Ode to Organization

Since January is the month designated for tax preparation, self-loathing, football and cleaning out closets, it's only natural the topic of organizing one's crap has been circulating amongst my friends and family this week.

During these conversations, I've decided Sterilite boxes are absolutely the most ineffective way for me to organize myself. You know, the ones you can stack in your closet and conveniently seal with duct tape when you move? They give you a false sense of organization. You actually don't have to deal with what's inside as long as you can keep stacking, resealing and avoiding. Hi, my name is Brianne, and I'm a Sterilite-aholic. (Hi, Brianne...) I'm really trying to break away from this nasty habit, and I will succeed in 2008.

Since I'm a curator of crap, I've decided to edit my collection a bit. I realized my own personal hoarding habits hit an all-time low when I was cleaning out my closet on MLK day. I had a collections of term papers, insanely complicated scrap booking supplies (they look like you'd use them to conduct arthroscopic surgery), unorganized photos and bills from, oh....2001. This has got to stop. Now that most of the junk is gone, I've been hunting and gathering for an upkeep method that might actually work with my lifestyle, and I think I've come up with a few tips that are universally helpful. These are my three resolutions for this year. Let's see if I actually stick to them.

1. Organization is like brushing your teeth.
It's needed daily, apparently. For those managing a household out there, my sister is raving about flylady.net. It's a day-by-day system of getting your house under control when you're in what they call CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome.) It starts off with just bleaching and shining your sink. I don't have quite the amount of mess a household with children might, but I like the philosophy of taking baby steps, and I'm sure moms that barely have time to shower will, too.

2. Treat my closet like a shrine.
I need to remember my closet contains clothing and shoes - you know that stuff I spend a ton of money on? My closet probably has the most value-per-square-foot of anywhere in the house, so why am I treating it like a red-headed stepchild? Instead of allowing sweaters and dresses to fall off the hangar and possibly meet their demise, I should probably keep it clean.

Anyway, a word about closets - there are a million opinions and preferences of how to organize this space. Lifehacker says to organize your closet left to right with outfits so you won't ever "overwear" anything. In an effort to rid herself of things she never wears, my former roommate Suzie has designed a system which she hangs her hangars backwards, and returns them to the closet the right way only after wearing them once or laundering them. After a month, all clothing on backward hangars goes to Goodwill. Harsh, but effective!

Another site has a four-box system of cleaning your closet that I could have used when I was knee-deep in birthday cards from 1999 and high school swim team shirts. They recommend "Box C" for items you are emotionally attached to, but unready to give up. It says to leave it be for a month, and if you don't use them, give to charity. Real Simple, patron of organization, gives 12 tips from "closet pros" (what a job) and they say "NO more wire hangars!" Haha.

3. Stop buying ugly boxes, or lack thereof.
There's a reason why I am unorganized. I refuse to spend money on shoe boxes or anything from The Container Store, because I'd rather spend it on things that are "fun." But really, if you can't find anything and your place looks like crap, all the Voluspa candles and west elm vases in the world won't make your apt look decent.


So, I'm taking note of Domino's cute ideas to be an organized individual. I especially liked their spread on Rashida Jones' place that showed me if they can make 400 square feet look good, I should be able to get it together. In fact, I think everyone should bookmark their "Get Organized" section. Speaking of west elm, I rather enjoy their canvas boxes to keep my crap calm, cool and collected.

To commit myself to this journey to organizational enlightenment, I'm aiming to post photos of my work. That will hopefully keep me on track, because who wants to broadcast photos of their messy room? Stay tuned...

Speidi Makes Us Sick

If the celebrity tabloid world was anything like high school, Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt would be voted "Most Likely to Make Us Vomit." Even by Us Weekly, surprise, surprise.

I was uber giddy to note via Jossip that the celebrity rag that usually loves all things staged and cheesy called out Camp Speidi's lame shenanigans.

It's like when I see these pictures of Heidi and Spencer together, it reminds me of the movie "Green Card" where they frantically take photos in different settings to act like they've had a lasting and real relationship. Speidi does the same thing, except they have D-list celebutante status at risk instead of the possibility of being deported.

And even more lame, they're apparently getting paid to look this ridiculously uninteresting. I want to know who at Pacific Coast News sat down and thought it would be a good idea for them to post up in a wheel barrow with a sad-looking pumpkin for Halloween. And then, to wear matching canary yellow polo shirts for "golf day." Among the pair's gratuitous beachwear shots, Heidi dons a bikini with a likening to the U.S. flag for the Fourth of July. How patriotic. (Ahem: please note the photos in beachwear all seem to take place near the same beach rock formation. The captions say things like "Pacific Palisades" and "Cabo San Lucas," but we all know it's a backdrop in a photography studio in Culver City.)

I'd say these two sold out, but I really don't think they had much integrity in the first place. Oh well. Rock the 15 minutes of fame while you can...even though these two make it painfully feel more like 45, even 50 minutes.

I heart d*s

Apparently, I'm on a blog-posting roll today.

Last one, seemingly dedicated only to my love of Design*Sponge...how I love thee...let me count the ways.

No one else can make me feel giddy about ottomans and existentially happy about rocking chairs. If you're not reading, start. It will get you going on that early-in-the-year feeling that you're finally going to make your abode say something about yourself. Personally, my two-story Irvine suburban condo is saying "Brianne really likes plain walls" but I'm resigned to it, successfully convincing myself it's that white-washed shabby chic thing.

d*s is home to many a great idea. Grace Bonney and her team seem to scan the universe of shelter mags and blogs that results in a superbly edited collection of cuteness. If you're feeling crafty, check out their DIY section. Don't miss their weekly wrap-up post if you're pressed for time. And if you're traveling to a new city soon, check out their plentiful city design guides. Here come some random d*s photos just to get you going....enjoy!

my friend megan would dig this.

she specializes in loving adorable flowers in small bowls.

is that peony wallpaper? love the lamp.

this console-as-a-desk makes me want a laptop, real bad.

shall i ever get a ginormous collection of books and a non-working fireplace,

this will be the look for me.

cat + anthropologie-like bedding = a good time to me

i have a similar yellow/pink/green combo

in my room, and it seems to work.

RIP, Heath.

Because there's not much else to say.

Coachella will be hot

As a teenager, the Coachella/Indio region held not much excitement for me.

Save for the restaurant, "EAT," that made for good people watching and doubled as a shower station and knife-sharpening haven for scary truck drivers, I viewed this desert spot as merely a means to get to Lake Havasu without starving. Just a stop on the itinerary.

Well, thanks to the lovely line-up announced today for the "Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival," Indio will definitely be a destination for me this April.

I'll be hitting the 10 East out there on Saturday, April 26, to see Hot Chip, M.I.A., Rilo Kiley and New Young Pony Club - and to sweat buckets. Join me in the revelry.

Apple + Blue Sequin Jumper = Fun

I took this Mediabistro course in LA a few months back on "Blogging Basics" taught by an editor for Unbeige, Alissa Walker (I highly recommend it, by the way and there is one coming up on March 29!) Ever since then, I've been reading Unbeige more frequently, and get a kick of Alissa's posts. Another thing I've done since then is feel bad I don't post more often like she advised. Oops.

Anyway, today Alissa posted the MadTV video spoof "They iScrewed Me Again," based off the Apple iPod Nano commerical featuring Feist, who I heart to death. It's pretty comical, and I'm certain it took them quite a while to match Feist's royal blue sequin jumper she wears in the video for "1 2 3 4." Also, I am kicking myself for not seeing Feist while she was in town with Spoon.

Anyway, for anyone who has experienced feeling obsolete by Apple's clever product release timing, enjoy! And here's a link to the original version.

Oh, and happy 2008...

Ah yes, um, Happy New Year! Forgot to say Happy Holidays or anything of the sort...how rude.

My time was spent wearing a cheesy Christmas sweater and green tights, enjoying a chilly trip to Lake Arrowhead and watching the ball drop from Bainbridge Island, Washington, among other highlights. Strep throat being one of them.

Anyway, enjoy this cartoon that really does pose a problem for future NYE drunken countdowns (and offers two solutions that might seriously be our 2010 eyewear.)

How to paint a "headboard"

The new year is all about setting really unrealistic goals for yourself that you might not meet, but they were pretty fun to make. Like "get abs of steel" or "clean out my scary closet."

So I'll just go ahead and qualify my excuse as "I live in an rented condo" for why I can't make use of this fun idea to paint a faux headboard in one weekend. The idea is from Apartment Therapy, which has been giving me design envy for quite some time.


The color pink is pretty intense, but mellowed out by all the white bedding. Plus, I really dig the mirror over the bed. Hopefully you have a nice landlord or own your home sweet home, so you can take advantage of this cool idea.