Making a Difference

You know some of us spend our whole lives wondering why are we here and how can we make a difference. This month has been such a rewarding experience for me not only as a Private Quarters Consultant but as a women.


April is Share the Comfort Month. For every party that is held in the month of April 2010 with guest sales of $500, or more Private Quarters will donate PQ merchandise with a retail value equal to 15% of the total value of the total guest sales to a battered or homeless women's shelter.


As a young women I experienced first hand what it is like to be in a relationship that I could not get out of. Fortunately for me it did not get to the point of having to go to a shelter I was lucky. But not all women are, thank god there is places for them to go with their children.


There is still time for you to make a difference. If you would like to purchase items to donate to a battered or homeless women's shelter I can take those orders until the end of the month.


Private Quarters was recently featured in "By a Thread", a short documentary by Free Wind Films that highlights the donations that Private Quarters is providing to women's shelters all across the United States. Watch by a Thread on line

PQ products you can donate


If you were a women who had to leave your abusive spouse or boyfriend and pack nothing or a small suitcase and flee to a shelter, wouldn't you want a soft blanket or pillow to lay your head on?








How about a towel to wrap around you after taking your first hot shower in safety because you never knew what might happen when you were in the shower at home. I know because I have been there.


Maybe a soft cozy robe is just the thing to put a smile back on your face that has been missing for a long time.



These are the little things you can purchase to donate that helps make a difference to the women in need.

Charity Work

I want to state that it is not my intention to offend anyone with what I am about to say it is just my opinion. As an Interior Designer and Private Quarters Comfort Consultant I must build relationships to grow my business. One of the tools I use to do this is my weekly e-mail news letter. This let's you get to know me better and tell you a little about my product. What I like about e-mail is that you can delete or unsubscribe. It is not like sending unwanted mail or calling on the phone. a person has a choice if they want to learn more or not.

Last week at my charity committee meeting I was asked not to use the rooster for business e-mailing. Now I am all for Charity Work and giving back to the community but I believe they have to work with us as business owners also. I am there giving of my time and money so I can help support the work they are doing. I believe that all the volunteers that are helping should be able to teach us about what they do so that we may help them get more business. After all I am trying to get to know more people so that I may pass them on to my friends and family. If I don't know what they do I cannot refer them to people I know. That is just the fact.

Health, Safety and Welfare

When I received this e-mail I knew that I had to let other people know. I also did a little research and this story cannot be veryfied but if you are having any of these issues below I beleive you should take action. As an Interior Designer most people think that all we do is choose paint and fluff pillows. This is just not true, when I select materials for my client I must always be thinking of the health, safety and welfare of what I am specifying. It is my job to make sure that what I am putting in a home or office is up to code and safe, after all my name and reputation is on everything I select.

Here is a story of a persons whose house burnt to the ground because of the plug-in type room freshners. I am not sure if the story is true or not but if there is a chance it maybe true I would want to make that choice for myself. An insurance investagator said that was the cause of the fire. He has seen more house fires started with the plug-in type room freshners then anything else. He also said that in every case there was nothing left to even prove that it ever exsisted. When the investegator looked in the wall plug the two prongs left from the plug-in were still in there

This person had one of the plug-ins that had a small night light built in it. She said she had noticed that the light would dim and then finally go out. She would walk into the bathroom a few hours later, and the light would be back on again. The investagator said that the unit was getting too hot, and would dim and go out rather then just blow the light bulb. Once it cooled down it would come back on ....... This is a warning sign.

The investagator said he personnelly wouldn't have any type of plug-in fragrance devices anywhere in his house. He has seen to many places that have been burned down due to them.

If this might happen wouldn't you want to know?

Being Myself

When I go on a first meeting with a new design client I am always nerveous. With so many shows on TV that have Interior Designers on them you are not quite sure what someone is expecting. For me I have to be who I am and just be myself. This week I had an incredible first meeting with a potential new client. They welcomed me into their home and made me feel very comfortable. By being myself it was not only a great meeting but I got the project and left their home with a handful of gifts from where they work. This was very unusual for me and a first. You know you have made a connection when you leave a person's home feeling like part of the family.

Olympic Spirit

I love the Olympics winter, summer I don't care. Now I can't say I watch every sport (thank God for DVR's) but the one thing I try not to miss is the Opening Ceremonies. This is not where you only see but feel the true Olympic Spirit. When those athletics come out on the field not only representing their Country but the pride of being the best in their sport you can't help but be overwhelmed by some kind of feeling. This past Friday was even more emotional as we found out one of the Luge competitors from the Country of Georgia lost his life in a practice run. My heart goes out to his mother, family and fellow Countrymen. God Bless

Staying Motivated

Even with the hope of a New Year it isn't easy to stay motivated. This week I lost a very big design project, they gave it to the contractors designer. Wow what a surprise that was when I didn't even know the contractor had a designer bidding for the job. It is not necessarily about your ideas or how well you connected with the client but it is about who you know, that is just the cold hard truth.

So you pick yourself up dust yourself off and move on to the next potential client. For me it is not trying to figure out what I did wrong which is always my first thought, but it is about how I can stay motivated.

A few of the things I do is stay current with new design materials, styles and trends. Anytime I can attend seminars on information or education in the design industry it is important to me to fit that into my already busy schedule. I show up to my weekly networking groups it is an opportunity to build those relationships, remember it is not what you know but who you know.

I find new way's to better myself as a person, by doing at least one charity project. giving back is very important you will find the more you give the more you get back.

Any questions or comments please feel free to contact me at valeriepugliese@yahoo.com

Growing Old

Last week I received a call from my cousin who was looking for my mom and thought she was with me. Of course she was not because I live here in Simi Valley California and she lives in Sutherlin Oregon. I had to call a neighbor and ask them to go over and see if my mom was in her home. Let me tell you that was the longest 10 minutes of my life. I had to hope for the best but get ready for the worst which of course would have been finding my mom dead in her home. Why because she lives alone with no family near her. Her sister died this past summer which left her completely by herself. Under normal circumstances that would be fine except that she has MDD (macular degenerate disease) which means she is disabled and does not see very well. She is very independent as far as that goes. She just needs someone to check on her and take her shopping.
But now that has all changed and she was not found dead on the floor in her home she had called 911 and was taken to the hospital. She had a severe case of pancreatitis and now we are working on getting her strong enough to come live with us. The point of all this is that there comes a time in all of our lives that we need help. It is not always when we are young and struggling with money or a place to live. Sometimes it is when we find out that we are just too old to take care of all the things we use to do. It is an honor and a prievledge to be able to help my mom at this time as there have been so many times in my life that she has helped me without question.
So if you get the opportunity to help out someone who is ageing please remember all the times they were there for you. You must treat them with respect and dignity for they might be stubborn and hard to deal with but they are so worth it.