Clothes

Handbags, totes, clutches, pouches – How to best store them

Most of you have not seen me in person and wouldn’t know: I’m a big fan of baguette handbags. I love how small they are, meaning less weight on my shoulders, and big enough for everything I need (keys, phones, money, sunglasses, lipstick…). To me, they are the ideal purse and fit almost every occasion.

I say almost. Unless you’ve ever flown with me, again, you wouldn’t know how crazy I can be at an airport’s newspaper shop or their little local delicatessen shops. Plastic bags don’t hold the weight of the magazines too well but my travel backpack does.

Luckily, I can store my day-to-day handbags in a different place than my travel bags. Unfortunately, there’s no a separate walk in-closet where my bags can be nicely arranged and displayed on glass shelves though. If you’re limited by space or are looking for new inspirations, there’s the same question each time: How do I best store my bags?

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Shoes, shoes, shoes

Did you know that women in the UAE have on average 81 shoes? I was very surprised to hear such a high number when Virgin Radio announced these survey results in May.

So I did a little bit of experimenting and googling. Counting all my shoes, everything from flip flops, running shoes, golf shoes, boots etc., I’ve an amazing 32 pairs. That means someone else must own a whopping 130 pairs to create this UAE average for the two of us.

Where do you just store all these shoes? As a business partner once said, “we live in Dubai. People have a shoe closet.” I was laughing. It was comical, yet, so true. But what about us who don’t have a specific room just for their shoes?

Google was happy to suggest 13,300,000 results within mere 0.34 seconds for my quest on “shoe storage”. Here are some of my favourite tips for your shoe storage:

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How to create a capsule wardrobe

Do you ever stand in front of your wardrobe and there’s nothing, absolutely nothing to wear? I noticed a while ago that I was wearing only 20% of my clothes pretty much all the time. My closet was full of clothes, except they didn’t work for me. So I’ve changed. I said good bye to those pieces I’d never wear (and probably never wore to begin with) and focused on a few, essential but absolutely lovable items. It was the start to a capsule wardrobe.

A capsule wardrobe is based on a few pieces which you can combine with every other piece and create, let’s say 30 different outfit. The beauty is that you can have a capsule wardrobe for your office, for your evenings/going out or just leisurely for the weekend. It saves yourself space in your wardrobe. (I can hear you thinking about ways to filling up this space…) A capsule wardrobe moreover reduces the pain choosing an outfit. You’ll know what will go together and can quickly put one together. Finally, you don’t need to buy all new pieces. You can evaluate what’s in your wardrobe and then, slowly but surely, expand. Your budget will be thankful.

How do you start creating a capsule wardrobe?

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Time savers = Life savers?

Do you ever have the feeling that time just flies by? This happened to me this last weekend. It was a fun packed one. An organising job, meeting my friends, playing a decent round of golf and finally having purchased new bedroom curtains. Luckily, I didn’t have to do any of the boring or time consuming activities. I’m very grateful for having found some time saving shortcuts, making my life a lot easier. Here are some of my favourite time savers = life savers:

  • Automate your bills and savings. Set up a direct debit or standing order and have your mortgage/rent, utility, TV and phone bills paid directly. While you’re at it, create a regular transfer on pay day and put however much you can afford to into a savings account.

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Start your day the night before

Do you know this scenario: You feel like you’ve just woken up yet it’s already time to rush out of the door? Do you ask yourself where the morning has just gone? So often, we seem to forget that the next day actually starts the night before. What can you do to prepare for a stress-free morning? Here are 7 tips which will help you to plan ahead and relax:

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Your well deserved closet make over

As temperatures are rising, what are you doing with your wardrobe? You’ve probably read articles on how to change your clothes. But why wait for the end of a season to do so? Now is the time!

I’ve started clearing my closet on a regular basis and couldn’t be happier. We only wear 20% of our clothes. So why do we keep the other 80%? I’ve consciously decided to part from clothes which no longer fit or I don’t like. Remember those Christmas jumpers. Well, they’re gone, too. If you’re in the Middle East, there’s no need to wear them. Not even at Christmas!

This weekend is the perfect time to give your wardrobe the make over it and you deserve! Here are 10 easy steps to create the wardrobe of your dreams:

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The Home Office – Are you still cleaning or already getting things done?

Today was a great day. Starting with a walk around the lake, I’ve attended a very informative seminar about medical benefits in the GCC. The best was finishing my work day from home.

To me, working from home has many advantages: Less interruptions and less distractions, a lot more focus and productivity! Given my various deadlines (who doesn’t have them), it was just what was needed and I was so pleased to close a number of activities off.

To some, working from home is a very different story. The laundry basket is calling your name, you haven’t seen your neighbour for a while, why not catch up and oh, you haven’t decided what to cook for dinner yet. What can you do to treat your home office just like your regular office?

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Be aware: Energy vampires

Living in the Middle East, where temperatures can easily reach 45-50C (113-122F) in the summer, the thought of a siesta or afternoon nap to recharge your battery is very appealing. This morning, my colleague Marie was telling me this morning how low her energy levels were. Bang! At 2 am, she was bright awake and couldn’t fall back asleep. I’m sure Marie would have preferred the option for a power nap after lunch.

I can so emphasise with the siesta idea as I’m coming across various energy vampires during my day. This is referring to individuals who are sucking the life out of you. For me, multi-tasking is probably the biggest and more stressful one. Answering a call and simultaneously checking my emails or calculating something in excel don’t work. Every day, there’s a new study released which confirms that multitasking is not leading to increased productivity!

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Control your space

Barbara Hemphill, the paper tiger lady, introduced me to the term S.Y.S.T.E.M.: Saving you space, time, energy, money. Space is such a valuable commodity these days. Just because you’re living in a house or villa, as they’re called here in Dubai, it doesn’t mean you need to have every inch of your home filled with items. Until now, I’ve moved about 25 times in my life and shipping boxes from one country to another becomes expensive. Although I’ve no intentions of leaving this beautiful city, I’m conscious of what I’m buying and often ask myself:

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