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Okay, the closets are done. And I must say, they look fabulous. I have so much more room now! I’m tempted to go buy new clothes, my old ones look so lonely now. But I won’t. The point is to clear out, now clear out and refill.

The next part of my de-cluttering weekend is to tackle the rest of the house. Now, it sounds like a big job when I lump the entire house in one unit, but I’m going to do it in phases. The first phase will a quick once-over, going through each room with a trash bag and seeing what can just be tossed away and what needs to be put away (books back in the bookcase, shoes in the closets, etc.)

The next phase is to go through and see what things I have that I don’t need or want anymore. A lot of things in our homes are special to us. Antique furniture handed down from Grandma, a vase given to you for your wedding. Other things might not have a special meaning, but we just really like them. Like the picture frames that perfectly accent your living room, or the rug that you bought at a flea market and always get compliments on. All of this stuff is what stays.

The rest, however, is stuff that we bought or were given and have found room for, but maybe we don’t necessarily like. Take a look around and I’m sure there are knick-knacks and home accessories, even small pieces of furniture, that are just taking up space without any real function (or sentimental attachment). Box all this stuff up and give it to Goodwill, where it can be adopted by someone who really does like it.

The third phase is to beneath the surface, the stuff that’s hidden away. We’ve tackled the closets, but what about the cupboards, the drawers, all the places that aren’t in plain sight? Sort through the DVDs in your entertainment unit, clean out the junk from the kitchen drawer, clear out the old notebooks in the kids’ desks. It’s stuff that may not be out for everyone to see, but still causes clutter, it’s just hidden.

This will be one of the biggest parts of my de-cluttering. I’ve given myself a day for the second and third phases each, which hopefully is a generous estimate of how long it will take me. I realize that I might no be able to get rid of absolutely every bit of clutter in my house this weekend, but I will be off to a great start. And I can always pick up where I left off next weekend.

Hopefully you’re making progress in your clutter-busting. It’s hard work, but it’s worth, so don’t give up!

Amy

I’ve been there. The color swatch at the paint counter looks glorious — warm, subtle, cozy. However, when the color is on the wall, it glows like a piece of radioactive waste. Yikes…it’s not a pretty site.

My first real lesson with paint color was several years ago when my husband and I were building our first home. We picked what we thought was the perfect beige. After the paint job was finished, we excitedly walked into the house and did a disappointed double take. Our perfect beige was actually a perfect peach. That was an expensive lesson (we had the house repainted before we moved in) and the guy at the paint counter gave us some invaluable advice: try before you buy.

Since then, we always buy a quart of the color we like and a few similar colors and paint different parts of the room. It is amazing how different times of day and different types of lighting affect how color looks in a room. I’ve also found that sometimes, even though I love the color at first, after a few days of looking at my sample, it just doesn’t cut it. Following these simple rules, I rarely have a color snafu these days. Here are a few sites that have helped me. The first is House Beautiful Paint Brush — a nifty way to see rooms in different shades. Happy painting and regards!

http://www.housebeautiful.com/decorating/paint-colors

http://interiordec.about.com/od/interiorpainting/a/diy_choosepaint.htm

http://www.herhome.com/magazine/articles/2005/fall/color-me-confused.asp

http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20021111_interiorpaint.htm

http://www.paint.org/index.htm

Sharing decorating ideas with friends, reading blogs or poring over your decorating magazines are great ways to get home design and decor ideas, but sometimes you need real inspiration. One of my favorite spring and fall events is our local parade of homes. I can’t wait to walk through these showplaces, admiring the lush decorating, fine details and better-than-last-year’s floorplans. What better way to get ideas first hand?

If you’re not familiar with the “Parade” idea, it is generally something like this — builders offer up their model homes to be part of a parade so that potential buyers and looky-loos walk through the homes. The builders only pick their best work for the parade and these homes are decorated to the nines. It is a perfect to way to experience the new trends in decorating and building. Many civic organizations do similar events with home or garden tours for fundraisers throughout the year. Those are also a great way to become inspired.

Here are a list of some parades and tours around the country. I’m sure your area has one, too. Have fun looking and regards!

Central Oklahoma: http://www.paradeofhomesok.com/

Central Pennsylvania: http://www.paparadeofhomes.com/Details.aspx

Dallas: http://www.paradeofhomesdallas.com/

Denver: http://www.paradeofhomesdenver.com/

Kansas City: http://www.kchba.org/shows/shows.shtml

Key West: http://www.oirf.org/events/tours.htm

Minnesota: http://www.paradeofhomes.org/parade-home/parade-home-search.aspx

Northern Virginia: http://www.vaparadeofhomes.com/about_parade.html

Orlando: http://www.paradeofhomesorlando.com/parade.cfm

West Texas: http://www.lubbocknewhomes.com/Parade08/