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As the year winds down, many may feel a natural pull towards resetting their spaces. End-of-year decluttering has almost become a ritual, serving as a way to clear both mental and physical clutter before stepping into a new chapter. Closets, spare rooms, and underused corners are the first targets because they quietly accumulate disorder throughout the course of the year.

At the same time, the way people use their homes has fundamentally changed in recent years. Remote and hybrid work are no longer temporary arrangements. Between 2019 and 2023, the four-year period studied by the U.S. Census Bureau, remote workers more than doubled from 9 million to over 22 million. While some companies have mandated return-to-office policies in the years since, it’s clear that millions will remain at home.

Despite the growth in working from home, many household workspaces are improvised from the pandemic years and are not designed intentionally. Desks are squeezed into bedrooms, paperwork is piled into closets, cords are snaking across the floor, and chaos generally prevails. This is where customizable workspace systems can come in handy—when thoughtfully designed, modular and customizable storage solutions can transform a workspace from a source of stress to something calming.

Lazzoni has taken a look at various decor data from sources including Angie’s Roost, Instagram, Simply Enough, and more to assemble this guide to walk you through a three-step approach to designing an ideal home workspace.

What is a customizable workspace?

A customizable workspace is a work environment that is designed to adapt to how you actually use the space, as opposed to forcing you to adapt to fixed furniture or a one-size-fits-all layout. Instead of static desks, shelves, or cabinets, customizable systems use modular components that can be adjusted, expanded, and reconfigured over time.

At its core, a customizable workspace prioritizes function, flexibility, and longevity. For example, shelving height can change as storage needs evolve, and work surfaces can be repositioned to accommodate new equipment. This approach acknowledges a simple reality: The way you work today is unlikely to be the same way you will work years from now.

Clutter is often a symptom of misaligned storage as opposed to too many belongings. When a workspace is customizable, every item can have a designated place that reflects how frequently it is used. Daily tools stay within arm’s reach, occasional items move higher and visual noise decreases as a result. A sense of calm is one reason customizable systems are increasingly recommended.

In the context of a new year reset, a customizable workplace becomes more than a design choice. Rather, it’s a practical framework for maintaining order, focus, and flexibility in your life as priorities shift and routines evolve.

The 3-step system for designing a home workspace

Designing an ideal home workspace using customizable systems won’t be easy, but it will be more than worth the effort. These three steps will hit upon the foll

CheapInsurance.com compiled statistics on gas prices in the U.S. using data from AAA. Gas prices are current as of February 23.

U.S. by the numbers
– Gas current price: $2.94
– Week change: +$0.01 (+0.3%)
– Year change: -$0.21 (-6.6%)
– Historical expensive gas price: $5.02 (6/14/22)

– Diesel current price: $3.71
– Week change: +$0.07 (+1.8%)
– Year change: +$0.03 (+0.8%)
– Historical expensive diesel price: $5.82 (6/19/22)

States with the least expensive gas
#1. Oklahoma: $2.34
#2. Arkansas: $2.45
#3. Kansas: $2.46
#4. Mississippi: $2.49
#5. Louisiana: $2.51
#6. Missouri: $2.51
#7. Wisconsin: $2.54
#8. Iowa: $2.55
#9. Texas: $2.55
#10. Nebraska: $2.55

States with the most expensive gas
#1. California: $4.63
#2. Hawaii: $4.38
#3. Washington: $4.33
#4. Oregon: $3.89
#5. Nevada: $3.68
#6. Alaska: $3.56
#7. Arizona: $3.23
#8. Pennsylvania: $3.14
#9. Washington, D.C.: $3.11
#10. Vermont: $3.00

This story was produced by CheapInsurance.com and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.

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Last week, AI disruption was a tech story. News broke about software stocks repricing rapidly as investors digested the implications of a new wave of AI tools that could replace tasks once handled by expensive enterprise platforms. The selloff was sharp, but contained.

This week, Range explains, the market decided that AI disruption is not just a tech problem anymore.

Target Practice

AI fears tore through sector after sector of the economy—each triggered by an AI product launch (or the expectation of one).

Range

In the span of five trading days, billions in market value were erased from industries that had nothing to do with software.

Monday: Insurify’s ChatGPT-powered comparison tool triggered a selloff in insurance brokers, with Willis Towers Watson posting its worst session since 2008.

Tuesday: The contagion jumped to wealth management after Altruist unveiled an AI tax-strategy tool, sending Raymond James to its steepest decline since the COVID crash.

Wednesday: Commercial real estate services cratered without any specific catalyst. The market had begun extrapolating—if AI could displace insurance brokers and financial advisors, the high-fee, labor-intensive world of CRE brokerage could be next. CBRE’s two-day decline hit 20%, its worst since the financial crisis.

Thursday: Freight and logistics joined the sell-off after Algorhythm Holdings demoed an AI optimization tool, with truck-broker RXO dropping 20%.

In four sessions, the “AI scare trade” evolved from a narrow disruption story into a broad referendum on the future of white-collar intermediaries. The common thread: These are businesses that sit between buyers and sellers, charging fees for expertise, access, or coordination that AI might replicate faster and cheaper.

What the Market Is Actually Scared Of

The market doesn’t expect an AI tool launched on a Tuesday to replace every financial advisor or insurance broker by Friday. The fear is about the economic structure of these businesses. Industries like insurance brokerage, wealth management, and commercial real estate services share characteristics that make them vulnerable:

1. Information asymmetry leads to historically high fees. These are businesses where the provider knows more than the customer, and charges accordingly. AI compresses that gap.
2. Entrenched fee structures lead to decades of stable pricing. The 1% AUM fee, 6% real estate commission, insurance brokerage

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Feng shui is the ancient Chinese art of arranging your environment to harmonize the flow of energy, referred to as qi. The practice originates from ancient China’s Zhou dynasty and today it’s practiced all over the world. It’s rooted in the idea that your surroundings directly influence your well-being, and the bedroom is one area you should work on if you’re bringing feng shui into your home.

As the place where you rest, recover and reconnect with yourself or a partner, the bedroom plays a powerful role in your daily energy, both physical and emotional. Applying feng shui principles to your sleep space can do more than provide aesthetic balance. It can help provide deeper rest, greater calm and more aligned living.

Feng shui can seem complicated and overwhelming, especially if you’re directionally challenged, but it can be incorporated in ways that allow beginners to enjoy the benefits. In this article, Naturepedic explores this ancient art and teaches you four foundational feng shui bedroom tips that can help transform your space into one that promotes more restorative sleep.

Why Feng Shui Your Bedroom?

Alongside the kitchen and front entrance, the bedroom is considered one of the most important spaces of your home, because it is directly connected to your well-being. It’s the place where you’re most vulnerable: asleep, unconscious and recharging your energy for the day ahead.

A well-balanced bedroom feng shui layout can also contribute to emotional harmony, healthier relationships and even physical vitality. By intentionally designing your space to allow energy to flow in a calm and supportive way, you’re reinforcing the idea that rest is the foundation for a more balanced life.

4 Feng Shui Bedroom Tips to Invite Calm, Connection and Better Sleep

Ready to shift the energy in your sleep space?

Naturepedic

Start with these four foundational feng shui bedroom practices that can help promote balance, connection and a deeper sense of rest.

1. Position Your Bed for Balance and Protection

In feng shui, the placement of your bed is everything. As the most important piece of furniture in the room — and the one most closely connected to your personal energy — its position can influence how supported and secure you feel while you sleep.

One of the most essential feng shui bedroom layout rules is placing your bed in the command position. This means positioning it so that you can see the bedroom door without being directly in line with it. From a feng shui persp

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Medical costs can add up quickly, especially if you need ongoing care or specialized treatment. Even with insurance, most people still pay for some healthcare expenses out of pocket.

The IRS allows taxpayers to deduct certain qualified medical and dental expenses on their tax return as long as specific requirements are met. Many people are familiar with deducting common costs like prescription medications, eyeglasses, dental cleanings, and visits to healthcare professionals.

But there are some eligible medical expenses that you may overlook. From vision correction surgery to medically necessary wigs, understanding which costs qualify and keeping proper records can help you save money during tax time. Below, GoodRx, a platform for medication savings, highlights seven commonly overlooked deductions and how to claim them.

Key takeaways:

• You can deduct qualified medical expenses if you itemize deductions. But only the portion that exceeds 7.5% of your adjusted gross income counts.
• In addition to common expenses like prescription eyeglasses and dental care, you may also be able to deduct costs such as wigs and medical transportation.
• Keep detailed receipts and supporting documentation for medical expenses you plan to claim. This may include proof of payment and documentation showing the expense was medically necessary.

How do I claim medical expenses on my taxes?

You can deduct medical expenses only if you itemize deductions on your tax return. If you take the standard deduction, you won’t be able to claim medical expenses.

Itemizing deductions means listing all eligible expenses for the year instead of taking the fixed standard deduction amount based on your filing status. Only medical expenses, added together, that are more than 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI) are deductible.

If you itemize, then you can’t also take the standard deduction. You must choose one or the other.

If you itemize, here are the steps you need to take to claim medical expenses:

1. Add up your eligible medical expenses for the year. This includes expenses for yourself, your spouse, and your dependents.
2. Compare your total itemized deductions with the standard deduction. If itemizing gives you a larger deduction, it may make sense to itemize.
3. Report your qualified medical expenses. On Schedule A (Form 1040), enter your total unreimbursed medical and dental expenses on Line 1.
4. Follow the instructions on Schedule A. Calculate how much of your medical expenses you can deduct after applying.

Which medical expenses are tax-deductible?

You can deduct qualified medical expenses if you itemize deductions, but only the portion that ex