Happy Monday!  This weekend, I got to cross another item off of my decorating to do list.  My husband helped me hang some art over my sewing desk in the studio/office.  This morning felt a little bit like Christmas.  It was so nice to be greeted with some fun punches of color in this room.

[Clockwise from Left: a chalkboard made from everyone's favorite Ikea frame, my DIY cuckoo clock, a squirrel tray by iBride, and a framed portion of a letter I once received on the most amazing paper (see below for close-up).]

The Back of a Happy Letter, now Art:

As usual, I have a tendency to over complicate things like this.  I had gone to great lengths to gather all of the possible pieces that could go in that spot, and even went so far as to make a mock up in Illustrator to help with placement.  In the end, we went with a much more organic method (hang the giant frame first and then eyeball the rest) – and I think it worked.  It’s a less dense arrangement than I had originally planned — and I think that’s a good thing.

My crazy over-the-top plan:

I’m fairly sure I’ll add to this display area over time, but I like to live with design decisions for a little while first.  This is a difficult area to photograph, but here is a shot of the desk and wall.  (Confession: I did not photograph any of the piles of stuff that ended up on the floor so I could take a picture of a clean desk.)

As usual, I had to move aside lots of secret projects.  Thank goodness for storage.  The big gray wardrobe (with Anthropologie knobs) might be the smartest purchase I’ve ever made.

Ok, anyone else with decorating projects they’ve been putting off?  I’d love for you to join me as I tackle one tiny, little spot at a time.  Hope you have a great week!

Before I start off this last 5 project, I want you to promise me that this is not the project you will remember me by.  Ok?  This one is not glamorous.  It will not make me seem cool.  It might even cause you to doubt my taste level.  However, sometimes we have to work with what we have.

The Back Story

We’re renting right now, so while we’re not afraid of a little chocolate brown paint or elbow grease, there are some things that you just have to live with.  For us, it’s this unsightly mess of cords for the TV that sits right on top of an otherwise nice mantle.  Sure, we could cut a hole in the dry wall and hide the cords, but I am not the person in charge of dry wall patching in our family.

So we needed a more practical and less permanent solution.

The Solution: A Fabric Cord Cover

I grabbed some brown linen and velcro to create a very simple wrap that would cover the cords.  I sewed two 4.5″ x 18.5″ rectangles together, and then attached the velcro along each edge.  The ribbons on the right hand side turned out to be unnecessary.  I was worried that gravity would cause the cover to slowly inch it’s way down.  However, the cover fits very snugly, so I don’t think that will be a problem.

The End Result

It’s not perfect, but the brown linen is a lot nicer to look at than the blue and red cables.  I think the browns are a better match in real life than this photo lets on.

In a few months, I’ll be decorating this spot with fall leaves and corduroy pumpkins.  However, I think this will do just fine until then.

Anyone else tackling unfinished decorating projects lately?

This weekend, my husband spent what little free time he had getting my new computer up and running.  (Husband = My Hero!)  My old machine was showing signs of dementia and had developed this nifty habit of randomly rebooting throughout the day.

And, did I mention that I now have happy bunnies and bears on my desktop?  It’s a whole new world this morning — hopefully, a very productive one.

Wishing you a happy week.

As many of my fabric friends know, the Spring Market is about  2 weeks away.  I am going to be heading back with a fresh, new collection but there are quite a few finishing touches I have planned first.  As the days tick by, I find that I have to remind myself: HURRIED, BUT HAPPY.  The best work comes when I work from a place of joy and remind myself daily why I love all of this creating stuff so much.  So today, I jotted down a quick list of instant mood-lifters and thought I might not be the only one who needs this right now.  For my fellow busy bees (or just people who need a pick me up):

1)  Take a moment to think about someone you love.  A partner, a sibling, your child.  You could stop right there if your heart is already filling up with happy.  I like to take it a step further and picture the person at the age of 3.  Aw!

2) Savor something.  It’s probably best if it’s healthy, so you don’t feel guilty about it later.  An orange.  An ice cold beverage.  Some berries.

3) No oranges in the house?  How about scented markers?  I like the yellow one.  Better yet?  Take a couple of minutes and draw something.

4) Go for a walk.  It doesn’t have to be long – once around the block will do.  Stretch those legs and let all that fresh air clear your head.

5) Phone a friend.  You know, one of the funny ones.  Try to make them laugh.  Tell your friend about your woes in the most entertaining way possible.  Laugh off your worries.

6) Put on a ridiculous hat.

7) Listen to some good music.  I recently tried out Pandora (a free site where you enter the name of a song or artist that you like, and then it plays music for you that is similar).  I have been la-la-la-ing through my days.

8) Take a few minutes and do something that is just for you.  Then get back to work!

9) Count a few blessings.

10) Hug someone.  (Petting a dog counts.)

And, of course, getting things done both quickly and well is a mood lift in and of itself.  Best of luck with your to do list whatever it looks like.

It’s been one year since I left a traditional office environment, and it has taken me some time to adapt to working from home.  I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it takes for me to stay focused and productive.

Without meetings or external deadlines or employee reviews (ugh), it is up to me to create that structure for myself.  Right now, I spend a lot of time creating, submitting, and waiting.  (I spend the waiting part working on the next thing.)  And let’s be honest, it is hard when you do not have anything to show quite yet.  You have to be the one to maintain your vision and momentum.

So, without further ado, here are my rules for working from home.  A couple of caveats:

1)  These are just rules for ME, and I definitely don’t think they would work for everyone else.  I’m only sharing because I like reading this sort of stuff, and sometimes I find a new little gem or way of thinking.

2)  I do not have children (or even pets) so I’m sure that plays a part.

Kelly’s Rules for Working from Home:

1)      Get ready every day. People seem to associate working from home with working in your pajamas.  This does not work for me.  Those days usually end in a melt down around 5 pm when I’m feeling bad about what I’m working on and catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror with crazy-lady hair.  No good.  I start every day by getting completely ready (hair, make-up, and all) before I do anything else.  Some days I give all of the employees (um, me), a free casual day.  The only guideline is “would I go outside in this outfit?”

2)      Every night before you go to bed, you should know what tomorrow’s focus is going to be. I’m a creative person.  If you ask me to fill up the day with a list of things to do, I can do it.  However, with morning brain, that list might not be very good.  The days where I wake up and know the top 2-3 things I need to accomplish always go more smoothly.

3)  Designate certain days of the week for marketing and/or accounting tasks. It’s easy to put off some of the ongoing maintenance and business-building things indefinitely – especially when you have other deadlines staring back at you.  However, setting aside some designated time (Friday afternoon, for example)  to catch up on banking, networking, etc. helps me stay on track.

3)      Stretch and drink lots of water. Self-care is really important.  I’ve had days where I looked up and realized I’d been hunched over my desk for 4-5 hours without so much as a water break.  I keep track of how much water I have each day with a set of magnets on the refrigerator (but you could use anything for this).  I slide a magnet up to the top of the fridge each time I fill up my water glass.  This gives me an instant visual reminder and helps me to stand up and stretch regularly.  (I also find that regular exercise and wearing a brace seems to help me with my wrist pain and carpal tunnel.)

4)      The best breaks are away from the computer. A quick break to read a blog or surf the internet can be dangerous, because it’s so easy to zone out.  It happens, Kelly rules and all, but it produces nothing but guilt.  If I need a break, I try to do something away from my desk.

5)      No TV.  Ever. The only exception for me is when I’m sewing.  I put on something I can listen to while I work.  However, other than that, TV is for sick days only.

6)      Get your home in order.  This rule is the first to go when I have an important deadline coming up, and I can see how a lot of people with a very active, growing business might sacrifice this.  However, for me, one of the motivations to try working from home was to restore some order and balance to our home life.  It is important to me to have a clean, organized house and to cook dinner at least 4 times a week.  Before this year, I knew how to clean, but I did not know how to maintain.  Our place was either spotless or hit-by-a-tornado, and our cabinets were hopelessly disorganized.  I wasn’t sure how to care for some of the surfaces in our place, and some of the products I was using were only making my job harder.  I had to dig myself out of a hole, so I spent time in the library researching home maintenance, organization, and re-training myself.  Some people think this is weird or over-kill or something, but for me it has been really important because a nice home was something I wanted but did not know how to have.  The upside is that after a few months of making it a priority, I was able to deep clean and organize everything, and now maintaining it is easy and takes up less energy.  Because I have a good system for daily maintenance (and because we do not have kids and don’t make a huge mess), I clean the entire place every two weeks top to bottom including vacuuming, tubs, sinks, dusting, everything in 2-3 hours.  I work fast, work up a sweat, and I consider it to be my exercise for the day.  I do this on Monday’s aiming to finish up before lunch.  My blood is flowing and I feel that everything hard is already done, so I work efficiently for the rest of the day.  I sprint through the grocery store with a good list once a week and can get everything we need for a week’s worth of meals in 30 minutes.  When possible, I do all of my errands on the same day to be efficient.  On Mondays, I work longer hours because I spent time cleaning/shopping, but I feel really good about what I got accomplished and the rest of the week feels easy in comparison.  I have a list of books and resources that I found helpful (maybe for another post), where I adopted rules like “pick it up, don’t pass it up” and “putting something off takes up more energy than just doing it.”

7)      Keep phone calls short. This one is also hard. Sometimes a phone call from my sister or a friend is the only social interaction I have all day, so a phone call can be life-saving.  However, there’s a big difference between a quick phone call and a long one.  People are only going to be as respectful of your work day as you are.

This list got pretty long, so I’m going to stop for now.  I am always fascinated by time management and cleaning tips, so please feel free to share things that work for you.  Cheers!