weekend projects, part 1

My goal this weekend was to fully clean my first floor.  I'm throwing myself a birthday party this coming weekend and need to get my Christmas decorations back in the attic.  But then my sister invited me over for brunch.  And then my best friend got some weird infection and had to go to the hospital (seems like she should just have to be there for a few days but will be fine) so I went to hang out with her.  And so nothing was cleaned.  At all.

But I wanted to feel like I was at least a bit productive around the house.  I had a bit of time yesterday morning before visiting Amy so I decided to do a couple projects I've been putting off.

First up was hanging my spice racks.  An ex-boyfriend of mine gave my mom this spinning spice rack for Christmas once-upon-a-time.  I thought it was a stupid gift, but apparently he knew better because she loves it.  And retired her old, straight racks to the basement.  I rescued them because I was sick of hunting for a spice on the too-high-to-see shelf where I was keeping them.  First she could only find one and that was great, but it was a little too small for all of my jars.  Then she found the other one, whose racks are a little more narrow and short do don't fit everything, but they're great for food dyes and boxes of toothpicks and such.  I'm so excited to have more storage space!

I'm toying with the idea of painting them.  The more usefully-sized one I have no qualms about.  It's kind of country-ish and not in a good way.  But the other one is a little more tricky.  It's this old, beat-up wood and has great vintage charm.  And it has an eagle at the top and two little stars at the bottom. 

They'd be super fun highlighted in another color or just made shiny again, but would it then be too generic?  Or would it be like those Federal mirrors that are even cooler when painted all white? 

source

Ahhhh - I'm probably overthinking it all.  But for now, both are staying brown, even though they do take up a lot of visual space that way.

Next up - postcard collage

total convert

Check out the status of my closet

Notice anything different?  Like space on the bar?  Part of this is because my winter wardrobe is smaller than my summer wardrobe, but a good chunk is due to my new hangers!

I'm sure you all have heard of Huggable Hangers.  If not, they're very slim and velvet wrapped to keep clothes .  A lot of hangers are thick so clothes will stay on better, but then they take up all this extra space in your closet.

My sister used to work at Express and I inherited a lot of their hangers.  Other hangers came when I ordered stuff online and it came hung up.  Some of these hangers have rubber grippers on the ends that really help keep clothes on the hangers.  Then they have notches for tanks and camisoles.  Fabulous.  But then for Christmas a few years ago, my mom asked for some Huggable Hangers.  And I started mulling over the idea of getting some for myself.  My current hangers worked pretty well, but my closet often ends up squished and jammed. 

Then I saw some faux-Huggables at Marshall's.  20 for $12.99.  I bought a pack and used them in my spare bedroom closet for my out-of-season clothes.  I fit so many in!  The next time I was at Marshall's, I bought another pack, this time for my closet and the other night I started hanging thing up with them.

Check it out - three of my old hangers (my measuring tape was downstairs)

And in these pictures, you can see that in the same space, I can fit four, almost five of the new hangers!

How fabulous is this!  I need maybe one or two more packs before I can safely get rid of all of my old hangers.  I can't wait!



things that get me ridiculously excited

I went to Target last night on a mission.  My bedroom is a mess and has been for months, pretty much since I painted my spare room (need to do a post on that...later).  I'm uninspired and unorganized and it's incredibly frustrating.  I also haven't been sleeping well and I think it's partly from all the clutter.

My list:
* boxes for the small bookcase
I keep my camisoles and ribbed tanks here and when I'm in a mad rush in the morning (every morning), I just throw them back on the shelf.  If I had nice containers, at least I wouldn't see the piles

* hanging shelves for shoes

I have too many shoes.  I hold on to ones I've never worn or haven't worn in years just in case.  I keep them in their boxes because when everything is in a box and they're all nicely stacked, I find it very pleasing.  The problem is that it's annoying to put them back in the box in the mad morning rush or at night when I just want to go to bed.  It all ends up a jumble of boxes:

And I end up wearing the same few pairs of shoes over and over again anyway, why not keep them more accessible?  Out of season shoes can stay on the top shelf of my closet, but I'll pare down the collection so the lower shelf can be available for jeans and sweaters.

I tried having hanging shelves for jeans and sweaters, but I just have too many.  I had to stuff too many onto each shelf and it made pulling them out difficult.  I'd have to pull out the whole stack and then you can guess what would happen - a pile on the floor instead of them put neatly away.

I was moderately successful.  I got the shoe shelves and hung them up - and love them.  They aren't going to work for my city boots and my athletic sneakers each need their own cubby, but they're perfect for flats and Chucks and the moderate heels that I wear most often.  Yay!  It will take a while to see if I can actually keep this up, but it's SO nice to have my shoes easily accessible yet not on the floor (or under the bed, under the bureau...)

Online, what I bought is being sold for $25, but at the store, it was $12.  The Thomas O'Brien version was $16 and slightly prettier, but not enough for me to spring for the extra $4.  I was definitely in a frugal mood last night.

And I did get some boxes, but they're not right.  They're basically like these except magenta:

Love the color - just about the same as my nightstands, but the sides are angled so they look awkward on the bookcases. Bah.  So on with the search.  But at least now I know that Target does not have what I need.  Maybe Ikea?

I also bought some stuff that wasn't on my list.  Is it possible to go to Target and stay to your list?

Remember my plan for my bedroom?  The gray/pink/magenta/brass look?  I had abandoned it because I couldn't find anything charcoal gray.  Pale gray, sure, but that wasn't what I wanted.  Well, last night I saw a charcoal gray quilt and matching charcoal gray sheets.  And I bought them.  I didn't even bring them upstairs so will have to see how they go with my pink coverlet, but they seem to have a tinge of pink to them so should coordinate nicely.  And I'm thinking that if I add a cushy blanket, it should be all warm and cozy without having to deal with a duvet.  Because I'm over my duvet.  It shifts too much, falls off the bed too easily - overall just isn't right.  I think this idea will be much better.  Yay!

clutter

I need to deal with the clutter in my house. 

It's a Polly Pocket sized house with very little storage space and the clutter is quickly taking over. 

I have a good amount of surface area in my living/dining room - and it's all covered with paper.

Bills
Catalogs
Magazines
Notes
Receipts
Coupons

It never ends. 

I try having different piles - this one for bills to look at, this one for junk mail to be recycled.  But then it all gets mixed up and all of a sudden, I forgot to pay that parking ticket and now it's doubled.  Or last month's House Beautiful never gets read.  I need a system and I need an attractive one that I don't hide when I have company.  When that happens, the box/bag/pile ends up staying hidden for a few extra days (or weeks) and then I'm back where I started.  I also can't have anything closed because in my house, out of sight definitely equals out of mind.

Here's my current thought: on my little chest, I could have a letter sorter to put bills to be paid, coupons and catalogs that have items I actually want to buy.  Behind that, I could have a small file box where I put receipts, bills that have been paid and other things that are to be filed with the idea that every few weeks I'd transfer them to a file cabinet upstairs.  Next to this, I can have a magazine file for current magazines (old ones get recycled or put in a bookcase upstairs).  Finally next to the chest, I can have an attractive waste basket or regular basket for paper recycling.

And The Container Store has all of these pieces in an attractive woven wicker (though I'd want to see in person to see if it's really attractive).  I like the idea of something neutral because with all of these varying pieces of paper, there will be enough visual noise.

I may start out with the file and magazine boxes and the waste basket.  I worry that having empty slots in the mail sorter will make me fill it unnecessarily and then things will get hidden. 

So added to my list of trips to take is The Container Store!

my attic

I finally got everything up into my attic a few weeks ago. Was actually a lot easier than I expected. I did take some items out of their box and hauled them up one at a time, repacking the box once I was up there, but that’s not a big deal. Especially since these are items I’ll use maybe once a year.

I expected it to be a bear because the opening to my attic is ridiculously small. It’s a square in my upstairs hallway. Probably not the smallest square ever, but there’s a pull-down ladder built into it.

Tres handy, but it takes up valuable inches and means that only small boxes will fit up there. And even those small boxes don’t fit along with my head so I balance the boxes precariously on one arm or the other as I go up the ladder. Then when I’m about 3/4 there, if it’s light, I can just shove the item up. If it’s heavier, I’ll balance it on top of my head and keep going until I get to a point where it can just fall off my head onto the floor of the attic. Once everything’s up there, I then crawl up myself and rearrange things away from the opening.

The main reason I hate this? Most GHIs have pull-down STAIRS, not just a ladder. So one can climb up with an item without feeling close to death and the opening is large enough to have such crazy ideas as storing furniture in one’s attic. Seriously – this almost made me not buy this house. But then I realized that I don’t have a lot of attic-worthy stuff and got over myself.

I organized my attic into different sections. Broken-down moving boxes on one side. Clothes in a different corner. Bonnaroo supplies all together waiting for June share the same wall with other random items that I don’t need on even a semi-regular basis. Christmas on the other wall. Yeah. There’s a lot of room leftover.

And those doors? They came with the house. Makes me think that the attic opening used to be larger because otherwise how the heck did they get them up there? And what happened that made them close up that large opening and have this tiny one? I don’t understand.

I do like the blue walls. Not the prettiest shade and crappily done, but it’s pleasant to have that extra color in a space that’s normally just brown and white. I also appreciate the floor and the carpet scraps, both of which were there when I moved in. And the doors are handy to block off the edges of the space where the insulation and whatever else is uncovered.

And there’s a light! And extra outlets!

I don’t know why one would need an outlet in the attic, but I love that it's there for whenever I figure out the reason. I also love that I can stand up in there. How cool is that?

One day I’d like to buy some sturdy rolling wardrobes with garment bags so I can store my out of season clothes up there. Would make swapping out my closet so much easier. Right now I have all of that in my spare room closet, but I’d rather use that closet for something else.

new thought for the spare room

I was watching America's Next Top Model last night and a closet? bedroom? hallway? had this gorgeous wallpaper - kind of a minty aqua with branches and flowers on it.  Reminded me of Aerin Lauder's closet, which I have coveted ever since first seeing it in Bazaar. 

I love the whole girlie-glam thing she has going on and also love the way her dress contrasts with the paper.  So I want to keep both of those ideas but modify it a bit so it better goes with the rest of my house.  Plus, I really doubt I could afford handpainted wallpaper from Gracie.  Not to mention I believe it's to-the-trade only. 

I really love Walnut Wallpaper's selection.  I think they'd also be out of my price range, but this one would be so fab.  I like the Asian-ness of the ginko and that it's more graphic than Aerin's Gracie.  Home Depot's website had some that might be promising, but nothing that I love as much as this one so I'm sticking with Walnut for this post.

Now, for furniture, I'll have my childhood bed.  It's an antique maple spindle bed, exactly like this one except twin-sized.

Side note: I find it completely crazy that I was able to google my bed just by typing in "antique maple spindle bed."  Then under images, this was in the third row.  I love the interwebs.   

Okay, back to my room.  So when you walk in, the bed will be on the far wall.  I'm contemplating papering just this wall.  I know, I know, I'm incredibly anti accent walls.  But I've never wallpapered before and I can see myself running out of patience trying to match seams and all.  This wall is just one big rectangle - no windows and only one outlet.  Should be pretty easy, right?  The other three walls I'll then paint the same color as the background.  Or maybe I'll just talk myself into papering the whole thing.  Because really, I'll cover the right wall with Expedit bookcases and it would be pretty darn cool to have the wallpaper showing through the grid.

Now, back to the bed.  For sheets, I'm picturing brown zebra print sheets.  These from K-Mart are only $18.  Love that.  And I've wanted zebra sheets for a while, just not on MY bed.

I'll keep the white cotton curtains on the windows that came with the house.  They seem homemade, but a quality job.  I like them and they'll go with the white shelves.  For blankets/duvet, maybe solid brown?  Maybe something completely different like yellow or magenta.  I'm totally backing myself into a corner here by going with the walls and the sheets first before the duvet - just like I did with my bedroom - but whatevs.  I'll plunge ahead, regret it later and then it'll all be fine in the end.

Plus, add a couple of throw pillows to all of this and I think it will be pretty darn cool in there.  A great spot for my guests as well as a funky, creative space for me.

current state of my bedroom

My bedroom has been an organic process. I started with my bed, a chiffonier, one bedside table and the Venus mirror. Bedding was a light blue tone-on-tone duvet, brown sheets, navy dust ruffle and a brown and blue paisley lumbar pillow. Curtains were the short, sheer white ones that came with the house. The overall look was great in my old apartment, but kinda sad in my new house.

Here is my bed now:

I went for a layered look. I started with the pink coverlet from Crate and Barrel.  It was on sale and a great Barbie pink (no longer available). I bought it king-sized for my queen-sized bed so it would hang long and cover the boxspring. Once the coverlet was in my house, I thought I would go with a gray/pink/magenta/brass look – very luxurious and tailored. I painted my end tables to go with this theme and bought the tiny throw pillow, but then I couldn’t find the right gray duvet.

And I saw this orange one at Ikea and decided to go in a more eclectic, layered direction. Even better that it works with the brown sheets I already had.

Sidebar – go back to the picture above and notice how the stuff on my end tables is visually balanced. Balance is incredibly important to me in decorating and I’m really happy with how this turned out.

I already owned both lamps and was unable to find the right replacements for a reasonable price. The white lamp on the right originally had a pale blue lampshade. It was old and a little dirty and perpetually dusty. So I bought a new one at Target for less than $10. Fab.

On the left, I used a stained glass lamp bought at Ross or Marshall’s during college. It’s fallen a few times so the shade is crooked and cracked, but if I turn it the right way it’s not that noticeable. (Of course, I had it turned the wrong way in all of these pictures.) But it’s a lot shorter than the candlestick lamp on the other side.

I had scavenged the small painting from my mom’s cellar. She had it hanging over the work sink. I realized that the black of the frame would be a nice compliment to the black lampshade. And if I hung it low, it would balance the height. So perfect. I also had suggested to my mom that she hang a painting super low in her bedroom and she really doubted my wisdom with that. So this performed a secondary function – showing that I’m not off my rocker for telling others to do this.

But then on the left side of the bed, I have my alarm clock and always-present box of Kleenex. Again, it threw the balance off.

This all happened in mid/late December and my friend Anne gave me a gorgeous perfume bottle for Christmas. And that inspired me to create a little vignette with some old vases and the bottle on the other bedside table. The height of the green bottle balances the height of the alarm clock and Kleenex, the blue vase and perfume bottle balance the bulk. It’s not an exact match – and I didn’t want it to be – but it is comforting to the eye to have these straight lines.

And really, I didn’t measure when hanging the painting. I wish I were anal enough to do so, but I’m not. I eyeballed it and had to lower it once. I really should lower it another ½”, but then the first hole would show so I’m living with it. And it’s fine. It makes me happy and that’s all that matters.

Moving on.

To tie in all of the warm colors, I went with bamboo blinds from Target. Even shut they still let in a lot of light, which is great. I have no problem sleeping with moderate amounts of light coming in and during the day I usually forget to open my blinds but still like the sun.

Storage space is still at a premium in my house and I didn’t want to spent a lot of money on furniture that’s only so-so. I’m still using the chiffonier that was my dad’s from his first marriage. Growing up it served as extra storage in the cellar and was always referred to as the Ugly Chiffonier. When I moved out on my own, this was the first piece I scavenged from my mom’s house. And I really like it! The edging at the top is missing some chunks, but it’s just the veneer so it could be easily repaired. And it needs a good polish. But these things really don’t bother me.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I have a jewelry box on top that now holds only my earrings. I love necklaces that are big, chunky and/or long and they were just getting all tangled up in the jewelry box. So I bought some small white hooks from Home Depot and jammed them in the wall behind my door, spacing them out to fit specific necklaces.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

My collection grows all the time and I didn’t want to be confined to a peg or bulletin board. If I ever paint this room, I’ll probably do something a little neater and more secure, but this totally works.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Underneath my jewelry wall is my solution for layering tank tops and camisoles. I have dozens. I love wrap dresses and low-cut shirts, but they aren’t appropriate for work or just running around on the weekend. So I have black camis and white camis and pink camis and yellow camis and blue camis. When I had a larger closet I was able to hang them all up (drawer space was always at a premium) and easily grab what worked for each outfit. But now my closet is teeny tiny and I can’t do that anymore. In a perfect world, I’d have money for an antique or antique-looking lingerie chest, but my world isn’t perfect. What I did have was an extra two-shelf bookcase that fit perfectly behind my bedroom door. Done.

I also have an undersized chair tucked between the chiffonier and bookcase. Perfect for throwing clothes on when I’m running late or just too lazy to hang things back up. It’s old and battered and in desperate need of a new coat of paint, but it’s usually hidden by the door so it will probably stay battered for a while yet.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Here’s my bed from the other side of the room. It’s all very lovely. The Venus mirror is angled such that I can see myself when standing at the back of the room, but one doesn’t automatically look into it when getting into that side of the bed.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 But then you look down and can see my storage boxes. They don’t fit through the tiny attic opening and it’s three or four fewer items to clog up my spare room. Not feng shui-friendly, but it’s a necessity in my house.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 Finally, here’s my closet. Small opening but it does extend to the right another two or three feet. If I’m honest with myself, it’s not a bad sized closet for one person. I can’t imagine sharing it with someone, but then my sister did it with her husband for ten years before their remodel so I know it can be done.

One bonus is that there are two shelves. The bottom one holds all of my in-season shoes along with a crate filled with purses and shawls. The upper shelf is out-of-season shoes and my old teddy bear. I can’t stick him up in my attic, but don’t want him in my bed every night so he hangs out here.

The walls are still the same white as when I moved in, but as you can see, in the right light they look pink. I would like to paint them this same pink – pale, delicate, inside-of-a-shell pink, but as I add more and more color to the room through textiles and art, the white walls don’t bother me as much.

If I do paint, I plan on making the walls, trim and ceiling all the same shade. Then once I replace the candlestick lamp and low bookcase I won’t have any white in this room at all. It’s kind of an experiment for me. I ADORE white trim and generally do feel best when there’s a good amount of white in a room. But this room just calls out for something warmer and cozier and a continuous color would give me the right feel. One day.

state of the spare room

It's Crappy Camera Picture Day at My Mint Green House!

Seriously, sorry for the quality of these pictures but I knew if I took them with my regular camera they wouldn't get up here for at least a week and I was itching to write about my spare room.

My house has two bedrooms so one is my bedroom and the other, well, I'm not really sure. Originally I called it the Guest Room. After the move, it became the Scary Room because I just dumped everything that didn't have an easy home somewhere else. I've since moved some stuff to the attic and reorganized others so it's not as scary anymore. And so I'm calling it the Spare Room.

There's still too much of an unorganized mess in there so the view as you turn the corner is of the closed door.

I added to the mess when I brought up the ugly bar and my old TV.

Behind you can see unpacked boxes, clothes to donate or sell, a jewelry box my sister gave me that's much too small but too pretty to get rid of, and yes, that's a mini-trampoline in the back. Can't even figure out how to close that sucker so it just sits there unused and unloved.

If you can avoid looking at the TV, this corner is actually the first thing you'd see when walking in the room. My small attempt at organizing the space.

I squeezed all of my books into these two bookcases and added all the tchotchkes that were spread out in my old apartment. Each time I move I like less and less clutter of small, decorative items so I know I'll get around to paring these down as well. But as I moved stuff around, I ended up with boxes and other crap right in front of the bookcases and putting other random stuff there so it's not quite as pretty anymore.

It's a small space. A twin-sized bed would be perfect. A full-sized bed MIGHT fit, but you'd probably have to squeeze your way around it even pushed up against the wall. I want a designated place for guests to sleep and my mom is giving me my childhood bed as soon as I have room for it/a way to transport it. It's just a twin so I guess I should make that "a designated place for one guest."

I also have office-y type stuff. Books, magazines, notebooks, manuals. Pens, resume paper (though I haven't sent one out in over 9 years), mementos from trips. And then there's all the random stuff that's too delicate for the attic.

What to do? Well, I think I figured it out.

I had seen Making It Lovely's office and loved how she used colored boxes against white bookcases.

It looked like a basic Ikea bookcase and that's so in my budget. But I'm not 100% sold on the Expedit. I love the idea of making an entire square a cabinet or a drawer, but not so much that you can't change the height or width of the squares. And the Ikea inserts only come in red, black and white.

Perhaps Billy would be better? 

I saw this picture on Apartment Therapy. Lots of books, colored boxes holding crap, random vases and tchotchkes, a frame or two. Fab.

But I'm not sure I like the randomness of the shelf heights. Or how the boxes overhang an inch or so. It's a little messy and after living with a Scary Room for six months, I'm craving order. So I'm going to measure the space and take a trip to Ikea. I have a feeling I'll end up with Expedit in white with white inserts.

Either way, I'm excited because as soon as I get the bookcases in and stuff in them, this room should be cleared out enough to get the bed in! Yay!