Where the magic happens

I looooove to see other ladies' craft spaces, whether it's the kitchen table, the corner of a room or an entire basement! It's fun to see how people organize their STUFF and where they work. It's always so inspirational!

So! For anyone who is curious....here's a tour of MINE!

{P.S. For anyone who loves to know paint colors, the turquoise is Glidden's "True Turquoise." I think it's perfect for a creative space! The orange is Glidden's "Orange Slice" and the green table was spray painted "Apple Green."}

I occupy a bedroom at the end of our hall that previously belonged to my sister-in-law, who lived with us for over six years (almost my whole married life). When she moved out, I was eager to transform this room into MY creative space. Granted, I often end up working at the kitchen table, BUT...I do love to go in here, close the door, crank up some tunes and "get my craft on."

My dad painted it for me and my husband moved in the furniture, put up the shelves and built shelves in the closet. Now it's soooo organized and a pleasure to work in. My family all gravitate toward this room, too....I think it's just a FUN place to be!

OK. Here's the view from the door. It also serves as a guest room when my mom spends the night. The futon is nice for a friend to nurse her baby, for someone to sit and flip through one of my idea books or just a nice place to relax.



My boys usually join me when I'm working, so I added an easel for them. Plus I always have paper, crayons and kid stamps at the ready.



Here's looking back at the door. I love having a bulletin board to post my calendar, inspirational tidbits or reminders.



Here's my work space. The table was given to me by a friend (when I just came right out and asked her for it!) but was a shabby chic white. I thought I should jazz it up a little! I love it!

Items of note: the IKEA jewelry tree I use for ribbon...the IKEA tray I use for an even stamping surface...



...my decorative file folders (in "Cosmo")...the mail sorter I use for my pretty papers...and my Ott-Lite lamp.



My friend Jen gave me the fabric owl bin.



I ended up corralling my stuff in this cute Southern Living At HOME basket. It limits me as to what I can keep out on my table!!



And here's my best stamps organizing secret: school supply boxes. Most of these were less than $1 and stack nicely. I label them with a paint pen. I also can't get enough of the stacking drawers for ribbon scraps, glitter and a million other things.



I hope you enjoyed the tour!

Organizing paperwork with clipboards

I loved this idea from my recent "Parents" magazine. To corral every one's paperwork, use decorative clipboards! They adhered paper to fit then added chipboard letters to spell each name. You can attach invitation, receipts, reminders, etc.



Here's the one I made for me, using a junky old clipboard I had sitting around. I also attached a pen and hung it next to our family calendar.





Drew's will be next {but more manly, of course}!

Organizing projects

The Fly Lady (www.flylady.net) says that the reason we put off projects around the house is because of our perfectionism. We don't begin because we don't think we can make it perfect like "Oh, I need to buy some stoarge bins first," or "It'll take too long and it won't be just right."

I've experimented with this idea. The bottom line is, imperfect is certainly better than it being the way it was...and it almost never takes me anywhere near as long as I think it will. This is why I do one project after another in "spurts," because my success gets me motivated to do more!

This closet seemed totally daunting. It was literally stuffed to over-flowing and wasn't really functional at all. It took me...get this...half an hour to clear it out and put it back how I wanted!! I was amazed. Granted, it took me maybe another half an hour to put things away where they belonged and gather the giveaway stuff, but still. An hour?? Why did I put it off for so long???

BEFORE:





After:



Now my diaper bag and pool bag are in the closet and off the couch when you first walk in and we even had room for the vacuum so it doesn't have to take up space in the office anymore! Hooray!

Since I was on a roll, I finally cleaned out my junk drawers and added these baskets to keep things seperated and more accesible.

This took about half an hour, too, even with consulting my husband on what I could toss!





And before I lost momentum, I tackled my craft area. This BEFORE is actually the picked-up version of the real before, but it gives you the general idea!! I didn't even have space to work!



AFTER:



I know, this still looks like a before! :) But I know where everything is and my most-used items are more accessible now. I even worked on my bookcase to get it functioning properly!



Here are some other projects from this week!

Revamping my coffee and tea station.



Clearing out my "hot spot" and putting out this cute lamp. I love the glow!



I moved my desk supplies into the cabinet above so it wouldn't clutter up the counter. I love it!



Then I moved my tray with my vitamins over and added toast-making supplies. This makes a lot more sense.



I even went through all my books and magazines and put back the ones I use the most. Muuuch better.



It feels to good to get this stuff done! Phew, I need a cup of tea now...

10 minutes with The Nester

To see all the entries today, click on the link:

The Nester FINALE

I looooove a good ten-minute makeover! That fits in nicely with my schedule!

I will say that, of The Nester's four ten-minute rooms, (family room, bedroom, bathroom and kitchen), my kitchen #1, gets used the most and #2, needed the most help. My kitchen is BIG--people that actually cook are a little jealous when they come over! So my challenge is keeping it organized, as uncluttered as possible, and storing all my dishes and entertaining pieces while keeping it as user-friendly as possible. My live-in sister-in-law and my hubby are up earlier than I am so they need to be able to make their lunches and get their coffee without extra hassle. While I'm not one to go for beauty over convenience, I DO like for things to look nice--so it's a hard balance!

I'm also still recovering from a tea party I had two weeks ago so rather than cram everything back into cupboards, I set out to rearrange and purge so everything would fit back nicely. Plus I wanted to use some of The Nester's tips, of course!

Following her tips in order, here goes:

1. Unclutter. PHEW! I have a major "hot spot" in my kitchen where all the odds and ends tend to accumulate so I decided to just get rid of the paperwork I usually keep there and clear the space. Now there's just the utensil crock and a pretty mug with pens and scissors. Phone and camera charges go in the cabinet below and my paperwork goes to my desk...imagine that! I probably still need a basket to "collect" the odds and ends that will still end up here without it looking cluttered. We have to be realistic, right??



My live-in SIL's mail also tends to pile up by the microwave...



...but it does need a home, so I moved the mail sorter over there for her. The big tea cup holds her medicines and such. This spot is much better! Notice, too, that the fridge clutter got moved to this "hidden" side!



2. I'm a graduate of the Fly Lady's 28 day "program," so the shiny sink wasn't new to me, although I hadn't officially shined it in a while. You don't realize how grimy they get until you take a fine-toothed comb to it!! Here's the after.



And that whole area, looking into the dining "room"



3. I also cleared off the fridge and moved the stuff I really like/use to the hidden side (see the last after picture in #1).

Here's the before:



And AFTER:



It may or may not stay this way! People actually like to look at the pictures on the fridge but then again, it does look nice all cleared off.

This is the change that made the biggest difference...and the one my hubby noticed right away!

4. Add fabric. Any ideas on how to do this one, ladies???

5. Seating. Our son's kiddy table where he crafts and eats is in our kitchen and out dining room table is three steps away so I didn't want to add a "grown up" table. We ARE fortunate enough, however, to have a high counter with an over-hang and we do keep two stools there...but there wasn't much motivation to actually sit, so I added place mats, a plate and cup and napkin to encourage breakfast or snack dining at the bar. It looks nice!



6. Lighting. Ooo. This one is a work in progress. My lamps are all in use, except one really tall one without a lampshade so my new mission is to find a lil' guy for the kitchen. I do enjoy a cozy little lamp!!

7. Beauty. Easy. I have one of my favorite angels by my coffee station.



I also have this fun black shelf with my Willow Tree collection and some other pieces I love to look at (including the cream and sugar set from my wedding china), plus a lovely tea towel.



Next to my tea kettle, which we do use almost daily, I keep this pretty metal tray with my favorite teas for people to choose from. I find this to be a very nice touch and our guests enjoy picking their teapot and tea.



And there ya have it!!

As a side note, this took me longer than 10 minutes but I rearranged my cupboards to hide some items and to fit others I use more often.

This one holds a lot of my entertaining pieces and tea party paraphernalia.



And this one is above the coffee station where my dishes go and where I hide away the tea and coffee-making supplies.



I'm loving all of these small changes and the kitchen definitely FEELS better. Thanks, NESTER!! :)

Organizing Junkie's Monthly Roundup

For other inspiring entries!!

GO HERE!

Paper, paper, everywhere!

My hubby takes care of the bills and the "major" paperwork, so I'm in charge of MY paper--of which there are PLENTY!!

This room is one we share, by the way. Most of what you see on the floor IS paper! A lot of it just had to be sorted then thrown away or PUT away.

WARNING!! I do "REAL" befores and afters! No "clean up before the clean up" funny business going on here!

This area is "command central" for my life, including church stuff, all manner of paperwork and my home-based jewelry business. My business is on the back burner, but I do take care of my current customers and fill catalog orders, so I have to have my jewelry and business supplies accessible.

Now I also have an Etsy shop so I have to keep that STUFF close at hands as well.

So, yes, over the holidays it got a little out of control, thus the dramatic "before" photos!!

Now, without further ado, here are the before and afters for direct comparison! :)

1.



2.



3.



I love these magazine files from IKEA for paperwork and catalogs.



I set aside this tray for catalog orders with an order form, calculator and bags for the jewelry. Totally "grabable" at a moment's notice, which is usually all I get.

**photo temporarily removed**

And here's my now-fully-functional desk!



PHEW! I feel better now! :) I know my hubby will appreciate it, too!

Thanks for looking!