Friday, July 31, 2009

On a budget?

Good morning!!
Want a new look? On a budget? Try re-arranging. Re-purpose things you already own. Move a peice of artwork from your bedroom to the living room. Re-purpose a chest of drawers as linen storage in the dining room.




There are many, many ways to change the look of a space without breaking your piggy bank. Remember that old side table in the garage rafters? Take it out, put a coat of black paint on it, and presto change-o, you have a new side table for your guest room! You know that mirror down in the storage under the stairs? Take it out, add a coat or two of black paint, voila!, use it in your entry way. Mirrors placed properly in your entry will re-route negative energy, according to some feng shui experts.




This is an antique side board I had in my garage. I painted it black and now it is in my family room and houses games and puzzles. It is also great for one collection of family photos.

Oh, remember that old book case down in the garage? Add a coat of white or pink or yellow paint. Add some cute baskets and use it in your daughters room for toy storage! Take those bi-fold doors off her closet as well, paint the inside of the closet a fresh coat of paint (I like using a different color than the walls) and redo the shelving, add some storage bins or baskets. You'll be amazed at how much space you gain from removing bi-fold doors.




This is my daughters closet. I removed the bi-fold doors and did my own custom closet design. I painted the inside yellow and added baskets and bins for storage but I gained approx. 4 sq. ft by removing the doors. I also added hooks on the wall for hats, bags, etc





You will be amazed at what you can find shopping around your house, once you actually start looking! Happy Shopping!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Afraid of a little Color?

Good Morning! Hope everyone is well this beautiful morning!

Are you afraid of color? Are all your walls white? Beige? If you like sterile white, or boring beige that is okay. However, as a color girl, I would like to give you a little bit of oomph! Lets try one wall first and we will work in color on a small scale.

Look around the room at your decor. Look at the permanent pieces. Your area rugs, artwork, furnishings, draperies, etc. These are the pieces you want to try to co-ordinate with unless, you don't mind painting. If you don't mind painting, or hiring someone to paint, then we can select colors from accessorie items or an inspiration piece.

Lets, start by picking an inspiration piece, a color in a pillow, or a rug, a piece of artwork, etc. Pick a color out of one of these pieces or just start with a color you absolutely love. Remember, you can always paint over it, if you don't like it. :)

Pick a focus wall for your color wall. This might be a fireplace wall, a wall visible from the street, a wall visible when you walk in the front door, etc. The focus wall differs depending on the space you are painting and how your space is layed out. If you are leary, then paint a small patch first about 6" x 6" and leave it for a few days. Paint your swatch next to your woodwork to see what the color will look like against the wood. This gives you a chance to observe the color in both the light and the dark.

Now paint your wall! You will be amazed at the amount of life you will add to your space by adding color to it. If you want to really live outside your box, paint 2 walls or even the entire room.

Remember, BrynnAlden Interiors also offers interior painting services :)

Happy Painting!

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

What is the NCIDQ?

Good Morning! How is the de-cluttering and organizing going? I am sure you are all de-cluttered and organized by now! lol

I thought I would share this with you. Some of you may know if you are in the industry, but some of you may not know. The following is taken from the Interior Design Practicum Workbook, by Pamela E.B. Henly.

"The National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) was formed in 1972. The NCIDQ was created to establish minimum competency standards for the interior design profession. The NCIDQ established a certification exam to test these standards and the knowledge and skills interior designers need to posess in order to perform at a minimum professional level."

"Certification indicates to the public that interior design professionals have met an acceptable standard of professional education and experience, and that they can demonstrate a competent level of skill in key areas."

"Licensure also enlightens the public about the scop or the interior design profession and acknowledges the difference between an interior decorator and a Certified Interior Designer."

This is the bare bones of what the NCIDQ certification exam is about. Only 9 short weeks! Wow! Time flies when you are having fun studying! After the NCIDQ exam, my study partner Amanda, wants to take the LEED exam. I will talk about that another time. So long for now - gotta get my day started! Keep on organizing and de-cluttering.

Happy Tuesday! :)

Monday, July 27, 2009

Keep Going!

I hope you are getting organized little by little. How are the organizing assignments going?

Today I am just going to quickly mention using the inside of cabinet doors.

On the inside of cabinet doors there is a hidden use. I mount 2 - 12"x12" pieces of cork board vertically on the inside of cabinet doors in my kitchen. I use them for calendars, recipes, numbers, you name it. I have them in almost all of my kitchen upper cabinets. They are great for getting those litttle tidbits off the counter or table and to a place that you can find them but they are not cluttering your home. You can buy them in packs of 4 and they are under $10 at Menards or Target. I think they are available at JoAnn's also, and you can use your coupon on them as well. I am keeping this short today. I get a bit winded at times. Will talk to you all soon. Keep on cutting the clutter! Happy Monday :)

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Let's Get Organized!

Good afternoon! I hope your decluttering task is going well! I thought that since we are decluttering and trying to get more organized, I would share a couple of my tips on getting a little more organized in your daily life.

1- Toy Storage: If you have kids, if it is one or five, you have toy clutter. Legos, Polly Pockets, markers, crayons, and transformers; these are just some of the things you can organize. In my kids' rooms, I use flat, rectangle, plastic sweater storage bins. I label each bin for a specific item.

1-Legos
2-Cars
3-Transformers, etc.

I then have used the abyss under the bed for organized storage. Don't get me wrong, the younger the child, the harder it is to keep it absolutely organized. My 8 year old is really good at keeping each thing in its its bin when he cleans up. My 5 year old, not so much. More of a dump and run scenario.

You can also do the same for art supplies. Crayons, markers, paints, and Play Doh all have a seperate bin. For these items, I use the plastic shoe box containers and label each and then they are stored on shelves in my daughters closet. If you are lucky enough to have a craft room, then they can be stored there.

I challenge you to sort and organize just 3 items. Start with one room and and 3 bins. Anything that does not belong in one of these 3 bins, put into a 4th bin. Then once you have these 3 items organized, start with 3 more items until you have your Legos, Polly Pockets, Matchbox, and markers all in their own place. Good Luck! Talk to you soon.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Let's Start with the Clutter!

Good Morning! I think we should start by getting rid of clutter and getting a little more organized before we start on our design tips. You never know, I might just go back and forth.

First, lets start with de-cluttering. We will start with throwing 5 miscellaneous things away each day. Try to do this for a week straight. It may be a wrapper, a sticker, a pen cap, a bendaroo, a scrap of paper, it doesn't matter what you throw as long as you throw your 5 things each day for a week. Where you find your items to throw also varies. Maybe it is the garage, your kids room, your scrapbook room, your laundry room, or even your junk drawer. It doesn't matter where you find your 5 things, just find them. Just think, after 7 days you will have gotten 35 things out of your house!

If you are a list maker like I am, then put it right on your "to-do" list. #1 - throw 5 things. If you are really brave and depending on your situation, if you are a pack rat, if you have kids, if you are not a tidy person, whatever your situation may be, you could throw more than 5 things. I personnally do 15 things and I try to do it on a daily basis. Between 2 kids with wrappers, stickers, bendaroos, and beads, I usually have no problem finding 15 things. How many items you throw, is totally up to you. If you have problems with throwing things out, I suggest you start with 5. Like I said, if you have a daily "to-do" list write it on top as number one on your daily list.

Once you have thrown 5 things for 7 days straight, try finding 7 things for the next 7 days, if you are always picking up and throwing things away, everyday you will have less clutter than the day before.

Now, lets discuss the paper clutter! We have so much paper in our lives, for trying to go green, there sure is a lot of paper that is thrust upon us on a daily basis. Junk mail, regular mail, newspapers, flyers, school work, school art work, crafts, bills, invitations, you name it.
Because of the amount of paper that people come accross in their daily lives we have to start small or it can get overwhelming.

First, start by sorting your papers, including mail, into 3 smaller piles.

1 - Recycle/shred
2 - complete/paid/to be filed
3 -to be paid/needs attention

Once you have your piles;

Deal with pile #1 first. Either recycle or shred these items. Now they are out of your way. (hint: these could count as your five things in the de-cluttering exercise)

Next, pile #2 - spend just 15 minutes filing pile #2. You may not finish, but spending 15 minutes gives you the satisfaction of reducing your pile, and it is a short enough time period to not be overwhelmed.

Next, pile #3 - spend whatever time you need to, and take care of your bills, doctor appts, etc. What ever it is that is in this pile. Maybe you don't have enough time to complete them all, but just leave them right under your to do list. Then when you get a free minute, you will be reminded of them. You could be making a call while you unload the dishwasher. You could be making the bed while you are on hold with the phone company, etc. etc.

Spend just a few minutes, say 15 minutes, shreding or filing, every 3-4 days and your paper piles will remain at a manageable level. One thing I personally do is I open my mail right away. This makes me recycle the junk mail and I address any issues right away, if it is a #2 pile piece, it goes into my "to be filed" bin, which is in my office, I try to spend 20 - 30 minutes a week on my "to be filed bin" - that way it is always at a manageable level but it isn't in plain site on my kitchen counter. There might be kids stuff to keep, magazine articles to file, bill receipts, gas receipts, you name it. I put anything that needs to be filed away in my bin and I deal with it on a weekly basis. (by the way, I almost always have stuff in my bin, that is just the way it is!)

I would say, you have enough homework to do! Go ahead and get started with your decluttering and let me know how it goes.

We'll talk soon. Have a great Friday and a great rest of the weekend too. My family is celebrating my daughters 5th birthday tomorrow. So we will be busy busy this weekend. Have a good one.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

BrynnAlden Interiors is Blogging!!

Thanks for visiting my blog! Today marks the start of my blogging career!

I will start today by giving you a brief history about me! My name is Kelli Mickelson. I have a BS in Interior Design from the University of Minnesota. I am a candidate for taking the NCIDQ national certification test in October. My focus is residential projects but depending on the scope, I will take on commercial projects as well.

My experience is as follows:
I spent 2+ years working for a small residential design firm focusing on luxury homes in the West Metro. Next, I spent 2+ years specializing in Kitchen and Bath design at a family owned home improvement retail center. Since then, I have done free lance design on a part-time basis for the past 7 years. I have owned and operated a small boutique in Cottage Grove, MN and I am now getting with the times and getting on the web! Look out!

I promise my readers, I will work on getting our website up and running as well! Watch for the transformation! It is sure to be a wonderful one! I must sign off for now! See you soon!