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When walking through my home, deciding what needs to go and what needs to stay, in order to have an organized household, an organized comfort zone, which is what the home is, I like to start with Pope's famous words, "Order is Heaven's first law." I use that all the time as my point of departure to getting tasks done. A harmonious home is a home with order. We have to have order in the workplace or the company suffers. We also have to have order at home.

In the process of making Order the first law in the home, I go through each room and focus on clutter. All clutter needs to go. I am not an extreme minimalist, but I also know that too many accessories, too many of anything, creates a confusing environment, a disorderly home. Clutter has to be removed, and I don't mean stored in the garage either. Clutter has to be removed from the property all together. Space is king.

Clutter is that which is not needed, not functional, not practical in our home.

No matter what we do, we always collect clutter, and the act of removing clutter is an ongoing effort. We purchase or are given things that we find out we don't want, or that occupy too much space. We have to get rid of it. One technique that could be helpful, one which I use, is close my eyes, open them and look at the first object my eyes take me too. Then, I decide if I need that object or not. I close my eyes again, and reopen them, and again decide if the next object is needed or if it is clutter. I do the eye opening and closing exercise throughout the home. Why? I think it makes think better about what needs to stay and what needs to go. Once the clutter is removed, a big, big step in making order in the home has been accomplished. The benefits of removing clutter is the feeling of more open space in the home, and less feeling closed up, pinned down. The home appears cleaner, and more inviting to guests. More things mean more opportunity for dust to accumulate. Removing clutter, removes dust. The home appears newer, friendlier, fresher, and a better place to be.

Next, I focus on color schemes. Yes, part of order is harmony: harmonious color schemes, colors that seem to work together as a team. The first thing anyone sees is color. Color is everything. Colors can collide, choking our visual reality, or harmonize, creating a soothing, relaxing atmosphere. I consider the color wheel, that old, but useful tool to understand how colors work together. I use neutrals with red and red tones throughout the home. I like

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