tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510202274353585857.post4844447016782621499..comments2011-12-08T12:30:34.462-05:00Comments on Graceful Space: I never intended to practice feng shui. Now I'm a feng shui consultant. What happened?Graceful Spacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04972295003581557470noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510202274353585857.post-39095568140719858432011-02-18T13:27:14.870-05:002011-02-18T13:27:14.870-05:00I just wanted to say I tried Gwen's suggestion...I just wanted to say I tried Gwen's suggestion to organize my closet by color and not category and she is spot on! Not only does it look more attractive and less busy, but it is easier and more effortless to find things. I don't have to think- I just have to look. And the process to get it that way was fun and effortless as well. Try it!Erik J.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510202274353585857.post-37578450336383360252010-12-21T10:47:51.268-05:002010-12-21T10:47:51.268-05:00Anonymous, that's a great idea to bring boxes ...Anonymous, that's a great idea to bring boxes of stuff you don't want to work with you for your co-workers to dive into and help themselves. The things you've gotten tired of or no longer need may be exactly what your friends or colleagues have been seeking for months. I have girlfriends who periodically organize clothing, shoe, and accessory swaps for this same reason.Graceful Spacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04972295003581557470noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510202274353585857.post-9586961995911467772010-11-08T11:50:05.837-05:002010-11-08T11:50:05.837-05:00Not to worry, Barbaro. The main thing is to keep ...Not to worry, Barbaro. The main thing is to keep experimenting till you find what works best for your particular closet and clothes, rather than following rules of organization (your own or someone else's) that don't work well in your particular situation.<br /><br />I find I'm happiest with my surroundings when decoration and organization (i.e., form and function) are one and the same, because it's easier to find things if you like the look of where and how they're stored. The more you like to look at something, the more time you'll spend looking at it. And the more you look AT it, the better you'll remember where it is, so the less time you'll spend in future looking FOR it. (This is one of many ways you can use feng shui to put the Pleasure Principle to work for you!) <br /><br />Conversely, it takes a long time--every time--to find things stored in cluttered spaces. Our eyes and brains can't process or remember visual chaos as quickly or as easily as patterns. So it's unpleasant and stressful to stare at cluttered spaces for the amount of time it would take to decode them visually. End result? We don't. We slam the closet door shut in self-defense, and the next time we need to find that same object, we have no memory of where it was.<br /><br />Re: men's vs. women's clothing, I have also wondered which allow for more permutations. Women's clothing catalogues make all kinds of claims for mix and match, but it's never actually worked with any clothes I've ever owned. On the other hand, I have female friends who do manage to mix and match, so maybe other readers have thoughts they'd like to share on this?Graceful Spacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04972295003581557470noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510202274353585857.post-70485562368267871132010-11-06T04:39:49.542-04:002010-11-06T04:39:49.542-04:00My friends told me on the beach one day that they ...My friends told me on the beach one day that they managed their move and the joining of their possessions with this great book they'd found. I bought it from my local independent bookstore on the way home. I was fascinated. <br />I’ve successfully used it to sell my house and downsize my own possessions. I used to arrive at my workplace with boxes of “stuff” often to have workmates pluck treasures out of the box before I could even get it to the staff room. <br />I used it to help with an estate situation when a house had to be purged in less than a week. I xeroxed the chapter about the box system for my friends and asked them to read it before joining me in Richmond for the big clean out. One of them didn't quite get the gist of the box thing. My favorite part of the misunderstanding was the size of box she chose. She went to a moving/storage place. When I entered the garage there was a huge box marked DILEMMA. I'll say :O It was big enough for a couple of bodies to fit in - never mind not being able to see to the bottom to dispute anything. This group tried their best to use the boxes to sort stuff but were reluctant to do rooms on their own - so the three of us did each room together (auaauuuggghhhh!). But we finally got to the point where the different charity/consignment groups were coming to the house to pick up well-labeled boxes of treasures for different destinations.<br />We kept a smaller dilemma box in each room and began to refer to them as Fight Club boxes. Near the end of the week we sat on the living room floor and had a fight club ceremony with drinks - using a large silver champagne tub to pull names out of to see who won which goodies.<br />I talk to people about this book all the time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5510202274353585857.post-38819546682855126432010-08-10T08:47:50.952-04:002010-08-10T08:47:50.952-04:00Interesting. I remain skeptical re men's clot...Interesting. I remain skeptical re men's clothes, b/c mine, at least, are all shades of grey, navy, and brown--I have to segregate the shirts (which are arranged by color) due to insufficient hanger space. I also suspect that men's (dress) clothes allow more permutations than women's. My current plan is to avoid this whole problem by wearing suits instead of jackets and trousers.<br /><br />As you may remember, I was never crazy about that Kingston book--or any I've yet found. It was a workshop at the Sierra Club annual meeting, of all things, that piqued my interest in feng shui, and more as decoration than organization.Barbarohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04038516078498541056noreply@blogger.com