Tidying Up
I’m a neat freak. I know it. I’m actually proud of it. I like that my home is always clean, neat, and organized. I feel that everything should have a place. Junk left out of it’s place clutters up your house and really ruins the appearance. I love ugly necessities (like cleaning supplies or utensils) to have a place to be stashed that is concealed when not in use. Not only does this just look so much better, but it also means you will not lose things or forget where you left them. Our cleaning supplies are under the kitchen sink in tubs. We always keep a flashlight right under the sink as well. A few basic tools and utensils that are needed frequently are in a drawer in the kitchen island, and the rest of the tools are in the tool box in the basement. I could tell you where ever item I own is right now. This drives Tony nuts that he has to put everything back in it’s assigned spot, but he will be thanking me in an emergency when I find what we need in seconds!
Anyway, this brings me to the topic at hand. Our mops and brooms. They are too big to fit under the sink, but too ugly to be left leaning against a wall in the kitchen. I had them stashed away in the basement. But, no one wanted to go down there to get them every time there was a mess. I even caught myself on hands and knees wiping up the floor with a paper towel instead of heading to the basement. I knew there had to be a better solution.
We took a trip this weekend to our local hardware store and found a basic hook set. My plan was to hang this strip of hooks inside the basement door for easy access to brooms and mops. The strip was a bit too long to fit from one beam to another along the unfinished basement walls. We compromised and leaned the strip of hooks on it’s side. It actually worked out perfectly, and the long handled tools hang perfectly just inside the door. I’m pleased. 🙂 And, now we can save paper towels and make our lazy selves go grab the mop!
The brooms and mops hanging so nicely just inside our basement door.
The row of hooks that proved to be a simple and inexpensive solution to a daily annoyance.
We were so inspired we even added a couple single hooks to the opposite wall for hanging dog toys and leashes.
These things will no longer have to be draped sloppily over the banister!
Simple fixes make all the difference in a home!
New Old Shade
Its official. I am sick of our curtains. All of them. Every room. I knew they were bad from the day we moved in, but now I am at my breaking point. So, on my day off yesterday I did some work and started plunging into our curtain situation.
I thought I would start off small. There was no shade over the large window in our kitchen door. Our neighbors could see right in! I decided to take the old white roller shade from the dining room door (since it also has a curtain) and refinish it to go in the kitchen. I wanted to stick with the black and white theme. I used some swirly scrap-book stencils I had and a paint pen ($3 at Wal-Mart). I laid the stencils out where I liked them, traced, and colored in. Now, viola!
What a simple , inexpensive project with such great results! This weekend I plan to get some black material and sew a valance at the top, as well as simple black curtains to replace the strawberry ones in the kitchen window. Then on to the rest of the house…
P.S. Yes, there is a cute in the shade. The landlord has mis-cut part of the shade. I didn’t want to try out my new paint idea on a new shade and ruin it. We like it well enough that I will soon go through the time and effort to reproduce this on a new shade!
The Start Of A New Project
The other day I wrote about how we wanted to make a mini bar area in our home. I showed pictures of other people’s re-purposed bar areas that we loved. But, after much discussion we decided we liked the look of a closed cabinet for this kind of thing a little better. With all of my inspiration in hand, I set out to plan my own mini bar project. Yes, we found the perfect (we hope!) cabinet for the job! A Craigslist post led us to the Maple TV Cabinet.
I see much potential in the armoire! (We don’t actually pick it up until Thursday.) I plan on first painting it a high gloss black. The back inside of the cabinet with be lined with mirror and wine and stemware racks will be hung from the inside. The inside has one shelf, but we are guessing we will make a few new shelves from glass. I am going for a bit of Hollywood regency here. Overall, we think this beauty should have plenty of space for our entertainment needs!
We do have one small question, however. I think there needs to be a flat space large enough to mix the actual drinks incorporated into the cabinet somehow. I was wondering if the drawer could be used for that. It might be a bit too low to be comfortable, though. I was also wondering about making a sort of pull-out shelf inside the cabinet. Is this even possible? When I see the cabinet in person I will know if more space is necessary. Until then, does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?
We are very excited to get the project rolling, so stay tuned for updates!
Protect The Camera
Yesterday was my first Thursday off now that I have started working four ten hour days and taking Thursdays off. It was a busy day and I think I may have worked harder at home that I do during a work day in my office! But, this means my house is sparkling and I even finished a few projects. Once simple one that I finally tackled was making a camera pouch! My camera travels with me almost all the time. You never know when you are going to see something blog-worthy! 🙂 This means that my camera has acquired a few scratches and dings along the way, though. To prevent this I could have bought a fancy (and probably expensive) camera bag, yes. But, other than not wanting to fork over that much cash, I think they tend to be a bit too big to lug around in my purse all the time. So, enter my simple DIY camera bag! (I’m not a very good seamstress, so believe me, this is a very simple DIY!)
I used a rectangular strip of some soft leftover leopard fabric that I had lying around the house. I folded it in half with one end a few inches longer than the other, with the leopard print facing each other (inside out). I sewed the sides together next. Then sewed a seam on the extra top flap of material. Once the sewing was done I flipped it inside out and added a bit of Velcro to keep the top flap closed. That simple!
The material and my little sewing kit (I did this little project by hand).
Finished camera pouch:
No more scratches!
Making A Mini Bar
Currently we hold all of our drink glasses, servers, shakers and wine and liqueurs in one of our kitchen cupboards. But, I have always wanted to do something different with these items. I would like to have some sort of mini bar in the kitchen or dining room. This would be such easy access for entertaining. Also, it would free up more cupboard space in the kitchen, which for us is at a premium!
I have recently seen a few photos of DIY bars and am in planning process for making one of our own.
This redone shelf unit was posted on Apartment Therapy. I think this is great inspiration for our project. A simple shelf unit like this would be easy to find and probably affordable. I really love the wine racks and glass holders. I also like the idea of lining the backs of cabinets with colorful ,fun paper. Here is another picture of a mini bar with beautiful paper:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/inspiration/inspiration-lined-cabinets-075583 . Originally from Homes and Gardens.
I also like the idea of using a bar cart or serving tray with a few bottles and glasses, but options like the cabinets in the pictures would give us much more space and probably be safer with pets, especially if there are doors.
I am very excited to get started on this project, and will keep you posted!
Cube Redo
I have had this little storage cube since I was a kid. When new, it had a unicorn and a rainbow on it. Recently I redid the look of the cube so that it could be used in our home. I forgot all about the cube project until yesterday. There was a question posed on Apartment Therapy about recommendations for redoing a similar cube. I thought that I would let you all know how I did the project, and although I do not have any before or durring pictures, I can show you how it turned out. Here was the process:
1. I started by covering the picture areas of the cube with white contact paper. I was lucky that the sides were the same width as the paper, but I did run short of paper at the top and had to piece two pieces together. For a bigger box this is what you would have to do. Not to worry, the seem barely shows once you get the paint on the paper. Just try to line them up as exactly as possible.
2. Once the paper was on, I used an Exact-O knife to cut the contact paper around any hardware or latches. This worked well and really didn’t cause any problems as long as you work slowly and patiently.
3. After the paper was laid and cut, I painted it. I picked a dark red, and simply used wall paint from the hardware store and applied with a regular brush. I recommend this, as it was easy and inexpensive. I personally wanted an antiqued look to go with the worn metal hardware, so I only applied one coat and left it a bit streaky. If you want a smooth, more flawless finish, I think two coats would do the trick just fine.
4. To add a personal touch I used a foam stamp. I found this stamp at the hardware store on sale for about 50 cents. While the paint was still wet I pressed the dry stamp into it in a pattern I liked. When you raise the stamp it takes some of the paint off, leaving a lighter area for the design. I used a circular design that went with the antiqued look.
Viola! Finished! It really was that simple. Now this cube serves as storage for blankets in our living room. And, this has stood up to some use and abuse and even relocating a few times. It has a few small scratches in it now, but that seems to add to it’s antiqued character. If you want yours to stay looking new try using a protective clear coat on top. Here’s what ours looks like:
Some foam stamps similar to mine can be find at http://www.makingmemories.com and other scrap-booking websites.
Have fun!
Scrap-booking Question
I have been scrap-booking since I was in high school. I love taking photos and loving preserving memories, so this is quickly became one of my favorite hobbies. Due to being extremely busy I quit scrap-booking for a few years almost completely. The other day I found some very adorable paper and was so inspired I have started scrap-booking again full force. (The paper was from Micheal’s, which I recommend!).
I have come across a small problem, however, that I am hoping you out there in the blog world can help me with. My supplies are currently stored in about 4 different boxes. I rummage through the boxes when I am in search of inspiration or the perfect color of paper. The are constantly getting messy and unmanageable. The boxes are not uniform, either, which makes them hard to store. I am such a neat freak that this is really bothering me. I have seen carrying cases for sale that are meant for scrap-booking, but they are ridiculously overpriced!
My dilemma: I am insearch of an affordable, possibly DIY solution to the scrapbooking mess!
Here are just a couple of my unruly boxes of scrap-booking materials. I love the pink box, as it is an over-sized gift box from Victoria's Secret, but the heavy materials are starting to demolish the box!
Here is just a glimpse of the plethora of supplies needed for scrap-booking. Scissors, stickers, markers, pens, accessories, paper...
I was thinking that sticker sheets and paper might be categorized and sorted in some sort of accordion type portfolio folder (Wal-Mart even carries on in a black and white damask pattern!). But, the 12′ x12′ sheets of paper might not fit in one of those. What do you think? Suggestions?
Here is a glimpse of the pages I have completed recently. Any page ideas? If you would like help with your scrapbook just drop me a line about that as well! 🙂
P.S. It really is too bad that photos don’t do the details of these pages justice, as some of this paper is really gorgeous up close!
Little Coaster Project
Tony has Dallas Cowboys coasters. I have Chicago Bears coasters. Neither were going to be displayed in our nice living room. I love football as much as anybody, but the football paraphernalia is reserved for the basement game room/bar. So, we needed some nice coasters to protect our living room tables. I change my mind frequently, so I wanted something inexpensive or changeable. That’s when I found these. The Dollar Store had a pack of four glass coaster for a couple bucks! Not only are they cheap, but they are changeable. They are the kind of coasters meant for inserting a picture under the glass. I decided to put a piece of black and silver damask wrapping paper in the picture slot. Here was my process:
My supplies. All I used was a scissors and the material (wrapping paper).
I used the blank piece of paper that came in the frame as a guide to cut a rectangle out of the wrapping paper. It then slides into a clear picket in the coaster frame. It was really THAT simple.
This is what it looked like slid into the coaster frame.
Here they all are with the wrapping paper inserted.
They even have their own little wooden holder.
It was so simple and I can change what is in the frames any time I want to. The glass is also very easy to clean off. I wish they were all black, as I am not so fond of the different colors, but it does make it easier to keep track of your drink. And, for a few dollars, who can complain?
I Feel A Project Coming On
I ran accross this oh-so-cute project this morning on the Curbly website.
Even though this DIY serving tray isn’t my idea, I had to link you all with it. I am most definitely going to make this my next project in the waiting. I have been looking at trays and also thinking about how to make one. But, with my love of all things black and white and my love of all things DIY, this is the winner. Check out the full how-to and more photos here: http://www.curbly.com/DIY-Maven/posts/5902-How-to-Turn-an-Old-Cupboard-Door-into-a-Serving-Tray
Thank you for the idea DIY Maven!
New Little Project
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I love finding odds and ends to fix up, remodel, or work on that I can then add to our home. These little projetcs are fun for me and keep me busy. This new task is a stool from my grandmother. Its not new, not antique, not anything special really. I almost truned it down. But, she said that it opened up. That caught my interest. Then, she suggested that maybe I could keep some interesting photos in it. BINGO! I snatched it up in a hurry. I love a bit of unexpected, and her idea of putting snapshots in the stool was perfect. I plan to recover the top with some funky material. I’m not sure if I will paint it yet. Then I will add some old, random photos to the inside for company to explore. Cute! Any suggestions on print or paint? Let me know what you think!Â
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So much potential...
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Vintage photos tucked away in here would be perfect!
Make Mine Eclectic 