With only three weeks left in August we draw so much closer to the autumn season every day. This is the time of year when I will start to focus on my home as there are just a few weeks left of longer and warmer days ahead to get it ready for the next season. When autumn starts to settle in, I start to prepare my home for the upcoming cooler seasons. I tend to hibernate when it starts to get cold outside, so I take advantage of this time of year to deep clean, organize and makeover my spaces. I always try to elevate my space to one that has a cozy chic, but also seasonal feeling. Much like a 5-star hotel and spa combination. From my previous post this week you can tell that I love neutral colors, gold accent and a minimal kind of aesthetic. So for this week’s curated we are going to talk all about elevating and organizing your home life in preparation for the colder months. And don’t worry! I will have plenty of autumn themed curated posts starting next month.
SHOPPING, BOOKS, MEDIA, ETC.
In my previous post I talk about having trays around your home to elevate the space and if you are looking for a budget friendly marble tray then look into this footed marble countertop tray from Target. Trays can be used for so many different types of spaces and this marble one is a beautiful warm neutral that will surely elevate any space.
If you have paper files that you need to organize in your home, then these U Brands 12ct file folders. are a great buy to help you organize them. I got these for my office as I have a lot of files to keep up with and I think they are so pretty with their neutral colors and are better quality than those usual basic yellowish file folders that you can get anywhere.
I don’t personally have a fireplace, but if I did, I would buy this Kaden Curved Brass Fireplace Log Holder. I have had fireplaces before in the past and will maybe have a fireplace again one day (hopefully) and I always had a beautiful storage for my fireplace logs and this one is an elevated style for a great price of only $59.97 right now.
Eventually I will be working from home 2 days a week although I am probably a month or two away from this. At my new job though I will need a desk as I will be using a separate monitor as well as my laptop when working. For my previous position that was not necessarily needed. So, I am currently looking at desks and right now this Contemporary Modern Faux Marble Writing Desk is on my list. I don’t need a large desk in order to work, so this more minimal desk will not only serve its function but will also elevate the space that it’s in as well.
If you are on the lookout for some elevated match strikers, I found these two on Amazon for only $19.99. If you’re like me then you probably have candles in a few places around the home and this is a great buy as you will get two of them instead of just one.
For me music elevates everything in my life. My home life, chores, work, workouts, leisure and everything in between. At home I take this Sony SRS-XB100 Travel Speaker nearly everywhere I go. I love this speaker because not only is the sound quality great, but I can also take it with me room-to-room in my house with ease and I can also pack it up easily for traveling or a picnic.
If you’re looking for inspiration on creating a home that is organized and Zen, then look no further than the tidying queen herself, Marie Kondo. In her newest book, Karashi at Home:
Last week I mentioned Organized Living by Shira Gill, but this week I want to recommend her first book that started it all, Minimalista: A Book that is sure to inspire you to clean out a closet or two….or your whole house, this book is a great one to look through for beautiful inspiration of a minimal, organized home. Described as, as a professional home organizer with clients ranging from students to multi-millionaires, Shira Gill observed that clutter is a universal stress trigger. Over the years she created a signature decluttering and organization process that promotes sustainability, achieves lasting results, and can be applied to anyone, regardless of their space or lifestyle. Rather than imposing strict rules and limitations, Shira redefines minimalism as having the perfect amount of everything—for you—based on your personal values and the limitations of your space. Now, in Minimalista, Shira shares her complete toolkit for the first time, built around five key steps: Clarify, Edit, Organize, Elevate, and Maintain. Once you learn the methodology you’ll dive into the hands-on work, choose-your-own-adventure style: knock out a room, or even a single drawer; style a bookshelf; donate a sweater. Shira teaches that the most important thing you can do is start, and that small victories, achieved one at a time, will snowball into massive transformation. Broken into small, bite-sized chunks, Minimalista makes it clear that if the process is fun and easy to follow, anyone can learn the principles of editing and organization.
If a cozy home is what you seek for the colder months like I do, then My Hygge Home: How to Make Home Your Happy Place is a good book for inspiration. From the same author who wrote the wildly popular book, The Little Book of Hygge, this takes the same principles and applies it to our home life specifically. Described as, now more than ever before, our homes need to be a place of comfort, a place to feel safe when we shut the door. Our homes are where we can truly be ourselves, unwind, and create special memories with our family and friends. Inspired by Danish design and traditions, Meik Wiking’s beautiful book My Hygge Home shows us how to turn our home into a cozy sanctuary and live a bit like the happiest people in the world—the Danes. Hygge is the art of surrounding yourself in comfort and is at the core of Danish culture in creating a happy space. With simple tips based on new research from the Happiness Institute in Copenhagen, this book reveals what makes a happy home: including the difference between space and size, the importance of lighting, and how to foster better connections with our loved ones. No matter how much space you have or what your budget is, Meik explains how you can use color, light, and space to create your happy place and celebrate coziness the Danish way.
And if you’re a Francophile like I am and want to read more about how the French make a home, then try reading Home Sweet Maison: Tow do the French create the elusive and alluring sanctuaries they call home? This question long intrigued Danielle Postel-Vinay. Thanks to a chance encounter with a French expat in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and years of immersive research, she embarked on a quest to discover the secrets of the French home aesthetic. Experiencing first-hand la belle vie—the beautiful life—Postel-Vinay now shows everyone how to create their own French sanctuary, a home sweet maison, no matter where they live. Providing more than just interior decorating and design tips, Postel-Vinay teaches you how to foster the warmth, beauty, and rituals inherent in the French home and create an environment better suited to living a rich, full, connected life. At the center of the book is the idea that your house should be a reflection of you, your hobbies, your family history, your rituals, all the things that make your life unique. A happy home is a home that expresses your rituals and your taste, not one that relies on prefab décor from a mass retailer. Home Sweet Maison takes a room-by-room approach to show how the French view: The Aesthetic: why the objects in your home matter, why minimalism is overrated, and why the French always choose the perfect décor for their salons, The Practical: how to use mise-en-place, or the French art of organization, in your kitchen, and how to find the right stain-removing potions to create your own French laundry, The Sensual: the way the French employ scent in their home as a personal signature, The Philosophical: the idea that every room in a French house has a specific purpose, and that the activity in one room should never bleed into the others.
Since we are inspired to elevate our home and to get everything cleaned up and organized for a new season, here is a quick video with Marie Kondo on organizing a junk drawer for some inspiration. I know so many who have the “junk drawer” that they would like to make more organized, so be sure to give this one a quick look if you can relate.
If you’re in the mood for a sophisticated calming video of organized spaces, then watch Nicolas Fairfield as he walks you through his elegantly organized apartment in Edenborough.
If you have a small space like I do and are looking for some tips to make it look bigger, then this video on 12 design ups for small spaces is the video for you.
And if you want to elevate the style of your home, then here is a video for 7 of the best styling ways to elevate your home.
articles of interest
If you are already getting excited about autumn and Halloween, here is an article for the best Halloween decor of 2024.
When it comes to decor, who isn’t inspired by Nancy Meyers? If you are looking for some light and airy decor inspiration, then read about these 10 living rooms that look straight out of a Nancy Meyers movie.
If you’ve been on social media at all lately then you have probably come across the trend of underconsumption. In this article, TikTok’s underconsumption trend could help you declutter gives some ideas on how to use this trend for yourself.
Organizing our things is really just about finding storage for like-things that makes sense to us. Here is an article on 10 simple storage hack that will cost you $0.00.
If you’re in a busy stage of life right now and are doing things as you get some spare time, then here are 15 things you can clean in just 10 minutes according to experts.
If you’re looking for a deeper analysis of our space and how it benefits us to have a clean, organized space, then listen to The Psychology of Space podcast episode from Tonya Leigh. In this episode Tonya discusses the importance of using our spaces intentionally to change how we feel and see ourselves.
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