A Break In The Organizing Process

It's almost the weekend y'all!  I've gotten two of the closets on my list done and will tackle the rest next week.  I was planning to post photos of the closets today, but they really just didn't turn out great.  The pictures, I mean, not the closets- the closets look soooo much better!  I couldn't seem to manage any good pictures of them.  Oh well, maybe I'll try again.  Anyways...on to my weekend plans!

This will be me...ALL weekend

I'm a little excited to take a break from the organizing for a few days, but mostly because today is my Friday. I'm taking the day off work tomorrow and I'm heading to the beach to work on the beach house.  My husband's family has an oceanfront house and I'm going down to paint at least one of the bathrooms and maybe get a start on the other one.  I don't mind going alone - it's peaceful there in the winter.  It's a challenge to paint the walls in this house because the wood paneling is very rustic and the texture is so rough. It also drinks up a lot of paint.  We've done a lot of work on this house the past few years.  It hadn't been updated at all since the 80's and it was pretty horrible.  A family friend, Jennifer, and I finally convinced my mother-in-law to let us do some redecorating and updating and it has turned out great.  My post Monday will be the before and after photos of the beach house, but for now I'd like to leave you with a taste of the beautiful place I'm going...

This is not photoshopped, I promise.  This was right after a hurricane two Augusts ago.  Thank goodness we didn't get any major damage - just a few missing shingles.  We were heading over the inlet bridge to start back home after un-boarding the house and this gorgeous sunset just took my breath away.  I made the Hub stop so I could get out and take this picture.  The colors were exactly this red and purple and I've never seen anything like it.

Down the steps and take the path through the sea grass to the beach.

The view from our boardwalk on a cold Fall evening.  We're so lucky to have this place and we pray hard every year for no hurricanes.  Fingers crossed for another hurricane-free year in 2014!

I will see y'all when I get back from my "working vacation".  At least I'll get to see my friend and eat some amazing crabcakes!  I hope everyone has a great weekend - stay warm!

Toodles,

Craigslist Diamond In The Rough

Happy Monday everybody!  I hope y'all had a great weekend.  Did you get any New Year organizing done? I'm mid-closet organization at the moment.  I got some done in the hall closets on Saturday, but not much yesterday due to two very important football games! I'll have the before and after pics for you on Wednesday.  In the meantime, I thought you might like to see the rough headboard that I bought for $25 on Craigslist and transformed into a glorious diamond.  Well, maybe not glorious, but it's real pretty!  It weighs a ton and is a very solid piece of furniture.  The owner had sawed off one of the legs to get it up some stairs and reattached it (badly) with Gorilla glue. It took a little rigging to fix, but the Hub got it back to working order and I set about making it beautiful.

Here's the before.  You can see where the cut leg was repaired.  The glue had leaked out and spilled all down the side of the leg and it was about 2 inches shorter than the other leg.  It took my husband a lot of work, but it looks much better now and you can't really see it because of the nightstand.

A close-up after one coat of paint.

The finished headboard.  It took a while to paint and wax, but it was SO worth it.

Finally set up in our bedroom.  

The walls are darker in this room, so the headboard really helps lighten it up.

And most importantly, it's Ginger approved!

I've had very good luck with everything I've bought on Craigslist.  I just got a great deal on some other furniture for our bedroom too.  I'm not quite finished getting this room the way I want it, of course.  Once I get it all in place, I'll post some pics of the whole room.  I'm also thinking of painting the walls a dove gray to lighten it up even more.  That will be a BIG project though since the Hub doesn't like to help with painting. Maybe I'll put a brush in Ginger's paw and put her cute little patootie to work!  Do you have any Craigslist or thrifted finds that you've transformed?  Tell me all about it in the comments!

I'm linking this post to:
 http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com/2014/01/welcome-to-the159th-masterpiece-monday.html#more
http://www.kammyskorner.com/
http://thehappyhousie.com/?p=7315
http://www.lambertslately.com/2014/01/create-it-thursday-38-plus-features.html#more
http://www.livelaughrowe.com/fun-free-valentines-day-printables-live-laugh-linky-96/
http://myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/

Toodles,

Getting Organized 2014

I don't know about y'all, but I say this same thing every year - "I'm gonna organize EVERYTHING in my house and it will STAY that way!" But this year, I'm really gonna do it. Now, I'm not making any promises about it staying that way - there are two other people who live in my household who do not share my passion for organization. Anyway, I'm starting with drawers first. Don't wanna go TOO big too soon, ya know? Last night I started on the junk drawers in my kitchen. Yes, I said drawers, plural. We have three just in the kitchen. Only one is for kitchen junk, the other two are for all of the stray stuff that always seems to end up on my kitchen counters. Pens, spare change, old keys, hair clips...you know the drill. I bought some organizers at Marshall's for $6.99 each - they're really for jewelry I think, but I like how pretty they are. More motivation to keep them looking nice and neat, right? I'm almost embarrassed to show these, but here's the before pictures of the drawers:

Awful, I know. But I suspect we all have at least one. You wouldn't believe the junk I threw away and how many dollars in change I found!

This is all the junk that needs to be redistributed to appropriate places in the house.  We had a disturbing number of tongue depressors and allen wrenches in one drawer.  Have no idea where they all came from, but I'll use the sticks to stir paint with or something and I think I'll keep one of the wrenches just for good measure.

And here is the after...

So much better! That's about $15 in change there.  I can add that to the $40 in other change I've collected from around the house and buy myself a treat for doing all this organizing!  We shouldn't run out of writing utensils anytime soon either...

Now I have some extra space for more junk. Yay!  The big cow is a crumb sweeper - turn him on and he sucks up anything - you can twist his head off and empty him out.  Love him!  And the smaller cow is one of the Bub's toys from when he was little.  He carried it around all the time and I just can't part with it.

One drawer was left completely empty and will be a much more convenient place for my dishtowels.  Yes, those are cat feet you see in the picture.  Ginger, aka "Nosy Rosie", knows she is NOT supposed to be on the kitchen counter, but I couldn't keep her off last night for some reason.  I don't know what got into her. Could it be the fact that I found about a hundred cat toys in one drawer?


I felt GOOD after I got this done.  It's going to be really cold here this weekend, so I plan to stay inside and clean closets.  The coat closet in our entryway is atrocious.  We don't even use it for coats. Stuff falls out every time I open the door and I can't stand it anymore!  I keep my reusable shopping bags, the dog's stuff, small appliances, big platters and bowls, and anything else I don't have a spot for in there.  Sometimes the Bub's instrument (which is huge) or the Hub's golf clubs get shoved in there too.  I remember when it used to be so neat and organized........  Anyway, it's about to get that way again on Saturday.  I can't wait!

Here's my list of areas I'm going to organize in the coming weeks and months:

Junk drawers
Entryway closet
Hall closet
Utility closet
Linen closet
Garage (for the 1000th time!)
Storage barn (for the 500th time)

The garage and storage barn will have to wait until it gets a little warmer here.  I do a lot of my "crafting" in the garage, so I'm planning to get rid of a lot of stuff that we never use (namely a broken 40 year-old generator, a five gallon bucket of roofing tar...huh?, hula hoops, a 100 year-old rug with a hole in it) and make myself a nicer area to work and figure out a way to keep myself warm out there.  Maybe I'll use all the spare change I've collected to buy myself a space heater and a Dumpster Bag!

Tell me - what are your organizing goals for 2014?

Today I am linking up with: http://www.frommyfrontporchtoyours.com/

Toodles,

Some Peeks At My Living Room

Hey y'all! I hope everybody had a great weekend. It was rainy in my world, perfect football watching weather and that's exactly what I did! I also did a few little things around the house since both the Hub and the Bub were gone all weekend, but mostly I just relaxed. I was hanging out in the living room Saturday night and thought to myself how I really like what I've got going on in there right now, so I thought I'd take a few pics and give you a glimpse. Enjoy!

This is my favorite wall in the living room. That huge window weighs about 100lbs, but I LOVE the blue glass. It's from a 19th century factory and the chippy finish on it is just splendid. It's a great focal and conversation piece. My proudest purchase for only $80!

I got this cute little lampshade at Tar-jay with a gift card I've had for a few months. I've been holding on to it, waiting for just the perfect thing to buy. I love the blue colors - it looks great with my window and the birds fit in quite nicely too!

This is my beloved orange chair that I got at the Salvation Army store for $40. It was practically brand new and it brought a much needed pop of color to my living room. It's my second proudest purchase! And my collection of antique mirrors looks great on the wall behind it.

Daisy thinks it's the most comfortable seat in the house! Not the best picture, but I had to take it from afar so as not to wake her precious self.

I got this gorgeous afghan at Goodwill the other day for $4.00. I love the colors - browns, oranges, blues. It's hanging on the ladder with my quilts for now.

I got this cabinet at a yard sale for $30 last summer. It was in pretty bad shape, but I cleaned it up and changed the knobs and it looks fine now. I was going to paint it, but I kinda like it dark, so for now it's staying as-is. On top are some beautiful dried hydrangeas that I got back in the fall and the deer antlers are from my Papaw's barn. That's my Dad during his tour of duty in Germany in 1956. He was 22 years old and so handsome despite those big ears! Thank goodness I didn't inherit those!!

And last, but not least is the TV area. The TV cabinet used to be in the Bub's room and is very industrial looking. I kinda like it in here with all of the more traditional furnishings - it makes me feel like a hipster. Besides making me seem all trendy and stuff, it's also quite functional. It holds our printer, DVD's, some candles, a box of instruction manuals, and assorted random remotes. It's been a great storage solution. And, of course, we have a basket of warm throws for when we get sucked into that pesky polar vortex.

I'd give you a close up of the rug, but it's in need of a serious professional cleaning thanks to our swamp of a backyard and the dogs' feet. If I were home all day every day with these dogs, I think I'd go crazy...letting them in and out and in and out, cleaning nasty feets, and keeping those two clowns entertained on rainy days! Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this little glimpse into my living room. A cozy space makes all the difference during these long winter months. What have you done to "cozify" your living room this year?

I'm linking this post with:
http://www.somuchbetterwithage.com/2014/01/give-me-the-goods-43-and-a-giveaway/#more-4947 http://www.astrollthrulife.net/2014/01/199th-inspire-me-tuesday.html#more
http://www.commonground-do.com/
http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/
http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/

Toodles,

My Winter Mantel

Hey y'all! Well, I think I have my computer issues figured out. I'm no computer guru, so sometimes it takes me a little while to get stuff straightened out. Since it's so far past Christmas now, I'd thought I'd just skip ahead and show you my Winter mantel. I'm not sure I'm totally happy with it. I think it needs something else. Maybe some pretty white plates hung on each side of the window? I think I need white candles too instead of silver. And the cords that you can see...ugh! I can't get them to stay tucked away. They just have a mind of their own! I do love the little deer babies though. I got them last year at World Market and they're just precious. The snowflake window I used as part of my Christmas decor and liked it so much, I decided to leave it that way through the winter. It was in my entryway and the first thing you saw when entering our house.

Sorry, not the best quality picture - it was taken with my phone.

Aren't they adorable?  And I just love those frosted pine cones too!

Anyway, I still might "jzush" it up a little more over the weekend. It's going to be rainy here, so I'll be stuck inside again. I'm always open to suggestions, so leave them in the comments if you like - I read every one! By the way, "jzush" is a word a friend of mine and I use - it means to fluff it, bling it, enhance it in some way. Kind of like how "skootch" over means to move over a little bit, ya know? Us southerners tend to make up a lot of words, don't we? I reckon we do!

Have a great Friday y'all and stay warm!

Toodles,

Computer issues and a little Christmas

I know I promised y'all a Christmas tour of my home several days ago, but I've been having some major computer issues. Right now, I can only access the blog and post from my phone. I'm working on figuring it out, so bear with me. 

In the meantime, here's a few pics to tide you over...

Where Have I Been?

I've been away. For a while, I know. Life kind of took a busy turn and this blog got away from me. Along with a lot of other things unfortunately. Y'all know how that is, right? There have been some minor family issues (teenagers, grrr). Those are always tough. I also had several craft shows in October and November. The Bub had football games and band competitions every weekend, then came the Christmas parades. The Hub was really busy with football, as his school's team made it to the playoffs for Division II colleges. There was the UTI that just wouldn't quit. Then there was Thanksgiving and WOW!!, now it's Christmas! Add to that a broken laptop and you have a recipe for total blog neglect. But I'm excited to be back and can't wait to show you my home decorated for Christmas.

I'll have the tour posted in a day or two. I'm still working on getting all the photos I want in the best light possible - it's tricky when you're gone all day and it's nearly dark when you get home. Plus, I have a furniture change taking place in my bedroom this weekend that I want to include in the tour. I have a few shots that are ready and I'll share a sneak peek with you tomorrow. For now, I'd just like to say Merry Christmas and I hope you and your family are having a great holiday season so far. Please join me tomorrow for the sneak peek and later for the full tour. Have an awesome day everybody!

Toodles,