Inspired to Organize – edited to add reading nook.

“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.”  ~ A. A. Milne 


With the new year, the buzz is all about organization.  After taking down holiday decor, everything feels so de-cluttered so it’s only natural that motivation to get everything organized hits you like a contagious disease but it’s energizing instead.  As you know we finally organized our coat and shoe closet recently.  It was a chaotic mess with no purpose. Now coats, boots, shoes, scarves and hats have a place to call home.  Do shoes and coats and junk piling by the entryway get you stressed?  Maybe not in a ‘the world is coming to an end’ sort of way but it is stressful when things aren’t put away in their proper place or there isn’t a place for things to be assigned.  


Getting started is the hardest part but in no time, I was cleaning our and de-cluttering the rest of our back entry way and was done in less than an hour.  Tell yourself you’ll just do one small drawer.  Empty it, sort and start putting things where they belong.  Before you know it, you’ll have three drawers done instead of one.  I always trick myself with making a small goal. The trick is getting yourself to “START”.  Instead of looking at the BIG overwhelming picture of organizing your entire home or even a whole room, start small and say “I’m just going to clean up this little area.”  Once you get started, you’ll want results and do more than just that one small task.
Keys, change, cell phones have a designated and assigned area near the door with this organizer I made a couple of years ago (yes – we still use it!).  Key Keeper Tutorial

We chose furniture that allowed for extra storage.  I love decorating the console table but it’s the drawers and shelf that allow us to know where certain things are.  The top drawer holds take out menus, batteries, spare change, etc. 
The faux-apothecary chest is a great place for my summer shoes (my boots are in the coat/shoe closet).  
The drawers up top serve as a place for gloves and extra sets of keys.  Sometimes I’ll use a drawer to hide a few odds and ends during a ‘quick clean’ to corral little stuff until I have time to sort it.  Wooden boxes under a bench provide more storage and the bench is the perfect place to sit and pull on shoes.
Do you have an organized entry area in your home?  We actual enter through the door in the kitchen right now as it’s closest to our parked cars but I’m still able to redirect coats and shoes to be put away instead of piling near the door.  No mess. No stress.  🙂
Have a clean up/organization post to show off?  Link up and share!  
SHOW OFF ORGANIZATIONAL AND CLEANING TIPS!

I’m joining the party at

Organize and Decorate Everything

I’m back!  THIS is why it takes me longer than usual to organize:

I start out small.  “Just sort and put things away” I tell myself (you know you talk to yourself too, right?!).  Then I get carried away with the need to freshen things up, redecorate, rearrange and move things from room to room and before I know it, I have a new reading nook!  Let the above pictures serve as the before.  This is my after:


It’s sort of a reward for being motivated to clean up.  😉  However…warning:  This means you’ll mess up the adjoining room in an effort to redecorate and have to start all over again in there. 

TGIF!

Stuff and Nonsense

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens 
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens 
A Before and After home tour

Creative DIY and inspiration and more…

Just a few of my favorite things and Alison from Stuff and Nonsense has some amazing makeovers in her home to share with you today.  Please click the link to see the original post.


Kitchen before:

She is still working on a few things but here is her beautifully changed Kitchen now:

(click the link above to see her fun dining room wall)

Dining room before (except for the gorgeous chandelier)…

Delicious Dining Room now:



Living room before (in process of removing carpet)…

Much better now…

I spy antiques and I likey!  Thanks so much for sharing your makeovers, Alison.  You’ve done a great job at brightening things up!  🙂


Stuff and Nonsense

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Lori's Laundry Room

Having a pretty laundry room must make doing laundry a little more fun. Organization and lack of clutter must feel so fresh!  I wouldn’t know but after looking at the area that Lori from Deming Design Studio attends to her laundry chores, I’m even more impatient to get busy on ours!  See her glazing process below.  Beautiful!

Here is a before picture of the cabinets:

First coat of paint:

She used a paint called Caramel Colors and says it is fabulous to work with. It is a very thick textured paint that covers everything! You don’t have to sand or prime the surface–just start painting. She chose a color called Cobblestone. It is a green color but has some gray in it. Her inspiration was her Anthropolgie tablecloth that she turned into a curtain for under the counter.

Side by side you can see where she added toner to the left cabinets and no toner on the right. She recommends watering down the toner a bit to give it a smoother finish and doing one or two coats and sanding lightly before adding the toner. 




You can see how much more depth is created with the toner.

Creative idea for using a tablecloth turned curtain to hide the dog cave! It’s like a secret hide out for her furbaby!

She plans to get or DIY (my vote) a drying rack but for now I love her shelves, accents and decorating!


So pretty!

 
What do you guys think?  Is your laundry room a beautifully inspired space in your home?
Thank you so much for sharing your process and beautiful laundry room, Lori!  The cabinet looks beautiful with your ‘curtain’ and all of your organization. Love it!