The art in your home says a lot about who you are and your

personality. Think about the type of look you want. It might change

per room, but try to get a sense for your overall look.

Now you are ready to shop! But where do you go?

Remade Prints and Framed art:

(These are the places I go if I am working on a model home,

 staging to sell, or if the client has a lower budget for accessories.)

* Home Goods/ TJMaxx

*Pier 1

*Old Time Pottery

*Kirklands

Furniture stores have great Artwork too...

*Z Gallerie

* Pottery Barn

*Restoration Hardware

*West Elm

Places to find original Art:

*Local Art Galleries

*Ebay! There are artists that will sell original pieces unframed.

*Art Crawl in Franklin, TN. Held the first Friday of the month in Historic downtown Franklin.

*College Art shows. If the school has an art department, find out when they have sales. 

I have found some great pieces this way!

*Contract an artist to make a custom piece. 

My favorite artist and friend, Heather Spriggs Thompson 

has done contract pieces for some of my clients. 

This is the best way to customize art just for you!

10 Best Organizing Products

When your home is organized, things run more efficiently. Organizing will save you money because you will know what you have and won’t make duplicate purchases. (You know who you are…. Ok you can point at me too…) And finally, you will feel better in an organized, beautiful space. You will want to be there.

Today I want to share with you my 

TOP 10 BEST PRODUCTS FOR ORGANIZING.

These items can work in multiple areas with lots of different possibilities for taming the clutter.

1. DOOR ORGANIZING SYSTEM

The elfa gift wrap door and wall rack is good for so many reasons. If you have

 a home that has minimal storage, this allows you to keep all your wrapping paper

 and gift bags in one place. Rather than shoved under a bed or a corner, this system 

allows you to see what you have clearly. Gift wrap is definitely an item that you need 

at the last minute. If you can't see what you have clearly, then you will make the trip

 to Walgreens and pay triple for what you might already have.  This system is easy to use 

and install. Since the elfa door rack hooks under and over your door, there is no need

 for screwing into the door. And the system tightens and stays firm on your door.

 The shelves and baskets are adjustable.

Some use this same system for their pantry.
I have mine set up for gift wrap and love it!

#2 CLEAR SHOE SLIDING DRAWERS

From BHG

These clear shoe drawers are great for keeping your shoes visible and separated. 

But I use them for storage under the sink. What a great way to store dish towels
 and sponges. You can use these drawers for all sorts of toiletries in a bathroom as well.

#3 FRIDGE BINZ

 The fridge binz work great inside the fridge as well as the pantry to organize
 all types of containers, but you can use them in a office or craft room as well.

#4 RASKOG CART

The raskog cart is a versitale work horse. There are so many ways to use this baby.

From BHG

In the laundry room you can organize cleaning supplies and store the cart
where it is out of the way when not being used.

From Sugar and Cloth

Here it is used as a bar cart. I love the pop of color this adds to this room.

From Triple the Scraps

While there are many other uses for this beautiful cart, my favorite is for the craft room.

I am going to use my raskog cart to organize supplies in my studio. 

#5 LABEL MAKER

Having a label maker will pull your organizing efforts to a more pleasing result. When it looks polished, you will feel like it is complete and you will use the system if you are happy with the way it turned out.  I also use my cri-cut to cut vinyl letters for bigger items.

#6 GREAT RECYCLE BINS

There are a lot of recycle bins out there. I like these because they stack for easier storage, and when you need to haul your recyclables, you have a nice handle to help you out. While we all want to do our part and recycle, we still have to make it convenient so we will keep it up!

#7 A CHARGING STATION

No matter where you come into your home, your stuff needs a place to land. This charging station could work in your entry, kitchen, bedroom or office. Keeping your camera and phone in a consistent place saves time when you need to make a quick call or capture a moment.

#8 SLOTTED INTERLOCKING DRAWER ORGANIZERS

Drawer organizers help maximize your storage capability. This one allows you to customize what you need and change the configuration at any time. Beyond organizing clothes, you can use in the office, bathroom, kitchen, or dining hutch. 

#9 GLASS JARS

 These glass jars focus on the beauty of what you are storing rather than masking it. They can be used for beauty supplies and soaps, show off art supplies, or food items as well. It is a simple and pretty

storage solution.

#10 UTILITY TOTE

This utility tote can do it all, literally. You can head to the ball park, a trip out of town,

organize baby's things,

or even have an office on the go.

From Thirty One

The same company sells lots of organizing totes and bins.

You can monogram them for the one purpose or pick the perfect fabric 

and use it as many ways as you can think of.

These are my favorite must haves!

What systems do you use for organizing?

Let me know in the comments below. 

I'd love to hear from you!  :-)

Cleaning with a Cause

Cleaning out your closets can be a very daunting task. When I'm hired to organize for someone else, the task is easy, but when  faced with your own "hidden" mess, it can become harder to deal with.  But I write today out of a new perspective. I am not a hoarder by all means, but I hang on to clothes and pack my closet full!  I am sure there are phycological explanations, but I simply want lots of options. However, I will stand in front of my closet claiming I have nothing to wear! And I promise my bedroom was clean until I tried to find something to wear....

Am I the only one?

So, today I wanted to share..

 The 5 reasons to clean with a cause

1. BeCAUSE you have too much ~ you can't see anything at all. There is a saying that you need to "have" the stuff before it "has" you! Not only do you feel that your drowning, but you will stand out of your closet and wonder what in the world to wear, its just so overwhelming.

 2.. Pull everything out!  BeCAUSE you need to see everything clearly.  Grab three boxes and label them: Keep, donate and trash. You can actually put the "Keep" pile on your bed.

3. Try everything on beCAUSE your closet is precious real estate.
 You need to ask yourself these questions.

      A. Does it fit?

      B. Is it in style?

      C. Does it make me feel good?

      D. Is it worn out?

4. Systems in place will CAUSE you to save time!

 Look at your closet and see if you need new ways to store your items.

-Maybe you need additional racks or boxes at the top for seasonal items.

Besides reworking the guts of your closet, you need to work the emotional aspect of your closet.

-I recommend the stylebook app. This app helps you organize your clothes by outfits and plan what to wear. Click on one of the two pictures below to download this app.

5. Finally, give away the donate box for a CAUSE.

I have had yard sales, given to Goodwill, and consigned many things.

But there is nothing in this world like giving to those in need.

I am part of an amazing mom's Bible study at the YMCA.

We decided to join with a ministry to collect spring/summer clothes 

for refugees in our local community.

The YMCA let us have collection boxes out. 

The word spread and the event went

from clothes to toys and food.

The thing about this type of giving, is you will almost always dig deeper. 

You will find items that you thought you needed (when there was no face involved)

 But there is a freedom from giving it away.

Almost as if we were created to give and care for one another.

Some of the sorting we did ahead of time.

A local church rents an apartment in this neighborhood 

just to store food, clothes, and the like.

Here we are setting up.

I brought my kids to help set up and so they could see the people they were helping.

It is my hope that serving will have a trickle down effect.

We had food donations from 2nd harvest food bank, churches, the YMCA, etc.

Unlike a yardsale, this event went quick!

Families were so grateful.

What an amazing experience to serve those in our community.

Things don't matter as much as people. 

Cleaning with a CAUSE will change you. Go through your things and see what you can put back in rotation.  Below are some other great places to give.

Homeless:   http://www.nashvillerescuemission.org

Abused women:    http://ywcanashville.com/get-involved/donate

Residential program for women who have survived drugs, prostitution, trafficking, and life on the streets:    http://www.thistlefarms.org/index.php/about-magdalene

If you need help organizing your closet or have other ideas on where to give, leave me a comment below. I'd love to hear from you!!

I wanna go to art camp

Spring is the best time of year to clean, organize and plan.  Even planning for the ever approaching summer ahead. In our house we plan trips, VBS, and any other summer camps before they get booked up.

Today I wanna highlight one of my favorite camps. The Art Express is an art school that goes into local schools and holds various art camps throughout the year. My youngest son has gone to several of their camp sessions. It is always new and exciting! 

What kids take away from this is more than just doing a craft or picking up a paint brush.  At the Art Express camp there is a strong approach to art appreciation. They focus on a different artist each week. Your kids will walk away with a true love for all the things they learned and are so proud of what they created.

At every turn there is interactive learning.

Always fun ways to show how art tells a story.

So many different ways to create their own works of art.

This is my son doing a splatter art piece. He has it hung in his room.

The founder, Jessi Cherrico teaches kids that everyone can

unlock their artistic side.

Kids learn art through games...

Experiments....

Group participation...

Kids learn through playing!

They get messy! And LOVE it!!

They learn ~imagine ~ and Create.

I love this piece! I have it hung in my studio.

This is from the "Creative Christmas" camp this past December. He had fun hitting the yule log!

The Art Express Camp has the best approach to teaching kids art!  If you can get a spot in one of their summer weeks, you will be blessed! Since they do a different artist every time, you will always take away something new.

I WANNA GO!

But for now, I will live through my son. 

For more information click the link below to sign up for summer camp or a mini camp they do throughout the year.

http://www.theartexpress.org

Let me know what you think of this Awesome Art camp in the comments below.

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