Travel suggestion: if you ever find yourself in Ireland book a couple of nights at the Bellinter House about a half hour outside of Dublin. I just came back from a jaunt in the land of the green/cable knit sweaters and this “house” (aka mansion) was incredible. Every room was styled with such an eye, color and detail. I’m ready to paint my walls fern green, my ceilings celadon and my bathroom midnight blue all while drinking a few pints of guinness. A few of our photos from our time there (oh, and make sure you eat lots of scones…also incredible!).

Ah, arranging artwork. It can be so confounding. It certainly helps to look at inspirational images like this one from Flickr member Plastolux. Love the black wall, love that blonde bureau on a stand, love the images, love the way they are arranged. This is from Plastolux’s former house – be sure to follow the new house adventure on the Plastolux blog!

O.M.G. I received this special People magazine extra thing in the mail the other day called “Stars at Home.” I flipped through it and was pretty bored, until I came to the last page. There I spied the most magnificently horrendous home accessory I’ve ever seen. I wish they sold this at Cost Plus World Market or something, because I think I would give it as a wedding gift at every wedding where someone has made me wear a bridesmaid’s dress. It’s the Michael Bolton (long flowing locks version) bust. I can see this in a dining room next to busts of Beethoven, Bach, and Weird Al Yankovic.  Can you imagine two massive versions of these flanking a front door? I mean, he has the same mane as a lion. Forget Foo Dogs – every time I look at this I think about the Michael Bolton in Office Space and what he called other Michael Bolton, which is not fit to print.

Seriously, let’s get a closer look at that puppy:

• picture from People

Today it’s my pleasure to welcome back Lisa Adams, C.E.O. of L.A. Closet Design to help us all with some expert home office organization tips. Take it away Lisa!

It is hard these days to draw a line between where work ends and where your home life begins. Even if you don’t intentionally work from home, your Blackberry, papers and stress inevitably come home with you at the end of the day. To make sure your home office doesn’t get out of hand, you must make a daily conscious effort to stay organized. Here are some rules to live by and stick to:

Work Zones: Start by thoroughly and honestly evaluating your work and your workspace. The efficient office should be zoned into activity areas such as “the work area,” “the supply area,” “the reference area,” “reading area,” etc., which should be named and prioritized by how you conduct your work.  For example, “the work area” might include a clear workspace, a computer, and frequently used office supplies; whereas, “the reference area” might include binders, manuals, dictionaries, and professional books and materials.  Everything should have a place and everything should be in its place. Once the zones have been defined, position the zones by frequency of use.  If supplies are used daily, they should be within easy reach of your work area.  This zoning process all depends on the function and your daily work habits in your office, so evaluate and design a proper plan.

Separation of Space: When working from home, it is important to maintain a separate workplace within your home—to set boundaries and protect it from the rest of the home.  Make it a rule to only use your home office for the purposes of business, not for storing household items or entertaining guests.  If you do work from home and do not have a separate room for an office available, use devices such as screens, bookcases and directed lighting to create the necessary separation between home and office.

Minimize Equipment & Paper: Efficient offices have one thing in common—uncluttered work tops.  To maintain a clear work station, try to minimize your office equipment such as printers, fax, phone, filing and paper.  If possible, purchase an “all-in-one” printer that encompasses a fax and scanner to consolidate equipment space.  Additionally, papers and other documents can be stored electronically either by using a service, or by copying files to DVDs or CD-ROMs. This will help to reduce the amount of filing space needed for paperwork that should be saved, but is not needed on a regular basis.

Stay on Top of Business Tasks: Handling responsibilities and tasks as they occur throughout the day is key to home office organization. Paperwork should be scanned or filed immediately instead of being left in a pile on your desk. Email and mail should be read and acted upon the first time received.  It is unnecessary to read an email and decide how to respond to it later. Read emails once and take an action:  save, delete, or respond. This will not only minimize clutter, but it will also greatly increase productivity.

If all of the recommended tips are followed and maintained, your home office will become more organized and clutter-free.  Weekly checks should be enforced to make sure there are no extra papers on the desk or other unnecessary items left abandoned. Every item should be put in its proper place as soon as its purpose has been served.

Last night I read my New York Times Sunday magazine in bed and was very moved by an article about the “Turtle People” on the panhandle of Florida and the Gulf Coast of Alabama. These volunteers helped keep the Loggerhead turtle nests guarded from the oil spill clean up crews, as well as taking the eggs, shipping them via FedEx (FedEx’s best P.R. move since their product placement in Cast Away) to the Atlantic coast, where the hatchlings survive by floating on sargassum (seaweed mats) during their lost years. The Turtle People talk about the addiction of looking for mothers coming onshore to dig their nests, and watching the hatchlings emerge from the sand to find their way to water. For years they have been shading these newborns from artificial light that can lure them toward parking lots instead of the water, as well as digging trenches for them to follow. I was hooked and became  a virtual Turtle person just reading about this 700 million year old species. The article literally brought tears to my eyes. When you need a little lift this week, I highly recommend reading it. Click Here. Cheers to the Turtle People!

image by Katherine Wolkoff for The New York Times