Got Clutter?

Join the crowds! Seems like that’s the big title on magazine articles! There has even been a surge of new TV programs to talk about ways to declutter the house. And professional organizers are popping up all over. I’ve seen bumper stickers that ask, “Want to clear out the clutter?” with a phone number. It reminds me of the movie “Ghost Busters”…who ya gonna call?

Signature HomeStyles, of course! Most of our readily visible clutter is there because we want things close at hand. When we tuck it away, it just creeps back. That’s where our beautiful baskets come in. They organize all the things we want to have within easy reach in a decorative and tasteful way. If you want to test whether you need a basket in a particular spot, just watch what keeps creeping back!

When I need to get an area organized, I sort in three categories: Toss, donate (or garage sale) and keep. The best way to make sure the toss pile is larger than the keep pile is to ask myself, ‘Why am I keeping this?’ It’s especially true for the highest shelves in those cluttered closets. Things I’m not ready to let go of yet get moved up…maybe next time I’ll be more willing to part with them! And somehow donating or moving things via a garage sale feels better than tossing so I find that I am much more willing to get rid of things. After all, we have all this clutter because we have too many things!

As hard as it is to toss things, I also have a couple of ways to force myself to do this. When I have worn things, I put the hangers on the rod backwards. Then I can clearly see what I have not worn and make a decision to either wear it or donate it. I have baskets in most of my drawers and when one becomes full and I have to dig to find something, I set it on the counter and find 5 minutes to sort that basket. I also try really hard to donate an equal number of things I no longer use whenever I purchase something new.

Organized Attack

Now and then I’ll have an area that simply needs a full fledged “attack,” not just a small basket at a time, but big cardboard boxes at a time: One marked ‘garbage’ and one marked ‘donate.’ There’s something about having those marked boxes sitting just outside the door of the room when you sort it that forces you to fill them up. Why do we keep paint cans when we no longer have that color in the house? Last week I tossed wallpaper that is no longer in the house! I keep things I don’t need. We all do and we just have to take the time to toss and reorganize. I felt so good when I cleared the clutter out of my furnace room!

A recent research report on home organization states that organization products have grown at a rapid pace over the past five years because consumers have a penchant for purchasing a lot of “stuff” which has led to clutter-filled homes which has led to the need for organization in nearly every room of the house. The research further reported that consumers can’t bear disorganization in their homes and feel a sense of calmness when things are organized. They are looking for new ideas to rid their homes of clutter.

So Signature HomeStyles Clutter Busters are here to answer the call!

Shoot For the Moon!

This past weekend was the 40th anniversary of the United States landing on the moon. It was great to see the photos again and hear the famous words, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” I can remember being glued to the television watching all the tense moments leading up to the landing and celebrating the accomplishment by watching the astronauts parading in New York City. When President John F. Kennedy challenged our nation to land on the moon, many thought it would be an impossible, even a ridiculously outrageous vision for America.

Stories I saw over the weekend looked back at the process to make that dream a reality. Scientists at NASA were challenged, enthusiastic and focused on the goal. They worked extremely long and hard hours. Now stories show that they took many risks, even almost running out of fuel prior to the famous lunar landing. Ground control had tremendous challenges with communication and systems during the flight. All these challenges made the success even sweeter and set the stage for even greater future accomplishments in the space program.

So was it a ridiculously outrageous vision? Did JFK ever wonder himself about the dream a whole country had embraced? What about other dreamers? Historians have reported that President Ronald Reagan was advised not to include the portion of his speech that challenged Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin wall. But Reagan’s mission for peace and vision of democracy rang out in the words, “General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace...tear down this wall!”

Mickey Mouse, Microsoft & Madolyn
What about Walt Disney? He envisioned an entire enterprise that started out with a cartoon mouse! And Bill Gates envisioned Microsoft in his dorm room while still a college student! A good friend of mine started her multimillion-dollar international business in the basement of her home! And I started Signature HomeStyles out of my apartment! Was it a silly idea? Who would have ever thought that you could start a business with $1,500! Of course there were naysayers and challenges.

Every visionary is challenged. Every dreamer takes risks and works extremely hard. And dreams start to happen when they are fueled by commitment, passion and focus on the goal. Whether it’s landing on the moon or building a small business, the challenges and the steps to success are the same. Having a dream and making it happen sets the stage for even greater future accomplishments.

Never, ever let go of your dream!

Shoot for the moon and you will at least land in the stars!

I Like ME Best When I’m With You!

I read once where “I like me best when I’m with you” is the greatest compliment you can give to another person. Think for a minute about the people or groups of people that make you feel that way. Your time together is always joyful…just a warm fuzzy feeling.

At Convention I talked about the feeling that we have when we’re all together. There’s just nothing like it. You can’t really describe it; you have to experience it. And you can’t quantify the value because the feeling is priceless! We often compare Convention to a family reunion but it’s much more than that.

This year we saw what can be done in spite of all the bad news about the economy and the sea of negativity we are pounded with almost daily. The Awards Night ceremony was inspirational because others would say what they accomplished would be impossible in this economy and our Top Achievers proved that all things are possible with the right attitude and actions!

As I was traveling on the highway yesterday, I heard a commentary on the radio about shutting out all the media negativity and surrounding yourself with positive people and positive activities. (Of course, it did occur to me that the radio is part of the media, but I didn’t shut the radio off and continued to listen!) Wow! That just describes the Signature HomeStyles experience…the opportunity to be surrounded by positive people and doing Shows in a positive environment!

Part of being successful is learning to shut out the negative and find the source to fuel the positive. It’s taking that feeling when you can say, “I like me best when I’m with you” and strategizing ways to sustain that feeling and turning it into action.

The news may scare us, but it can’t stop us!

The negativity may persist, but positive action will always win!

When one door closes, another door opens.