With Thanksgiving coming up most of us are in full Christmas mode. Family get togethers, shopping, parties, baking… you know, all the things. With with so much going on it’s easy to feel like you are overwhelmed. I know I do. So I need a good bit of organization to keep me from going to crazy town! One of the biggest things that keeps me sane is having a Christmas Wrapping Station.

This rolling cart from Michaels turned out to be the perfect solution.

I can’t tell you how much I love this work horse.

Simple roll it out of a closet or an out of the way spot when you are ready to use it.

Done? Roll it back!

During the holidays it becomes all things Christmas, but during the rest of the year it’s an everyday wrapping station.

You can get one here .

On the very top of the cart I have small bins that hold all of the small things.

One holds curly ribbon, string and a stapler.

Another houses all of my tags and special accessories that I like to add to make my gifts look a little extra.

I also place bags of raffia and confetti here.

Attached to the side of the top and middle shelves are removable ribbon rods.

They hold a ton of small to average sized spools of ribbon.

I love the easy access.

Tip:

To keep the ribbon from unrolling, I simply put a sewing pin in the ribbon spool.

The middle shelf holds all of my medium and small gift bags.

On the very bottom shelf I like to keep rolls of ribbon that are too large for the ribbon holders.

Also, behind the ribbon, I store packing paper and any extra miscellaneous larger items.

If you spin the cart around to the back side, you will find a spot for wrapping paper.

It’s perfect for all sizes and the vertical storage is perfect for both large and small rolls.

Attached to the side of the roll holder are two hooks that make it super easy to store larger bags.

These hooks make bag organization a breeze!

Tip:

Over the years I’ve tried several things to keep my wrapping paper closed.

Special binders, wraps, tape, but I always come back to what is easiest and economical.

A rubber band!

One side of the cart has 4 sets of hooks and one bin.

I keep my scissors, tape, hole punch, paper cutter and all larger embellishments here.

If I had one complaint about the cart it would be that it isn’t wide enough to lay my tissue paper out flat in one of the shelves.

However, I fixed that!

I added a suction cup hook and a binder clip to the other side of the cart.

My tissue paper hangs and doesn’t get wrinkled!

It’s not often that I find something that works so well for me, but this cart certainly does.

I love that my Christmas Wrapping Station helps me keep the mess and the stress at bay!

Now let’s get the Holidays started!

Until next time….

                                         Remember! If you love it, be sure to PIN it!

If I’m being honest, this whole self isolation business – while not the best of situations – has made me come to appreciate several new items. Some because they haven’t had my normal item at the store and I’ve had to go with substitutions , some because #imbored and a few because I’ve done a little retail therapy! So today, I’d like to share with you a few new things I like!

My first is a substitution.

Lavender Magic Erasers.

They are suppose to be for cleaning the bath, but I’ve used them just about everywhere because they smell so good!

Not only do they smell good, but they are still great at getting the job done!

The next few items came about because The Hubs and I rescued an old sewing machine cabinet from the trash.

Sewing organization items!

Why have I not known about these sooner?

I must have  been living under a rock!

I’ve seen this wall mounted  thread holder.

I’ve resisted buying one because they always look messy.

Threads hanging… etc.

Then I found these!

OH. MY. GOODNESS!

These embroidery bobbins, bobbin holder clips and thread spool huggers are the bomb!

I HATE that my bobbin thread comes loose and gets everywhere even though I’m super careful about storing it.

Same with thread.

These thread spool huggers keep thread neat and in place.

Then these bobby pin looking things allow you to store your bobbin on top of it’s matching thread.

Whoever invented this was a genius! 

These planters from Costco.

We are in the process of redoing our entire back yard.

New pool, decking, pergola…

Since I won’t have many beds in the sea of hardscape, I realized that I would need to add in some large planters for color.

When I saw these at Costco, for only $40.00, the heavenly choir started to sing!

They are 21 1/2″ tall x 15 1/2″ wide at the top.

LOVE them.

This next item came about due to sheer boredom.

And it cost absolutely nothing.

Free Watercolor lessons from Craftberrybush.

If you’ve ever seen her paint, you would know why I’m so excited!

She not only gives free lessons that you can watch on her Instagram and Youtube channels, but she shares what paint and tools to buy.

Both the beginner level and the splurge.

I’ve painted as long as I can remember, however I’ve never painted with watercolors.

This is my first painting and while I’ve got a long way to go, I think I’m hooked.

The next one came about because I’m tired of my bath rugs slipping all over the bathroom floor whenever anyone walks on them.

Drives me crazy!

I’m trying out Anti-curling rug grippers.

I’ve only had them on for a little while, but so far so good.

The great things about these – when I’m ready to wash the rug, I peel them off of the rug.

Ready to put them back on?

I lightly wet them and they are reusable!

I’ll let you know how it goes.

The next is my new guilty pleasure and may – or may not- be the cause of Corvid weight gain.

DON’T Judge!

Dr. Pepper & Cream Soda may be an acquired taste, but it takes me back to summers when we would get cream soda at my great uncles corner gas station as a treat!

I can still remember opening up the “coke” box lid and reaching down into ice cold water with ice to pull out my favorite flavor of coke in a small glass bottle.

(Here in the south we use coke as a generic term for a soda.)

Even though I don’t drink Dr. Pepper that often anymore, I’m still a Dr. Pepper nut.

10, 2 and 4!

Worth the try.

That’s all of the new things that I like, however if Corvid keeps rearing it’s ugly head, I’m sure that I will have a few more to share soon.

So what are the new things that you’ve tried in the past few months?

I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to!

Until next time… 

If you  like it, please be sure to PIN it!

We have a new coffee bar at the castle! I have to admit, I’m not usually one for having everything all out on display. I’m usually more is less kinda gal when it comes to functional stuff being out on the counter. But downsizing is hard. Space is at a premium. So, it only made sense to marry functionality with pretty.

It all started when The Hubs coffee maker died. Let me preface this with the fact that The Hubs is picky about his coffee. Not judging, I’m pretty picky about my morning cup of tea too. No pre-grinded, stale coffee for him. No sir, we buy beans that we grind our self. We make sure the water temperature is perfect, we like filtered water, etc. I won’t bore you with the rest, just know that he enjoys a great cup of coffee. 

When he decided to do pour over coffee, which doesn’t require a machine, I asked if we couldn’t get a pod style coffee maker. That way when we have guests, everyone gets to choose whether they would like coffee, tea or hot chocolate! It was a win for everyone. As you can see, I quickly set about organizing the pods. I knew that throwing them into a big container, or putting them on a rack would drive me crazy. This drawer organization system was the perfect solution. More on that later!

I’d been struggling with what decor to put on this buffet in breakfast room for awhile. After much thought, I knew that a cute coffee station would be perfect here. Our coffee and tea would be just steps from the kitchen and right next to the breakfast room table.

Not only is the coffee bar cute, it also has a lot of functionality. Since I drink hot tea instead of coffee, I needed to be sure that there was plenty of room for not only coffee stuff, but everything tea too.
Thankfully, there is plenty of room for both.

My cream and sugar, coffee mugs, napkins, spoons, and tea bag holder all fit nicely on – or in – the buffet with plenty of room to spare.

I have to confess that there is only one thing that I don’t like about the new coffee bar. The weird intercom system that you see to the left above the coffee maker. I have plans to say good-bye to that soon!

Best of all, I get to keep my chalkboard! At least for now.
I cannot tell you how much we are enjoying the new coffee bar at the castle. It’s the best way to start the morning!
Until next time…

If you liked this post please be sure to PIN it!
Also, if you’d like to get each new post delivered directly to your in box,  please subscribe. We always love making new friends. Thanks!

It’s Ten on the 10th! In case you’ve forgotten we have ten or more – or sometimes less – fun bloggers sharing ideas with you for under $10 on the tenth of the month. Our Ten on the 10th theme for January is Organization and Home Hacks! Perfect for this time of year when we all seem to want to clean out and freshen up our home a bit. Before I get started, I want to thank Ann from The Apple Street Blog for hosting this month. The girl is a rock star and keeps us organized!

I am sure if you’ve been on here a hot minute you’ve heard me say that we down sized on our recent move. Which means that there were things that I basically threw into drawers, closets and cabinets when we moved in since it was right before the holidays. One such thing is my napkin collection. We had a couple over for dinner a few nights ago and I realized what a mess they were. And did I really need ALL of them? This is drawer 1.

Drawer 2.

And drawer 3!

It quickly became apparent that, no I did not need ALL of them. And I needed a better system. As every time I tried to pull them out of the drawer I successfully ended up messing up the entire drawer.

After a quick search on Pinterest, I came up with this solution.Binder clips.

Just grab 4 napkins – 6 napkins if they are thin – and place a binder clip on them!

Then store them! Whoever thought of this was a genius!

I had a few of the cute patterned ones that I used as a trial run to see if it would actually worked. Once that I knew that it worked well enough for me, I found these here for $4.98 for 2 packages of 12. Woo hoo! If you wanted to you could cute these binders up by placing Washi tape on them or like me, just spray paint them. The only downside for me is that it may leave a mark on the napkins where the binder is clipped. However, that’s not a big deal for me as I iron my napkins before I use them. OR more likely, I will just ignore the mark!

Now I hope that you will join me and visit the other talented bloggers on Ten on the 10th. You know you don’t want to miss this!

Decorate and More With Tip

Apple Street Cottage

Pandora’s Box

Let’s Add Sprinkles

Exquisitely Unremarkable

Blue Sky At Home

Have you ever read DIY articles about what to do with your “extra” closets? Yeah, me too. I used to laugh hysterically. Ain’t nobody that I know got an extra closet! Until I did. Empty nesting is good for something. So I made mine into a wrapping closet. My one guilty indulgence. Unfortunately, from time to time, mine blows up and its time to start  cleaning out the wrapping closet. In a big way!

See what I mean? Being a small closet, thankfully it also makes me clean it up in a timely manner. There is no room to do otherwise. Also, Christmas is the perfect time to change things out and tidy up a little bit. Here’s how I do it!

My  youngest sweet sister is a minister. A year ago, her daughter got married and moved out of the house. Which left an empty bedroom available for my sister to make into a home office. Over the past year, sister has been collecting pieces to make her office functional and fun. Today we are sharing how we’ve been making office organization for her. The cute kind!

What could be more functional or cute than a gate?  A couple of coats of seaside spray paint and the gate  was ready to go!

Today is overcast, cool and I’m a little under the weather. So what’s a girl to do? Why get in her yoga pants, sweat shirt and start getting ready for the New Year.

For as long as I can remember, I have decorated my calendar. Always. So when the new fad of journaling and decorating your calendars came along, I couldn’t jump on that band wagon fast enough!

I’m here to tell you that Utensil Caddies are the bomb! Okay, does anyone still say “the bomb” any more? Probably not. But they really are and here’s why.

We are having The Hubs family over this weekend for a cook out and a swim. Of course, we needed some swim toys for the littles. But what to store them in?

Today I am sharing organizing the office – part 2. With the cold weather last week, I started the never ending process of cleaning and giving my office a facelift.

The first part of the office facelift, which you can see here, was cleaning up my work space and making new storage for my paints.  Organizing the office – part 2 is all about cleaning up one great big hot mess, in a very tiny area.

I recently bought the cutest caddy at HobLob! I loved everything about it but the color. Which y’all KNOW I painted. I love a painted caddy!

When I found the caddy on sale for 66% off, it leaned a little and the color was kind of blah for me. I wanted a pop of color. So I tightened up the screw on the bottom to fix the leaning issue, then got busy with the paint.

I wanted this caddy to look like it was very old, very chippy, and had had multiple coats of paints over the years. I painted  random spots of apple green, followed by duck egg blue and followed up with an over all coat of turquoise.

I gave it a finish coat of clear and dark wax. The final result was really cool  except for one thing… It was WAY to green for me.  We all know that it ain’t easy being green! I wanted a pop of color, but not that much color.

My solution? I added a coat of light blue to tone it down and gave it a light sanding. I forwent the dark wax this time, just in case it brought out more of the yellow green colors than I wanted.

Here’s my final result. I was in love with it. I quickly put it on my kitchen island and loaded this sweet little caddy up. One project down, a billion more to go. So it was off to my office/work space.

This is the mess that greeted me.

Yikes!

My solution for anything that I don’t have a clue what to do with…

Needless to say I immediately thought that I needed to buy something for a better storage solution. Something that  was vertical rather than horizontal… something pretty with multiple dividers, something that had easy access to all of my stuff that I use daily. Oh, wait… I have a painted caddy in the kitchen that would be perfect.

And it is perfect! I holds all the nick- nack- paddy -crap that was all over my desk. I sorted through all of the junk, tossed what I didn’t need or had no clue what it was or where it came from, then loaded that painted caddy up!

Not only did it hold all of my stuff that was spread out all over my work area, it is really pretty too. And I feel like I have lost ten pounds- ha! I wish!

A painted caddy was the perfect solution. Another happy accident!

Until next time…..

                     Tammy

Hey you! See anything that you like? Pin it!

You can find me at these fabulous  parties:

Wow Us Wednesdays 

Share Your Style

Flaunt It Friday

Inspiration Monday

The Scoop #208

Vintage Charm Party #16

Making Broken Beautiful#24

I don’t know about you, but I have always made scrapbooks and hung onto memorabilia.  I love looking back at pictures and reminders of all of the good times. At the same time, I have to have organization for all of that stuff. I won a shadow box at PoKeeno  and thought that it would make a perfect ticket shadow box!  You know for all of your movie tickets, programs, and playbills.

This is the shadow box that I won. The idea was that I would hang it in the game room right outside of the media room doors.  Kinda like giving your tickets to the usher before entering the movies.

I loved the burlap, but the teal color didn’t match the game room. A coat of black paint was a quick fix. Even though this shadow box lid was on hinges and swung open, I decided a slit cut in the top side of the box would be killer awesome so that the tickets could easily fall in.

Next I created a “ticket” sign on PicMonkey. I love PicMonkey…if you haven’t been there, go! Go now! You won’t regret it. I promise.

Once all of the decorating was done, my ticket shadow box was ready to hang.

I hate when there are two or more hangers on the back of art. I mean I really, really hate it! I finally found an easy way to get art hung when it has two hangers. Cut a piece of blue tape the distance between the two holes on the back.

After figuring out how high you want to hang your art, I use a level to help me place the tape on the wall.

Yikes! Sorry this pic is blurry…to show you how I used the level, I marked the wall with white pencil before applying the tape. At the ends of the tape, put in your nails.

Then just hang your art. So. Darn. Easy!

I like being able to see the tickets from all of the movies we have seen… it brings back great memories.

Here’s one last look at my ticket shadow box.  I even put in the 3D glasses from Jurassic Park!

This truly was an easy project. I love that it not only qualifies as art and helps keep me organized, but also that it gives me that warm fuzzy feeling overtime I look at all the fun times and places we have been!

Until next time….

                        Tammy

Don’t forget to Pin anything that you loved!

You Can Find me at these fabulous Parties and Blogs:

Savvy Southern Style: Wow Us Wednesdays #245

Share Your Style #137

I shared my office with you last week in a really HUGE post. So huge that I couldn’t show you all of the tiny details in my office in one post. So today I get to share those with you! Tiny details always make the piece come together. It’s just like adding jewelry to your favorite outfit.

Here is a reminder of how my new/old tv armoire/office looks like. It was done in chalk paint, so it has a beautifully soft patina. The back plates on the doors would NOT come off without some serious damage to the doors, so I left them.

I added these modern lucite and brass pulls. If they look familiar, it’s because I used them on the chest of drawers in my wrapping closet. I really, really lurve them! I like the modern pulls against the traditional back plate – I’ve always leaned toward the eclectic.

Most of the tiny details in my office are on the inside. The most obvious being the cheetah print stenciling.

If you follow along with me, you know that I love doing something to the drawers to make a statement. On the outside face of the drawers I have hand painted crowns ( you know I love them) and numbers . The Hubs asked me if I needed the numbers so that I would know how many drawers I had. That earned him a serious eye roll!

On the inside of the drawers I lined them with this fun paper!

The doors themselves were a great opportunity for some organizational tools.

On the left side, I painted it with chalkboard paint. Love me some inspirational words of wisdom.

Since my post on Friday I went back and added a calendar below the chalkboard.

On the right side is the bulletin board, which is really clean right now. Before long I will have it filled with everything from swatches to photos of ideas or upcoming blogs.

On the upper shelf, I added baskets and attached cute chalkboard signs  so that I would know where I put what. Hey, Go ahead and judge, but I never seem to remember where I put what at first. Besides they are CUTE! I also put some of my favorite art and design reference books up there.

And one of my favorite tiny details in my office is the chandelier which was formerly a candlelier. I love it – I do. Although I am still not digging the gold and silver together on this one.  There may be some changes coming to it in the future! But for now… it’s all good.

I also had this Do What You Love print that I could never find a space for.. it’s like it was made for this spot.

Some of the tiny details that you don’t immediately see are my newly painted office supplies. I taped them all up…

and spray painted them gold! LURVE!!!!

And the finished piece….drum roll please! There are a ton of tiny details in my office. Individually they really don’t make that big of an impact, but put all together they give it that WOW factor. I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.

Do you have a dedicated office space in your house that is a little unconventional? I would love to hear about it!

Until next time…

                       Tammy

I hate to admit it, but most of my blogging is done from my sofa in front of the TV.( My ADD prevents me from just sitting and watching a TV show – at least that’s my excuse!) If you thought that I have a stylish office that is perfectly decorated where I sit with a big cup of coffee and write, you would be so wrong. I have the office, but it is also my craft room. Nine days out of ten, I have a billion projects going on at one time. It can be one hot mess!  As I get more involved in blogging I realize that I need a dedicated space to do nothing but blog. I think I have the solution. Here’s how my tv armoire becomes an office! 

I have a ton of photos, so get yourself a drink, settle in and get comfy!

This tv armoire came with my bedroom suit. I had it for quite awhile –

and it was fine… although it looks much better in the photo than in real life! It was really beat up.

Until I found this piece. It was love a first site! Old armoire out, new armoire in!

So I had my old armoire sitting around wondering what to do with it. And then it hit me…why not make myself an office?

My office/craft room is “tiffany” blue, black and white. Over time I have been adding in gold accents, so my new “office” had to match. The first thing I did was paint all of the inside white. The outside I painted black, slightly distressed it and added a little gold accent. I will say though, that when the doors are shut, you can see the white. No bueno! So I am going to go back and paint the one inch lip on the inside of the armoire. Problem solved.

TA DA!!! Here’s the finished office!  I was a little worried about the cheetah print, but figured I could always repaint if I hated it. Thing is… I really do like it!

Hand painted crowns – ya know I gotta have those! – and numerals on the drawers. (The hubs snickered at the numerals asking me if I need the numbers to know how many drawers I had? Serious eye roll!)

The shelving above is perfect for books and baskets to hold all my knick knack paddy crap. Drawers and adjustable shelving below make for a ton of storage for me. A girl needs her storage, am I right?

After opening, I can push the doors into the cabinet or leave them out.  I figured these were the perfect spots for a few organizational tools. On the right side I painted the inset on the door with chalkboard paint. Gotta have a place to put some inspirational quotes.

On the left side, I mounted a bulletin board to hold all of my swatches, notes etc. Below the bulletin board I mounted some Command strip hooks and hung clips from them to hold my photos. I may change out the command hooks with something more decorative over time, but for now they work well.

I needed a small light in my new office, but couldn’t find what I wanted. I had this “candlelier” hanging in the guest room and inspiration hit. I made it into a hanging light! I will share that with you in a later post – just because I love you. I am gonna change a few things with it though. Usually the two tone metals wouldn’t bother me, but since there is absolutely no silver anywhere else, I will be taking it apart and painting it gold. I may paint the black cord too…. OCD much? Oh, yeah!

Now heres the part that lets this tv armoire become an office. The TV sliding stand/tray- thingy. Yup, real technical term there for ya!

Because the tray slides out, it creates a desk that is the perfect height for this stool that I repainted and recovered earlier this year. Woo Hoo!  Major room for my legs and feet.

I love how my tv armoire becomes an office for so many reason – too many to show all in one post ( so check back next Tuesday for all of the details!).  I love that I can push the desk in and close the door when I am not using it, giving me plenty of room for whatever I am working on in the rest of the room. I love that it is pretty,  I mean, who doesn’t want to work where you feel happy and at home?

This project was a ton of work. A little painting and a ton of details. But so worth it!

Until next time….

                         Tammy

P.S. Check out the Flaunt it Friday Party at Chic On a Shoestring…, Stone Gable Scoop #180 , Savvy Southern Style: Wow Us Wednesdays #231! I love looking at all of the awesomeness and you will too!

My sweet seester Darrla has been talking about giving her laundry room a facelift for awhile now. One problem. She hates to paint. Say whaaaaatttt???? I KNOW, I have been telling her she is adopted for years! Just kidding.. Since I love to paint, I told her that when she was ready I would be there with paint brush in hand. Cuz we all know I lurve to paint.

I should tell you that she rents her home so she is limited to what kind of laundry room facelift she can make. Her walls? Yup, she can paint. Her cabinets and woodwork? Nope.  We so wanted to paint it all a bright white.  So… here is what we started with – a lot of brown. A room with four, count them FOUR doors in it. Decorating and painting nightmare.

I can not say it enough … paint can rock your world! We painted this room a soothing light turquoise with a hint of green. Here it looks very light blue… hard to get great pics with not much light.

My sister Darrla had already added the baskets and her awesome dog.  Last time we were at her house the hubs hung this stellar chandy for her… love it! Get this – the girl can find a deal – she found this chandy for $4.00! Guess she really is my sister after all. She also added new glass handles to the doors above the washer and dryer.. she is still on the fence whether they work for her or not.

I think her little dog is the star of the room… we even added a little bling for some fun!

This sweet little mirror is perfect for checking makeup and hair before grabbing your keys and heading out.

This laundry room is small and doubles as her mudroom, so having this long rack is a must for jackets, purses and all the nick, nack, paddy-crap we all need to keep up with in everyday life.

She found this really cool rug and it was what we took our cue from. You can’t really see it but it has black, navy, turquoise, white, gray and a tiny bit of lime green. We hung new blinds and added cafe curtains in two coordinating patterns to the long window on the door.

So just a recap… from this… boring beige and brown.

to this… a light, bright , soothing blue laundry room facelift.

It really is true. Paint makes all the difference! I think my seester is very happy with her laundry room facelift.  On my next visit we are going to tackle her “sunshine” ceiling in her kitchen…shhhh, don’t tell!

Until next time…

              Tammy

I have been working on so many things at one time that I haven’t had time to share them with you!

It’s my BIRTHDAY WEEK! Yep, when you are a Queen you get a whole week, not just one day!Woo HOO! The hubs took this week off from work so that we could work in the yard, put in a new patio, chop down some trees…

One small problem. The weather has been yucky. Today was the first day that it hasn’t rained and let me tell you we were outside working our fingers to the bone!

Since it has been rainy- and it is suppose to rain the rest of the week – I have started projects everywhere! I’ll share those with you later, but right now I want to talk to you about my office. Again. Y’all know I have been slowly working in my office. One small step at a time.

This is where the magic happens. It is where I sit every day. As you can see I seem to work well with a lot of nick nack paddy crap all around me. I love it, I really do. I NEED  all of it….for reals!

Today I spent some time on my office bulletin board. You would think that I would use it to keep track of customer projects and other work related stuff. I do. Sometimes. However, I find that what I really put up there more often than not, are all of the things that make me happy. I mean, I see it EVERYDAY so why not make it more of an inspiration board?

What do I have tacked to my board? I have pictures of family and friends. Sweet notes from my nieces and nephews, letters and notes from my children.  Inspirational quotes that remind me to not take myself so seriously and get my booty in gear! I do have some work related items like paint color charts and quick reference items.

The one area that I never use though was the chalkboard. Crazy right? When I bought this board my intent was to keep track of projects, their time lines and cross them off when they were done. Well, that lasted about a minute. So instead of leaving it blank, I decided to decorate that space with chalk art!

Yep, Here Sits The Queen! A reminder to me of who I am and what I can accomplish when I wear my invisible tiara – or even when I wear my real one! Which I do sometimes never do, not at all.

If you are looking for a picture perfect bulletin board that looks like a magazine cover – this ain’t it! But I LURVE it! Visuals for my soul. Of course, the quote will change from time to time, but what a great way to get me motivated. Speaking of which – gotta go! I have tons of projects to finish.

Until next time….

             Tammy

Ya gotta be crazy to start a project in the middle of the Christmas season!  But this one was  born out of necessity.  The necessity to keep me sane!  I usually wrap gifts on the pool table. Pro’s? Lots of space. Good lighting. Con’s? I have drag everything out. Usually leave a mess because I am in a hurry. Drives the Hubs cray cray!  BIG TIME!

I am up to my elbows in projects,work, decorating and wrapping gifts when I decide that it was time for a wrapping center makeover!

The dust catcher exercise room is just off of the game room and has this teeny, tiny closet that has housed everything from Halloween costumes to knick knack paddy crap from all over the house.  I have been eyeing it for years thinking that there should be some way to make it into a wrapping center or at least organize my many rolls of paper! All I had to do was clean it out ( see the Hubs laughing hysterically!) and do the makeover with what I had on hand as much as possible. Lots of pics so bear with me.

I had this small dresser that a neighbor had graciously given me that was the perfect size. Only it was HOT pink.  Normally, I would have spent a lot more time on painting this piece, but did I mention it is in the middle of the Christmas season?

So spray paint it is until after the holidays!

The dresser installed! Woo Hoo!

I found these drawer pulls at Hob Lob.  I am in love!!! Only one problem.  They only had five and I need six.  What the heck!  I bought the five and will pray I can find another at a different Hob Lob. Bonus! They were half off.

Ya’ll KNOW I love to line my drawers.  Ross had this paper for $3.99.

If you think this is too time consuming – I timed myself.  Literally took me six minute to cut and install. So worth it.  A little fun surprise every time I open the drawer!

Dresser – done! Now how to store and hang the wrapping paper? If you look closely to the side of the dresser you see rolls of paper stored in a container made just for that.  It works fine but I wanted to have some out and ready to use. Especially the Christmas paper.  I had two gold tension rods and two black hanging rods with brackets.  Perfect. I spray painted the hanging rods gold and hung all four above the dresser.

Then it was time to hang it all up.  BUT! Before I started I realized just how “white” the walls were.  Y’all know I can’t stand all white so I used a circle sponge and gold paint ( thank you Martha Stewart) and randomly painted circles on the wall. No rhyme, no reason. Just eye balled it.  I only put the circles around the dresser because this is a small space.  I was afraid it would be too busy!

Time to hang ribbon and wrap rolls.  I only put up the Christmas stuff. When Christmas is over it will go back in the roll bin and the everyday stuff will come out. If you look closely I hung a command strip hook on the wall to hold larger decorations,scissors etc.

Time to load the drawers. I had a few containers to corral all the stuff…but not enough so it is off to the Dollar Tree where I bought a whopping’ $12.00 worth of containers.  Drawer 1 – all of the small bows, decorative embellishments, small cloth bags,scissors, tags, glue etc.

Drawer two – small boxes and unusual bags.

Drawer three – note cards, greeting cards and small gifts.

Thanks to my son who left a whole lot of wooden hangers when he moved out I had the perfect tissue organizer.  I used the hangars to organize my tissue papers. Crazy smart right? Thank you Pinterest!

Christmas bags – I didn’t have a container and haven’t found exactly the right one. So for now the lid to the wrapping paper storage container will hold them just fine! I had this extra trash can in my office, not all that pretty but works okay for now.

So here it is for now. I love it. Girl squeal! It is small but works hard!

I still have some minor things to improve on.  Repaint the dresser to something awesome! Find my sixth pull. If I get up enough nerve I am gonna paint the hangers and the original clothes hanging rods gold. ( worried about the paint flaking off of the hanging rods!) I would love a prettier storage container for the sacks. Also, in the top drawer there were some hot pink containers that will become gold. Oh, and if you are wondering where the everyday bags and boxes are stored they are in bins above the dresser on the shelving.  Once Christmas is over I will swap them out.

This project took two half days. One to paint and install everything and one to do a little shopping. Not much time at all!  Mainly because I had most of everything I used.

Cost: drawer pulls $15.00 plus tax

drawer liner $3.99 plus tax

dresser -free

Paint – free

Containers – $12.00

Hangers – free

trash can – free

Basically, for under $35.00  I have a new “room” and my sanity!  Not bad for a wrapping center makeover!

Until next time…

A few days ago I walked into the laundry room and it hit me that it was looking a little tired.  The cabinets needed dusted and maybe a little paint touch up.  The laundry basket was overflowing with who knows what and the tile grout was well – I’m not even gonna go there! It was time for a laundry room mini makeover!

A few years ago we remodeled our laundry room.  I didn’t take pictures of it back then. It was just a small rectangular room that had a shelf and clothes hanging bar that ran the length of the room over the washer and dryer. The hook ups for the washer and dryer were not even side by side, they were at opposite ends of the room.  All I can say about it was that you could wash, dry and hang up your clothing.  Oh, and have a small amount of storage.  But that was it!  The hubs built shelving, relocated the hookups and installed a countertop on top of the washer and dryer.  I repainted the walls and shelving, bought baskets for the shelves , hung a curtain to give Firehydrant, the cat, some privacy for her personal matters, hung a three hook rack and decorated the room.  This was no mini makeover this was an almost total face lift!  But I loved it. Until now.

You can see from the picture above it was looking a little tired. A lot little cluttered.  Time for that mini makeover!

I started  by removing everything and cleaning. Then I removed the shelving and got some black and white wrapping paper that I had and cut it to fit the back wall.  I installed it with glue dots.  This way if I decide that I want a new pattern or no pattern tomorrow I can easily change it out.  Plus, it was way cheaper and easier than wall paper!

I originally had large brown wicker baskets to keep stuff organized and contained. They were great for towels etc but, when I put in laundry soap and cleaners they were way too heavy.  I had these smaller baskets  from my craft room that I wasn’t using any more and decided to go through and reorganized, decrapify ( new laundry term!), and split up the  heavier items into the smaller baskets.

I hate to admit it but, I scrubbed the tile grout for over an hour on my hands and knees before it came clean.  Apparently we came in and out of the garage way more than I thought.  I had always avoided a rug in here because (a.) it was such a small skinny room and (b.) I have a psycho cat that loves to tear stuff up! At night she is put in her bed and the door is closed to keep her from going on a wrecking spree.  I decided that I will just put on my big girl panties and pick it up at night and replace it in the morning.  Way easier to wash a rug than scrub the grout!  I also bought Firehydrant a new bed that I put into an extra basket that I had.  She hates loves it! No, really, She does.

I am a creature of habit.  Since I moved everything around I decided that I had better put these tags on the baskets so that I could find everything.  Plus, it didn’t hurt that they were super cute!

I also bought  a new laundry “basket”. I like that when I am not using it it will collapse and I can store it.  SNORT! Like that is gonna happen!  But it might…. in an alternate universe. I also recovered my little bitty “trash can” with the same paper that I used on the back wall. Yup, makes me happy when it all is co-ordinated!

So here is my finished laundry room mini makeover.  Clean, reorganized and updated  – just a little!   I love that it feels so fresh and my hubs loves that it didn’t cost him very much since I had almost all of the stuff  to give it a little face lift.  I bought the new pet bed – $12.00, new laundry basket – $10.00 and the rug $15.00.  All were on sale, cuz that is just how I roll.  The only thing that I didn’t do that I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY  want to do is find a mini chandelier to hang in here.  Still on the hunt for that!

New room – or it feels like one – for under $40.00.  Score!

Until next time….

          Tammy

Yep, it took me seven days to make my closet better, cleaner and prettier.  Much longer than even I imagined.  So I am going to share with you my closet makeover! We cleaned, stained concrete, painted walls and here is how we did it.

I am really embarrassed and can not believe that I actually took a picture and shared it with you!  The thing is, this is the smallest closet I have ever had since before I got married!  Seriously, I have lived in apartments with bigger and better arranged closets. Ugh!  This closet is only 10 X 6.  Shouldn’t a castle have a bigger closet? Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful that it is as big as it is…it could be smaller.  It is just so dark, poorly laid out and in big need of a paint job.

Day 1: Prep for the closet makeover.  Empty the closet.  Oh. MY. Goodness!   Easier said than done.  I kept thinking “If this is such a tiny closet, how come we have so much junk?”  For reals!  I kept hauling and hauling stuff out of there.  Note to self: get rid of some stuff!

After we had removed everything from the closet, it was obvious why we need to have better closet organization, not to mention new paint on the walls and trim.  What I didn’t plan on was putting in new flooring.  The floor was – well – disgusting! Cheap builder grade carpet had to go.  It was the only installed carpet left in the downstairs of the house anyway. Since the rest of the flooring was either tile or stained concrete, we decided to go with the stained concrete in the closet too.

So… we removed the carpet and that was the end of day one.  At this point I was getting really excited about this closet makeover!

DAY 2: Staining concrete is easy.  It’s the CLEANING  of the concrete that is hard.  I am talking like trying to scrape dried Fruity Pebbles cereal off of bowls hard!  But once it is clean and dried, it’s a piece of cake!  I like to use Kemiko stain – which is really an acid etching product.  The big DIY stores carry a  concrete stain, which is just what is says.  It only stains the surface area.  Which means that it will wear off and you don’t get that rich, mottled look that you do with an acid etching product.  Plus, when I say etching, I mean it eats down into the concrete.  It isn’t going anywhere! Trust me on this!

I painted the walls the same grey as my bedroom, then cleaned the floors ( HOURS people! Hours!) I then waited for it to dry over night.  If the floor isn’t completely dry it will look “milky” when you put on the sealer. No Bueno!

Doesn’t sound like I make much headway but, that brought day two to a close. Seriously doubting my sanity!

Day 3:  I stained the concrete!  Woo Hoo!  Be sure to cover your walls or you will have discoloration and  acid eating into them! ALWAYS wear protective clothing, shoes, and gloves!  I used a plastic garden sprayer to apply.  Then you let it dry and apply again.  Once thoroughly dry, you scrub off with water until really, really clean!   Again, it has to dry over night for the next step!

So, there you have the first three days of my closet makeover.  Just writing this wears me out again!  I am going to show you the rest on Friday….

Until next time…..

Tammy