Can we put a price tag on clutter? Well, yes we can! Consider these costs.

Do you invest in storage to keep the clothes that won’t fit in your wardrobe? Price: £500 to £1500 per year

Have you redesigned your wardrobe, adding floor to ceiling storage features in order to hold more stuff . . . that you never wear? Price: £1000 to £15,000

Have you lost track of what you have and ended up buying it . . . again? Price: Hundreds of pounds

Do you have so many things in your wardrobe that you lose track of them and never wear what you bought? How about adding up the prices on the tags. How much money have you spent on things you’ve never worn? Price: Hundreds, maybe thousands of pounds

Have you turned down the opportunity to meet a friend, or attend a special event because even though you have a wardrobe full of clothes, you can’t find anything to wear? Price: Missing out on good times and great memories

Did you know there’s another way to tackle clutter? It may sound counterintuitive, but getting professional help to weed out what doesn’t serve you anymore and maximize the investment you already have, makes great sense.

If it was an easy thing to do alone, we’d all have done it and never had to invest in ways to manage our stuff.  You can read about a wardrobe session with me (- part 1 only so far as we have both been too busy to do it again!) – on Kathleen Baird Murray’s blog.

You can feel great about your wardrobe, love and use the things you have . . . just by getting an expert to help you manage your investment.  Contact me today!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. If you, or someone you know, has been diagnosed with breast cancer, they are likely to be undergoing a treatment that can be taxing on the body—both inside and out.

Here are five tips to make life easier during this challenging time:

Only wear what you love. Don’t underestimate how looking good can make you feel good. Dress with pride when going to doctor’s appointments. You’re taken seriously, remembered, and treated with greater respect when you show up looking like you respect yourself.

Bring a brand new colour into your wardrobe. Life has been turned upside down, so shake up your wardrobe by bringing in some colours that you love and maybe haven’t worn yet. Try this new autumn seasons colours – magenta pink, turquoise, teal, burnt orange, purple, or leaf green. Choose colours that feel energizing, hopeful and uplifting to you. The people around you will also enjoy the positive energy these colours bring.

Special jewellery pieces can be talismans for good health. Pick up a piece of jewellery you love wearing and keep it close to you or wear it. Some may like to wear a necklace passed down to them by a grandmother or other relative. Others may like to wear something that symbolizes new beginnings – like a butterfly brooch. Let the good feelings you get from your symbolic piece bring you warm feelings and comfort you on an as-needed basis.

Control what you can. Often a health crisis can come right out of the blue and make your life feel suddenly out of control. Now is the time to focus on what you can control. You can control what’s around you. Eliminate any unwanted clutter from your life. Edit out everything that’s not useful or beautiful to you—old photos, chipped dishes, broken appliances. Surround yourself only with the things that bring you pleasure. Move toward the people and things that make you happy.

Keep a gratitude journal. At the end of each day, write down 5-10 things you are grateful for. Knowing you’re going to be writing each night will keep you focused during the day on positive thought, pleasant surprises and simple pleasures. This has been proven time and again as a great happiness tool for anybody, but it’s especially useful when you could be focused on all the things you don’t like. I find this tool really useful when I feel fed up even though my stresses are nothing in comparison to dealing with cancer, but it does work.

I hate to admit it but, although I watch very little TV, I love watching the crazyness that is Americas Next Top Model. The main reason that ANTM is so addictive is that Tyra is so…. well… mad?! I am stuck between whether I think she’s let her ego just get way out of control, or if she really just does all that ’smile with your eyes’ face pulling stuff for really genuine educational purposes.

I used to be a model, so I do kind of know what she’s getting at. But these poor girls who, haven’t got a clue about how to model as no one would, are thrown so far in at the deep end. They watch her so seriously, lapping up every word and face pull. Some of them really must just look at her and be dying not to laugh when shes doing one of her ‘how it should be done’ demos. I find it the funniest thing on TV (bar the newly discovered Wipeout USA but thats another story..)

And my favourite episope every series is ‘The Makeovers’ episode, when for example, the girl with the long blond hair that is her crowning glory, has it cropped short and dyed black. There are tears and tantrums, some look great and it makes them, others less so. What it does accomplish though is to show the dramatic difference that having a fresh change can make to someones persona and look. After this episode I always have to bet again on who I think is going to win.

Heres a couple of examples from last week…

Anyway, you ask, why am I going on about this?

All my life I have changed my hair regularly – I go long to short and back, and have had everything from platinum blond to black, and all shades and styles in between.

Well, two years ago I was watching the makeover episode and it reminded me that I was in need of a change, and as a result I got my hair chopped off from shoulder length into a very short bob. It felt liberating and I felt an instant boost. And watching ANTM last week I suddenly realised that I was ready for a change again. The bob has been going up and down a bit, fringe changes every so often, but basically the same.

I decided i’d go back to a dark brunette and  immediately booked an appointment with my colourist Akio, at Windle in London’s Covent Garden. Luckily my hairdresser Paul Windle also was free between appointments and gave my fringe a much needed trim to so its a bit sharper to go with the more intense dark colour. And here I am writing this now in my office! Not the best photo, but I thought I should show you!

Anyway, the reason I’m sharing this with you is to ask you to stop for a minute and ask yourself-

When did you last change your hair, or any other part of your look?

It really is so easy to get stuck in a rut, and it really does make a massive difference to how you feel to have a change. The beginning of a new season is the perfect time. Out with the old and in with the new!

If a big change feels too much, even a trim and a few highlights really will make a difference, and is a great treat. Now the grey skies have arrived, there’s no better excuse.

Look in magazines for inspiration, and i’d love to see the results!