Mission Accomplished: Project One

I realized this week as I was trying to de-clutter my closet and dresser that it is not easy to manage a wardrobe with four seasons to deal with. I never quite got around to putting away my spring/summer clothes and now it is too late because spring/summer is hopefully right around the corner. (Please Mother Nature, let spring come quickly)

So I started with my closet. This was the before. . .

I purged a few jackets and about 4 pairs of jeans. After the weather gets a little nicer, I am going to ditch some of the sweaters that I did not wear this winter, but couldn’t part with them while there is still so much snow on the ground.

Here is the after of my side of the closet. I did not tackle my husband’s side.

Oh Buckle jeans I love you so. . .only a few more inches to go. I do have a few things in my closet to help me measure my weight loss goals. Getting closer :-)

I went through my dresser and did take out a few things. I don’t have a lot of drawer space so I have to fit my workout shirts, t-shirts, camis all into one drawer. I still have shorts and capris in my pants drawer for working out. Could have put away a few things in here for winter to give myself a little more room. I will have to be on the ball next year and get that done.

Dresser Before:

Dresser After:

I am looking forward to next week’s project. I have a lot to tackle in this house. Baby Steps. . .one room at a time.

 

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Project Simplify: Begins Today

I got an awesome book for Christmas this year called Organized Simplicity: The Clutter-Free Approach to Intentional Living by Tsh Oxenreider the founder of Simple Living Media.

I read it over Christmas Break, but I haven’t put any of the amazing advice into practice. Today I have a great reason to start de-cluttering and spring cleaning (even though it is snowing outside right now and spring is not coming in the near future…)

Tsh is focusing on one hot spot per week starting today. For five weeks she will introduce a new hot spot and she is challenging her readers to de-clutter together.

This week’s hotspot is: your wardrobe and closet. On Friday I will reveal my results. Today I decided to give you a little peek at my before photos.

My husband and I share a closet and he has 3/4 of it for his stuff. Not sure how that works, but I think it gives me the excuse to do this. . .

I have a horrible habit of doing laundry and then not putting it away. I could definitely use a little pairing down of my loungewear and organize them a little better.

And my drawers. . .well that might take me awhile.

So here it is, the before. I am looking forward to sharing the after with you on Friday.

Check out Simple Mom’s Project Simplify and de-clutter with me!

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From House to Home

You might be wondering why I took a picture of a stack of decorating books and magazines. I decided it would be best to show you. . .

My Kitchen

My Main Floor Bathroom

My Bedroom

My Upstairs Hallway

My Girls’ Bathroom

With temperatures well below zero we have been spending a lot of time indoors. So I have been spending a lot of time dreaming and painting rooms in my head. I have a lot of work to do. The problem is I am not sure where to start and I am not sure what I want to do.

So I am spending a lot of time in design books and browsing websites for inspiration. I can’t wait to show you some progress.

We have been in this house for eight months and only two rooms are painted. Even my five year-old said yesterday, “Mom, we have got to paint these walls.” I guess it is time for me to make some decisions.

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Holiday Decorating: Advent Wreath

On Saturday as we were digging out all of the Christmas totes, I was looking for one thing. All of the pieces of our Advent Wreath. With the first day of Advent on Sunday I knew that this was one decoration that needed to be put out first.

I cleared off the sofa table and set it out for another year. Before we moved the church we attended did not light the advent candles so I decided to keep the tradition going at home. This year our church is doing this, but we are going to continue to do it at home.

This is a great holiday decoration for the home and it has a unique significance. The girls always look forward to lighting each candle and we hold hands, pray and sing in the candlelight.

Do you have any special holiday decorations in your home?

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Middle Girl Room Redo

Do you remember this Nightstand that I painted to match my daughter’s comforter?

Well, I went shopping with my mom last Saturday and was surprised to come home to a painting project. Thankfully my color blind husband had only completed the white walls when I was gone. I headed to the hardware store to pick up the colored wall paint.

It is just perfect to have only one wall green. Her cute bedspread and beautiful antique dresser are really highlighted by the walls. She even found a little rocker to match her newly painted room.

After unpacking a few more boxes we even found her curtains.

Now we just need to add a few things to the walls (and make her clean her closet) and her room will be complete.

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House Makeover: Tween Bedroom

We finally started working on the first room in our new home. I still am very undecided on the main rooms in the house, but my oldest daughter knew exactly what she wanted to do.

For her birthday she picked out a new comforter set. Her cream colored walls were soon covered in pink and white.

Her room does not have any light fixtures so she has to rely on lamps to see at night. We found this cool lamp at Target. You can’t see the colors, but they are pink and white. She already had the chair and it matches perfectly.

She had the desk, but it will soon be going in for a makeover and we need to spiff up this alcove with some fun accessories.

We picked up this dresser at an auction sale. She thinks she wants to keep it the wood colors, but we will have to see what we can do to make it fit into the room.

She needed this tall white bookshelf to keep her collection of snow globes out of the reach of her 4 year old sister and it looks nice against the bright pink wall. We just need to do a little arranging and accessorizing here, too.

We don’t have anything up on the walls, but we have a lot of other colors we could incorporate with the dots on her bedding. I am making a trip to IKEA tomorrow, I have my eyes on a few accessories to tie the room together. She is an artist so I am going to hand her some blank canvases and see what she can create for her walls.

One room painted, so many more to go. I think we have a great start.

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Picnic Table

When we moved a few months ago we left all of our porch furniture behind. We do not have a porch at our new home so we didn’t think we would miss it. One thing that decided that we did need was a picnic table. We have a cement slab in the back of our house that would be a perfect spot for outdoor eating.

I was keeping my eyes open for a used table that would fit in our new space. Fortunately I found one at an auction and my husband purchased it for $20.00. It did need a little love. . .

But now, it is just perfect. A little scraping was involved, but then only one coat of outdoor paint and it is ready for our next nice Indian Summer Day.

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Fall Blocks

I had an idea in my head for a easy fall decoration. I thought I could find all of the supplies at home so I wouldn’t have to purchase anything new. Sometimes my ideas, don’t quite turn out like my vision, but this time, it turned out exactly like I wanted it to.

I thought that I would have to cut the wood into the blocks that I needed out of a 2X4. But, my sister had some scraps at her farm so I found the pieces that I wanted and cleaned them up. I did cut my “F” letter from a leftover 2X4 so it was the size that I wanted.

After I sanded down and cleaned up each block I painted them fall colors.

I cut scrapbook paper a little smaller than each of the blocks. I painted modge podge onto each block and placed the paper in the center.

After it dried I drew each letter on a block with pencil and then painted them black. I was going to print the letters off on my computer, but decided to free-hand the letters. You could easily transfer them to the blocks and then paint.

After the paint dried, I added another coat of modge podge to the front and all of the sides of the blocks. It gave the pieces a nice finish. I decided that they didn’t quite look finished.

I found some jute and hot glued three rows to the front and back of each block.

My finished blocks on my piano look perfect surrounded by leaves.

The set I did for my mom fits perfectly on her desk (top of post).

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Piano Bench Upgrade

We have never had a piano bench. We have an old piano and it did not come with a bench. I have been looking for one, but I had not found one until a few weeks ago. Of course it needed a little love before the girls could use it.

We primed it and painted it black.

My dad cut me a new piece of wood for the top. The old one was in pretty rough shape.

Chad did his first reupholstery job.

Not sure how many people it takes to screw in a seat to the bench? (I told you this new blog was going to be a family thing :-)

Amazing what a little paint and fabric can do. . .

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Trash to Treasure: Nightstand

I gave you a little preview of this $2.50 auction find. My middle daughter needed a nightstand for her new room. She has a cute bedspread that she thought she wanted to change. I wanted to find a way to convince her that it is really cute and is perfect for her room.

When she first saw this nightstand she was very skeptical about what I wanted to do. She thought my idea sounded ugly. I decided to go with my original plan and paint it while she was at school.

I did sand a few rough spots and prime the piece before adding my paint colors.

The colored paint went on with only two coats. The white edges had to be done about four times to cover all of the dark finish. (even with the primer).

I used two of the colors from her bedspread and white spray paint for the hardware.

She loved it and agreed to keep the same bedspread. Her older sister wants to know when I am going to paint something for her.

Here is the finished product inside:

Here is the finished product outside:

Here it is in her room. Isn’t it perfect?

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