My Organization Style.

Recently I’ve been getting a lot of questions about my work, what I use to stay organized and how I do it all. I am an ultra organized psycho, so I don’t see it as some annoying OCD activity. It’s a method to optimize my life, from organizing the bungalow (everything has its place and is part of the decor) to mentally prioritizing my to-do list so I can get the most shit done.

PS: I owe a few details from my last queen chic post on where to buy a few items: the skull pillow in my bedroom (below) is from Oliver Gal, my circle lounge chair is Z Gallerie, and the mirrored furniture in my bedroom is from Pier 1.

For decorating and general home design inspiration: I browse sites/apps like Houzz, One Kings Lane, Z Gallerie, West Elm, and of course my Pinterest. I’ll be adding more boards soon for you guys after hearing so many ideas of what you want on my Instagram! I think most of the bungalow is just a reimagination of all that I’ve pinned.

I think a lot of people get overwhelmed or caught up in the details of decorating their place, and forget what they’re really trying to do there. Do you work from home like I do? I’ve found it’s really important to separate my spaces within the house or else my brain will never turn off work mode. It’s why I have an extremely mellow bedroom and a really intense office – one functions as a place to relax and rest, and one to inspire and motivate.

If you’re living in a house full of people, your room is your personal sanctuary. It should be filled with everything that makes you feel good. That’s different for everyone, but that’s part of the fun of decorating in the first place! Here’s a smorgasboard of ideas, tricks and inspo from what I’ve learned with moving in, decorating and living in my first real adult space.

Find your items that are functional and decorational. 

Multitasking is key, and books are life. Besides the fact that I enjoy reading, I have booksall over. They’re a convenient source of inspiration and are practically valuable to my life. Some of my faves that that pertain to the home and decorating: Cupcakes and Cashmere, Living in Style and the manual What’s a Homeowner To Do? has been a legit lifesaver. I keep that safely hidden in my office because I need to refer to it more often than I’d like to admit.

Another idea is to upcycle your wine bottles. In college, my roomie and I would buy ones with cute labels and display them over our kitchen cupboards as decoration. Now, in the built-ins next to my fireplace I have all of the bottles we drank at my 21st birthday tasting, which my dad had been collecting since I was born. Wine is super chic… Vodka is less so, but you get the idea.

It’s all in the details.

 Details like blankets, pillows and prints are everything. They’re the easiest things to buy and test for a space, whether it’s to experiment with a new print or just to give new flavor to a space. I think being reasonable with big purchases (color and material of a couch, bedding, designer bags…) is always worth it in the long run – plus then you need accent details, which is an excuse to go shopping.

I think it might be a rule to have a slight flower obsession as a blogger, but I deviate from the norm (weird). I don’t know if people assume that because someone posts a photo of tulips on Instagram that if they do they’ll also get 30k likes and 400k followers, but it’s out of control how many staged flower photos I see on a weekly basis. Anyway, I love orchids.They flourish in the overcast Northwest and only need weekly-ish watering and moderate light… they can last for months and I get emotionally attached to mine.

I think candles are easily one of the best ways to spruce up a room because scent is a powerful element to the overall ~*vibe*~ of any space… I have a million. Voluspa, Volcano and Diptque are my faves.

THE IMPORTANT SHIT: Planners and Apps.

This is what really matters. How do you plan your life? You can’t be in control unless you can keep all your shit under control. College students – I know you have a zillion things you had to do yesterday you’re going to procrastinate about until tomorrow… 9-5 corporate worker bees certainly need a productivity app they use in order to look maximally busy with the least amount of effort, and Suzy Homemakers need to know about all the latest kitchen gadgets.

I just got an Erin Condren life planner and I am OBSESSED. Lots of you asked about it on Instagram and that’s it. I used to have one from Jonathan Adler, but there wasn’t adequate space per day to organize everything I do. Every day my schedule can be different so having the space is clutch and imperative to keeping my life together.

I’m a grandma for keeping a hard calendar, but I use Evernote as my digital brain. I do a lot of different types of work across a bunch of devices and trying to keep track of what I need to do when is easier when my schedule in my hands and my notes and everything else is aggregated in a program like Evernote. I’m sure there are other programs out there that others might prefer, but I’ve found this is the best multitasker to cover what I need to use it for personally and for professional work in one.

Space Hacks.

Maximize inches in a small rooms/apartments with space-saving items like: these scarf hangers which I just found and love, drawer separators, this small bathroom hack I’ve used – and I got one of bathroom chests thanks to Pinterest. Shelving is an invaluable space saver and way to show off jewelry, trinkets or whatever you want.

Hang hooks on the inside of a door or low on the wall to save space with your hair styling tools. Replace your mirror with a medicine cabinet for the extra shelf storage – I did, and it made a huuuge difference. I also use pretty shoe boxes as a way to separate and organize a lot of stuff but keep in the open. Brands like Jeffrey Campbell, Tory Burch, and more with fun designs are an easy way to hide random stuff you might need to access but don’t want to show.

How do you keep organized? Share your knowledge with us psychos in a comment.

xx