Making Life Beautiful

For most of use, storage is a perennial problem, particularly when children start to get older, and in today’s world, when children are staying at home a lot longer. It seems that ’stuff’ and clutter tend to grow all on their own, in every room, taking up a lot of floor space, and squeezed into every nook and cranny.

To create more storage space, look around your rooms and think outside the box. Are there empty walls on which you could install shelves? Creating shelving around door frames, under stairs or above windows can create not only great additional storage, but also add to the decor and style of your space. Using a kids locker to tidy away all the junk and paraphernalia that most children will accumulate is a great to teach them to tidy away all of their toys when they have finished playing with them at the end of the day (and less clearing up for you to do). Wire units are a great addition to any home but fit particularly well in the modern setting. Places where boots and shoes are kicked off are a great place for this style o f unit and will help to keep the place smelling sweeter too.

Functional furniture often helps in creating more storage. For example you could look for Ottomans where you can lift up the lid and use all space inside for storage. Similarly, some sofa lounges have seats that can lift up and provide sensational storage for bulky items such as spare duvets, blankets and towels. Coffee tables can provide storage by having a shelf underneath the top, or additional drawers. Behind the door space is often wasted. Dependent upon your needs, you can buy over the door hooks to store extra things. Using grids or hooks placed on the inside of cabinet doors is space that can be used to store extra things.

Are you utilising the space underneath your bed? You can buy plastic storage boxes or even better get space bags to store your extra bedding in underneath the bed. Bed frames come with platform drawers underneath are another great storage area and bookcase headboards and bedside tables with cupboards and drawers can add extra storage space in the bedroom.



The key to organisation doesn’t have to cost you thousands of dollars and spends hours upon end working to keep things in order. If you find the right ways to invest a little money and time you will actually find that you don’t have to pick up as much and that means a more comfortable area for you and your family.

Clutter, some people can’t live without it and some can’t live with it.   If you’re trying to declutter your place and finding it hard to do, then hopefully these tips will help.  Also, I’ve included a video from YouTube that gives some great hints and tips to get you on your way to a ‘clutter-free’ life.

1.  ‘Stuff’ accumulates over time, so it’s time to stop procrastinating and start decluttering.  Quite often it is overwhelming and you just don’t know where to start.   Well, start with one room in the house or one cupboard or one drawer, just start somewhere and couple this with the mindset  ’it came in one piece at a time, it can go out one piece at a time’, and you’ll soon be on your way to a clutter free and organised space.  If you do a little every day or every week, soon that great pile of clutter will be gone.

2.  For each area that you need to declutter, group items into four piles, namely 1) donating 2) recycling  or selling 3) disposing 4) keeping.  One of the hardest things to do is to ‘let go’ of your clutter, a good rule of thumb is, if you haven’t used it in the last 12 months, then let it go.  Another tip is to put the item in a box and keep it for a specified time eg a month or six months, then if you haven’t opened the box and used the item within that time frame, then out it goes.

3.  Make a new rule for yourself, if you buy something you have to get rid of two things, then already you’ve made room.  Decide on where you’re going to put your new purchase and put it there straight away, where it belongs.  If you have ’stuff’ that doesn’t have a place, you should consider parting with it.  The old saying “everything must have a place and everything must be in its place” is a great mantra to use.

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Another big cause of clutter is paper.  How often do you receive mail, bills, letters and it just has a habit of building up in piles, all on its own…   A quick tip to avoid mess is to plan to touch each piece of paper only once.  This means, when you open and read your mail, you then file it or throw it away.  Putting it back on the table to be put away later is not an option.  It’ll also save you time, as you won’t be having to deal with the same papers over and over again.

These are a few simple tips to get you on your way to clutter free living, and start making your life beautiful, one space at a time.

As a small business owner, you know I’m passionate in the belief that, whether working in an office space or from home,  you present your personal branding and corporate image in a way that reflects your business image and the values that you stand for.  So how do you achieve this on a budget that isn’t going to break the bank?  Well, here are 7 tips you can use to get a result straight away.

1.  Look at your reception furniture with fresh eyes, and be critical.  Is it looking in good condition or a bit worn or tatty around the edges? 

2.  Is the surrounding comfortable?  by comfortable I don’t mean chairs and lounges that you sink into, but does the ambience of the reception area reflect your brand and business.  In relation to reception chairs , they shouldn’t be uncomfortable to sit on, but by the same token, you want to make it easy for visitors to be able to stand up.

3.  Is the colour scheme in the reception area reinforcing your corporate colours that you use in your stationery, business cards and signage? or portraying the type of business you are in? 

4.  Assess the lighting in the reception area.  Can you add interest and a focal point by installing accent lighting on a piece of wall art or over your corporate logo signage?  Are all the light fittings workings and in good condition i.e not dusty, or globes not working?

5.  If you have industry magazines, newspapers and sales brochures in the reception area, are they current and in a presentable condition (no pages falling out, out of date sales brochures, dog earred)?

6.  The reception desk or station, could you improve on the presentation by including fresh flowers, decluttering unnecessary paperwork and tidying up the desk top?

7.  Have you utilised wall space to incorporate industry certificates, awards won, framed press releases or certificates of appreciation from local organisations that you have supported? 

All of the items mentioned here tell a story about you and your business to the visitors, suppliers, partners and potential employees that walk through your front door into your reception area.  The question you have to ask yourself is, is this the story that you want to tell those entering your world?

Statistics show that styled homes can sell 83% faster than non styled homes!

By taking the time and effort to prepare your home when you decide to sell is an important consideration as studies show that many buyers will form their opinion almost immediately. 

Styling your home is a process of ‘neutralising’ your home with the intent of appealing to as many prospective buyers as possible.  Basically you’re trying to eliminate as many objections as possible when buyers walk through your door.    The main problem many seller’s face is that they are unable to ’see’ the property with fresh eyes, this is understandable as your home and your space is generally how you like it.   However, not all potential buyers see things the way you do. 

You might need to temporarily put excess furniture in to storage or put away your prized possessions, if there is any chance that someone else may find them less attractive than you do.  By styling your home the objective is to create an atmosphere that appeals to the senses of as many prospective buyers as possible.  The desire is to invite an emotive connection that enables them to visualise themselves living in your house.  This is critical, as only about 5% of buyers can visualise the potential in prospective home.   Properly styling your home will help the buyer imagine what your house could, should or would look like if……….

Here is a comment from a client whose property we styled recently

“Sharon Ross Interiors was an extremely valuable resource when I was looking at selling my home recently.  I was looking to represent the property in its best light to achieve the highest sale price yet having work within a  budget so I would not over capitalise.  Sharon offered fresh, innovative ideas of colour, light, design and furniture placement and successfully blended the new extension of a study harmoniously with the rest of the home.  Sharon grasped the ‘feel’ of the home so I followed all of her recommendations and am pleased to say that I achieved the asking price for my home and came in on budget.  Sharon, thank you for your professional service and for understanding my needs.  Kelly O”Brien”

So, here are 9 great reasons why you should style the presentation of your home….

1.  Faster selling time – styled home sell faster than non-styled homes which helps you achieve your selling price.

2.  Impressions – first impressions DO count

3.  Only 60 seconds – research shows that buyers initially make up their mind in less than a minute – therefore ’street appeal’ is key

4.  Move in straight away – styled homes appear to be in ‘move in straight away’ condition.

5.  No imagination required – with only 5% of buyers being able to visualise, style the home so that the majority of potential buyers can see themselves living in the house.

6.  Competitive advantage – styled homes will have a competitive advantage over homes that are not styled.

7.  Well maintained – styled home reflect a well maintained and cared for home.

8.  Extra showings - even though the property may not meet the buyers’ exact criteria, styled homes often get showed anyway

9.   Higher sales price – the better the home shows, the more it will sell for, you may even have a number of offers and possible a bidding war over the asking price. 

So, take the time, energy and effort in styling your home for sale to maximise the sale!

I thought I would share with you a short video I’ve put together showing the end result of a recent project.  The brief was to create a space that had clean lines, a contemporary look and feel which flowed through from the lounge to the dining and kitchen area.  A restricted colour pallette was used, predominantly black and white with accents of Aqua and Silver.   The wall behind the TV unit was painted in silver, using a special roller, to give the effect of wallpaper.  In the dining room, the focal point is the arch light, giving a beautiful pattern on the ceiling at night.  The kitchen optimises the space, with the breakfast bar also housing the microwave.  Waterfall ends on the breakfast bar turns this functional item into a piece of furntiure.

Are you looking to decorate or remodel your home and not quite sure where to start?  Well, before you go trawling through magazines to get ideas and inspiration, a good starting point is to look at your lifestyle.   This will help determine the functionality the house or room has to deliver which in turn impacts where you spend your budget.  Just because a house is decorated in the latest colours, newest fabrics and furniture, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will work for you and your lifetyle.

For example, do you have a family with small children and pets?  does Mum and/or Dad work from home? do you like to cook and entertain?  Jotting down the key aspects that need to be considered  for your family lifestyle, will help shape your decorating style and where you spend your decorating budget.

If young children and pets are rattling around the house, then an elegant French Provincial formal setting is probably not a good idea.   Here, the budget would be spent on well constructed, tough fabric covered furniture, easily maintained floors and surfaces that can be easily washed and kept clean.  If you love to cook and entertain, then a well designed and thought out kitchen with heaps of work space and storage will be priority.   On the other hand, a large and flashy media room may not be the best way to spend your budget if there are two working adults in the family with children who are heavily into sports and spend little spare time at home.

So, by taking a step back and jotting down what your space has to deliver for you is a great starting point to help determine the style of your home and where you focus your budget.