Inspirational Spaces

I live in the smallest apartment in the universe. It has for some time been known as "The Mouse House". This is a difficult (read disastrous) thing for someone who has a lot of materials, old photos, clothes, apparently doesn't have a shred of "everything has it's place" mentality and inherited the dreaded hoarding and collecting gene from her mother (she doesn't throw ANYTHING out and was horrified when I threw out a roll of carpet when I moved out of my old, considerable larger apartment... I think she almost had a tear in her eye as she exclaimed "But you might need it one day" and had a definite smirk of satisfaction when one day I did!).

I'm never going to have one of those minimalist apartments with three things in each room (much to the disgust of some of my minimalist friends). So what's the alternative? Lately I've come across some wonderful inspirations for a home that utilities the whims of the collector to create spaces that showcase the different aspects of your personality and create wonderful, personal, ordered spaces without having to compromise on homeliness.

Using these along with a great book called Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston, a couple of my fav of the moment blogs & websites (here and here), really useful articles like this, and inspiration images from House&Garden, Real Living and Inside Out, the Mouse House revolution is about to begin!