My garden and house caters first and mostly for my dog - he's the most pampered pet you can imagine :-) This includes his own doghouse in the garage (that he hardly ever uses, but is used by the roaming cats in the neighborhood, much to Timmy's distress), an enclosed front porch with doggie door, basket, rug and private sofa, free roaming of the garden, two more beds inside the house, etc. You get the picture - he's the king of it all :-) As for wildlife, since we live on the foothills of a small mountain range and part of a natural park, we do get quite a lot of critters. We have a birdbath that is used not only by the birds but also by the bees and wasps, of which there are gazillions (we are in a honey producing area). Birds in the garden include sparrows, robins in Fall and Winter, loads of blackbirds, gold finches and a multitude of others I can't name. Last Saturday I saw my first swallow of the year. Above us on the hill we can frequently spot hawks, of which there are some colonies in the park. At night owls are a frequent visitor and we can hear their calls many times. Cuckoos are also a familiar sound as soon as Spring is here. I have a lot of evergreens in the garden and this provides excellent nesting sites for the birds. Preferred are the bay trees, laurustinus and the conifers. I'm constantly finding nests whenever I prune anything. I had a resident bat for about a year, sleeping in a closed garden umbrella we had on the patio. Unfortunately I had to remove the umbrella because the wasps decided it was a good place to nest, so it had to go. I was already stung twice, didn't want to be stung whenever I opened the umbrella! Still, bats visit frequently and it's common to see one or two flying around the garden at dusk. Some years we have glow worms in the Spring, which I absolutely love. It's magical to see them hovering around the garden at night. Other assorted critters include geckos, small lizzards, snakes, mice (yuk!), crickets, locusts and the occasional hedgehog. In terms of specifically catering for critters, I keep the birdbath going all year (we don't have hard freezes) and try to plant things I know will be used by the wildlife. This includes berry shrubs like pyracantha which are a major hit with birds in the cold Winter months. I also have a weeping mulberry tree and let its production go to the birds, who have a feast with the fruits. The compost pile is also a good feeding ground and there's a little bird that spends hours there hunting for the small fruit flies that proliferate inside the pile. Butterflies are catered for with things like lantana, mock orange and buddleia. I need to add more larval food to cater for butterflies, but haven't come quite up to it yet. I don't use any sort of chemicals in the garden, don't even spray the roses, and this of course translates into a welcome sign for critters, even if it means that slugs and snails are huge, sigh... I don't use a slingshot to get rid of them, like Edna does ;-), but I do throw them onto a neighbooring field that is kept wild. All in all, I consider a privilege to have wildlife in the garden and have been slowly educating myself to encourage it as much as possible. Eduarda

I've put slate in a standup shower and just love it. It's a Mexican slate with lots of colors and red blips in it; it ranges in color from green to red to grey. I put it on the floors of a laundry and bathroom and then cut large 12x12's to 6x6s for the shower. I also used a strip of expensive slate-and-glass little tiles at eye height and in a square pattern on the floor. I can't tell you how happy I am with the slate! I was worried it would be rough on the feet, but it's just perfect - a little bit of scrubbly is good, but it's essentially smooth-feeling, so it's delicious and cleaning all at once! There really isn't any special maintenance required. I sorted the colors and laid them out in a general pattern before they were laid down. It's not necessary of course, but I like the effect, less overall random and more directional. DH says it's like there's a "beach" over back by the shower where it's redder (he's a geologist). The 12x12 floors are on a diagonal, the shower straight-up. We've been using these rooms 6 or more months now and I'm still thrilled with them. The big floor tiles are definitely not very flat as they weren't installed very well, but it's still OK. I was worried about tripping with laundry baskets and the like, but it has not been a problem. I highly recommend slate, and getting it rough as opposed to like smooth tile, is fine too!

Everyone, thanks for these useful ideas and insights. You guys are really creative. Pretty much every bit of my jewelry is costume; I only have one nice ring and it's already in the safety deposit box across town. So no theft worries. I'd be sad to lose my costume stuff, but none of it is irreplaceable. Les, your suggestions are just so spot-on re my style: would you please come out to visit and just redo my entire house while you're here? (Bring me some Frango Mints, too?) I hadn't even known those plain, mirrored jewelry cabinets existed. What a great idea. Anyone seen one with Art Nouveau or Lloyd Wright -style detailing? (: (well, a girl can dream...) Igloo, if I see any antique silverware boxes out here in the sticks, I'll emulate you. Love that idea too. You guys are great!

First of all, it is probably impossible to have a tidy home 100% of the time. Sometimes life just happens. You're in the door and out again before you have time to sweep up the debris and put away the school papers. Don't feel too bad! I *try* to live by two rules ... don't buy it if you don't need it and make things EASY to put away. You won't find me with a garage full of not-quite-ready-to-use furniture. (Sometimes I wish I did when I see other's great finds, but that doesn't work for my current lifestyle. Maybe later.) First decide what needs to live in each room. Then decide how best to store those items. For example, for years I nagged my children to take their school shoes to their rooms. Their shoes, socks, and belts always ended up scattered all over my living room. I finally realized that I would never win that battle. I bought a pretty basket from Pier One and placed it on the hearth. All shoes and belts go into the basket. (I prefer that socks find their way to the laundry room, but if I have to pull them from the basket once a week, that will work.) Now, I rarely find a shoe in my living room. The kids are more than happy to use the basket. Also, before every Cub Scout meeting, we scrambled to find all the pieces to my son's uniform (hat, slide, neckerchief, and handbook). I placed another basket on top of a desk in the laundry room. Now all his Cub Scout essentials are out of sight yet right by the door and ready to go. I love Polly's end table/hamper method. You have to find what works for your "stuff" and fits into your decor. I lived for years with a Thomas the Tank Engine table in my living room. You know what? That was perfectly fine for my life at that time. I might not win any decor awards, but I was a good mommy (in a small house)! Decide how much clutter (toys, etc) *you* can tolerate, then look at your furnishings with new eyes. Could you place large bins on the bottom shelves of a pretty bookcase to store books. (It is easier for a child to throw books back into a bin or basket than to stand them neatly on a shelf.) Instead of storing blankets in a blanket chest or storage ottoman, could you use that hidden storage for larger toys? Is there a closet near the living room that could be used for toy storage? (The vacuum can live elsewhere.) I use the kid accessible storage in my kitchen island to store playdoh, coloring supplies, craft supplies, and jigsaw puzzles. My kids like to be close to me while I'm cooking. Use your best storage for the items that are a priority in your life today. Tomorrow you can change to something else. The key to organizing your home is that you are never truly done. You are constantly re-evaluating your family's priorities and storage needs. Good luck, Nin