'From Trash to Treasure'

Before

Everyone has one. A drawer in their desk, bureau or side table that houses all of life’s odds and ends: cables, rubber bands, spare change, spare keys, batteries, pencils, erasers, plugs and other essential but non-essential miscellaneous items.

Well enough of keeping this your household dirty secret. In just one hour, you can transform your junk drawer into your go-to drawer. This may not be your typical decorating/fashion tip, but it’s the starting point if you want to continue those crafty décor projects, you’re going to need to find your tape, pencils and screwdriver.

20 minutes: Empty, sort and throw out

For the first 20 minutes, empty out all the contents of your drawer in a clean, uncluttered surface. Then separate and group items that go together (pens and pencils, spare change, keys, etc.).

During this time, you should be throwing out any items that are no longer useful, or have become outdated and are not used anymore.

Items that don’t belong and take up too much space should be placed and labeled in separate plastic bags, to be housed somewhere else later. Labeling items that you would like to keep, but are likely to forget its purpose, won’t take up too much of your time.

After

30 minutes: Restructure and redo

This next half-hour will be spent finding creative storage items to remedy your junk problem. For example, votive holders and tea cups can store items like paper clips, loose change and pens. Ring dishes serve as a good place to keep rubber bands. For the future, considering buying kits for your much-needed tools or sewing supplies. The kits will already come packed in a handy box for easy storage.

Line the bottoms of your drawer with a colorful drawer line, wallpaper, or place mat. This will keep the holders from sliding around.

10 minutes: Put it all away

The last 10 minutes will be placing your sorted groups into assorted containers. The containers will prevent your things from getting jumbled around into the drawer and messy to begin with.

In putting the items away, think of arranging the drawer in such a way that every container fits neatly. The items that you use most should be placed at the front of the drawer, will the rest should fall to the back.

**Rather not look for containers around the house? Go shopping for some junk desk drawer organizers. Yes, they exist!

-S. Gonzalez

*Photos courtesy of apartmenttherapy.com

'Small Space, Big-Time Solutions'

“Small is beautiful,” I find myself saying when others like to tease me about my tiny 5’1 frame.

In fact, the phrase “small is beautiful” tends to apply to most of my life: my miniscule cell phone, my appetite for bite-size foods and desserts, my fondness of small dogs like min pins and terriers, and my love of major cities.

Unlike others that dream of owning an expansive house or stretching their legs out on acres of land, I never dreamed of much more than a cozy luxury apartment close to friends and family with all the amenities and location, location, location.

For now, I’m satisfied with my 800-square foot space located just outside the city. Decorating can be a challenge, though. Just as I, petite as I am, must concern myself with proportion, fit and color when tackling my wardrobe, the same rules apply to decorating a small space.

Mirrors widen this space instantly

Take the time to reflect

Using mirrors to make spaces appear larger is a classic decorating tactic. The mirrors not only create depth with the trompe-l’oeil of its reflection, but mirrors also invite natural and artificial light to bounce light deep into the room. Mirrors over vanities, wardrobe-length mirrors and large wall mirrors make for good investments when trying to accentuate a small room.

Small furniture doesn't overwhelm this small room

Scale it down

The last thing you would want to do is purchase a hefty-size piece of furniture for a small room with low ceilings. Everyone will have that oversized couch confused for Alice in Alice in Wonderland when the character drinks a mysterious elixir and grows to gargantuan size.

Look for furnishings in scaled-down proportions: open back chairs, a small love seat or sofa, a slim rocker, a wrought-iron or open headboard for the bed. Make sure to keep the eye level view obstructed. And if you opt for taller furniture, do remember to place it on the far side of the wall, opposite the room’s entrance.

Positioning furniture at an angle makes this small room look larger

Take it from another angle

Now that you have the furniture in the right size and fit, it’s time to position it. The longest line in any given room is its diagonal. When furniture is placed at a 45 degree angle or less, the eye focuses more on the longer diagonal line that you have created instead of noticing the shortness of the length of the wall.

The angling of the furniture does not have to be too well-thought out. Play with the space and use the empty corners for some additional storage space.

And you will have yourself saying “small is beautiful” in no time.

-S. Gonzalez

*Photos courtesy of www.casasugar.com; www.apartmenttherapy.com; www.lovelyundergrad.com

'Rising Temps, Falling Prices'

The first sign of spring can make you act in ways you might not normally: You go out for a double scoop of ice cream, spend all Saturday afternoon at a pub drinking and downing nacho chips, or exchange your morning espresso for an iced Starbuck’s coffee instead.

Yesterday, as temperatures climbed to 89 degrees and I could feel all of New York City sweltering from the sudden heat, my abnormal behavior included shopping.

And just as I began to scour online for some much-needed spring clothes (too hot to walk outside!), I began uncovering mid-season sales, 48-hour flash sales and all sorts of noteworthy promotions.

Don’t miss these two sales:

1. Outnet.com

Ever wondered what it might be like to head into a dollar store and find all of your favorite designer brands: Alexander McQueen, Brian Atwood, Proenza Schouler, Marc Jacobs and Givenchy?

Well, now you can!

Register at outnet.com before April 11 and get exclusive access to Outnet’s one-day designer sale where everything in the sale is $1! The designer sale marks the Outnet's first anniversary, which is a natural off-price 'sister store' to the in-season online retailer Net-a-porter.com. The site regularly holds flash sales, pop-up sales and the ‘Going, Going, Gone Sale’ where the price drops as time passes – typically with designer merchandise from past seasons.

Mark your calendars. It’s going to be a long day next week.

2. Decorinnovation.com

When it comes to home furnishings, Décor Innovation knows how to host a sale where every customer wins at checkout.

The site, best known for its eco-friendly blackout curtains and its faux fur throws (I have two), has a ‘Spend some, get some’ promotion where for every $100 you spend, you get $5 off your final purchase.

Browse through the site and you will find that the blackout curtains are already marked 40% off its retail price. Faux fur throw are discounted at 15% off its original price. But there’s more: an extra 10% off with promocode BLACK for curtains and SAFARI for throws – to be discounted from your order on the billing page. Sale ends May 1.

And don’t forget that certain key items like Sherpa faux fur throw is ‘Buy one, get one free’ and the basic solid grommet curtains comes with a set of free voile curtains with your purchase!

-S. Gonzalez

*Photos courtesy of outnet.com; decorinnovation.com