Changing Hats?

Well this week has been a little odd.

My new historical romance 'Sold into Marriage' has been out for 3 weeks now and I've had an amazing response, thank you everyone.  'Sold into Marriage' now has a 5 star rating at Amazon.co.uk and a 4 star rating at Barnes & Noble.  A big thank you to everyone for all your support and kind words.

But wow does the marketing use up a lot of time!  I want to go back to finishing my first book in my paranormal series that's so close to completion now!  I'm tempted to go back into hiding again soon!

I had the chance this week to take off my author hat and put on my old familiar interior design hat again.  It's been a while since I've had the chance to help someone out in the interior design world; recently I've just been too busy writing!

It was fun being able to help out and solve those storage problems most modern homes have these days.  There is nothing better than walking back out of a room feeling you've made a difference and hopefully improved someone's life and general well being too.

My tip for this week is to stop having those places where things just get dumped.

I know you all have them!

As your interior designer today, I would say you're only allowed one small dumping pot or box.  If you have any more than that, then you need to sort that storage and clutter problem in your home before it takes over!  How can you find anything if one bit is here and another is there? It only encourages clutter, chaos and basically mess!

I'm a firm believer of tidy desk, tidy mind!

So really look around your home - where have you dumped things? Are they meant to be there? Probably not.  Does it have a home? If not then find it a proper one.

They do fabulous storage boxes and furniture now, with prices to suit a range of budgets.  If you have a small collection of items that belong or relate to each other, but don't have a real home for them, then put them in a decorative box.  I promise next time you're trying to find them, they will be right at hand safely tucked away but without cluttering up any surfaces.

From my experience this solution works well if you're trying to de-clutter and organise a teenager, particularly with girls: that endless supply of makeup, toiletries and hair accessories can easily be stored and stacked into decorative boxes (and it helps make them tidy up after themselves too!)

So I'm setting you all a challenge this week.  I want you to sort out that clutter or that work surface that just has stuff over it.  Do you really need it?  If so then find it a home.

Good luck

Maxi xxx