Turn on some fast-paced tunes while you're making your house So Fresh and So Clean to help you keep up the pace. But, don't listen to the radio, which will go on forever. Make yourself a playlist at a set length of time, such as 40 minutes, or play just one album. Move on to your next task each time a song ends, and keep one song in mind (towards the end of the playlist) to remind you that it's time to finish up. Don't answer your phone or do anything aside from cleaning until the music stops playing. Otherwise, you may find yourself quitting before the job's done, or taking too much time to finish up.
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Fitting for So Fresh and So Clean month, these three prints ($20 each) are part of Artist John W. Golden's original "By Order of the Management" series of digitally made signs reproduced to look like letterpress prints. He created the series after realizing there are some things parents tend to repeat over and over, but he says, "many of these parental mandates are good rules for adults to live by too." They're a fun, cheeky, and helpful reminder to keep on top of your chores. And, smaller than 6 x 10 inches, you'll have room for less demanding art.

CocoAngel recently posted in the CasaSugar group with a decorating quandary, and I thought that you might be able to help her out. She writes, "I'm just finishing up redecorating my daughter's room and having trouble finding accessories, specifically a bird cage. She changed her bed spread to this birds and bird cages design (see left), so a black-wire bird cage would be a fantastic item to add to the room. Anyone seen bird cages in the major chains or online somewhere?"

To see my ideas, as well as to leave your own, just read more

While I love browsing ShopStyle for adorable outfits, I have to admit that my favorite browsing is done for home items, which is why I'm so excited to tell you about the launch of ShopStyle Living.

ShopStyle Living is the perfect place to solve all your home-shopping desires in one easily searchable and incredibly fun format. From bedding to sofas and all the kitchen gadgets in between — it's time to decorate that home you've always dreamed of. To celebrate the launch, we're giving away five $500 gift cards to some of our favorite home stores including Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, and Macy's. To enter the contest, all you have to do is create a look on ShopStyle Living. Click here to learn how to create a look, and to enter the giveaway, just click here.

Plus, if you're a registered Sugar user, you're already all signed in on ShopStyle with your same username and password — plus, your fabulous Sugar friends are all there as your "followers" (and you're theirs, too). If not you should totally get on that, sign up either on TeamSugar or ShopStyle to be automatically logged into both. So easy! Check the widget below for what I'd buy with the gift card. What would you buy?

You might have caught my Get the Look recently of Mia's office in Cashmere Mafia. Well Mia, played by Lucy Liu, isn't the only one with sweet digs, Zoe and Eric have a fab modern bedroom, too. Here's what Production Designer Stephen Hendrickson had to say about it:

The upstairs bedroom of Zoe and Eric continues the cool, spare, modern aesthetic seen in the modern style of the rest of the renovated Village townhouse. Light toned wood flooring, pale colors, and a modern line to the furnishings, reflect Eric's architectural style.

To help you get this look in your home, I've rounded up some furnishings that emulate what Hendrickson chose for this bedroom. Here, a low beige bed with a frame that extends beyond the mattress and a low headboard is ultra mod and simply chic. Stay tuned for more posts focusing on other elements of the room.

In celebration of the 120th birthday of the Eiffel Tower, which is next year, the Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel decided to restructure the public reception and access areas of the tower. Paris-based SERERO Architects won an open competition for the icon's restructuring with a proposal that will extend the top floor area used by its 6.5 million annual visitors from 280m² to 580m². The temporary addition, which will be constructed with carbon Kevlar, steel connectors, and metal mesh, "aims to create a temporary horizontal extension of the third floor of the tower in order to increase the quality of the access of the public as well as experiencing the fantastic 360 degrees sight of Paris." According to SERERO:

The Eiffel Tower in Paris suffers from its success. Since its creation the amount of visitors coming to reach its top has increased to reach its limit capacity. 6.5 million people wait between 35 minutes to 1h10 to reach the elevators. The floor area of each level decreases with the height because of the tower geometry resulting in very long waiting lines and crowd-management problems.

I don't know about you, but I don't quite know what to think of this nouveau observation deck. A part of me, prone to purism, is anxious about this change (albeit temporary), and another whole-heartedly embraces this merging of past and future. What do you think? Check out these architectural renderings below, and let me know.