Get organized with Homezada

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Roeshel

I recently learned about Homezada.com, a source for us (homeowners) to keep all of the data about our home organized and safe online. I’ve found that the site offers some really helpful tools. Here are a few reasons I think you’ll find it helpful too:

1. With DIY being one of our priorities, my favorite tool at Homezada is the project manager where I can track my budget and spending. It also allows me to save, compare and track online (and offline) purchases. Love the little button I can drag to my tool bar to make saving products I’m researching right to my list. It’s great for updating home inventory too…something I really need to do.

2. I can document all of my possessions by uploading photos (even via mobile!) and scanning receipts. I’m so bad with that but the option to use my iphone to upload and tag photos to my account makes it much more convenient. I can also save warranties, document values for insurance purposes and scan and save important documents…and having all of this information backed up on an online storage cloud means no hunting through piles of papers, file cabinets or losing passwords. It can also be accessed from anywhere, not just my home office.

3. Another task we’re really bad with is remembering to change furnace filters or check smoke detector batteries. Homezada has an option for help with maintaining our home by personalizing a property calendar. And in case you’re like me and draw a blank on what I should be checking, we can browse over 150 recommendations and synchronize with my online calendar with automated reminders so I don’t forget. Now when Mr. DIY says, “remind me to…fill in the blank”, I’ll sound like I have it together when I actually do remind him to clean the chimney!

4. Sound overwhelming? Don’t worry – everything is organized and upon logging into your account, the “latest news” section will help keep you stay on track. Easy and helpful. I just take one look at my overstuffed file cabinet, a pile of receipts and forms in a “to file” pile and THAT is definitely overwhelming!

Homezada’s mission is to provide homeowners with a site where they can get more organized managing their home, save some money maintaining and improving their home, and be better prepared in case a disaster, home fire, or burglary where to occur. I’m a new member and being able to start to store all of my home maintenance, home inventory and home project needs all in one place online makes me feel organized and safe.

Sign up for free! Homezada offers a package for basic essentials (free) and a 30 day trial of a premium account with all tools! If you’re interested in keeping the premium features, they’re offered at $9.95/mo. Small price to pay for maintaining your home.

GIVEAWAY!

Homezada is offering one lucky DIY Show Off reader a chance to win the Premium Package services for one free year {$99 value}! Wahoo! HomeZada offers a free membership option too! Sign up now and start using the system while the giveaway is still open.

How to win?

To enter, leave a comment about what part of HomeZada is the most valuable to you, choosing from the Home Inventory, Home Maintenance, Home Improvement Projects or all three combined and a quick reason why. Giveaway starts today and ends, Saturday, October 12th at midnight EST. Winner will be announced shortly after. Good luck!

I was compensated by Homezada to share their awesome site and online tools but the experience and opinion is my own.

Vintage craft/office makeover

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Roeshel

Meet: Shelby from

She’ll be having a baby in a few short months and to make room for baby, switched around several rooms in her house. One of Shelby’s biggest challenges was to combine her office and craft spaces into one multi-functional, organized splace.

The large L-shaped desk was a DIY project…

Don’t you love the windows, the light and that view?

The rest is creative fun vintage finds turned useful. So many treasures, such clever ideas.

Shelby shares all of her DIY at

and vintages treasures in her Etsy shop…

Ps. Look for her beautiful mud room – gorgeous transformation!

DO IT YOURSELF – do something this weekend.

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Roeshel

It’s calling for snow here. The warmer temps were just a tease. Snow for me means staying at home. Just some quick, easy ideas for motivation all to start somewhere small this weekend to accomplish something productive. For me, it always leads to bigger things. Taking 15 minutes to do one of these, almost always inspires me to work a little longer and accomplish a little more. Here is what works for me:

Clean off the kitchen counters. Before I know it, I’m scrubbing things down, sweeping the floor, wiping down the fridge. I love a clean kitchen.
Sort through a junk drawer. Organize chaotic papers and receipts, put ‘quick clean shoved’ items where they belong. Having everything where it belongs feels so good.
Make the bed. In our home, this doesn’t happen daily but taking a minute to make the bed = picking up clothes, dusting and rearranging decor. I love when that happens!
Actually look at craft supplies and materials, then browse Pinterest for an idea. Time to get creative!

Do you have do-it-yourself plans this weekend? I do! Mine involves primer and paint. How about you?

DIY Project Parade ~ vintage inspired craft room/office reveal

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Roeshel

I think I’ve only shared a peek of my craft/office space in the past. I challenged my flu-fighting self to clean it up yesterday in order to accomplish something. It sometimes quickly becomes a dumping ground for everything craft related. Note, this is a tiny room…so while it looks like I may border on ‘hoarder’, it is all organized! I confess, it’s not only craft supplies but just things I like and things that I might find a use for in the future. It is a lot crammed into one small room.

{from the hallway. Large buttons are old – no shopping source.}

This room before was a spare bedroom that never got used…

before

I moved the bed to a guest room downstairs.

And moved my office/craft stuff upstairs. (So visitors don’t have to see a mess if I’m in the middle of a project.) Now, everything old looks fun and organized. I love that I don’t have to always use the dining room table for craft projects.

after

Continue reading →

Master Closet Redo ~ Everyday a la Mode

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Roeshel

Meet Robin from

Robin is a fairly new blogger who blogs about enjoying every day life. She recently gave her master bedroom a closet a makeover.

The “after” is so organized!

Continue reading →

DIY Show Off – Dressing Room/Guest Bedroom Reveal

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Roeshel

Dressing Room/ 2nd Guest Bedroom {Closet Organization}

Before (previous owner’s artwork)

This chandelier (free):

got a makeover:

In the guest room, we have this Pinecone Hill Genevieve bedding (celery):

Bedding:

Love the free chandelier in here…

Closets Before had curtains for a few years – I hated the orange wood toned bi-folds that much!

Painting shuttered doors.

How to change bi-fold doors to French doors…

Full post and dressing room details/closet organization here.

The closets also had a lot of wasted space.

Shelving installed!

After:

This one only had 1 rod for hanging clothes…

With the addition of two shelves in wasted space and an extra closet rod…

Accessory trays (secured to the wall with 3M velcro hangers) organize nail polish…

Easy Hang Closet Extension Rods double hanging space for boots shown above and pants/skirts as shown below:

A little seat for pulling on boots…

Two extra sets of bi-fold doors becomes a folding/dressing screen (attach with hinges in the center)…

Behind the screen…

A GoodWill found tiered candy dish holds favorite accessories…

Inspired by Martha Stewart, trim/molding organizes my shoes. Four 42″ pieces hold 24 pairs of my {heeled} shoes…

(See the trim/molding shoe storage how to here)

DIY Triple Clipboard

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Roeshel

We’re working on a special area for Mr. DIY. Here’s one of the things we made for the area:

DIY Triple Clipboard Tutorial

Materials:

Board (I used a pre-cut unfinished wooden shelf base, approx. 4′ x 12′ x 1″)

Rockler TransTint Dye (or stain)

3 Rockler Clipboard Clips

Vinyl Chalkboard Tags from Ten23 Designs

Screws to secure to wall (or Dischangers)

1. I used the Rockler TransTint Dye to stain my piece of wood which will be the back of my clipboard. (Mix according to instructions – add more for darker/less for lighter color).

2. Allow to dry.

3. Measure and divide board into 3 equal sections (I used a Sharpie – I don’t mind the line showing to separate the clipboard areas).

4. Peel and stick vinyl chalkboard tags into place. I placed mine above the area I intend to secure the clip.

5. Layout clips and mark where pilot holes need to be drilled.

6. Drill pilot holes.

7. Attach clips using screws provided.

(Oh – I wasn’t fond of the brassy color so I gave mine a coat of antique gold spray paint and splattered with a darker brown for an ‘old’ look).

8. All done and ready to hang (we secured to the wall using drywall screws into studs but using Dischangers will allow your clipboard to be more mobile for moving).

More on this clipboard’s specific purpose coming up! You’ll never guess. :)

Ps. Still working on the subscription issues…I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the full post shows in the feed today! EDIT: It looks like the full post is in the feed but images are not. Back to the drawing board! Thank you so much for your patience!

DIY Spice Loft & DIY Project Parade

Posted on September 19, 2010 by Roeshel

Our kitchen is undergoing a makeover and one of our goals is organizing and making the most of the space we have. Mr. DIY loves to cook and has a HUGE spice collection (this is only a small fraction of his spices) so we’ve come up with a way to make the most of wasted space. This area is still undergoing some work but I wanted to share one of the easy projects we’ve completed. We created a Spice Loft in a space that was blank and unused before. The Lazy Susans swivel, allowing for a spin and easy grab. How to reach? Well, because they swivel, Mr. DIY who is 6’2″ has no problem reaching but you can see from the picture what we have in mind. More on that coming soon!

Materials:

3 Lazy Susans (Rockler 12″ – a little overkill on the weight for this purpose but we LOVE the size and industrial look)
Screws (we used spare screws we had lying around) (12 total, 4 for each Lazy Susan)

Magnetic Spice Tins (We already had 18 Grundtal tins from Ikea but you could also add magnets to the back of favor tins found in party supply stores.)

Tools:
Drill/screwdriver
Old wrapping paper
Marker
Tape
Dry Erase Marker

Tutorial:

1. Use a piece of wrapping paper to make a template close to the size of the area/wall accommodating the spice loft and measure the center/place the Lazy Susans symmetrically and evenly spaced on the paper template.

2. Trace the Lazy Susans using a marker and mark the screw holes. The Lazy Susans have a larger hole on the front, just spin to see the small screw holes on the piece used for mounting.

3. Tape the paper template to the area where Spice Loft will be placed.

4. Drill pilot holes using the template. We drilled 4 holes for each Lazy Susan.

5. Remove paper (we didn’t do this until the end but learn by my mistake – it’s hard to remove when done!)

6. Secure the Lazy Susans to the wall with 4 screws each (depending on your wall surface, you might opt to use plastic anchors). I had Mr. DIY do this part. (Remember – you won’t have paper up still when done. I recommend taking paper down after pilot holes are drilled.)

7. Add spices to the tins (loved this part – so many good scents) and write name on front using a dry erase marker (or make a label).

Swivel Spice Wreaths

All done! A great space saving idea that frees up much-needed cabinet storage. Also better than storing near the heat of the stove. This area of our kitchen has no lighting so it’s dark too. They look like wreaths, don’t they? I love being able to see the spice through the lid. I like that they’re not only handy and storage-saving – they’re decorative as well.

What do you think?

Thanks to Mr. DIY for his ‘muscle’ behind this project. We had to drill through drywall over plywood. It was also minutes before the football game. And he is sick. Somebody must love me.

The winner of the Delta Giveaway from last week is…

gnee @ Singing With Birds, September 13, 2010 11:55 AM 91: WOW do I ever need the Addison 9192-DST in my kitchen. What a gorgeous faucet! Thanks for the party.

Congratulations gnee! Email me and I’ll put you in contact with Delta to collect your prize!

~*~*~

SHOW IT OFF! What did you DIY lately?

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I’m linking to Funky Junk Interiors SNS.
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Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming.

Lord of the (key) Rings

Posted on June 27, 2009 by Roeshel

Ever here the saying “you’d forget your head if it wasn’t attached?” That is my dear, darling husband. He forgets where he puts things. He loses tools, kitchen utensils, books, his cell phone, his super hero ring and his keys. (See HERE and HERE.) So with the mudroom being completed, I wanted a place specifically designated for his keys when he walks in the door.

I found this cute snack tray at World Market and decided to give it a new impressive job title…Sargent Key Keeper.
Update – It seems World Market has sold out of the snack trays. I did see something similar at TJMaxx. I also found these similar ones:

This one at Target is square and has 4 dishes (His/Hers/Yours and the training M&Ms!)
This one at Target comes with two 3-serving trays (one for you, one for a gift)
Here’s one with an iron stand
Another option
Try googling 3-way divided snack tray, try adding “white” or “ceramic”

I think it’s very happy, preventing rushing-out-the-door meltdowns by guarding the keys and of course I couldn’t help labeling each “dish” because it would be pretty rude of me if guests were to arrive and see what they might consider is an empty snack tray. How heartbreaking. Now…even guests have a special designated spot for their very own keys.
Michaels:
Stickers (not the paper-thin cheap ones, try something a little sturdier/vinyl)
Mod Podge
Spray lacquer

Apply stickers.
Apply Mod Podge with a brush. I did a swirling motion since the brush marks were visible. Let dry. If you finish with this step – do not get the dishes wet, wipe with a dry cloth or you’ll moisten and peel the Mod Podge.
(Optional) Spray with a matte laquer for better protection against getting wet.

Ta-da!

Now to train Mr. Forgetful to remember to use it…

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Tag Archives: Organization