Organization for the Weekend

On Wednesday night I posted this article by Apartment Therapy on tips to keeping your living room tidy. One of my favorite things I've come across since decorating the house - which we've lived in for a full year and I cannot believe how fast time flies - is a way to hide your TV and electronic cords. The outlet for our power strip is right in the middle of this wall but the TV and stand sit in the corner so all the cords were sitting right in the middle of the floor. I had this old Oak framed mirror from my mom that I spray painted silver, but had no idea where to put. The glass is very old and foggy so it's not exactly a well functioning mirror. I had originally read an article last year (can't remember from where) that said about leaning artwork up against your walls to cover cords so I figured it'd be the perfect spot for the mirror! I wish I would've have thought of it sooner. Next to it is a vintage water pitcher filled with hydrangeas and white branches and my magazine stand I found at Marshall's.

Here are some other articles on how to camouflage things around the house!

For Thermostats, Radiators & A/C
For Toys
For TV
For Electronics on TV stand
               - want to try this one!*
For Electronic Cords
For Medicine Cabinet

DIY: Reupholster Chairs

Original Chairs

After I came up with my vanity idea in the office I knew I would need a chair.  I also wanted to put a chair between the two big windows in our bedroom just as a decorative piece, and for an extra place to throw random things (like Shayne's suits when he comes home from work) so stuff didn't end up on the floor. My mom had these old chairs in the attic to an old dining room set, I believe from my aunt, so I took two and decided to reupholster them myself.  I chose the green and blue paisley design to match the vanity/desk and color of the office, and the geometric dark brown material for our room since all of our furniture is an espresso color.  The seats were harder to take apart than I anticipated; they were reupholstered twice before, and it was a bit of mess with the old foam underneath but it was otherwise simple to put together once I got down to the base. I loved the outcome and have been thinking about re-staining them so they have a fresh coat but that will be another DIY project down the road!

Tools Needed: Material & New Foam Inserts (for cushions) from here, Scissors, staple gun, screw driver

Unscrew the seat from the chair so you can rip off all the old material and cushions

Lay the wood base of the seat on your new foam cushion.
These seats were angled funny so I had to trim some of the foam off.

Cut your material and stretch it around to the bottom of the seat.
Make sure you're pulling the material tight while you staple.

Take your staple gun and staple every 3-4 inches the whole way around the seat

TA DA! Screw your seat back in and you have a newly upholstered chair!

I did one for our bedroom (right) and one for the green vanity desk in the office (left)

Decorating Continued...

Greens winding up the staircase. Hopefully stockings will be up soon!

Slowly but surely things are getting put up around the house for Christmas - and yes, I know it's only the beginning of December. Since our plans for getting the tree were delayed we decided to go get one this weekend, and while I impatiently wait for the tree, I'll keep putting more house decorations up.  As you can see, I changed the dining room table a little bit from this post by switching to a different cake stand and adding some branches. These are all small touches but sometimes those make the biggest difference. I'm thinking about wrapping the front door tomorrow or Friday (pictures will be posted via Twitter & Instagram) with gold paper and silver/gold ribbon I found at one of my Sam's Club excursions. More to come...

I added more of my silver ornaments to this large wooden bowl that sits in the LR.

My mom gave me a pile of these white branches. I added them to this vase of hydrangeas
but I will probably get a tall vase to put them in.

I added these icicles to the branches - so pretty!

Miniature snow covered trees for the bookshelf

My updated dining room table centerpiece.

An ode to Shayne B. in the kitchen - master chef!

DIY Christmas Table

So I couldn't resist the Christmas temptation on Monday night while I was home alone and Shayne was at school. Any Scrooges - turn back now! As I mentioned in this post, we're going to do a silver & white tree theme so I wanted to match the rest of the house with those colors. We're the type of family that when you come up with little ideas like this, you should be prepared to be showered with "backup". My mom and sisters have already bought us enough ornaments and decorations to cover the tree, and to use for miscellaneous projects around the house. So, I figured the dining room table would help get some holiday fever out of my system. Here's a step-by-step look at how you can create your own table decorations without buying fancy centerpieces or spending a lot of money. In the first picture, I found this silver net material at Sam's Club in the Christmas decorations section, seen here in red. I'm not really sure what exactly you're supposed to use it for (the website says decorating and present wrapping) but I thought it was the perfect width for a table runner, and it was only 6 bucks for a large roll - I wasn't passing that up! Most of my ornaments were picked up by my Mom or sister at Walmart, Target, or other big department stores, and I always insist on checking Home Goods, Marshalls, and TJ Maxx because they always have hidden treasures in the home section.

 Layer runners with different widths to add dimension and different textures. I found this silky silver one at Marshall's for $10!

 Pick up miscellaneous boxes of ornaments. They don't have to be the best quality if you're using them for decorating

 Remember these? I placed them over my old place settings to keep a little bit of color

 These silver owl candles, from Marshall's, break up the Christmas theme but fit with the color scheme

 When you're ready for guests, tie ribbon around the dessert or wine glasses and add a name tag or festive saying for extra decoration

 My first "bird's eye" view.... missing something

 Add pops of color if it looks too bland. I wove red ribbon through my vintage cake stand

One antique mirror and some red ribbon later... Complete!

Closet Quarters

One great thing about our closet is that it runs the length of our room and we each have our own door. Unfortunately since the depth isn't that great, it kind of makes it pointless to optimize the space in the middle where there is no door. We decided early on that when my official job starts after graduation this December that the first thing we'll be investing in is an updated closet! I've already made a closet inspiration board on pinterest if you want to check out my ideas. I think the space would be better if there was more shelves and racks and a new door system that allows us to utilize the space better. Since our house is old, we don't want to do too much construction and ruin the structure of anything. If you do have tight quarters for your closet, the best thing to do is figure out how to organize! Below are some of tricks for closet organization - especially if you have a lot of stuff, and not a lot room to store it.

 Use these collapsible closet organizers for sweaters, purses, or shoes. It utilizes the space better and for me, my small feet, and my shoe obsession it helps save space for other shoes that need to be kept on racks.

 I have been through fifty different ways to store my scarves - including throwing them in a pile - when I finally found this scarf organizer to hang up!

 In the first picture you can see this funny box/ledge on the left side of the closet. I use it for folded casual tee shirts I wear the most often.

 Metal shoe rack from Target for all my heels

 My jeans are folded and displayed on a shelf above my hanging clothes.

 Use the same hangers for all of your clothes so everything looks uniform. I prefer these black and tan felt covered hangers because they prevent your clothes from slipping off!

Display your most frequently used clutches so you can access them easily. Hats can also be stacked and set on a shelf.

Office in Progress

When we first saw this house we assumed that this guest room used to be smaller and the piece that juts out in the back, as you can see in the picture, was a sun room or closet that was opened up to the make room bigger. The hardwood floors and wall materials change in this part of the room so we only assumed that is what happened. The house was completely redone and renovated before we bought it so we never knew exactly how it used to look. Since it had an odd shape, we decided to make it the office. Our L-shaped desk fit perfect in the back part of the room and eventually we want to put a love seat sleeper in the bigger part for extra sleeping space for guests. Our bathrooms are pretty small since the house is an older one, and since Shayne takes just as long as me to get ready, we're constantly bumping heads and taking turns in the bathroom while getting ready for work in the morning. That's why I've opted to stick an old desk in the office - in the larger part of the room - and turn it into a vanity to set up all my makeup and jewelry. You can see the process of the vanity and simple office organization below. And for anyone who needs help organizing anything I recommend the Container Store with a warning that you won't leave empty handed! I'm not showing the FULL office because it's still making it's way around but as soon as it's complete, you will see the finished product!

 Storage boxes with labels - which I printed my own titles on - are perfect for anything you don't want to lay out or have cluttered all over your desk!

 Take an old tin, or taller container you're not using and use it to store rolls of wrapping paper. These are leftover from my older sister's wedding centerpieces!

 A vintage milk glass basket (given to me by grandmother, with the other piece you've seen here) can hold odds and ends like scissors, paperclips and ribbon.

Alphabetize and organize your filing cabinet with multicolored folders!

Kitchen Organization

As I mentioned in this post, our house is composed of numerous long and narrow rooms and this includes the kitchen. When we started looking at houses in DC, we quickly noticed that all the kitchens were galley style - which made me nervous because Shayne has always loved to cook and I just started getting braver in the kitchen,  but it turned out to be plenty of space.  The counters extend really far down the length of the kitchen so there's more than enough space for the both of us or guests to wander in and out. Our whole house is painted a neutral tan color so we wanted something bright for the kitchen.  We saw this bright yellow and loved it. I think it goes great with the black granite countertops and the white cupboards. Here's a few of my kitchen gadgets and tips to keep everthing organized!

In the top picture, Shayne installed the pots & pans hanging rack from Bed Bath and Beyond. Because our ceilings are so high it was easy to keep it out of the way but we did have to compromise a halfway point that was up high enough so Shayne didn't hit his head and low enough for me to reach.

The view looking towards the front foyer.

 Stainless steel canisters can hold your baking essentials - or anything you use the most. Ours - from left to right - hold flour, sugar, salt, and random goodies such as tea, pumpkin seeds, gum, etc. The tall clear canister to the far left is filled with rice.

Shayne's mom is a yard sale/antique/ebay expert and sends lots of beautiful pieces like this one that's used to hold olive oil. Place it by the stove with your salt and pepper grinders so it's easy to access while you're cooking. She also collects antique drink stirrers and sends some along every now and then. I like to keep them in an old glass jar so they're on display for everyone to look at (or use!).

Use an antique crock to hold all of your cooking utensils by the stove.

I love that some of our cupboard doors have glass windows. I keep our glassware and plates behind the ones that do because I know they're always organized.

These drying mats from BBB are great to place by your sink for items you have to hand wash and dry. It's light and easy to put away when guests come, too. 

Use vintage cake stands or bowls to display your produce.  Red tulips contrast the bright yellow walls and add a pop of color to this corner. The bowl to the left (with peppers) is heat safe and can be popped in the oven to warm your rolls while you wait for dinner to be ready.

Green Living

Green is not usually my go-to color for anything but when we picked out paint colors for various rooms, we decided on green for our living room.  Some days I go back and forth about it, but it works for now. You might see an update to the paint color a while down the road! Despite all the lovely, fancy furniture stores in DC, we found everything we needed at Value City Furniture - including our elephant above the couch. This grey couch was sitting up front at the store and we kept circling back to it until we decided that was the one.  I love that each piece is seperate and you can move it around to make any shape you want. Since we live in a 1930's DC row home, a lot of our rooms are long and narrow so it was easiest to "make" a long couch along the wall and leave one piece seperate like a chair.  All of our ceilings are really high as well so I was so excited to finally get a big bookshelf! There is a TV in this living room, I just didn't take any pictures of that corner because it sits on a plain black corner stand - I'm hoping to upgrade in the spring to some kind of white stand, like this or this, but I need to find the right one first. We use the ottoman as our coffee table by adding small serving trays to hold drinks, and it's easy to move around based on where we sit (it's also safe for newly walking babies like my niece Olivia!) Another great feature of the house are the numerous archways into each room, which you can see from the first picture.  I'm already scheming a lot of Christmas decorating ideas for them! Like I mentioned in a previous post about our bedroom - each room is a work-in-progress so I'm sure things will change, but here's the start!

Before (the whole house was painted tan, some rooms still are)

Couch & Elephant Painting: Value City Furniture. Pillows, Bookshelf and lantern lamp: IKEA,

Rug: Shayne brought home from Afghanistan

Bookshelves don't have to be just for books! I have pictures, old teapots, candles and these mason jars with wine corks on different shelves.

Antique Irons for bookends

View from the dining room. Love the big windows! Curtains & Hardware are from Bed, Bath & Beyond and the round end table is an old cable spool from a factory in my hometown where my grandfather worked.