A couple of weeks ago I showed you the basket that I turned into filing storage. Since January, as time has allowed, I have been working on organizing my office space. I started by getting rid of old fabric samples and reorganizing the ones that I wanted to keep. I ordered 8 of these locker baskets to help out with this problem and they have worked out really well. Here is my progress so far….
I started with the Expedit shelving unit that I purchased from Ikea a couple of years ago, but until recently, never took the time organizing it and using it to it’s fullest potential. Now, I think this thing is worth it’s weight in gold! The filing basket stores old files and freed up space in my desk filing cabinet. But the hardest part was weeding out the old magazines! This is just a portion of the magazines….there are lots more in the living room. Why is it so hard to part with magazines? Of course, The Cottage Living ones aren’t going anywhere.
It’s amazing how a little organization can make life easier. I just noticed that I did not label each basket by fabric colors. Oops. My next goal is to show you the entire space, so that means I need to get working on my desk, but you guys are good motivators. 
Right now, I can’t even find a pencil.
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I recently started working with a client on her master bedroom and master bathroom remodel. We spent the morning looking at tiles and beautiful rugs. Since there is a chance they may have to relocate in the future, I am putting the emphasis of the design budget on things that she can take with her if she does have to move. We selected 2 hand-knotted Persian rug options, one of which will be the foundation of the design for the bathroom and the color palate for the bedroom.
This will be a tough decision!
Notice the short fringe on the rugs. The store owner told us that people are bringing in their old rugs and having them sheer down the long fringe to the more update short fringe. What a great idea.
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While I was on the Ballard’s website, I came across a contest they have going on. Have you heard about this? If you pin 4 furniture items under $1,000 to a “Pin it and Win it” board under your Pinterest account, you will be entered into the $1,000 merchandise giveaway. Sounds fun! Here are the rules and how to enter. (I’m not getting paid to promote this, I promise!)
Hello friends. I tried to get this post up yesterday but my wordpress wasn’t cooperating. Speaking of wordpress, those of you that have a wordpress blog, do you know how to get the comments emailed to you? When I first started this blog, each comment would go to my email and for whatever reason, a couple of months ago that stopped happening. If you leave me a comment, I always try to respond in the comments section below your comment. I hope to get this figured out so that I can personally email you back. Even my “blog guy” is stumped. Just thought I would throw it out there to see if you have any suggestions. Thanks!
Over the Christmas break…which seems like yesterday ( how can it be April?) I started working on organizing my office studio space which is upstairs in our bonus room. I started off by organizing my filing cabinets and quickly realized I needed more storage space for files, but wasn’t ready to plop down $230 for another Ballard’s filing cabinet. Soon after, I came across this basket from HomeGoods for $29.99.
I knew it was too good of a deal to pass up and figured I would be able to use it somewhere in my office. A couple of days later I was in Office Max and found these hanging file frames that you can customize for $11.00.
and they fit into my new basket!! Here is my $41 “filing cabinet”.
As I mentioned, I have been working on this space since Christmas and hope to share it with you in the next couple of weeks.
Last Monday, I received an email from Tracery that I had won their book giveaway….my book arrived on Friday. Yay!
I started collecting design books a couple of years ago as souvenirs from places that I’ve visited. I write the date and the city where the book was purchased inside the book cover. For me, I am more apt to spend $50 on a design book when I am on vacation rather than just walking into the bookstore and buying one. You know how that vacation mentality gets to you?!?
This past weekend, out neighborhood clubhouse hosted an Easter brunch with none other than the Easter Bunny.
As you can imagine, my older two were thrilled to have to go along with this charade. Everything was going well until the Easter Bunny asked me what time it is right in front of my daughter. What? The Easter Bunny doesn’t talk??? I guess he was counting down the minutes until he could get out of his suit.
They are happy to be off this week for Spring Break.
Hope your week is off to a great start.
The tree came down this week and the house seams so bare. Does anyone else feel this way after the Christmas decorations have been packed away? I’ve already switched out a few pillows and moved around some pictures. Please tell me I’m not alone?!?!?
Every year, I make a mental list of projects that I would like to get done around my house. This year, I am keeping it short and sweet (ok, maybe just trying to be realistic). But my number one goal is to get organized!!! I know, we’ve all heard that before. I am trying to use this time that I am off to get some things done before life goes back into full swing. Instead of constantly “picking up” the house, I am going to try to stay focused on being more organized on a day to day basis. We’ll see how this goes.
So of course I went to my go-to source for ideas and inspiration…..Pinterest.
We’ll start with the linen closet. Currently, when I open mine, I have to watch for falling blankets. I hope to make mine look like this. This is the size of my linen closet, although I have a bi-fold door instead so I can’t do these nice towel bars.
I was happy to find this step-by-step guide to folding sheets. I know mine won’t look anything like this finished product, but I would be happy with half-way close.
I thought these built-in laundry baskets were brilliant. I wish I had room for this in my laundry room.
However, this is something I could do. Isn’t this great?
Moving onto the kitchen. I never knew there were so many uses for tension rods. I’m trying this…
…..and this.
Love this idea of converting wire shelving into pull-out shelves.
And now onto the dreaded garage. I would love to have my holiday decorations organized in bins like these so that I wouldn’t have to deal with the attic. I have no problems getting things down from the attic, it’s getting them put back into the attic that seams to be the issue. Right now, I could decorate for the 4th of July. No lie.
Ok, no one ever said organizing is always pretty. Here’s an example. I have to admit I am tempted to try this. It is amazing for the short amount of time my kids are in the car, how many wrappers and papers they can leave behind.
And now for the number one organization problem in my house……paperwork! This is the stuff that creates all of those little piles around the house. The kitchen counter, the desk, the nightstand, you get the idea. Some days I avoid getting the mail just so that I don’t have to deal with more paperwork. Am I sharing too much here?
If any of you have some useful tips or ideas on how to manage any of the above, please share. My 2012 goals are depending on it.
Now that the kids are gearing up to go back to school on Monday (yay!), I have been trying to get some organizing done around the house so that we start the school year off fresh. I’ve been slowly making my way around the house this summer, and now it is time to work on my kitchen. I stopped by Martha’s to get some ideas.
But first, this is an example of what I am working with. Our junk drawer. OK, fortunately not all of my drawers look like this!
I would be happy if they slightly resembled this when I’m finished.
Nice, right? I wonder how long my drawers would stay like this? Here are some more organization ideas for the kitchen.
I love how she has all of the dishes stacked up and the glass cabinets would make it really easy to find what you need.
Martha’s kitchen in her Bedford, Conneticut home, organized and pretty.
She even had a cappuccino ready for me. Such a good hostess.
Do you have any organization plans now that the kids are back in school? Better yet, maybe we should give ourselves a little time to “recover” from summer first.
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