new year, a little organization

I have a small space in the house reserved just for "my stuff." It's located in the closet of the kids playroom. {pssst I can't wait to one day take over the whole room} But since that's years and years away I figured I may as well make the most of what I've got for now. As you can see from the before photo I had the whole back wall that was screaming for some storage.

I started by painting the wall "ballet white" by Benjamin Moore. I also took a trip to Lowes and bought three wood brackets and a stair tread of all things for the shelf. {the tread was the perfect size and I liked it's finished rounded front edge} After whitewashing all the pieces they were hung and more storage was born!

I picked up a small linen ribbon board from Michaels.

Pens, pencils, brushes and cutting instruments found their way up high safely away from tiny hands.

The new shelf space above the desk helped to unclog my side shelves.

The white boxes from IKEA hold things like glitter, glues, stamps, punches, ribbons and paints. The white can on the floor is filled with fabric remnants and yarn. 

All in all it feels like a fresh start and I can actually find the things I need a little bit faster. It cost me around $50 including the shelf and items from IKEA. 

Happy Monday and cheers to a new week!

linking up to:
my uncommon slice of suburbia
the shabby creek cottage
french country cottage
my romantic home
the shabby nest
tatertots and jello
six sisters' stuff
cottage and vine

parring down

I don't know what it is about this after Christmas feeling but all I've wanted to do is clean, organize and purge. I can't help myself, it's time to trim the fat! 

*source

hall closet before & after

It's totally embarrassing to admit it but I'm pretty confident I'm not the only one that has a horrible secret like the one below.

From top to bottom there really isn't an excuse for what this hall coat closet was hiding. It concealed everything from seasonal decor, table runners, crafts in addition to the given scarfs, hats gloves, coats etc...

The solution: A fresh coat of paint inside, shoe organizer on the door, I sprung for new wooden hangers, a floor shoe rack and a galvanized storage tub up top. The details including the total cost of the project are at the bottom.

I started by emptying everything out and finding new homes for things that did not belong. I then went on the hunt for new wood coat hangers. I found a value box of 20 at Bed, Bath and Beyond for $12.99 and of course had one of their handy 20% coupons to boot. Next I found a door shoe holder for $7.99. I chose clear so we could see everything easily. I secured it to the closet door all the way around with heavy duty Velcro. I also painted the inside of the closet with leftover paint we had in the garage. The overflow like super heavy scarves that wouldn't fit in door holder are in the tin tub on the top shelf (the tub was just sitting empty in the garage not being used). Lastly the shoe rack on the floor was added- it too was re-purposed from another closet where it wasn't being utilized. The entire project cost me less than $20 to do and I finished it all in one day. I'm proud to say that 3 weeks later and it still looks this good too!!!

Getting Organized

Note the chicken approaching me- it ended up chasing us out of the barn. 

After a fabulous Easter weekend complete with productivity including laying down a yd. of mulch, and a yummy brunch at the creamery it's time to get back down to business. I love my Mondays. My house wouldn't be so put together if it weren't for Mondays. Since it's pouring buckets outside I'm itching to get more organized. SPRING CLEANING HERE I COME. 

images courtesy of realsimple.com