Organization 101

 Happy 2023 from us at CW Interiors! 

It's a whole new year! Starting in 2023, we want you to look around your home and feel surrounded with things that serve a purpose and make you happy. Between end of year sales and holiday gifting, many of us have spent the last few weeks adding items to our home. This month we will share tips on how to keep integrate the new, and part with the excess. 

We have lots of thoughts from our team, and bonus advice from Elizabeth Strauss, professional organizer at All Organized. We love her perspective, as she lives by the principle that each person goes to their own home at night. That home should be where they feel comfortable, not the product of someone else's version of comfort. What is good for me may not be good for you, and both are just fine ways of keeping a home. 

The team at CW Interiors has some daily principles that we use to help keep centered in life and at home.

I recommend that you make your bed every day, it helps to set the tone for the day. Even if everything else goes haywire, you can return to a tidy bed at night. 

Elizabeth recommends replacing the word *Organize with *Declutter. There are many ways to organize, decluttering is the purging of the unnecessary. 

Nicki has young children that love to create. Art projects, animal habitats, drawings and science experiments. If space allows, she recommends that you set aside a place for chaos. A table, nook, or corner of the house where everyone agrees it's OK that things are not all back in their designated spot at the end of the night. For those that don't live in Texas, this is ideal in a basement. 

Dawn suggests keeping a collection box available. This gives you a place for items that are ready to be re-homed. There can be multiple boxes, one for donation, one from big brother to little brother or, when the items are too used to live another life, keep a box for textile recycling. Keeping things in a box also keeps them portable, so when you realize that the errands of the day will take you right by a donation center you can easily move the box to your car for transport.

From my conversation with a professional, Elizabeth recommends to declutter in manageable bites. Going through an entire closet may seem overwhelming, but tackling the shirts may be a more palatable afternoon project. Try on every single shirt in your closet. Does it fit? Do you feel good wearing it? Is the style is something that you would wear today? If all answers are yes, hang it up. If the article doesn't meet that criteria, feel confident in parting ways. Regardless of what you paid for something, if it's not serving a purpose in your life it's just taking up space. Keeping a list of each item that you have decluttered can remind you that you're making progress.

We are including some resources for those that are ready to declutter but can't stand the thought of their items clogging up landfills. For those that are willing to do a little extra work:

DonateStuff.com is a place to donate accessories, clothing, small household items and shoes. You choose the charity that your donation benefits and set up a pickup date online. They will pick items up from your front porch!

Something Special is a resale shop that benefits the Montgomery County Women's Shelter. They provide a fully furnished apartment for those who stay in transitional housing apartments. The furniture and clothing and donations that are not used are then sold and the money is used to keep the shelter open and available. They take all household items that can fit in your car including good condition furniture, rugs, bridal gowns, art, tools and more. You can pull around to the back of the store where someone will receive the donations out of the trunk of your car. 

For those broken remotes, outdated MP3 Players, computers and other electronics, Amazon offers a free electronics recycling program. Visit Amazon Recycling and complete the form, box up your items and Amazon will provide a pre-paid mailing label. Your box can be dropped off at any UPS location. 

Book in good condition, public libraries love book donations. If you are local to The Woodlands, TX, the Montgomery County Memorial Library Systems will gladly accept your books and resell them in their second-hand shop. The sales benefit Friends of the Library, a foundation that provides library services to the public.

Are you drowning in Legos? Lego will provide a pre-paid mailing label for you to mail back your miscellaneous Lego, Duplo and Technic bricks through their Lego RePlay program. They sterilize the bricks and offer them to Teach For America for underprivileged children. 

Additionally, schools are happy to accept art and office supplies and many Lutheran churches in our area have quilting guilds that are thankful for extra fabric and sewing supplies. 

We hope this helps encourage you to declutter and re-home items that are no longer used or loved in your home. We further want you to love your surroundings and be comfortable in the space where you live. As always, if you are starting the new year with a design project, we would love to collaborate with you on making your space beautiful!

Iconic Holiday Homes

The holidays offer comfort in many different forms. Comfort in being in the presence of your loved ones, the comfort of eating the same food for the holidays, and the comfort that comes from repeating stories year after year - the stories that bind you as a group and keep you connected through mutual history. These shared memories are not always from experiences that you actually lived, they can be from other sources, like movies. 

"Holiday Classics" is a term that seems to start earlier and earlier each year; currently it begins right around Halloween. Holiday Classics are shared across families, but the must-watch movies of the season are personal, and often, generational. While Home Alone and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas are staples with my children, I prefer Love Actually or The Holiday when kids have gone to play with their gifts. The beauty of Holiday Classics is that they can both hold the attention of everyone in the family and/or provide a perfect background to the current holiday. The familiarity of these movies has become part of the tradition itself. 

While I love movies, I have a special place for iconic holiday movie homes. The decor in and outside of the houses say so much about the trends of the time and work themselves into the theme of the movie itself. Clark Griswold - you lovable holiday buffoon, the holiday light display in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is now a cultural synonym for an overzealous, desperate parent who attempt to earn your family's love. Before Clark goes overboard on the exterior of his house, let's take a gander at this completely overboard bathroom. Consistent with the 1970s and early 80s trend of running with a room color until you fill all the space, this bathroom is exactly why you need a home decorator. You like pink? Great! But let's not plaster the color in every nook and cranny possible. Sometimes, Clark, less is more.

What holiday would be complete without a visit from America's favorite 8 year old trickster, Kevin McCallister. Home Alone is favorite for the whole family, a child's fantasy of being without adult supervision while watching rated R movies while eating candy and jumping on the bed. Or the adult perspective of being so wrapped up in holiday and hosting and eating and traveling that you could actually fly to Europe without your youngest child. Throw in a cameo by John Candy and the comedic face of Joe Pesci while his head is fired by a blowtorch, and holiday magic is made. 

But let's talk about the house itself. There isn't much in this home that's actually alone. The house is full-to-the-brim with patterns and rugs and furniture and decor. Of course the chaos of the holiday is going to be overwhelming, with a room so jam packed with stuff that you can barely see a child standing front of the hearth, much less have space to sit and open Christmas morning presents, something is bound to go wrong. Perhaps if Mr. and Mrs. McCallister had focused their energy on the important things, instead of filling every corner so full that nothing can be enjoyed, they would be enjoying a holiday in Paris. A decorator would be able to funnel this energy into a tasteful room that can be altered for the holidays, but doesn't need to stay outfitted for Christmas 365 days of the year. Thankfully, this Winnetka, Illinois home was outfitted specifically for the movie, but does not have the permanent-Christmas decor in real life. 

 

For a newer holiday favorite, The Holiday is a great example of tasteful design perfectly reflecting the characters that live there. Kate Winslet plays Iris, a newspaper columnist in Surrey, England. She, of course, lives in this quaint, snow-dusted cottage that is filled with soft, comfortable furniture, roaring fireplaces, exposed stone walls and natural wood beams. The space is friendly and inviting just as someone might describe Iris. 

Compare that to the angular, symmetrical Los Angeles home of Cameron Diaz's character, Amanda. Not a leaf out of place in this high-powered movie-trailer creator's beautiful mansion. 

The inside is possibly more perfect than the outside. The natural light, the neutral color palette, it is as clean and crisp as you can get. Cold, devoid of personality, the kind of place you live in but is not meant to be *lived* in. Similar to Amanda as a character, she is impeccably styled, emotionally unavailable and keeps everyone in her life at arms length. Underneath it all, she is searching for meaning and love in a world of fake people and false realities. In both cases, life and home, you need to be willing to get a little dirty.

I hope your holidays are filled with comfort and joy. If you ever need help infusing your true personality into your own home, I would love to set up a meeting. 

Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! And cheers to a joyful new year!

Bringing It Home

Santa trucks are coming! And so are the holidays. And so are the visitors. 

I live in a community where the majority of the population are transplants. This means that most of the time, our celebrations are filled with friends that we regard as family, not necessarily true blood-bound family. The holidays create a different dynamic, this is the time of year when people are more likely to make the effort to visit their actual family, even if that family is not nearby. 

For many of us, this creates a self-created frenzy of "readiness" for hosting. Take the laundry list of household To-Dos from the last year and insist that they are completed in the next few weeks in preparation for the anticipated guests. The frenzy is amplified if our guests haven't seen the house in a long time (or ever before) and if we have made any design changes to the space since the last visit. 

The same concept applies if you happen to be hosting a big event; a retirement party, a birthday or even a dinner party with friends. 

Hurry! Unbox and hang all of this stuff by Thursday! 

Suddenly, the artwork you had framed months ago but is still leaning against the wall needs to be hung!

Those last half dozen moving boxes that you never got around to unpacking must go!

The gallery wall must happen before breakfast! 

The guest room that you haven't thought of since, well, maybe ever, needs new blinds! And curtains! Our guests are coming from the west coast so we can't possibly let the east-facing room be this bright!

Previously, we were going to go light on the Christmas decor this year, but now my in-laws are coming and we need to deck the halls!! 

In my heart I know that my in-laws will not mind if the artwork isn't hung or the garland is left off of the stairway, but it feels deeply important to complete these tasks. It is as if though my effort in perfecting things before a visit or event is a reflection on the appreciation I have for others willing to travel and share the event with our family.  

Everyone wants to be proud of the home they create, and I want that luxury for each and every one of you this holiday season. I know that for myself, when I am going through a difficult time - what I lovingly refer to as the "Struggle Bus" - I both need things to be done AND have no will to complete them. 

Every one of us has times where life is just too much to handle. A period of illness or the lethargy of winter or funneling all of your energy into helping someone else can leave you feeling sad and empty in your own space. This holiday season, I would like to help a few of my supporters who are on the Struggle Bus. Do you know someone who could use a boost? Decorating for the holidays or updating the color of their walls, please let me know if someone comes to mind who is going through a hard time and could use some happiness in their lives through design. CLICK HERE to nominate someone who is currently on the Struggle Bus, we will reach out to the chosen winners by December 1, 2022. 

Delayed Expectations

 
It took until my senior year of college before I heard of anyone pursuing an undergraduate degree in supply chain management. Since then, the idea of having everything from luxury items to daily necessities delivered to your front door has become commonplace. Add to that an increase in products that have parts made in several different countries, and a world where it seems everyone has a credit card saved and poised for instant purchases, and the phrase “supply chain” becomes common knowledge. 

Fast forward to today. Now you mix together a global pandemic, a labor shortage and a few weeks earlier this year where there was a ship, quite literally stuck in one of the major world shipping routes, and you get A Big. Ongoing. Problem. A problem that has created this year’s catchphrase: “Supply Chain Issues”.

So many products, sitting in a shipyard

Supply Chain Issues is a problem that hits me straight in the gut, personally AND professionally. Every order, every deadline, has a little asterisk next to it with the possibility of being delayed. I’ve seen delays before, but this has been a bit different. Maybe the doors are in stock, but we’re missing the glass, or the hardware, or the paint. Custom upholstered items have been especially difficult to anticipate, with a current minimum wait time of 24 weeks. 

This is a time where the relationship between designer and client is paramount. There is benefit to working with an experienced designer in this unique situation, I am familiar with a wide variety of options that can take us from idea to reality. Part of the consultation for any project is setting realistic expectations. The last thing I want is for a client to be waiting on an item without any recourse. When the original choice of a product is unavailable and a client is unable or unwilling to wait it out, I have a line-up of options in my back pocket. If a vendor is experiencing extreme delays, I can pivot to another vendor, or suggest another option that keeps the design and scope of the project intact. I am in constant communication with my vendors and in turn, my clients, to keep them as updated as possible on where we stand with a project. I am also tremendously thankful for the patience and grace of my clients as we navigate this global challenge together. 

We Appreciate You!

 This August we are taking time to acknowledge and thank the people who have made my business possible - Our Clients! 

CW Interiors truly began when I was a girl, observing homes and the people who live there. Why was this house built? What motivated their choices? What would I have done differently? Motivation and choice has always been a fascination of mine, how they influence each other and work their way into every nook of life. 

As my curiosity developed into a passion, I began helping friends make design choices within their own homes. How can I help a friend who is starting over in a new place make her house a home? An acquaintance from long ago is back in town and not sure where to begin after her parents sold her childhood home. Little by little these consultations for friends became phone calls from a stranger who received my name from someone else. I thrived in difficult environments, consulting with people who were working through unexpected life events, and developed a skill for understanding complicated needs. 

Before too long I was working full time with friends who began as strangers. I was then and continue to be astounded at the level of trust my clients instill in me. When design is approached from the viewpoint of motivation, it takes time and effort to realize the source. I have clients that know exactly why they are making a change. “I was told I couldn’t have children and now I’m pregnant with twins”, that motivates a certain kind of change. “My mother is no longer able to live alone, she moves in next month”, this motivates a completely different kind of change. Other clients have more opaque reasons for making a design change. This is part of my job as the designer, build the trust, find the motivation and make each change - difficult or celebrated - a beautiful, personal, livable choice. 

Trust does not come easily to everyone. For every person who made that first call, took a chance on my expertise, whether a friend or a stranger, I appreciate you. You have trusted me enough to let me into your home, and therefore, your life. 

I am overflowing with gratitude; I get to live my passion everyday because of the trust and confidence that my clients have in my ability to realize their dreams. Thank You!