Ada Gonzalez is the creative director of Ada's Interior Design, Inc. in New York. She designs solutions that provide comfort & function with a BIG SPLASH of style WITHOUT having to spend hi-end prices on furniture & furnishings. Her designs have appeared in the Life & Style section of The Journal News and the Lohub Blog of Westchester County. In April 2007 she won a design competition called "Interior Motives". She was an Interior Decorating subject specialist for DETC (Distant Education Training Council) spring 2007. Her weekly newsletter called “Smart Decorating! E-News” is her way of reaching out and sharing decorating tips to people across the United States. To get more information go to www.adasdecoratingsolutions.com
Do you sometimes feel the blues, agitated, or flustered entering or leaving your home? Most likely because you cannot find an item, stubbed your toe, or do not like how your home looks? If so, then follow the below short checklist to be on your way to HAVING and MAINTAINING comfort in your home. Remember, YOU have the power to change HOW you live!
These are the top (3) rules that you can implement to see and feel immediate comfort in your home:
(1) Mail & Keys (Where are thou?). Just like there is an alarm for finding your car in a crowded parking lot, don't you wish you had one for your keys? Are you one of many people that remember receiving mail, but just can't seem to remember where they placed it; or do you have different "mail mountains" piled up. A MUST in order to have the sense of "ahhh" when you arrive at home and "yeeeahh" when you leave your home (without having to play detective to find your keys) is to have a shelf, bin, or key/mail holder near your entry door where you can easily drop or pick up these necessities. Key work is "ENTRY DOOR" not kitchen table, or living room console, but the space you enter & leave from every day. Even if you do not open all your mail, it is imperative for your comfort to keep it ALL in one place. Don't believe me? Try it out for one week and you will feel the difference and fall in love again (or even more!) with your home. Even a simple duck with a clothespin as the beak can HELP hold your mail!
(2) Good lighting (peek a boo)! There are 3 types of lighting: task (such as for reading), general (overall lighting that consumes a room), and mood lighting (like many used in a restaurant for a romantic dinner). So if YOU have the wrong lighting, YOU will not be comfortable. Imagine being in a spa - you enter a room with dim lights - you lay down for the massage, you close your eyes, you hear the relaxing sounds of cascading waterfall, you feel the soothing hands massaging away every single stressed muscle in your body when someone "SMACK" HITS THE SWITCH WITH THE BRIGHT LIGHTS SHINNING IN YOUR EYES! Not too relaxing anymore IS IT? So look around your home & see if YOU have lighting that is appropriate for your space - reading area, working area, preparing food in the kitchen (be extra careful with the knife if you do not have appropriate lighting - BIG ouch!)
(3) Declutterize (work out your body & mind)! To keep your "body" & "home" healthy why not declutterize (meaning = exercise while you de-clutter). Stretch - grab - sort, stretch - grab - throw out, stretch - grab - donate. Drink water! Stretch - grab - get the picture? So stop procrastinating and start declutterizing. Hey, you won't have to spend a dime on a gym membership to get wonderful emotional & physical results. Having an uncluttered home gives a peace of mind and body (no items toppling onto you anymore).
Unfortunately, many people live with these discomforts without realizing how easy it is to fix and how it will DRAMATICALLY change the way you feel at home. You should and CAN live in comfort and LOVE YOUR HOME! Feel free to share this article with friends and family members by emailing it to them.
Remember, live BEAUTIFUL and COMFORTABLE!
© 2007 Ada’s Interior Design, Inc. All Rights Reserved | Website: www.adasdecoratingsolutions.com
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