Lisa Ling

Editor's note: The following is a guest post written by Journalist Lisa Ling, host of Our America on OWN and program ambassador for the IKEA Life Improvement Project — a program designed to inspire people to make a positive impact on their homes and the lives within. Below, Lisa shares tips for creative ways to cut the clutter at home.  

Your home should be a peaceful retreat, a place to relax and unwind. Since clutter can be a big cause of stress, my husband and I built in solutions for staying organized when we built our new home. With a new baby and a hectic travel schedule, knowing I will come home to a clean and clutter-free home makes all the difference in staying focused while I’m away. Below are a few tips for you to make sure that everything in your home has a place:

Pictured: Ling's master bedroom.

Make A Plan: If you’re not starting from scratch with a new home, you’ll need a plan to whip your current place into shape. Create a three or six-month plan and think through which areas of your home you’d like to tackle first. Focusing on one room at a time will keep you from getting overwhelmed and abandoning the project. Breaking it into accomplishable chunks will help you get everything done.

Assign Categories: Sort all of your belongings into three categories — display, store and donate/toss. Donate clothes you haven’t worn in the last six months (excluding seasonal items) and things you no longer have a use for. Store seasonal items — like heavy textiles and winter coats — out of reach. Lastly, keep things you use constantly handy. For instance, if you’re a big smoothie maker, keep your blender on the countertop in your kitchen. If you eat granola bars each morning, store the blender away.

Read on for more.

Editor's note: The following is a guest post written by journalist Lisa Ling, program ambassador for the Ikea Life Improvement Project — a program designed to inspire people to make a positive impact on their homes and the lives within. Below, Ling shares tips for turning your home into an oasis. 

When my husband and I built our house, we wanted to make it our oasis — a warm, inviting place for us to make roots and raise our family. And because I travel so much, it was important to create a space that I’m excited to come home to. We were really involved in the building and decorating process and created a space that is truly our oasis. Based on this experience, these tips, below, will help inspire you:

• Focus on You: Your home has to be a relaxing space for you, so make your space personal and a reflection of you. Since my husband and I are environmentalists, we had our home LEED Platinum certified — the highest environmental rating a home can be awarded — because that is what is important to us. If you love to read, display your favorite books on large bookshelves in your living room. If you’re a passionate cook, hang your pots and pans and display your best chef’s knives in the kitchen. The most important part of making your home an oasis is personalizing it to your own tastes.

Pictured: Ling's living room

Read on for more tips from Ling on turning your home into a peaceful abode.

Journalist Lisa Ling, who recently started her role as the program ambassador of IKEA's Life Improvement Project, has the home of every environmentalist's dreams. It's the first LEED Platinum certified house in Santa Monica, CA, holding the highest environmental rating a home can be awarded.

But not everyone (especially us apartment-dwellers) can rely on solar-powered electricity and install a 5,000-gallon rainwater tank to harvest rain for our water needs. I asked the former host of The View about her favorite budget-friendly home improvement trick that anyone can implement, and she says she's currently addicted to reupholstering; she loves how you can "take something that may not be so attractive and give it a whole new life." Ling buys items on Craigslist to reupholster, which helps her save money as well as the environment.

There's no need for the new when you can renew! Have you reupholstered anything in your home?

On the season two premiere of Our America With Lisa Ling last night, Lisa explored the growing underground world of amateur porn. And perhaps the most surprising porn entrepreneurs interviewed were the couples who aren't just together on camera, they're in committed relationships in real life as well. There were a couple of young parents who do porn to support their family, Tyler and Berkley, and a 50-year-old woman, Ciara, who performs while her husband of 20 years, Patrick, films her. But does the couple who creates porn together stay together?

For Tyler and Berkley, who film themselves having sex together five nights a week, the money they get from their online amateur porn (about $1,000 a week) goes toward supporting their toddler and is a means to an end. But they admit that they've stopped having sex outside of work because their night job is a "sex killer." And they hope by the time their daughter is old enough to ask questions they'll have moved on. In their case, creating porn seems to be a drain on their relationship and probably not the healthiest environment for raising a family.

Ciara and Patrick, on the other hand, say that since they've started their porn business a year ago their relationship in the bedroom has gotten better, and that they are now more open to trying new things. Patrick seems to really love filming and photographing his wife, and she loves getting in touch with her sexy side. The only downside? Their family and friends have no idea what they're doing behind closed doors, and now that the show has exposed the truth, they don't know if they'll be accepted by their loved ones.

If you were desperate for cash, or just looking to spice things up in your relationship, would you ever consider filming you and your partner having sex for money?

Keep reading to watch a video clip from the show!

Lisa Ling was the epitome of cool, laid-back sophistication as she walked the red carpet at the Dizzy Feet Foundation's inaugural Celebration of Dance. I love how she accessorized her long, straightened locks with a fedora for a crisp, city-girl look. To keep that cool factor going, she added a touch of black liquid liner and peach-toned makeup to her eyes and cheeks, wearing a nude lipstick to top it all off. To re-create Lisa's effortless style, simply focus your makeup palette on using shades in the same color family. A sweep of soft, shimmery light peach shadow in the inner corners and lids, a warm peachy-brown shade on the crease, and a pop of peach blush will give you a fresh, pulled-together look with minimal effort.

Rihanna stole the show in her dramatic white dress as she and her fellow honorees took the red carpet at last night's Glamour Women of the Year celebration in NYC. Carnegie Hall was brimming with beautiful ladies from Iman to Maria Shriver and Diane von Furstenberg. Catherine Zeta-Jones stood out in blue and had Michael Douglas by her side for support. Rih was just one of a handful of women who were chosen by the magazine, but all eyes were on her — and most of you are loving the look, just the latest in her fashion metamorphosis!

Padma Lakshmi showed off her growing baby bump while one of the evening's honorees Stella McCartney smiled big with her award up on stage where she also had some trouble with her super short skirt. Amy Poehler and Michelle Obama were two of the magazine's other women of the year, though the First Lady didn't attend the event since she was with her husband President Barack Obama visiting with families at Fort Hood. The night was full of inspirational and important females who spoke and mingled, celebrating each other and Glamour's picks. Rihanna has come out strong opening up about her difficult year and what all this means to her – check out Rih's heartfelt speech after the jump.

LOTS more photos of Glamour Women of the Year Party and video of Rihanna on stage so read more