The playroom makeover...

I shared HERE a few little changes in the room I am working on for the littles!

Eventually I may add a built in daybed with shelving but for now I just need a cute little bookcase where I can store toys and books.

I found THIS one on Amazon….

It’s cute as a bug’s ear but it was a tad to big for the space so I decided to build something.

I sat down and designed what I wanted, then worked up the cost.

Then lighbulb moment…I already had a bookshelf. It wasn’t the EXACT size I wanted but close enough…it just needed a little tweeking!

I thought I might like a painted shelf, but didn’t really want red…I am trying to keep all the colors in this room fairly neutral.

I bought this bookshelf at an auction a bazillion years ago. I remembered it was cherry wood so I decided to strip all the paint off the exterior and expose the natural wood.

I used THIS process. I can assure you that this is the simplest and best way to strip any finish from any piece of furniture.

Once you use the chemicals process, the need to sand is minimal.

I removed the existing top and since my plan was to add a “roof top,” I added 45 degree beveled boards on each side….

As you can see I did not strip the inside.

I liked the raw wood look so well I just sealed the exterior with three coats of polyacrylic.

If you have been around a while you know I usually prefer an oil finish…but this is a bookshelf in a kid’s playroom, so whatevs!

Now it was time to doll it up a bit.

I decided to add a little “pitched roof” with a scalloped fascia…bear with me.

So first I took two 1x3s and put a 45 degree cut on one end of each…laid them out and used a large can to draw a scallop design…

I cut the scallop design with a jig saw, used a router to round off the other edge, then sanded it all down smooth.

I took a piece of 1/2” plywood and cut two boards the width of the base cabinet (12 3/4”) and 24” long. I used my skill saw to cut a 45 degree edge on one end of each piece. I also took a piece of 1x3” and put a 45 degree edge on each side.

I used glue and nails to join the two pieces of plywood, using the 1x3” as a center support.

After the “roof” was constructed, I added the scalloped fascia with glue and a few nails. Then I applied glue to the beveled edges on the top and just sat the new “roof’ onto the base shelf….

As you can see I used a piece of outside corner trim to edge the ends of the top and cap the peek. Just to dress it a bit…nothing structural.

Again, I just sanded and coated with 2-3 coats of polycrylic.

I wanted to add a little storage on the side like my inspiration piece so I built a little shelf and attached it to the side with glue and screws….

I also found THESE cute little shelves on Amazon…added them to a small wall next to the closet for just a little more book storage…

Next week I will share the rest of the room.

Nothing earth shattering but a great space for the littles to do whatever littles do!

Until then….

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Where in the world have I been?

I can’t even believe I have not posted since February. Seems like so much has been going on…baby showers, trips, projects…so much!

When last I posted THREE MONTHS AGO I was working on this project…hiding the wart!

I started out by building a “screen” around the “wart.” My original plan was to lay the flagstone first, then build the screen. Honestly, building the screen first worked out much better!

I decided to go with the “louver” look (see HERE for a link to a really good tutorial) so I built two inserts to go between the post I set. They have to be removable so we can service the generator once a year. Built the inserts then attached them to the post with carriage bolts. Threw down a few inches of sand and thats where I left off for a few months….

I needed to give the sand a little time to “level” and pack down…and I also had to get ready for a very special day for my very special son and daughter-in-law! Their baby shower….

Again I was honored to make their cake and desserts…so much fun.

Then it was off for our spring vacation. Brian had to attend a conference in Vegas so I flew to Vegas the last day of his conference, we rented a car and toured the five national parks and one state park in souther Utah. Again, I am not a travel blogger….but if you have never seen these AMAZING National Parks…just go! They will take your breath away!

I can assure you that no photo I took…or have ever seen…does them justice.

Then home for a ton of projects.

Refinishing an antique dresser for the nursery….

I used THIS process and I promise it is hands down the best process for refinishing any piece of furniture…regardless of the existing finish!

I built new shelving in my workshop…..

Not as fancy as some I have seen on the webisphere but functional for my purposes!

I finally laid flagstone around the wart screen and now I am waiting a few months to stain the screen black to match the pergola swing….

New drawers for under the bar storage cabinets. …

I have no idea why I didn’t have my cabinet guy do this when he built these cabinets. I store all my seasonal dishes and service ware under here and it really was a pain to have to shuffle things around to get to the stuff in the back. LOVE!!!!

Now that the weather is warming, I have been planting…nothing new except I decided the flower bed I added last year wasn’t big enough…so I am making it bigger!

I have moved the edging out, weedeated all the existing grass down to the nub, sprayed it with Round Up and next week I will fill it with compost and mulch. I already have a few plants in mind for this space but honestly I need some space to split hostas again next year!

While I wait for grass to die, this is the next project I am contemplating..

A screen around these gawd awful utility things. They have bugged me since day one and with the addition of the “wart controls” to the right, it has gotten worse.

My “plan” is to build a box kinda thing around them and face it out with hinged doors so that it can all be accessed if needed. I want to build it out of treated wood then stain it black to match the swing and the wart screen.

That’s the plan…we will see.

As you can see, it is never ending! Unfortunately, as I have said many times, I am a baaaad blogger. I rarely think of what I do as being “content worthy.” But hopefully the changes I make will inspire you to roll up your sleeves and make changes to your home.

I don’t do good tutorials but there are TONS out there on the blogesphere…anything you want to learn to do can be found on the web!

As I have said before…my daddy didn’t teach me how to build a wart screen, or build cabinet drawers, or bake a cake….what he taught me is how to figure out how to do something I want done.

Will you make mistakes….ABSOLUTELY! I still do and I have been doing this stuff for a lifetime!

So…GO FOR IT!!!

Because until you are willing to roll up your sleeves and dive into whatever you think you want to try or change in your life, you will never be able to ….

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A small pantry makeover....

I love pantry projects…HERE I shared mine!

There is no shortage of inspiration on Pinterest for pantry makeovers…you will find one for every possible size and configuration!

My son and daughter-in-law, Hannah, have a great kitchen but a small pantry with typical poorly designed shelving placement…it was a MESS!

Soooo much wasted space!

For months we discussed giving it a little makeover, but they really wanted a house that is a tad bigger on a few acres further south. So there was a chance they would not be staying in this house.

Several months ago they found one, made an offer, got it accepted and were all set to rent their current home!

So the pantry project got nixed.

Unfortunately, the deal fell through because of a boundary dispute.

Hannah was bummed. (She had already started packing!)

So the pantry project was back on and a few weeks ago we tackled it!

The first thing we did was empty everything that was in the pantry and took measurements.

After emptying the pantry, we “demoed” EVERYTHING…shelving, supports, trim.

I usually repair and paint the walls, install the new shelving, caulk, putty, lightly sand, then paint the shelving. All the shelving is already primed and sanded before I install it so that I don’t have to do any heavy sanding in the house.

When designing the shelving placement in a pantry it is super important that you identify EVERYTHING you may want to store in the space and then measure it.

If you think you want baskets, bins or jars, figure out what will go in what and how many will fit in your space BEFORE you go buy them…or at the very least keep your receipt!

Take measurements of EVERYTHING!

These measurements are important because you can then design your shelving placement based on how tall everything is. You don’t want a bunch of wasted space.

Case in point…can goods stacked two high are less than 9” tall…why would you dedicate a shelf with 12” clearance for canned goods. Paper towels are generally 12” tall…why dedicate a 15” shelf for them.

Add up 3-4 shelves that are 3-4” taller than they need to be and next thing you know you have lost an entire shelf…critical storage space for a small pantry!

In this case we gained an entire shelf. Crock pots and the insta pot are stored low because they are heavy…the extra coffee pot and extra paper towels are stored up high.

We built a shelf 4” off the floor…not necessary for actual storage but they have a dog and her hair inevitably blew under the door and ended up all over everything that was sitting on the floor.

I made the shelving out of 1/2” plywood, the bullnose and supports out of pre-primed 1x2s. All the shelves were 14” deep, except the top…it was 12” deep.

We also built a door shelf system that is perfect for aluminum foil, plastic wrap, storage bags, etc. (HERE I shared one I made for my house on Lankford…I built two for this house! One is in the garage and the other is used for my cake pans and baking supplies.)

You can buy wire door storage system but building one allowed us to place shelves as needed for specific items.

The end result is amazing! Neat, clean and organized!

I am a big fan of clear plastic bins vs. baskets. I use both since there is some stuff I don’t want to see that can be stored in pretty baskets (open chip bags, storage containers, etc) but the baskets are labeled. (Again, check out my pantry HERE!)

She loved it so much she tackled her kitchen cabinets and organized them with storage bins and jars.

Organizing a space (whether it be a pantry, closet or drawer) not only frees up space, but I have learned that if a space is pretty, clean and organized I tend to want to keep it that way.

When everything has a place and everything is where it belongs it makes my life so much easier!

(HERE I share my trips and tricks to getting and staying organized!)

And remember, you don’t have to take on a big DIY project to get a space cleaned and organized…and not every space in your house needs to be done in a day, a week or a month.

Commit to take one space a month…or even every other month….purge, clean, organize. I think once you get started and realize how much easier it makes your life, you will want to keep organizing every space in your house…just like Hannah!

I may not be around for several weeks…this is our vacation month and this year we are going to take a VERY special vacations! Can’t wait to share!

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The never ending project....

Six months ago I shared a project I was working on …quilts. Sewing…UGH!!!!

As I pointed out in the original post, it was for a good cause…a way to show off the years of Christmas PJs my family wears every Christmas.

I finally finished the first SIX quilts I tackled.

Four are throws that are being given to my daughter-in-laws and my grandsons for their birthdays. I know they should probably be Christmas gifts but I want them to have them for the Christmas season. I also made a twin size and a full size for the upstairs bunk room.

This past week I added shelving and organized our spare room closet so that Brian can move all his “stuff” out of the guest room closet and into the spare room closet. While in the process I finally decided to organize the boxes of leftover fabric from the massive quilt project.

Well, low and behold, I had enough panels to make a throw for Katie…might as well whip that up…

…and Sarah wanted pillows…I didn’t have any panels for those so of course I had to whip those up as well…

…and I wanted a pillow using some scrap green velvet I found…whip that up. Two days of “whipping” and I am WHIPPED!!!

But I managed to use up a good bit of my leftover scraps and get everything organized. I still have a bunch of plaid pieces left I may do something with…someday!

It has been a few weeks of “giving what you have.”

One neighbor wanted a counter top over her washer and dryer…done!

Another wanted a walnut mantel… (similar to mine)

…and a storage divider for her baking sheets…

Done and done.

And of course I have a long list of things I want to get done before we head out on vacation in a few weeks. So little by little I am chipping away at the list on my refrigerator.

No, the closets and the sewing projects weren’t on the list.

That reminds me, I need to add them to the list so I can check them off!

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Finding inspiration for my home office...

When I updated my Bogey House Tour page I realized I have done nothing in the office. It is truly a very bland and boring room….

We painted the walls and added the hardwood before we moved in and we have changed out the paddle fan and added curtains but other than that…nothing.

Not a HUGE problem since I only do book work once a month and the only soul who uses this room on a regular basis is Cleo…this is her lookout!

But it really is an issue for a room that is right off the entry and can be seen from the main living room….

This room has ZERO design appeal or character.

So I have decided that this room will be my next big project.

The only question is WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO DO!

So I do what I always do when it is time to plan a makeover. Find my inspiration, make a plan and execute the plan.

First, Pinterest. I know I want some kind of accent wall so I searched “accent wall” and “office wall.”

I found a few things I liked so I dropped them in my “office makeover file.”

I debated whether to do just board and batten or an “accent wall” on the main focal wall…behind the desk.

Hum…I have board and batten in the entry…I like it but not sure if I would like it in this space.

Keep in mind, the one AWESOME thing about this room…the 10’ ceilings…make picking a wall accent very challenging in my opinion. Certain wall treatments just don’t look good in a large room with high ceilings.

My DIL sent me a few that were interesting….this is one….

I love the wood accent as opposed to the all-one-color-treatments like I did in my entry and guest bath….

Now this brings me to the color choice I KNOW I want…I think. I want pink. Not pepto-bismol pink but kind of a pale/blush/coral/whitish color.

Kind of this colorish….

(I can’t for the life of me find the link to this picture…my sincerest apologies!!!!)

One of my blog-friends, Cristina at Remodelando la Casa used it in a bedroom makeover…”Parisian Pink”….I have loved the thought of using pink in a room since.

Somewhere in the room. Maybe paint the board and batten/accent wall white and paint the walls the “pink” color or visa versa. Not sure yet because it will really depend on the wall treatment I choose.

Another choice….

I would paint the entire accent wall the “pinkish” color I choose and then paint the other walls white…just plain ole’ white.

But to date this is my favorite look….

Now, stick with “my vision” here. This is actually a three-dimensional wallpaper. My plan…paint the wall the “pinkish” color then make the vertical stripes out of strips of walnut.

OR paint the wall a darker charcoal greyish color and make the stripes pine with the whitish stain I used on my dining room bench.

If I do decide on this treatment, I know I want a “high contrast”….either light walls and darker stripes or dark walls with lighter stripes. And I really think I would want the stripes to be in wood.

Hum…what to do, what to do.

I am still looking for my inspiration…something that makes me say “YES, THAT’S IT”…not sure when the light bulb will go off but I have learned to live with changes in my mind for a time before I jump head long into a project.

Until that happens the desk, shelving and closet all need to be decluttered, purged and reorganized.

I still like this shelving and it serves a purpose…printer on top, paper and cartridges in the cabinet. But it seriously needs to be decluttered and the pictures on the wall need to be “rethunked.” The long vertical one is of our ski trip 20 years ago…the one with tulips is something that has been hanging around for 20 years…the cute little guy is Brian (that one will go somewhere…just too cute!)

The desk…

The desk will be on the “focal wall” so it needs to be completely clutter free. I thought it would be pretty to put a glass desk in front of the window and move the “reading chair” to this wall…but Cleo likes to lay in the chair and look out the window. Sometime our design decisions have to revolve around kids and pets.

The mirror propped against the wall?

I think I have kicked it around for a good 8-10 years and have never hung it on a wall. I love it but have never found the right place for it. It will be the first thing loaded in the car for donation!

This whatever it is…

The credenza is from our living room in the Lankford House. Between Brian and me, we have 4 computers and a slew of charging cords. The lamp was a Christmas gift from my dad to my mom THEIR FIRST CHRISTMAS…it is literally older than me. The Sonos speaker was in the living room and was moved in here before Christmas. The old mail holder. The wall decor….it’s all just a mess and needs some serious attention!

I have every computer I have owned for the last 20 years and for some stupid reason I think I need to keep the hard drive…you know, just in case I need to find an email I wrote 15 years ago. So I need to dismantle all the computers and pull the hard drives. I also have all the paper work for every car I have owned in the last 20+ years. Why? I don’t know…and I don’t know why I think I need to keep it, but I do. I just need to find a way to organize it all so that it isn’t taking up as much real estate as it is at this moment.

All that is stored in the large closet along with my business supplies, coats and some seasonal decor.

I swear…I am not a hoarder. Ask anyone in my family…they all swear I throw IMPORTANT stuff away all the time. Maybe so, but there have been many times in my life when having documentation for something I bought, or a contact I made, or insurance claim I filed, or bills that I paid, YEARS later, was important.

As a small business owner I also have to keep records for years….especially tax records. Fortunately we have tons of storage space upstairs and I am good about organizing and labeling boxes.

As long as I have the room to keep records on the car I bought in 1999 or the hard drive from the computer I used in 2006, I will keep them. But maybe they can be stored in a box upstairs and not taking up valuable space in a closet downstairs….hum…maybe.

The entire room needs to be purged and reorganized. Since we just moved into this house a little over a year ago, it really isn’t THAT bad.

I always purge and “organize” before I go out and buy storage boxes or organizing systems. And truthfully, I want to get rid of stuff so I am really not interested in adding more stuff…my goal is to try to use what we have!

So my goal this week is to get rid of and reorganize stuff and keep looking for inspiration. Once the clutter is gone and I know exactly what I want, I can make a plan.

Until next week…

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Pantry storage....

Winter has truly arrived and it is literally FREEZING outside…no bad winter precipitation, but frigid temperatures make going outside brutal. So inside where it is toasty warm is where I have been for the better part of the last week!

I started working on my awesome pantry and this week I finally put up some board and batten in the entry. The latter I will share when the paint dries and I am able to reset a few things.

The pantry…MAN OH MAN!!!

As I mentioned HERE I don’t need a lot of upper cabinet space because I have a super awesome walk in pantry.

As organized as my pantry seemed to be (for ME) I decided to give it a little “facelift”….more baskets, some storage containers, labels…all the froo-froo stuff I normally don’t even bother with. But again, I am “semi-retired” now and looking for things to do until I can’t go outside and dig in the dirt!

In my last house I only had a small cabinet pantry and didn’t see the need for all the bins and boxes and “stuff.” But since I store more in this pantry, everything from food to serving dishes to cookware, I decided I wanted to get super organized.

The first thing I did was pull out everything I wanted to put in containers and baskets. Everything that wasn’t going to be put in a basket, container or bin was organized. (I also took the time to wipe down all the shelving even though it had only been 6 months since it was last cleaned!

Here is my #1 tip for organizing ANY space…figure out what storage containers you need for the items you have FIRST, then go buy your storage containers…don’t go buy a lot of baskets and bins and containers.

In my case, I already had a few wicker baskets…perfect for holding chips, storage containers and lids, seldom used sweeteners, seasonal dish towels, cookie cutters, etc. I had 7 but based on the stuff I knew I wanted to store in them, I needed a few more. Fortunately I got them at Lowe’s and they still have them!

I love these little chalkboard labels I got HERE….super cute! They have a little string but I tied the string in a bow and just hot glued them directly onto the basket.

I have a lot of different flour…almond, coconut, gluten free, pancake mix, etc. I knew I would need proper storage for the flours and such.

My initial plan was to put everything in the Heritage Anchor Hocking jars…I just LOVE the look of a pantry filled with glass jars. But here’s the deal…they are heavy…and I am getting too stinking old and clumsy to be lugging around 1 gallon glass jars filled with flour.

So I wanted pretty to serve my purpose….

I found some nifty OXO storage containers at Home Goods…similar to these. I love them….I bought different sizes for the flours and mixes, baking soda and powder, cocoa powder, cornmeal, nuts, etc. The varying sizes stack neatly.

I also bought three sets of labels…small for the spice jars and medium and small for the pantry containers….I got them HERE! (I went a little over board labeling the actual shelves…I’ll probably take those off.)

The can food rack is a nifty little gadget to store canned food…in theory. In the picture on Amazon it shows that it holds four cans in each section…but it really doesn’t without one of the cans being all womper jomped…meh…whatever…it will do for now!

I bought a few clear containers… the baskets are great for hiding open chip bags and random storage containers and lids but I wanted clear bins for things I use daily like cat food, bread, and a few odds and ends.

As you can see I store a lot of stuff on the floor…bulky items like crock pots and big bags of animal food! I had some wire baskets I originally bought for my holiday wrapping station…perfect for holding water bottles, thermos’, potatoes and critter treats.

The left side of the pantry is for cooking ware…casserole dishes, mixing bowls, appliances and spare pots and pans…

One thing I LOVE about this panty…it has an outlet…so I can leave my toaster and can opener in the pantry rather than take up counter space.

While I was organizing and labeling I decided to do all my spices as well….

I had the milk glass jars but didn’t use them because they weren’t properly labeled…now they are!

At some point in the future I really want to add glass to the pantry door like I did to my laundry room door HERE.

No earth shattering reason…I just think it would look awesome with the glass cabinets.

But again, winter is here and there is NO way I can do any work outside…so that little “to do” will have to wait until warmer days!

Hopefully I can share my entry next week. I THINK I like the board and batten…maybe when I get it all staged I will know for certain.

So until next week….

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How do I keep my house "clean"?

I often joke about having "OCD" tendencies. Probably not a "politically correct" thing to do since OCD is in fact a very real problem for people who actually suffer from it! I found this description of the disorder on the National Institute for Mental Illness website.

TECHNICALLY I probably don't have OCD...but when my dryer broke down two weeks ago, I found the piles of laundry triggered a very real anxiety!

It stopped working properly on Tuesday. I normally do 2-3 loads of laundry every other day. Wash, dry, fold and put up.

We had to order a part so it was not repaired for EIGHT WHOLE DAYS....that was about 10 loads of laundry plus all the bedding that I usually do once a week (I know a few young moms who are rolling their eyes!)

We ran out of bath towels ...

(Ignore the finish on the vanity...I do! Someday I will get around to doing something about it!)

We ran out of dish towels ...

Okay so I still have a stockpile of spare towels in the guest bath and spare dish towels in the laundry room! And Brian assured me he had enough clothes to last a few weeks, but that did nothing for my growing panic over the looming chore of doing a billion loads of laundry all at once.

The bedding was a real issue for me....

I wash my sheets and blankets once a week...without fail. The fact that I had to skip a week and sleep on sheets that had not been laundered that weekend creeped me out. Seriously, just how big can those dust mites that live on your bed get!?

And I don't even want to share how furry and dirty the blankets get from the big dog and two cats who sleep with us! Ewwwwww!

Eight days...had the repair man not shown up when he did we were seriously going to go buy a new dryer!

I kept walking into the laundry room and staring at the growing piles of dirty laundry....

Bedtime became a nightmare! I had visions of rat-sized dust mites!

I think I was on the verge of a total meltdown.

This entire ordeal really got me thinking about my cleaning HABITS...I say habit verses obsession because truth be told, I am not technically obsessed with cleaning...I have developed chiseled-in-stone habits that keep my house in order. When those habits were disrupted by a broken appliance, it completely threw a wrench in my daily life!

I had a friend ask me one time..."How do you keep such a clean house?"

Simple...I have developed daily habits that keep my home and life in order. (That and I don't have kids at home anymore!) My house may not always be spotlessly clean, but it is almost always in order.

So what are my "habits?" What is my secret to keeping an orderly home?

When I was young my mom gave us until 9 a.m. Saturday morning to watch cartoons. Then we all spent a few hours cleaning...bummer at the time but now I understand the need for a weekly marathon cleaning!

So now Brian and I have a weekly "deep clean" marathon. Once a week we do major cleaning...he vacuums the entire down stairs and helps me with the bedding, I deep clean the bathrooms and kitchen, dust everything and mop the floors. It takes about two hours. It sets the tone. (A clean house is much easier to keep up with throughout the week.)

So how do I keep things in order throughout the week?

1) No clutter. If I don't NEED it or use it, I don't keep it. If a closet, cabinet or drawer gets cluttered, I completely empty it then I toss, donate or sell anything I don't need or use! "But I might need it"...you might, or it might sit there gathering dust and taking up real estate for 5 years...seriously, get rid of it! The less you have the easier it is to keep it all in order and clean!

I purge regularly and it is SO much easier to keep everything organized!!! Don't think you have to do the entire house in one weekend...do one drawer, closet or cabinet at a time...cuz you are going to make a mess when you pull everything out!

If I have to think about something for more than 3 seconds, I don't NEED it!!!

You might notice I don't do a lot of the cutesy storage baskets. If I have something I need corralled in baskets (like cords or loose paper) I use clear storage tubs so I can SEE what is in them...I found that if I just tossed things in baskets (out of sight out of mind) it is a sure fire way to collect stuff you really don't need!

Even your junk drawer should have a little bit of order!

2) I pick up as I go. Rarely do I walk through a room without picking up something and putting it in it's proper place. Shoes in the den...take them to the closet on your way to the bathroom. Dish on the table... put it in the dishwasher on your way to raid the fridge. Coat on the chair...hang it in the closet. I don't just absentmindedly walk through my house...if something is out of place, I pick it up and put it where it belongs. And every night before bed I walk through the "common areas" (living room/den, kitchen, baths) and make sure everything is in order.

The "habit" of keeping my drawers, closet and cabinets purged and organized makes it a breeze to put items where they belong when I have a space for them

3) I make my bed every day...EVERY day. If it takes more than 60 seconds to make your bed, I would suggest rethinking your bedding. Get rid of froo-froo pillows and throws if those have become a hinderance to making your bed. What is the use of having all those pretty decorative pillows if you don't make your bed!

4) I load the dishwasher and clean my kitchen after every meal. We never let dishes pile in the sink. If we use a dish or pan, we wash it and put it up or put it in the dishwasher. It takes 10-15 minutes to do the dishes, load the dishwasher, put everything where it belongs and wipe down the kitchen after dinner. Brian and I do this together...it is a great time for us to chit-chat and connect before we sit down and zone out in front of the tv for the evening.

5) I don't do "laundry hampers" in the bedrooms or baths. After we shower, dirty clothes and towels go staight to the laundry room...there are never piles of dirty clothes laying around! I would ask the kids to AT LEAST throw their dirty clothes over the upstairs bannister so I would have it! And I take time to do all the laundry every other day...wash, dry, fold and put up...I don't let it pile up...dirty or clean.

6) I dust with dirty clothes. I know it sounds gross, but I will often wipe down a side table, dresser top or the tv with a dirty shirt or towel as I carry it to the laundry room. Works for me!

7) I open my mail by the trash can...daily! Junk mail and envelops immediately get tossed, necessary things are distributed where they belong...bills to the desk, kid's mail on the table by the door so they can pick it up, magazines in the magazine rack so I can read them when I have time...then when I do read them, I toss them (yes I know I have a Christmas magazine...haven't read it yet!) No piles of unopened envelops or junk mail!

8) I keep a set schedule for the "once or twice a year" chores. Washing windows, changing smoke detector batteries, cleaning behind big appliances, deep cleaning the inside and tops of my kitchen cabinets, etc. Usually in the spring and fall. And of course now I will add "cleaning the dry vent" to that list since that was evidently the issue...my dryer vent got clogged and burned up a part that is somewhat important!

9) This little guy...

We only use the "heavy duty vacuum" once a week but several times a week I pull out my cordless vacuum and run it over the floors. A necessity if you have animals or kids! And since it is cordless and easy to empty, I don't think twice about grabbing it and giving the floors a once over! (This is something you NEED!)

10) White towels and dish cloths. Everything! It makes it super simple to wash loads of whites...bleach in hot water...so you know everything is sanitized. Musty towels...no more! Suspect dish towels...no more. And when you need additional towels or wash cloths, it is super simple to find white, even if they aren't the exact same style or brand. I do the same with dishes...white!

11)Wipe down bath vanities! After I wash my face at night, I use the wash cloth to wipe down the vanity...sometimes I will even use it to give the floor a quick wipe.

I know kids throw a wrench into this process...I get it...I raised four. The amount of laundry they generate and the crap they leave laying around the house can drive you mad! And don't even get me started on their crazy schedules...homework, ball games, dance recitals, school functions, Boy/Girl Scouts, etc. Crazy but necessary!

I can only give a few pieces of advice on that matter.

1) Assign SIMPLE chores. Of course I did this but it seemed they were always too busy to do their chores. Assign them anyway. Put up dishes daily, take out the trash, clean a bathroom, run the little cordless sweeper...whatever needs to be done daily. There is no reason even the youngest kid can't spend 15 minutes a day doing a chore. "Clean up, clean up, everybody do their share!"

2) No toys in "common areas" of the house. They have a bedroom (and if you are lucky, a play room)...that is where their toys and personal items should be. Not in the living room, not in your room, not in the dining room. THEIR ROOM! If they want to play with their toys, they do it in their room...family rooms are for family time. The only exception to this rule is any "toy" that requires a computer...computers should be used where parents can supervise...but you know what...I NEVER bought my kids video games...and they all survived to adulthood.

3) The parent's room should be off limits. Period. I would NEVER have dreamed of going into my parents room without an invitation...and I certainly wouldn't have left my toys, clothes or dishes in their room. Set some boundaries parents!

4) Kids do NOT have the ability to "organize" so stop expecting them to keep a spotless bedroom. Yes, I would have to go into their bedrooms once a week to grab their bedding and gather moldy dishes and mildewed clothing. But if I wanted their rooms spotlessly cleaned and organized I would have to do that task myself when I had time...and I did. This is one of those "pick your battles" issues...expecting your kid to keep a clean room is not a battle you want to fight! Again, expect them to keep their stuff in THEIR room...not the common areas. On more than one occasion I picked up their crap and tossed it in their nasty rooms and slammed the door shut!

5) Keep kid's bedding simple. Basically my kids had a pillow, fitted sheet and a washable blanket. Again, pick your battles and make your lives easier. Keep bedding simple!

6) Certain chores should be "family chores"....cleaning the kitchen after meals, yard work, folding and putting up laundry. All things parents and kids can and should do together!

My daughter, Sarah, has a neat idea for her two boys..."discipline chores"...a list of chores the boys have to do if they get in trouble. Wash down baseboards, scrub a bathroom floor, clean all the mirrors, clean the interior/exterior doors, sweep the porch, etc. Anything that needs to be done but maybe doesn't get done as much as needed. If they break a rule, talk back, get in MINOR trouble at school...they get assigned a chore. Then when they are done, they get praise for doing a job well...win/win! The kid learns there are consequences to bad behavior...if they complete an assigned task, they get praise...and you get your baseboards cleaned! Sweet.

But one of the most important things ANY parent can do to motivate their kiddos is set a good example by their own behavior. Don't expect your kid to keep a clean bedroom and pick up their dishes if you don't do it as well. This is no guarantee your kids will become mini-Martha Stewarts but they do learn by example...so set a good one!

"DO AS I DO, NOT AS I SAY!"

Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

Note it does not say "when he is a teenager" or "at this very minute"....it says when he is old.

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"Repurposed" oak dresser....

So many little projects happening...a tv console, a thrift store wall clock, an old love seat, some Eastlake chairs.

But today I want to share another "Trash to Treasure." As I have mention, I often find discarded, abused pieces of furniture at the apartments. They either get left behind in a unit or thrown on the trailer I keep out back for bulk trash.

Someone had tossed this oak chest skeleton onto the trailer....

It wasn't in terrible shape but it was missing all the drawers. I hated to just toss it in the dumpster...I knew I could do something with it, just wasn't sure what. I brought it home and waited for inspiration to hit.

I did have to do a little bit of structural repair...nothing major...glue and clamps!

I decided to turn it into a little shelf....kitchen, bath, bedroom...wherever someone might need some extra storage for dishes, towels or even shirts...maybe add some cute baskets or boxes.

I cleaned it up, chalkpainted and distressed the "skeleton," added some stained plywood shelves, and....

I thought about painting the inside but decided to let it be what it is...and old oak dresser repurposed.

Sometimes less is more.

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A few new storage solutions!

In my quest to make my kitchen a tad more "user friendly" I stumbled upon a nifty little storage gadget at Lowes that will help me manage my casserole dishes and mixing bowls a bit better.

As I have mentioned, in my "dream kitchen" I have nothing but big deep drawers in my lower cabinets. Unfortunately that is a "dream" so I have to work with what I have and digging around in a lower cabinet for heavy casserole dishes and keeping all my mixing bowls organized has become an issue.

Again, and I can not stress this enough, the number one key to getting organized is PURGING!

Pull it ALL out and ask yourself...DO I REALLY NEED THIS?! In my kitchen cabinet, I had several casserole dishes that were duplicates of what I have but they didn't have lids. Do not need! I had 5 large 9x13 casserole pans...do not need them all! I had 3 stainless bowls the same size, which made stacking them a impossible...do not need! I have FIVE crock pots...two smaller ones just for dips and such. I DO need those but only once or twice a year so there is no need for them to take up valuable kitchen real estate. So off to the hall pantry they went!

I contemplated building and installing either 4 drawers or 2 large drawers in this cabinet base. Lots of work! So when I found these nifty little metal storage drawers at Lowe's I knew I had found a relatively easy solution.

The problem with these metal drawers is they are not custom sized so I was going to end up with a lot of "dead space." I decided to only install one for my bowls and casserole dishes since those are things I use almost every time I cook. I left the other side shelf space for crock pots and dishes I only use occasionally.

The drawer component lets me easily get to my bowls and casseroles dishes without wallering around on the floor and pulling everything out to get to the stuff in the back.

A perfect, and simple, solution for organizing a tough space.

When Brian and I went scrounging around the flea market out in Tontitown last weekend, I found this neat little wall decor. A framed chalkboard with two "distressed" wire baskets. I knew it would be perfect for organizing magazines that tend to get piled up in the coffee table, which in turn means they get ignored!

I'm pretty sure it is probably something one could pick up at Hobby Lobby, or something I could easily make with an old frame and paper storage racks from an office supply store. But it was there, and it was done...the only thing I did not like was the original finish on the frame...kind of a "white-wash" natural wood looking thing. I immediately painted it with some chalk paint and distressed and sealed it. Great for magazines or mail. Remodelaholics featured a bathroom with a similar one.

I like it in the bathroom but I am of the opinion that if you are in the bathroom long enough to read an article, you probably ought to seek treatment. Just saying....

Last fall I bought this awesome antique sewing machine at an auction. The "lid" flips back to reveal the machine

I immediately fell in love with the little wood box that covered the machine. After a little research I discovered they are called coffins....most often in mahogany or walnut. BEAUTIFUL! I immediately jumped on Ebay and found a few of these amazing little boxes.

Naturally they needed to be refinished, but a little magic mixture and a few coats of tung oil and they are amazing!

My original plan was to use them in the "kitchen reset," but there really was no good place for them so I have them scattered around the house for storage. In the den, I use them to store some of my photo albums. They would be darling with little castors for "rolling" storage. l absolutely love them!

When I reset my kitchen, I dug around in my flea booths looking for "functional decor." In other words, pretty with a purpose! A few things caught my eye.

The first was a little glass pumpkin...perfect for this time of the year! I usually keep my coffee in a crystal decanter, but this little pumpkin is perfect for the fall season.

Now I am going to be on the look out for one I can use for the Christmas season!

I also found this little sterling silver piece. I THINK it might have originally been for sugar since it has a little notch in the lid where a spoon may have rested but most sugar jars are smaller. Regardless, it is the perfect size for my coffee filters.

And of course the need to store 1/2 of my dishes when I built my floating shelves...seriously, who needs 20 plates! I purchased this little basket from Kaufmann Merchantile with a gift certificate from my son but I also found some on Amazon and have ordered 3 for my holiday wrapping station! (I'll share that little project when I get it set up!)

I have mentioned time and again that I really don't decorate much with "pretty" without "function" or purpose...unless something has sentimental meaning.

I am learning that these little touches are what really give a home "character." No need to use boring old plastic containers or cardboard boxes if you can "think outside the box" and find interesting pieces that are "pretty" but can also serve a useful function!

Anything that can make my life more organized is great...the fact that it is pretty or interesting is a huge plus!