Hasta La Ideas

Similar to Laura Wingfield in Tennessee Williams’ play The Glass Menagerie, I have a collection of animal figurines. Unlike Laura, however, most of mine are wax creatures made in Mold-A-Rama vending machines.

Mold-A-Rama machines are located in tourist destinations across the U.S., so finding them is a lot like a scavenger hunt. Actually, it’s a very addictive scavenger hunt. To keep my collection from taking over my home and becoming clutter, I instituted some rules to control the menagerie:

• Animals may not be stored anywhere other than their designated 4′ shelf. If there are too many animals, must sell least favorite on eBay.
• Only collect animals in person. No ordering them off eBay or asking friends to pick them up for me on their travels. If I don’t touch the machine myself, I won’t obtain it.
• The Mold-A-Rama must be an animal, not buildings or other molded forms.
• Don’t plan trips around collecting the animals, rather check machine locations only after I’ve made plans to visit somewhere.
• No duplicates. One animal in one color from each machine I encounter, no more.
• No paraphernalia associated with the collection. No t-shirts, no pamphlets, no books, no broken Mold-A-Rama vending machines rescued from the dump, etc.
• No more than 7 acquisitions in a single year.

If you have a collection, I recommend instituting similar rules to keep your treasures from turning into clutter. It’s always a good idea to institute limits for your collection that include budget, storage space, and acquisition guidelines. Also, if you live with another person or other people, make sure they’re okay with the rules you establish since they also have to share the space with you.

Remember, being an unclutterer doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t have collections — but it does mean taking an active role in ensuring your collection doesn’t become clutter.

Like this site? Buy Erin Rooney Doland’s Unclutter Your Life in One Week from Amazon.com today.

Check out the latest and greatest from Mr. Drew Innis.

Lots of really well taken lifestyle shots and videos up on his Vlog. Definitely worth a look

Last year, Smart Design president Tom Dair was asking for advice on what to say to Michelle Obama when he met her at the annual National Design Awards lunch. Just a nominated-guest in 2009, this year he was back at the event, but this time as a winner. And not only did he meet Mrs. Obama, but she even quoted him during her speech. Dair gives a great, personal narrative on what the whole event was like, from starting the day at the Teen Design Event to hanging around with Obama and Tim Gunn that afternoon. Here’s a bit:

Around lunch time we headed over to the White House for the reception. As part of the program and a special treat for me, we had our picture taken with Mrs. Obama. In meeting her, one immediately realizes how beautiful and gracious she really is…and somewhat taller than I expected.

After the photo op, it was over to the East Room for Ms Obama’s welcome and opening remarks. She praised the design profession for its ability to push boundaries or even ignore them all together; as she put it, “to pursue your vision of the world as it can and as it should be.” Now I’m feeling pretty good about being a designer but it was about to get better.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The sculpture-inspired Dutch lighting brand celebrates their 20th with a new collection

Commemorating 20 years of success in the design world, Brand Van Egmond is celebrating their anniversary with a new collection of their “haute couture” lighting. With an approach based on the idea of making real sculptures, BVE’s fixtures (many of them custom-made) bring art from the “ground to the ceiling,” while also enacting a fascinating mix of craftsmanship and technology. New models include the classic chandelier shape draped in strings of beads, Coco (pictured at bottom), and Digital Dreams, an experimental fixture that incorporates digital frames to illuminate photos of your choosing.

In addition to their own collection, Brand Van Egmond has partnered with many premiere brands to offer their lighting expertise. From stores (like Neuhaus Chocolate and Saks Fifth Avenue) and restaurants (the beautiful Glenneagles in Scotland) to hotels (Gansevoort NY and Hilton Paris) to a theater (in Berlin) and a Delft, NL church, Brand Van Egmond has left their signature light for the world to see.

The brand’s first book Lighting Sculptures will be for sale at key bookstores worldwide later this year. The book showcases Brand Van Egmond items like their very first lamp and chandelier, along with creative collaborations for the 76th Academy Awards and the 2008 World Expo in Zaragoza.

Brand Van Egmond luxury lighting fixtures are available for sale here.

When you’re entrenched in your daily routines and activities, your home and workplace can become generic scenery. This might be a good thing if it means you’re focused on your responsibilities and what matters most to you. However, if you’re no longer seeing your spaces because you’re numb to their presence, it might be time to pause and take a look at the backdrops to your life.

Even though you might not focus on the things in your home and office, they still might be affecting you. An easy way to test this is to really “see” a room, clear all the clutter from it, organize the things that remain in the room, and then gauge how you feel in the clutter-free room compared with how you feel in other spaces. Do you want to spend more time in the clutter-free space than you did before? Do you feel calmer, less stressed when you’re in this space?

It seems counterintuitive, but it can be difficult to “see” the clutter in our spaces. We sense clutter, but as we move through our regular lives we lose sight of it. The following are ideas for how you can spot the clutter in your spaces:

• Invite friends over for a party. Knowing that people will be coming into your home helps you to imagine your place the way they see it.
• Invite your boss into your office for a meeting. It’s like a party in your home, but at work (and, sadly, likely less fun).
• Snap photographs or take video. Reader Susie describes this process in the paragraphs below.
• Hire a home stager to come in and explain how he/she would clear your space to put it up on the market for sale. You might not follow all of the advice, but it will help you to see what others see.
• Have a friend with a toddler visit. Let the child roam through your home. Trust me, he’ll find every piece of clutter below waist level and touch it, pick it up, or try to eat it. (Obviously, monitor carefully.)
• Similar to the previous suggestion, have a friend with a labrador puppy spend some time in your space.

Reader Susie recently wrote in to tell us about the experience she had “seeing” the clutter in her home. I believe it summarizes the discovery process nicely:

I needed to videotape some rooms in my house for insurance purposes. Having just cleaned cleaned cleaned (knowing I was taping), I shot the tape and then watched it quickly before I needed to take it to the safety deposit box.

But when I watched the tape, I was astonished at the amount of clutter and crap on surfaces throughout the house. I realized that the camera’s eye was picking up clutter my eyes were simply moving past! So I scrutinized the tape, marched back to those rooms and really went through the stuff, making firm decisions and tossing several items.

I can’t tell you how much it helped to see these rooms through the video. Everyone: get out your video camera and give it a shot. You’ll be amazed at what you’ve never really seen….

Like this site? Buy Erin Rooney Doland’s Unclutter Your Life in One Week from Amazon.com today.