Okay, let’s talk about kids clothes organization.
I have four sons that are fairly close in age, which means when it comes to clothing them I pretty much have it made. So far I’ve only had to buy (or am gifted, gotta love grandparents) clothes for #1, and then #2, #3 and #4 all get his hand me downs. None of them are at the age yet where they care what they wear, so I’ve spent something very close to $12 to dress all of them (not including shoes...gah, shoes).
However, keeping their …
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The Most Organized Pantry in the World
Okay, that title might be a biiit of a stretch, but either way...the pantry is complete! I posted the first part of the pantry redo months ago, and even though we finished a majority of it soon after I refused to post it until it was 100% complete. Adam and have a problem of only finishing things 90% of the way and moving onto the next project (I even wrote a post about it years ago) and I’m breaking the cycle.
So as a refresher, here was the before...
(Yes, my house is messy. It’s …
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Planning and Building a Pantry (Part I)
A few months ago Adam and I finished our master closet, which became the first finished room in the house. It was so organized and amazing that we decided to skip some of the bigger projects we had planned and instead pick another tiny room and finish it 100%. We debated doing a bathroom, the office, or the pantry, and eventually landed on the pantry.
The pantry is 3 ft by 7 ft and is situated under the stairs, which means one of the walls is shorter than the other. It’s a tiny little …
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Master Closet Reveal!
It’s master closet reveal day! I showed y’all the fully installed but empty closet over two months ago, then I had a baby, the holidays came, things got crazy, and the final reveal has been a long time coming.
First and foremost, I am so in love with it. I’m not usually one to gush over things, but I’m also not used to awesome organized spaces. It’s always a goal of mine, but it never really fully happens. Not only is the closet really pretty to look at, but it’s also extremely …
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Planning and Installing a Closet System
*This post is sponsored by EasyClosets...and by that I mean that I received the closet system for free in exchange for blog posts about the closet and my experience. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.*
When we bought our last house, the master closet had a single rod and shelf around the whole thing. From day one we planned to rip out that rod and build an actual closet system that utilized the space and gave us the storage we needed. A couple of months ago we sold our house after …
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Quick and Easy Office Makeover
So last month for my Better Homes and Gardens sponsored post we gave my brother and his wife’s living room a makeover...
This month I am still between houses and have zero rooms that are ready for decor or organization...running water and locks on the doors trumps decor, every time. So I batted my eyelashes at Eric and Kelsey and asked them if they would let me use their house again. And they said yes, since they are under the impression that I’m doing them a favor, when really it’s the …
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My Painted Kitchen Cabinets – Five Years Later
Since we have been on the subject of kitchen cabinets lately, I thought perhaps y’all would appreciate an update on the ones I painted five years ago. Truth be told they aren’t holding up that well, so if I can keep someone from making the same mistakes I did that would be great.
So five years ago Adam and I took this dated, boring, builder grade kitchen...
and turned it into this...
The total price on the kitchen renovation was about $3,800 ($2,200 on new appliances + …
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Corralling the Entryway Chaos
I've mentioned this before, but we have a serious shoe problem in this house. There is plenty of shoe storage in our closets, but that's not where the shoes live. No, they live by the front door.
The pile of shoes isn't alone though, it's always kept company by an ever-changing pile of tools that need to go out to the garage and a couple of backpacks. It's important that disorganization doesn't get lonely.
Our new house has cubbies in the mudroom that take care of all this, but in …
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Linen Closet Organization (and the end of my pink walls!)
I've done a lot of painting during the seven years we've lived in this house. A lot. Most rooms have been painted three or more times... Adam jokes that there are so many layers of paint on the walls that I've actually decreased the square footage of our home. There is one spot that has yet to be caressed by a paintbrush though, the single stronghold that reminds me daily of the time we bought a house that looked like the inside of a stomach.
The master bathroom closet.
That's the …
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Kids Room Toy Shelf (an organized masterpiece)
Before I dive into all the DIY goodness I just wanted to say  thank you for all the love and support on my last post about Adam's accident. He is doing well, a little better every day. He is up and around the house now, and even getting out a bit. We don't do much...mostly just walk around slowly, taking turns moaning about how much moving hurts and telling the kids we can't pick them up. We're quite the pair these days!
And now for our regularly scheduled post...
I've mentioned this …
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A Completed Wall + Office Organization
So I've been chipping away at the to-do list, and am excited to show you my completed guest room wall!
As a reminder, this is what the room looked like earlier this year...
Quite a change!
Let's just start from the top and work our way down.
You may recognize the giant Texas, it has been in our living room for about four years. I've gotten tired of seeing it over the couch and decided to move it over here. I second-guessed this decision constantly before actually moving …
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40 Bags in 40 Days – The Results
The 40 bags in 40 days challenge ended a couple of weeks ago...how did everyone do? I did pretty well. My house still isn't an organized haven, and I wasn't the ruthless, hard-hearted, clutter destroying machine that I had hoped to be...but I still got my 40 bags. More than 40 actually. When I first read about this challenge 40 bags sounded like a lot, but I only tried medium hard and easily got that many. I could definitely do this every year with no problem. Obviously I have too much …
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$5 Built-In Magazine Rack
 I have another bathroom "mini project" for you today, this on is easy, cheap, and useful... the trifecta of DIY goodness. It may actually cross over to superfecta status, which also includes being attractive. This isn't the most beautiful thing I've made, but it at least qualifies as non-ugly. That's a win in my book.
The only supplies you will need is a 1x2 (which is a dollar for raw and about $3.50 for pre-primed) and a yardstick (which is like 64 cents at Home Depot). So pretty much no …
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How to Make Book Slings
When it comes to kids' book storage, I really don't think you can beat book slings. They are a simple DIY that is space efficient, budget-friendly, hold a ton of books, and are easy to personalize. In fact, I like them so much that I have made them twice!
I made my first set of book slings a few years ago while pregnant with boy #2, but I'm going to throw it out there again since 98% of my current readers probably haven't seen that post. Plus I just love them... I mean, we're renovating the …
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40 Bags in 40 Days
First of all, I want to say THANK YOUÂ for all the awesome comments on my last post about house size...I love it when a blog post turns into a conversation. I'm really enjoying reading all your responses, getting different perspectives on house size, and just generally getting to know y'all better. That comments section is a wealth of knowledge and if you haven't read it yet, you should (and add your two cents!)
While reading the comments on that post I noticed a theme...most of us struggle with …
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DIY Ironing Board Holder
For years now I've kept our ironing board in the tiny hall closet, wedged between the door and the shelves. Â As soon as you would open the door the ironing board would hurl itself at you, eager to be needed. Fortunately for me and unfortunately for the ironing board I usually just caught it, got what I needed, and stuffed it back in. Now that the laundry room is finally complete I feel like I need to give the board a permanent home.
Honestly, ironing board wall hangers aren't expensive in the …
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Front Porch Reveal and a History of Clutter
Oh, our porch. Those of y'all that have been following for a while know what a blessing and a curse it is. We love our porch...it's HUGE, shady, and pretty much amazing. It is also our dumping grounds...it's where most activities happen (like projects) and it is normally looks like a disaster. AND it is right out there in the open and the first thing people see. I want it to be a clean inviting place for people to sit, chat, and enjoy a drink. It's never been that place.
Until now.Â
Now I …
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Kitchen Command Center
So this whole command center project started one day when I was at World Market...I saw this one and thought "man I could really use a command center in the kitchen".
I kinda sorta liked this one, so I looked at the price tag...it was nearly $80 bucks! It's just some plywood, chalkboard paint, trim and a basket. I bet I could make it for $15... probably less since I have most that stuff on hand.
So, I (of course) decided to make my own, more original, more useful and more unique command …
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2012 Resolutions and “Loose Goals” for 2013
Last January I posted my "Less Mess" resolution and made it my goal to clean up my messiest spaces. I even threw etiquette to the wind and showed you pictures of my messes in all their glory. Well 2012 has come and gone and I should be living in an organized paradise. Should be, being the key word. Lets see how I did...
The Pantry, then
 The Pantry, February
The Pantry, now
I organized this back in February and I am happy to report that it still looks great. Unlike other areas of my …
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The Less Mess Project: Pantry Reveal!
Well, I've spent the last week painting, stenciling, and organizing my pantry and I have to admit...it's one of the best things I've ever done. Not because it was particularly fun to do, but because the results make life so much easier. Â Seriously, if I had known how much less stressed having an organized pantry would make me feel I would have done it years ago.
.
So, here it is...my organized masterpiece.
As a reminder as to how horribly disorganized I am, the before …
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Less Mess – The Junk Drawers
The Less Mess Project if off to a good start! I chose to begin with the junk drawers because they're the easiest...I could finish them in an hour or so and feel dang good about my day.
So, the before shots..
 See that plastic bag on the bottom shelf of the cabinet? Well, that it the contents of the junk drawer when we started the kitchen renovation... I just dumped the drawer into a bag, threw it in there and didn't touch it ever again. Bad, I know.
 So junk drawer round one …
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