How Myrna Organizes Her Desk

Today we have Myrna of For the Love of Black, participating in the ‘How I Organize’ series. She gives us a peek inside her home to share with us her fabulous desk area:I've never really needed a desk area before, but since I've started my blog, I was finding I needed an area that was all mine, and of course it has to be beautiful so that it inspires me. So I find if I surround myself with things like my artwork, a scented candle, and beautifully organized desk supplies, I get the job done easier and it's much more pleasant.

A few things I've found to help keep me organized are for everything to have its place and that goes for around the rest of my home as well. On my desk I like to have paperclips ready to grab in a pretty little bowl, definitely a little notebook for those random thoughts going on in my head all the time, a great pen for notes, a pencil for sketching, my iPad, and a good light. I also must have a clock as I'm a stickler for being on time. And fresh flowers never hurt!!

Another thing I find is a must is to keep all wires from computers, lamps, and phone chargers out of sight if you can. Too much clutter looks disorganized. Ikea has some great cable management boxes and reels. Organizing as you go helps things from piling up and keeps your mind free from clutter too. I have a little black urn style container with a lid for receipts and little notes I don't want scattered all over my desk. For me, this is how I work best!!

How Shauna Organizes Her Spices

This week’s guest participating in the ‘How I Organize’ series is the lovely Shauna of Satori Design for Living who takes a holistic approach to design and organization in helping others beautifully transform their homes. She gives us a peek inside her kitchen and shares with us how she organizes her spices:

I have always loved using spices in cooking, but it usually meant searching through a basket of miss-matched packages, jars and tins to find the one I was looking for. Quite often I’d end up buying multiples of the same spice because it was buried at the bottom of a disorganized mess. I also never kept track of how long I had a particular spice and knew that in order to get the most flavor, whole spices should only be kept for three years and ground spices for just a year. (When a spice is ground, it releases the oils responsible for its flavor and aroma. As the oils dissipate, the spice becomes less pungent.)

To start with, I took stock of all the spices I had and weeded out the ones I never really use. I then bought small jars from the Dollar Store to transfer the spices into. It’s always much better to keep items the same to prevent an area from looking cluttered. I used small jars for most of the spices and larger ones for spices we use in greater quantities. I then found labels from the Martha Stewart line at Staples, printed the spice names using the computer and affixed them to the jars. Next, I applied a clear protective film over the labels to keep them looking new. On the bottom of the jar I affixed a small label and wrote the month and year the spice was put into the jar.

Currently I keep the spices on simple white trays on a shelf in my pantry closest to the stove. I store them alphabetically, with spices used more often at the front. This new system looks visually appealing and makes finding spices a breeze. I like the fact that I’m doing something good for the environment by purchasing small packets of spices (that can be recycled) to refill the jars. I also feel confident that dishes will be flavorful because of the freshness of the spices I use.