My final coaching with Julie Morgenstern started by looking back at my home office reorg and finished by looking forward to what comes next.
One of my treasures: my elementary-school lunch box
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ShareMy final coaching with Julie Morgenstern started by looking back at my home office reorg and finished by looking forward to what comes next.
One of my treasures: my elementary-school lunch box
ShareOMG, the *books*. Piles of nonfiction, stacks of mysteries and romances, dusty autobiographies and Norton Anthologies (Norton Anthologies? really?!)…. I’ve carried books with me since I was in college — in the last century.
But as I found out during my home office reorg, in my gypsy lifestyle, books were important. The people behind them, the writers and the characters, were extended family. The Nortons represented happy college days in the library. Even though I didn’t have a house, they were my physical roots.
During my first coaching with Julie Morgenstern, author of SHED Your Stuff Change Your Life: A Four-Step Guide to Getting Unstuck, I marked the books as being the things to which I had the highest emotional attachment. In this organizing process, you first get rid of the things that are 100% obsolete, to which you have no attachment, building momentum to the obsolete items you’re most attached to. (As a quick reminder: SHED = Separate the Treasures, Heave the Trash, Embrace Your Identity and Drive Yourself Forward.)
Dude! I can find my cookbooks!
ShareSo, here it is, the first big reveal, the result of my coaching with Julie Morgenstern, author of SHED Your Stuff, Change Your Life: A Four-Step Guide to Getting Unstuck.
Remember my theme, “root to flower”? I kept it in mind as I sorted through box after bag after dusty basket. I’d set an aggressive 8-hour goal to Separate the Treasures and Heave (steps 1 and 2 of the SHED process), and Julie helped me break it down into sessions of a couple of hours at a time, based on each activity.
Remember my desk before I organized?
ShareJulie Morgenstern, author of SHED Your Stuff, Change Your Life: A Four-Step Guide to Getting Unstuck is helping me organize my embarrassingly disorganized home office.
SHED is Julie’s process for helping people through transitions, so they can tame the chaos and make their unique contribution.
The four steps are: Separate the Treasures, Heave, Embrace Your Identity From Within and Drive Yourself Forward. In my first coaching, we focused on Separating the Treasures and Heaving.
Julie and I looked at my photos of the room. Um…super-embarrassing. I mean, look at this place!
Yes, that hat-shaped thing is a beaded lampshade. On the floor.
ShareLast December, I was interviewing organizing experts for an upcoming article. One of them was Julie Morgenstern. You’ve probably seen her here on HGTV.com, or other places like Redbook or Good Morning America.
“Why do people have so much clutter?” I asked.
“Going through stuff requires time and decision-making,” Julie said. Most people don’t have a clear head or a clear schedule, and they hang onto clutter because they need abundance. Or it gives them a feeling of fullness, of having enough.
Some people feel comfortable when their home is 60% full; some people feel better at 20%. There’s not a universally perfect amount of stuff — the key is, if you feel like you’re suffocating, you have too much.
That hit hard, because I was suffocating in stuff. I’d recently gone through a divorce and had one of those shameful rooms. You know the one: boxes leaning in precarious floor-to-ceiling stacks; bags of unsorted bills; piles of old clothes; cat brushes, jars of seashells, even 20-year-old floppy disks….
I swear my desk is under there somewhere!
I asked Julie if I could use her book, SHED Your Stuff, Change Your Life: A Four-Step Guide to Getting Unstuck, as a template for a reorganizing process, and tackle that room. She said she’d do me one better: she’d coach me through it.
Yeah, I jumped on it.
Starting next Friday, I hope you’ll go with me on the journey as — in 3 coachings — Julie helps me purge that room by targeting why I let that much clutter pile up in the first place.
Until then, here’s a clue: You clear out the obsolete so you can make room to move forward. When I say it’s fueling and energizing…well…you’ll see.
ShareDo you have America’s sexiest bedroom…
…or are you in desperate need of a bedroom makeover?
Either way, you could win big when we partner with The Nest, just in time for Valentine’s Day.
Here’s How to Enter — and What You Can Win
Got a great bedroom makeover story? We’d <3 to hear!
Need some inspiration? 25 super-sexy master bedrooms
ShareWe’re so excited to announce that we’ve partnered up for the holidays again this year with our friends at Etsy. (Remember last year’s amazing Christmas crafts?) This year, we’re featuring Etsy on an upcoming episode of Design on a Dime, airing Saturday, Dec. 10 at 8p/7c.
We’re all big fans of their Treasury. The Treasury allows you to create a collection of your favorite Etsy items and share it with your friends.
Making one is super-simple: learn how here. You can even browse our gorgeous Christmas decorating tips for inspiration.
Create your own HGTV-inspired Treasury with Etsy products, and we just might feature your creation on our blog!
How cool is this Color Splash collection?
Make sure to tag yours with “HGTV Treasury Challenge 2011″ and leave a link to your HGTV.com inspiration in the description.
Liz Gray's "Mad About Marigold" Treasury
Want to explore the HGTV Treasury Challenge 2011 collections? It’s a great way to see what other people have done and get excited about creating your own.
We’ll be browsing all the collections tagged with “HGTV Treasury Challenge 2011″ between now and when the show airs, and we’ll pick a couple of our favorites to post here on the blog next week!
As promised, here are some of our collections. We can’t wait to see yours!
Briana Mowrey, Decorating Editor and Daily Delight writer – Daily Delights
Liz Gray, Decorating Editor – HGTV’s November Color of the Month, marigold (PS Have you seen which color we picked for December?)
Leanne Potts, VP, Editorial – 2012 Dream Home location, Park City, Utah. BTW, the HGTV Dream Home tour just launched. Feel free to drool; we are!
Lili Zarghami, Senior Editor (and mom of twins) – Twin-inspired treasury
Tune in on Dec. 10 for Design on a Dime, Etsy style.
ShareWant an unforgettably festive home this holiday? Let Gilt Home and HGTV deck out your space.
Shop Gilt Home’s exclusive sale – at up to 60% off retail – starting today at noon. You’ll find beautiful holiday decorations from great designer brands, hand-picked by HGTV’s editors.
Register today and get inspired.
Let us help you with your Christmas decorating.
Don’t delay: Gilt Home is giving $10 credits to the first 3,000 people who register.
ShareCan’t you see yourself enjoying dinner with friends and family in one of these gorgeous dining rooms? (I know I can!) Vote for your favorite space in the poll below the photos and we’ll publish the results in the second issue of HGTV MAGAZINE — on sale in January!
Dining Room #1 – Colorful + Eclectic
Design by Meg Adams
Dining Room #2 – Clean + Contemporary
Design by Matthew Leverone
Living Room #3 – New Traditional
Dining Room by Katie Ridder
Living Room #4 – Mid-Century Modern
Dining Room by Beth Haley
After you vote, leave a comment telling us why you love your favorite room and you might see your comment in the magazine, too!
ShareWant an unforgettably festive home this holiday? Let Gilt Home and HGTV deck out your space.
Shop Gilt Home’s exclusive sales – at up to 60% off retail – on Nov. 22 and 30. You’ll find beautiful holiday tabletop and decorations from great designer brands including Michael Aram, Sferra and Kim Seybert, hand-picked by HGTV’s editors.
Register today and get inspired.
HGTV + Gilt Home help you set a festive holiday table.
Don’t delay: Gilt Home is giving $10 credits to the first 5,000 people who register.
Nominee 1: Funky beach cottage in Venice, California.
Nominee 3: Charming Cottage in Kansas City, Kan. >>
Nominee 6: Private island paradise in Bokeelia, Florida.
Nominee 5: Monet-Inspired Gardens in Rancho Santa Fe,
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