Family Values Canvas

I just completed a project that I am very proud of! I was very inspired by a Family Rules canvas that I saw at The Pleated Poppy a few months ago. After a few weeks of thinking about it, I stumbled across it again and was even more inspired when I saw the others who ran with her inspiration and made their own and then posted a link to theirs in her comments. If you like this project, you have to check out her original canvas as well as all the others as everyone has put their own twist on it! The link to her post is~

The Pleated Poppy

Here is the canvas I made. I called it Berkoben Family Values because we have had many talks in my family about living by certain values. I know some of these are 'rules' but whatever! My friend Lisa was interested in making one too so we did it together and think we may have 30-35 hours of working as well as several bottles of wine involved in this project! It was so much fun to do this with someone else and I recommend you do the same!

Our Family Values (Rules) are:

We Work Together

Be Creative At All Times

Jesus First, Others Second, Yourself Last

Listen to Others

Share Everything . . . Except Bad Ideas and Germs (Lisa is a nurse so we had to add Germs!)

Family First

Hold Up Your Head

Sing Silly, Laugh Often, Dance Silly, Smile, Say I love you

Always Show Respect

Encourage Each Other

Be Your Unique Self

Have Integrity

Here is a close up of a part of it. I love the black dots on the last one! Everything I did was printed on a laser printer or from my Cricut with some details added on like chipboard or rub ons to keep it interesting!

My favorite saying on my canvas is Hold Up Your Head. It is a subtle nod to my 10 year old who is on the autistic spectrum. You may know that the puzzle piece is the symbol for autism awareness and I love how it speaks to a main goal we have for him, which is confidence, though many may look at this and not know what it means to us.

I had lots of fun with this chipboard swirl though it did make getting the layout correct a bit complicated!

A few people have asked me where I put this so I took a picture while standing in my dining room so you could see! It is 12x24" and fits great on this wall. I love how from this spot you can see all the colors that are throughout my house-red, green, tan and yellow. This pop of creativity ties all the colors together quite well!

Here is a picture I took after the 2nd day of work. One thing that I noticed on some other boards was the seams if the canvas was wider than 12". I'm kinda a type A freak and couldn't handle that, though I DO like how the wider boards look! But I couldn't deal with the seam so that is why I bought a canvas that is only 12" wide-just something to think about if you decide to do this! Look at the MESS we made! My friend's board is on the left and mine is on the right. I hope to share a picture of her final project once she photographs it. You can see how we had our papers chosen and laid out so we could estimate the space we were using and then we would pick one sheet and saying to work on and just kept going until we were done!

Here is mine hours before I finished. I just had the header left and some of the chipboard details that I put off until the end so I could finalize the colors that I wanted to use on them. It was quite exciting seeing it come together!

I am one who likes to CONTROL everything I do and modpodge has a mind of its own so that part was a bit stressful but it worked out just fine! I was very cautious to get each piece down as flat as possible and we also sealed each piece with a spray sealer to help make the paper less porous.

This was very fun and rewarding to make and I really want to thank Lindsey for sharing it on her blog and Nicole for creating this unique project!

Home School Room

I was contacted late spring and asked to complete a home school room for a Mom who planned to begin homeschooling 2 children that would enter 2nd grade and 5th grade. Above their garage was a room that had been a catch all and she wanted it to be transformed into a classroom over the summer! Most people work a home school room into their dining room or a side of their family room or a side of a home office so it was very exciting to work on a room that would be 100% used as a classroom!

She wanted a central work space, lots of storage, two desks as they would each have a computer and wanted it grown up, nothing too elementary as she has older children as well and knows how quickly they grow out of the 'kid' phase! She needed this room to be durable and did not want laminate furniture but also did not want to spend a fortune. She knew what she wanted but she had not had time to look for anything so she did not have any furniture chosen and needed me to select everything! The only thing staying was the couch. Yup, Dream Job!

The room is large, 19 feet x 12 feet. When you walk in, you are opposite from the large window and it is just one big rectangle! Here are two pictures of it before.

You can see lots of boxes and that would be solid wood furniture that I found from Ikea! Yes, solid wood! It is there, I swear! There is a perception of a decreased quality from Ikea but for their price point, they are in fact quite superior to many middle grade brands and have very ingenious ways of construction even the simplest product to last longer than other items that appear the same on the market. I am with most of you who would not choose Ikea for your Family Room or Master Bedroom but for a kids room or work area like a craft room or home school room, I think Ikea is perfect! The parson chairs, desk chairs and laptops were all very affordable options from Walmart!

I focused on zones to plan the space. When you walk in, the desks and individual areas are on the left, the work area is in the center, storage for Mom is on the right and in front of the window is a reading center.
Here is the desk area where they each have their own laptop.

In between their desks is a bookcase where they have a printer that they share. One of my 'tricks' for craft or work spaces for kids is to use a utensil caddy for craft tools. You can see 3 here. If a pen breaks or marker leaks, this will wipe right down and can even go in the dishwasher!

they each have a map above their desk, one of the world and one of the United States.

Right in front of each child is an in basket which is where they put the work that they have completed.

In the bookcase, they each have their own storage bins and set of notebooks and Mom grades their work and then files them here. If it is daily work, it goes in the subject folder, if it is a grade or represents that they have completed their required curriculum, it goes into their portfolio.

The low cabinet on the right holds baskets and storage boxes perfectly for LOTS of storage yet every spot holds something specific so she can find anything she needs quickly.

Here is a close up of the baskets and boxes--they are huge!

Here is another view of that area while standing from the window end of the room.

On the wall where the main entry door is, I have added a display area for their work. They both love creating art for their display wall and filled this up quickly! In front of the couch on the wall is a small bookcase that has all their books on it and they sit there daily to read while watching for the eagle that lands on the ledge outside the window. Their experience homeschooling is going very well, in large part to their ability to dedicate an entire room to becoming a classroom and it was an honor to create this room for them!

Have I gone too far?

Very soon, I am going to show you the completed pool house! FINALLY, right? I had a great time finishing it and love it!

While completing the details, I ran into an expense that I wasn't amused with. I custom made a bed skirt for the queen size bed in this space. Instead of sewing it onto a big square of white fabric which is the norm, I decided to just attach it around the edge with velco! Easy and simple right? Well, that velco was going to cost like $40! I needed many yards for this, of course. I have no problem spending money on something that I love or that adds value to a space or is needed. But $40 on velcro? That you will never see or ever use? What a waste!

I am all about finding a shortcut if it's available. I am just fine with my solution and it worked great. But some of you may think I have gone too far. The Nester, I am pretty sure, would be proud as this is certainly a spin on her 'mistreatment' mentality! But a few may think that this combination of frugality and craft skills is a bit much. Here's what I did.

I HOT GLUED the bed skirt on. Yup, I did. Rough edges and all. Will this ever be seen by human eyes ever again? Nope. When you sleep in a guest room, do your lift the mattress? If you do, don't visit me!!! I think it's pretty brilliant and it was FREE! Yes, I have some glue sticks lying around . . . that was no issue! Here is a shot of me hot gluing!

If you wonder how I will wash this, well how often does one wash a bed skirt anyway? But I have already prewashed all the fabric (yes, it said dryclean only but I am wild and risky and dangerous like that) and can easily just pull it off, and wash and dry on low settings and then glue again! If I do this once a year I will be impressed. Tell me if you wash your bed skirts more often (this is the only skirt I own so I'm not up on this perhaps?) and if I'm crazy but I think it will be just fine!

If you wonder how I did this, it was pretty simple. I used pins to space the fabric where it was needed and then stuck pins straight through the fabric into the box spring to get the edge hitting the floor correctly. Once it was all in place, I just started at one end with the glue gun and moved around the bed, taking out the pins as I went. I went through perhaps 6-8 glue sticks? I just sat in the middle of the box spring--easy!

Here is a peek at the pillow shams that I made. I think you have to get your main fabrics as perfect as you can and that can't often be done with store bought items. I am a firm believer in spending money on the inspiration fabrics and then blending it with affordable and simple complimenting items. I'll show you the entire bed the next time but you will see these pillows mixed with simple items from Ikea! I think it's all about balance when you want to create something that looks fabulous but don't want to spend a fortune. So yes, this complete room will show you pillow shams custom made from $40/yard fabric and a huge queen size comforter from Ikea for far less than that! It's all about balance! The adorable Sea Horse pillow is from Stein Mart!

I will show you the rest soon!

Fall Hospitality Luncheon

Here are two pages I made to pass on to the new committee chairs for PTA hospitality. This event was done right before Thanksgiving. We normally do a Christmas themed luncheon but things get so hectic in December, we decided to do this instead and it went very well! Ham, Mashed Potatoes, fall inspired salad, vegetable, rolls, apple cider and other drinks and a great fall dessert buffet!

PTA Events

I am no longer doing hospitality for PTA and thought I should post what I did do over the past 2 years! It was a LOT of work but so much fun and I really enjoyed it. We are weeks away from the new school year so it may seem like I'm in a sharing mood but no, I have to get these pictures to the new committee chair(s) and am in scramble mode! We pass on notebooks to help the new chairs understand the position and I certainly have LOTS of information but have I printed these pictures, NO! So I finally pulled together pages for each event and now just need to print! But why not blog first? That doesn't require me to leave the couch and it is midnight and I am watching Sex and the City. So a blogging we will go . . .

This is the Welcome Back Teachers Breakfast that we did 2 years ago. The school theme was "Reading for Treasure" and I had fun running with that! This last year's theme was Wild about Reading. We are in a rural area so the school focused on camo for 'wild' and again, I had fun! I made that truck that is holding muffins and all the leaves my co-chair and I cut out and then twisted grocery bags into the branches to hang from the ceiling. That was a bit of work but looked great, don't you think?!

The new chairs (big job so we co-chair!) are working hard now to prepare for this years event and I'm sure it will be wonderful. We LOVE our school and our teachers so this job really is an honor as it's all about rewarding our amazing staff!

Summer Crafts!

I've been busy crafting! I attended the Memories Expo with some friends and then we spent a day finishing our class projects and doing other scrapbook stuff! We had a great time! Lisa is SO fast that she finished all her projects and offered to transform items I had into a wall hanging for the pool house! Here is what she whipped together in an hour! I would have done it very symmetrical and simple and it would have taken me 4 hours! I love how she is so creative and girly with all the bling!

Then I bought this Creative Memories Everyday Display that I think is 18"x18", it's the big one. I copied this before picture from another blog since I didn't take one so if that person sees this picture and notices it's hers, Thank You for being more focused than I and taking it!

I tried to grasp Lisa's free flowing creative style and then did this! I'm working within square lines so not quite as cool as hers but I do love it!

Soon, I am going to tell you about a project I did that may have taken my skills at craftiness and desire to not waste money a bit too far . . . I think The Nester would be proud of me!

Warning, this is boring

BUT, it could be essential to a few of you so I will torture the majority to help the few who I have been told need some help! I was recently asked how to manage paperwork for a child with a medical issue. Depending on how far back you have gone on my blog, you may know that I have a son on the autistic spectrum. The amount of evaluations, tests, reports, diagnosis’, etc. is unbelievable. The challenge of how to manage this began for me when he was 3. We had gone through 1 ½ years of figuring out what was going on, what seemed like a million assessments, pages and pages of reports and then ended up entering him into a program through out school system. Their evaluations and findings and then their plan for him was a stack in itself! For those of you in the loop on this, you know I am talking about IEPs. Now, I don’t know if this has the same name in every state but in Florida, that is my son’s Individual Educational Plan and I’m sure every state has something similar. It outlines what the school will do for him, how, when, by who, and on and on. Also outlines what they expect from him so I know what our current focus is. It must be done once a year but based on your child’s progress, they could do many a year. These forms are on top of every other assessment and testing that it done! James is going into 5th grade and we will be doing his 13th IEP at the start of school!

As an informed parent, I want to be able to provide input in my son’s meetings. I want all his information at my fingertips and I want to be on top of it all! BUT, I don’t want to be crazy. I don’t want bags or bins or books of paperwork and I don’t want to be overwhelmed by it and looking for things while others are waiting on me. And it takes a while to get to the point I’m at but I don’t want his paperwork and issues to be a constant ‘thing’ in our lives. If I had to see his paperwork all the time, I would think about it all the time. I need it when I need it, otherwise I want it in order and out of my way!

So, here’s my system. I will assume that you are into this many many years and will talk about how to catch up with yourself.

First, in order to reach an end goal, think about the point. Why do you keep the paperwork? You want to know what from it? Many questions come up over and over that you just need at hand like his birth (preemie? Issues? What medications did he have?) and diagnosis (who, when, what exactly) and then of all the evals and tests and IEPs what stands out as the important information?
-Change in services, label, therapist
-Need that was pinpointed for the first time
-specific scores from a test
-quote from a report that carries some weight
Determine when you look at each piece of paper what it is you need from that piece of paper. What sets each IEP or eval apart from the others.

Here is where you want to start-

• Buy a notebook or folder that is Large and Durable
• Pull out all your paperwork and sort it-this is the hardest part. Make stacks doing the following:
  -Keep anything that has specific DATA pertaining to your child. You want to toss anything that is generic. For instance, the letter that was sent home to schedule the IEP and the legal document they give you at every meeting. Sure, keep one of those if you want it (it’s online if you need it) but it is not pertinent to your child’s history. Get rid of anything that is not specific about your child! Because we don’t want to do things twice, if you have a lot of paperwork, as you look at each document, highlight the date and the info from each that are most important and set that document apart from the others.
  -Sort Chronologically. After glancing at each paper, first set in a stack by year. If you have lots of loose papers like a 5 page IEP, make sure you sort it so they stay together. Once you have everything sorted by year, sort again so that you are now chronological.
• Recap this Data. Now that you have your crazy stack (or stacks if one will fall over!), go to your computer and open a new document.
  -Call it something that makes sense for you as you will use this file for a long time—mine is called James’ Overall Medical History. The goal is to have a chronological list of everything that is pertinent. If you fill this with things like “5-5-07 went to speech therapy” this will not work. The only entry you would want for speech is a start date with a specific therapist, test results, something huge that may have occurred and an end date with that therapist. If you are asked ‘When was he in speech therapy?” you can answer this quickly.
  -Start with your first item (oldest) as your first entry. Keep it short. This is not a story, it is a collection of data. For an example, here is what James' first entry looks like-
  March 26, 1999
  Born five weeks early. RDS. Ventilator for 5 days. Nicu for 2 weeks. Had pneumonia—treated for seven days. Jaundice—phototherapy for two days. Slight heart murmur—presumed normal. Reflux—started on Cisapride (propulsid) and Zantac. Hearing test completed and was normal
  -Put that first document in the folder. After your entry, that paperwork (my example, this would be only his final discharge paperwork, not the daily reports or receipts or charting info or extra paperwork, just the recap report) goes in the notebook, so it ends up in the BACK! When you open your book and you are done, the top item under your recap is the most recent item.
  -Make a tab for this item, if you think you will need to refer to this often. This is the only thing that I don’t have a clear ‘rule’ on. If it’s an IEP, I have a tab for it (label says, for example, 7th IEP, 9-05), if it’s a big test like IQ, I have a tab on it. If it’s a final report from an SLP that has nothing very interesting on it, I recorded the data, file it in order but didn’t put a tab on it. If I need it, I can see it on my chronological recap sheet and find it easily.
  -Keep going, recap and file, recap and file.
• Print your data recap and put it on the top, when you are done and it is ALL there. This is how my document looks. My header followed by each entry with date and then 1 or 2 sentences detailing each item.



• The next time you have a meeting, take your notebook and answer any question within seconds! Here is how mine looks with the tabs. You can see that it's simple, not grand but easy to follow and easy to find anything I need.





• Behind all this, I have his year end report card in a page protector sleeve. Each sleeve has a grade on a file label sticker. My son is entering 5th grade. When I get his 2nd grading period report card, the 1st one is garbage as the 2nd one covers that too! By the end of the year, you do NOT want 3 or 4 report cards as long as the data is retained in the final report card—throw the extras away! So the 4th grade sleeve has the final report card (shows all grading periods), final IEP report card (FL has a separate one), and his FCAT scores report. That's it! Here is a picture of my grade sleeves. If you look closely, you will see that I have an empty sleeve ready for 5th grade so what you see is the 4th grade sleeve behind it. Simple with not a lot of paperwork at the end of each year.

• If your book is being made for a younger child or a child who visits other therapists and doctors with this notebook, you will want other documents. Use another page protector so that you can get documents in and out of it easily and copy his birth certificate, social security number, immunization records and insurance card. Those things are always asked for so have them available! Now that James is older, I took that stuff out but I had it in there for years.

How to move forward is your next question right? This should be easy now. When I get a new IEP or document, I enter it and make a tab and reprint my recap document. When he gets a progress report, I may just stick it in the folder for now but the next meeting I file it correctly and am updated within minutes. All documents should go here and you should continue with this format and it will always be updated.

To help you determine how to write your recap, here are a few entries from mine. You can see they are short, precise, specific. In order to be respectful of his privacy, these scores are quite old and I'm sharing generic stuff from the last several years! There are entries with some pretty serious tests listing lots of scores and they are very at a glance so I and any professional can quickly grasp his results. In case you wonder, he is mainstreamed, very smart, adorable and a bit quirky but hey, I think I am too so whatever! He is the sweetest child you could meet and one of the reasons he is doing so well is because of these insane reports and all the school does for him!

October 26, 2001 Arnold Palmer. Updated Speech evaluation completed using The Rossetti Infant-Toddler Language Scale. Completed at 31 months. Findings—Pragmatics 18-21 months 100% (highest level of test), Gesture 24-27 months 100% (highest level of test), Play 33-36 months 100% (highest level of test), Language Comprehension 21-24 months 100% (same as before), Expressive Language 9-12 months 100%, 12-15 months 92%, 15-18 months 86%, 18-21 months 66%. Goals include identifying action words in pictures, understanding size, saying two and three word phrases. Email to family of progress included with evaluation for further detail. New OT evaluation also done. His play is at the appropriate age but he is behind due to lack of attention span and very low frustration level.

February 13, 2003 3rd IEP to add OT and update his speech goals. He is using sentences, though difficult to understand, and has many words. The SP added precise goals regarding specific things she sees a pattern of (velar fronting, syllable reductions, stopping). His OT goals include working on writing skills, fine motor with buttons and zippers, new foods, and less pushing as this relates to sensory input.

September 14, 2005 7th IEP. Major change was for testing. Lots of accommodations—increase or decrease in time, variation in instructional methods, seating, get his attention before giving directions, outline of activities, break assignments into segments. Also special testing papers. Also flex scheduling, setting and presentation on and standardized statewide test. Goals increased to age level but the accommodations were the basis of this change. No Modifications made—full curriculum is required of him.

April 24, 2006 OT evaluation. Pediatric Potentials Rehab. Poor visual tracking. Vestibular processing difficulties. Low kinesthetic awareness. Hyporesponsive to tactile, taste, vestibular and proprioceptive input. Hypersensitive visual and auditory input.

November 26, 2007 Auditory Processing Evaluation. Disorder identified, mostly in right ear. Given a FM amplification system which he started using late December.

December 3, 2007 10th IEP. Added alphasmart which he has been using in the classroom for a few months.

You can see I'm not redundant with issues. There was a LOT more on his 10th IEP but it was nothing new. For us, All IEPs talk about how he has organizational issues but the only time I mentioned it is when a solution is being implemented as that is the one time that it really was relevant and not just everyday info about him.

I hope this makes sense and was helpful! Sorting and getting it recapped in a new document will be the hard part but maintaining it will be a breeze, I promise!!!

How does this 'follow' thing work?

So I follow lots of blogs but I don't have any of the auto notification things set up, on blogger or any other format. I know lots of you do this and someday I'll catch up and figure this out! I'm trying to clean up my tags and am editing lots of posts. So I wonder, every time I change something and hit 'publish post', do you get a notification? If so, you will think I am NUTS! I don't know how it works or how to fix things without hitting 'publish post' so if this happens, please ignore and forgive me! I hope to get these tags better organized and then will leave it alone!

Kiersten

Surviving the Summer

I'm home with 2 kids all summer while trying to work! Thank the Lord for Grandma! My awesome Mother in Law is so wonderful and helps so much. It is still a juggling act figuring out the schedule. As much as I love the summer, it is always a bit nuts for any Mom who works! So I thought I'd share my summer motto! Here it is, displayed in my kitchen for the summer . . .

"Wine is the Answer, What was the Question?"

When I'm not working or out and about doing Mommy stuff, I will do my best to enjoy the summer with my kids and live by the intent on this dishtowel--relax and take it easy!

Kid's Wall Art

When we moved into our new house, I did a LOT really FAST! My friends will tell you how nuts I was and how much I got done which is true, BUT the reality is that I rushed through a lot to get things pulled together. Here is an example.

My son Carter's bedroom is a super hero theme. He had quite the dress up collection so I wanted to do a hero's theme without buying Spider Man bedding or anything else that was expensive so that his room could change easily. So I bought some fun costumes the day after Halloween and bought these cute 4 x 4 inch canvases. He has a custom bed next to this area with some spaces to stash his favorite things so I decided to use "Hero's Hideaway" on the wall. I painted the canvases a color that is in his bathroom and used a red paint market to put on the letters and a black market to 'age' the edges and I was DONE! Quick, fast, easy and DONE! Here they are! I put them on his wall over the costumes and it was great! (Here they are on my floor as I forget to take a picture of them on the wall before I took them off for their makeover . . . )In the past year, I've been trying to upgrade some of these quick things. I knew they weren't as good as they could be but hadn't thought too much about them. My friend Lisa came over and told me about some Super Hero scrapbook paper and suggested I decoupage them. I started looking for the items I'd need and didn't find paper that matched his room as most were like a newspaper print or the hero was big for such a small canvas. I was quite disappointed as it was a great idea. Now what?? Then one day, I saw wrapping paper and it all came together! I ordered letters from Uppercase Living and here is what I started with to redo the canvases. I left the sides the same color. Cut the paper with the letters in mind as I wanted them to fit well with the art. I then glued the squares on the canvas with a glue stick, blended the edges into the black edges of each canvas by rubbing on black ink and placed the letters on. They didn't "pop" enough so I used one of my favorite tricks--a white gel pen! I just outlined each letter with the white pen and they look great! Here is the entire area! The uniforms are hung with wig forms. When I was planning, I was trying to figure out how to get these on the wall. I started searching for 'hat stands' and then 'wall hat stands' online and that eventually led me to wig stands and forms on ebay! They mount on the wall and are made for stores to sell wigs and are perfect!
I STILL need to do roman shades on his 3 windows. We've been here 2 years and I am still NOT DONE! No one ever is though, right? I plan to decoupage a cornice in James' room and have FINALLY had the main part cut but have I finished it yet? No.

This week is a good project week for me as I am home all week while family is visiting so I hope to get more up soon and hope to have a fun, busy and creative summer! I hope you are able to do the same . . . Perhaps there is a cornice board in my future?

Attacking Two Boys' Massive Messes!!!

Oh Boy! If I were a fake person who wanted to carry on the "Martha" persona that gets randomly thrown at me, I would NOT post this. I cleaned out my boys' rooms today on my first day at home in forever! What a fun way to relax on my day off!

But I'm an organizer and you know what, people constantly admit they don't want me to see their closets or I'll 'flip' when I see their house or they have to clean before I come over and guess what, we all have to deal with things getting out of hand! My boys' rooms are my 'issue'. My bedroom is on the lower floor so I avoid their wing at times as it stresses me out! I've been promising them that we were going to ATTACK and today we did! So, here's how it went!

Phase 1--The Before!

What? Where's the picture? Oops! Okay so it was bad. You could walk through their rooms but it was bad. Their closets were mounds of toys and not one bin was holding the correct items as they were just throwing stuff wherever. It was a mound of toys.

Phase 2--Empty your room!

Seems drastic but it is the best visual for them to not only see their room clean but when you have 2 kids the same sex, sorting legos in one central area just makes more sense. So I had them bring everything out to the loft area. Start with one bin and if it's mostly legos, get the rest out and fill it with legos! See lots of kinetics, start a bin and keep going! Oh and USE the trash bags! So here is the loft after they sorted for 4-5 hours and I joined for the last 3. Full on rushing, craziness--no sitting. This was WORK.

Here is the bar where there are bags that I'm getting rid of that we never use and I think you can see 5 garbage bags. There are 2 in the loft area and some in both the bedrooms and we ended up with 9 bags total!!!

Phase 3--put it all away!

They picked their bins by priority and I inspected each bin to make sure it was sorted by like items and confirmed they were playing with those items. Once "approved" (they loved this) they put it away. Carter had 2 huge bins of matchbox cars. He is almost 8 and hardly ever touches them! So I made him sort down to one bin by picking his favorites and that was it! I worked all day and still need to organize their bookcases but the closets are done! Woo hoo! James, who is usually the messy one, got rid of a LOT! He is 10 now and doesn't need all the matchbox stuff like he used to. He is a legos freak and has TONS--the bottom two bins are just legos. I hope that this cleaner area will really help make things easier for him to manage. I am OVER small parts and I worked hard to get rid of stuff that wasn't used often!

Carter seemed neater but he has stuff stashed everywhere and had to keep more than James. He has a fun built in bed with lots of niches and places to stash stuff and I'm going to need to watch him so he doesn't let this get crazy again.

I love clear MATCHING bins for kids rooms. Look at how clean this looks. Imagine if I had the same system but some had a green lid, 3 had blue lids with a big curve, some were colored, etc. It is an initial investment but if you get good bins, they last forever! I have the clear shoe boxes from The Container Store, which I ordered by the case online, and they are used throughout my house and are the ONLY bins. Super easy long term and kids need to SEE what's on the bottom of their bins and boxes!!!

My cousin Wendy asked me about lego storage recently. We've done it all--big table, tried to sort by the kit, one big bin, sort by color but where we have ended up is a multi storage system. First, we have the 2 big bins in the closet filled. If I pick up, that's where I put things. But this fun thing is on his wall near where he plays and it's an easy place for him to toss them. If he had to walk all the way to his closet every time he found a tiny piece, it would be far worse. This unzips on the bottom so he can dump them all out and then it comes out of the holder so he can fill it and put it back on the holder and it's all picked up! There's a large lid bin in his closet with all his directions to all the kits he owns and he has a display area in his room for the things he has made that he doesn't want to put away. I think you have to make it easy to get to and easy to pick up or it won't work well. This works for us!

Someday I'll get photos of their rooms up but I am thrilled their closets are so clean now and had to share!

Weekend Fun!

We went to Georgia to visit my twin and her family for a fun filled weekend!

Saturday was my niece Kate's dance recital.

Kim and I at lunch before the recital

My sweet family before the recital

Adorable Chloe! Remember the dress as my decor on the wall for the baby shower?

Sweet Kiersten with her Mommy

Kate dancing!

Kim & Eric and their sweet twins (Kim has Kiersten, Eric has Chloe)

Our cousin Wendy from N.C. came for the events! Here we are after the recital, relaxing!

Sunday was the baptism of Chloe and Kiersten

Now I couldn't blog without some fun decor stuff right? Here is what my caterer twin Kim prepared with two newborns at home for a 25 minute reception! It was beautiful and everyone had a great time at the baptism.

Yes, she made these, in her spare time.

The Twins holding the Twins!

My sister's sweet family

My sweet family

What a great time with family!

A few things in the Pool House

I finally had an ENTIRE day to craft for myself! Yay! This is what happens when an ADD girl with an entire day crafts! I needed to laminate some labels and had no more chairs to move to so that's when I organized my projects again! I got lots done! My poolhouse is NOT done but I wanted to show you a few things! I haven't printed the actual labels as I still need to sort into all my new bins but the pretty tags are ready for labels once I get to that part! The tags on the metal buckets are laminated so I can changes things around and put on a new label whenever I want.

Fun decor

More with some empty spots ready to fill.

I started sewing but have lots to finish. This is part of some small curtains covering lower parts of bookcases for hidden storage. I am making pillow shams with the print fabric and bed skirt with the green.

Here's my clock! The furniture is white so this is perfect right??? Ha! No way! This is my clock 'before' and I bought it at Walmart for a whole $4! This is my favorite type of decorating project!

Here it is after! The little sign says "it's 5 o'clock somewhere' in case you can't read it!

Not a good zoom quality but I had to make sure you saw all the fun bling on it--it's quite fun to do something girly since I'm a Mom of 2 boys!

Love my new stainless steel desk where I will do lots of sewing! Here's what I have on one corner.

Bedding isn't done but throw pillows are ready! Stein Mart has fabulous pillows!

I sure hope I can get the room done so I can show you the rest but had to share a few details since I finally got lots done!

Design & Cleaning Tip!

I know, that's awesome right? A design tip AND cleaning tip? It's all about my dining room table and things you should know. Ha! I fell in love with my dining room table in the store. I was building my farmhouse style home and thought it would be perfect!

Well, let me tell you how wrong I was. Here's your design tip. If you buy a dining room table, don't get one with pretty little grooves! The slats are gorgeous and fit into my style and match my wood floors that are in the room next to the dining room so aesthetically, LOVE IT! But crumbs and spills? Uggh! Seriously, how did it not occur to me that the bread crumbs from a Thanksgiving Dinner would be more work to clean than all the dishes? I do think that if the manufacture would fill the grooves with a sealer or lacquer that is used on the wood or something that it would be fine but my grooves are thin and DEEP!

So this weekend, I have been scrapbooking a lot! I had some girlfriends over and one of them, Lisa, made an awesome wall hanging for my pool house, that I am still working on! Someday hopefully soon I will share that with you! One of her cool techniques is to sand the edges of paper and boards! As she worked, I knew my pretty little table was going to annoy me the next day! We all made a mess and had bits of paper everywhere! Here is an area of my table this morning! Check out the pretty stuff in the grooves. I have used a steak knife to pop crumbs out of these grooves before.

So I was cleaning up today and the perfect solution occurred to me! My boys had so much fun helping me keep our automatic vacuum thingy in the area around the table. Then I thought, why not use it on the table? So that's my cleaning tip--use your automatic vacuum on your annoying slat table if I am too late to give you a design tip and you have one too-- it works perfectly! I am not freaked at what germs may be on my floor that I just put on my table because I just wiped it down with a lysol wipe after and I set my scrapbook stuff on the floor and then put it on the table so what's the difference? We don't really eat here much anyway--it's a clever cover up for my craft area as all my tools and such are in the next open area! I also love a good tablecloth so I would cover it for the random meal anyway! It worked great and my boys had so much fun watching it (there's a sensor so it won't even fall off, goes to the edge and spins!) that I thought I would share!

I'm going to scrapbook again in 45 minutes with a great friend so I may be doing this again tonight!

Altered window treatment

I am working in a home right now where we are making lots of changes! So many things that I haven't photographed but one big thing that has been happening is a new nursery for a sweet baby boy that will arrive in the next 2 months!

The homeowners knew someone who makes custom baby bedding. I sew but that seems like a LOT of work so I was thrilled they had someone who could design and complete this! I looked at fabric samples for them, gave my opinion (not only as a decorator but as a Mommy!), helped with accessories and they worked with the bedding designer. She did an amazing job! Here is the crib-

My client asked that she make a window treatment which is not something she normally does. There is one window and it is in the center of the main wall, so quite a focal point. She agreed to make one and described a balloon valance and made it and went above and beyond to complete the room for them. It was a great balloon valance but the homeowners just weren't so sure they loved it. This type of treatment is great in a bathroom or in a room where there are several windows that are higher off the ground with furniture under them. But one window that is the first thing you see when you walk into the room needs to be a focal point, not an accent. The husband knew it wasn't right but wasn't sure what he thought it should be and the wife liked it until he didn't but then also didn't know what to do so they asked that I 'figure it out'! My professional window treatment diagnosis? Whimpy. Yup, that was my answer. Not sure why that was my only word but once I said it, they both were like, yes, it's just to whimpy! This room is gorgeous and it needed a bit more "umph" to live up to the amazing bedding that she made! Remember, she doesn't make window treatments and did this as a bonus! She did a great job! We could have started from scratch but we decided to highlight her amazing bedding and build on what she started by altering her design to create the focal point it deserved! So, here is the before: And here is the after:

We found gorgeous trim to add to the bottom. I used the ties that she had used and trimmed the edges. The treatment wasn't much wider than the window and I didn't love seeing the brackets on the rod so the trim helped fix those issues as well. I hand stitched the pleating as the fabric wasn't long enough to function as a true shade anyway and think it turned out great!

Here is the lamp I found for the room! It was $48 but it was wobbly so it was on clearance for $10! So I bought it, spent a whopping 25 seconds tightening one bolt on the bottom and then used my hot glue gun to add the trim. Quite the gorgeous lamp isn't it?

Here is the expectant Daddy seeing the bedding for the first time!


Now all they need is a cute baby!

Teacher Appreciation Week--through a PTA Mommy's view

Wonder what I've been up to? Well I have been working lots first of all! Lots of decorating and 1-2 days a week helping a mortgage company organize and create new processes after a few years of neglected file and system management. But when I'm not working, I have spent lots of time this past month doing another 'job' I do--Hospitality for PTA at my children's elementary school!

I have held this position, co-chairing with my friend Kay, for 2 years and this was our last official event! We decided to do an Italian theme but dump the red and white checkered tablecloth and bring on a Tuscan bistro feel!

Here is the centerpiece on the drink table--tea, diet lemonade and raspberry lemonade were the options.

Focal point on the buffet table. I need to now refill these jars with my cotton, sea salt and sponges in my bathroom! The entree was lasagna made by an amazing local restaurant and salad with Olive Garden dressing. To my friend Kim if you read this, the sign in the middle says "Mangia, Mangia!" Thanks for the fast Italian help this morning!

Here's the start of the buffet-rolled silverware is just so much better than bins of silverware with napkins, don't you think?

The tables where our teachers and staff sat had fresh flowers and more food! Macaroni Grill bread, with pepper mills we bought from their local supplier and olive oil, was served hot to the table along with fresh grated parmesan.
When you were done with that, then you headed to the other side of the room where we had an ice cream buffet set up! Oh yes, how fun!!! I have done this for a couple birthday parties too and it's so fun and easy! I have lots of pieces from the Southern Living at Home, Gail Pittman Sienna collection and this is the first time I used this much of it and it worked so well!

Here is our president during the last week of her reign of two years! She was our hostess, handing out our gifts! She's off to middle school and we will miss her!

Here's the room (we took over the music room since there's no furniture in there!) with some of the staff on their break! No running lights were on--just lots of Christmas lights and it was a very nice atmosphere.


A few of us during a moment where we weren't running, enjoying ourselves as everyone on our board is awesome. Don't be crazy jealous, but we have lots of fun during our PTA event too! I know this isn't the case everywhere so had to tell you how lucky I am to be at this fab school! Oh and yes, we are crazy where we assign a dress code for our volunteers to fit our theme so the all black was on purpose. Don't they look great? Last holiday, we did a Christmas Morning Brunch and yup, we all wore our PJs! FUN!!!


Here is everyone, except Christine! Thanks for taking the picture!

Here are Kay and I, at our last event together as co-chairs! We work so well together as I just fret about all the decor and do nutty things like sew table runners and craft labels and fill all my jars with pasta and she works her tushy off pricing caterers and making schedules and lists and it was a perfect match! We will both be on the board next year but I'll be doing 1st VP (fundraising) with another friend and she will be doing newsletter! I have been asked to share pictures from our past events and I think instead of spending time emailing them, I'll spend time uploading them so I can share them with you all too! I know this isn't organizing but it is being creative so you'll deal with it right?

Oh, Kay got Macaroni Grill to give us tons of their paper! So we wrote a note to the teachers on each table, hoping they would scribble, play tic, tac, toe or do whatever and what did they do? Wrote us sweet Thank You notes! See why we do this?? I took lots of pictures but here are just a few examples of their notes to us!

We all read each one and many of us took pictures! Their sweet notes meant a lot to us!

Craft Room Reveal!

Okay, FINALLY I am blogging! There are so many things to show you and so much that we did that I have been avoiding working on this! It has taken me hours just to upload the pictures! If someone out there can tell me how to blog without spending so much time on editing pictures and uploading on blogger, that would be SO helpful as I do NOT know how some of you blog daily!

There are 2 things pending that I have been hoping would get finalized for pictures but I'll just tell you about them so I can share this fun transformation! There are so many things to show you that I think I will break it down into walls--here is a collage of the left wall, center and right wall, before and after! This desk epitomizes her challenge. Outdated furniture. Lots of stuff. Her scrapbooking supplies as well as products to sell to clients. Many projects that she wants to do at some point. Bins and baskets where she started a system but it wasn't quite streamline enough to keep her straight. Stacks of pending albums for herself and some that people pay her to create. Yes, she's cool like that--people pay her to make scrapbooks! Throughout this transformation, you will see areas that have been created to fix all these challenges that she has! Here is the left wall. This is where two items are missing. The glass jars on top of the bookcase will be moved to the right side and on the wall facing the desk at an angle will be a flat screen TV. To the right of the drawer cabinet above the basket on the floor will be a really cool magazine rack mounted on the wall which will balance out the space below the "inspire"! There is a picture of the rack below.I had way too much fun making this and felt a little guilty this day that this was my job! This is her project area. She had boxes and bins of pending books to make, projects for clients, albums to start and she needed an organized way to handle all that. This cabinet now holds them in separate drawers! On the display board is a list of the 6 drawers and which project is in each drawer so at a glance she knows what she needs to work on. She can easily reprint and put on the display area as things change. This Simply Renee embellishment holder is SO handy for a scrapper (I LOVE mine!) and her business cards and current catalogs are right there for her Creative Memories clients! Here is the Longaberger Magazine Rack that she has ordered and will go to the right of the above items. The cabinet in the corner houses her scrapbook paper, resources and her personal albums. She had a couple notebooks with references/resources and simply putting them all in matching white notebooks and printing coordinating labels makes them look great! The desk has an open are to hold her papers, current work in progress and cutting systems! Her chair came with a boring gray cushion so I sewed a cover out of the matching fabric that I made a window treatment with. Goal #1 was that it was comfy and swiveled so she could easily get into her cabinets behind her and this one is pretty perfect! This window needed to be lightened up from the heavy treatment it once had and now the room looks so much larger! Here are the resource notebooks that she used to pull together pages from magazines and random idea books that she was holding on to! Resource Books are needed by all creative types who like to hold onto inspiration! Fun crafter items displayed for easy access. This is the bottom of her desk where there is open storage. She made the cute sign! Here's the right wall! We needed Storage, Storage and some more Storage!

The left cabinet has often used supplies since it is right behind her desk. Fun labels transform this from utilitarian to gorgeous!

The center has all the 'stuff' that was in boxes and bags before in these cute jars from Crate & Barrel! She had an amazing collection of handmade cards given to her by friends that we displayed on the display frames with more in the fun metal container below them. The right side of the cabinets is 100% Creative Memories products available for her customers. Come shop! Here are a few details:

These magazine bins are 5 for $3 at Ikea and are the only bins I would spend money on! Transform them to match your room and look at how amazing they are! Perfect for loose resources that you are holding on to.

On the same wall as the door is a large closet. This closet was FULL of stuff she needed often, things she was holding on to and products. We worked hard at getting out the often needed items and getting this to function well for her.

Everyone has what I like to call their 'crazy'. We all just have something that we buy too much of or can't get rid of and some are even useful which is quite nice but still is just over the top! I have an awesome client who had an uncountable amount of free Christmas cards that were sent to her by charities that she donated to. They weren't even all cute but they were free and she had hundreds and hundreds and it was just 'wasteful' to get rid of them to her so she had saved them all in office space that she could really have used for something esle. So that was her 'crazy'--but are you ready, she is Jewish. Yup, never even used them. So, back to this client's 'crazy', hers is gift giving supplies! And she uses them so it's okay! She has LOTS!! We really had to figure out how to better sort her supplies and she loves her curling ribbon. This was an easy and affordable solution and she can get to it so much easier! She has lots of projects to complete, just like the rest of us! We created a section of her closet just for projects and added a list of all that she needs to finish. She can check these items off as they are done and then easily print this again and switch the sheet out as the list changes. If you do this, just use a removable glue or adhesive so you can switch out the basic white paper!
You can just see it at the top center but that box is for her son's school work. At the end of the year, she put it in a storage container with the date and this box is where she can now easily place new items as they come in.

This bin was here with gift giving already but we pulled out the gift bags (in their own bin standing up) and the ribbon so it really freed this up to be sorted better and is much more accessible for her.

This room was transformed from top to bottom and was so much fun to work on! All the furniture is from Ikea! I know, Ikea is NOT for everyone and I personally wouldn't use it in the main living spaces of my home but for kid's rooms, craft rooms, work spaces, playrooms- Ikea is AWESOME! This store is viewed as very contemporary but you can see there are some pieces that have a more traditional look and your accessories/paint/fabric choices can drastically improve upon the furniture's streamline look! There were many questions from my past post about this room, like where is the furniture from, and I may be forgetting some. I think some asked about cost and I think she spent around $2,500 on all the furniture down to the chair, new lighting, new accessories, storage containers, etc. I worked around 45 hours on this job and was there 1 or 2 days a week to start and then a bit more often at the end with the detail work. She worked with me 100% of the time which is great as I can move through organizing decisions quickly. At the start, I helped her get through the decision making process while sorting and determined storage needs and then would leave her with 'homework' of things she needed to accomplish so the first few weeks left her with lots to do in between my visits. Once we were getting into decorating, I'd start a group of tags and then show her what I was thinking and she'd bring out a cool corner punch or have an idea and we'd finish deciding and then she'd make that group while I moved onto another decision. She not only wanted to transform the space but really transform what issues were there that prevented her from getting projects done and wanted systems in place so that she could move forward without piles and stacks of things that overwhelmed her. This is the perfect example of the type of project I love--making things Pretty AND Neat! And I am a firm believer that clutter in your life is clutter in your head. An overwhelmed space is an overwhelmed person, in my opinion. Both decor and systems were addressed at once and she is now ready to use this room to be more productive with her personal projects as well as her scrapbooking business and it was a pleasure to work with her! I wouldn't put someone's name on my page but if you want to buy Creative Memories supplies from her, email me and I'll get you her contact info! You can order online too so even if you aren't in the Central Florida area, if you want to order and have products delivered to your home and don't know a consultant, she will follow up on any questions or needs you have and is now who I shop with too! If you have more questions about this space, let me know and I'll do my best to answer!

Craft Room, first B&A picture!

I have been a bad blogger! Work has been keeping me quite busy and I've been playing catch up after being gone for so long! I'm so sorry! I still don't have time to show you ALL that I want to show you but had to share one thing . ..

Remember the craft room that I showed you the before pictures of a couple weeks ago? Well we are done! She is really on top of her products and projects and simply needed a great system for tracking it all and getting to it all, on top of deserving to give the decor a complete overhaul! THIS type of job is what I love to do! I love to decorate and I love to organize but this job is the perfect example of how I do both together and I couldn't have enjoyed it more!!!!

I have lots of pictures to show you and will get to that next week, after I drive 7 hours each way this weekend to camp with 400 people on an aircraft carrier, the USS Yorktown, docked in Charleston, S.C.! Here is a better view of the entire wall of new storage!


Thanks for being patient with my slow blogging!!!

Where have I been??

Hi everyone! I mentioned to you that my TWIN was having TWINS! What a fun week I've had! I've been out of town this entire week as my new nieces came Wednesday afternoon. Here is my sister, Kim, about 48 hours before they arrived. To get this belly into perspective, compare it to her chest! Yes, she is HUGE!!! I was blessed to be invited into the delivery room (C-Section) and was able to carry out one of the twins so their big brother and sister and family could meet them! Here I am with my brother in law Eric carrying out minute old babies into the waiting room. SO much fun!!!!
Here are Chloe Grace, 8 lbs 5 oz and Kiersten Joy 7 lbs 10 oz!!

Yes, BIG twins! She carried until 38 1/2 weeks which is a HUGE success for a twin pregnancy. Here they are with big brother and big sister!

Here's Mom and babies.

What a blessing!!! They are SO sweet and adorable and amazing and I am having so much fun cuddling with them! I live 7 hours away and head back to my own life late today. I will miss seeing them all the time and can't wait for my next visit with these precious little ones.

I love my job!

I showed you the before for a craft room for a Creative Memories consultant a few days ago that I am working on. The other day, I headed off to work to start putting on the fun details of her room! So what did I do for 6 hours? Craft! Oh yes, my job is fabulous! Now I will say that some days my clients need me to clean out their garage too. Being a crafty girl who also decorates and also designs kitchens and also organizes truly brings me a new type of job every week. So it is always great to not be bored and have something new to focus on and I love a new challenge with every client but doing something this FUN was quite enjoyable!!! So here's what I walked into at 9 am. A pile of BLAH letters. We have a word to make, a cute sign to create using her new Cricut, the word "create" to alter and a big "E"! After hours of contemplating and cutting and measuring and inking and gluing, here is where we ended up with our word by the end of the day! How fun is this?
Here's a close up of two letters:

We still have some shopping and final things we need in order to complete this room so you can't see it yet but here's a solution for her tiny craft item storage issues.

And here's a spot where she now has a shopping center for her customers--an entire 'store' if you will of Creative Memories products. The little frame says "Be nice to me or I'll crop you out of my photos"! So fun!


I can't wait to show you the rest once we are done!!!

Wanted: Creative Space for a Creative Girl!

Does this look like a room that belongs to a cool creative person? No? That is the problem!!! This room belongs to a Creative Memories consultant who also gets paid to make scrapbooks for others. Yup, you heard it right--people pay her to scrapbook. L.U.C.K.Y. Years ago, she moved into this spare room with first the desk. Then she grew out of that and added the bookcases. Then that wasn't enough space so in came the table. The closet continued to house all her crafting supplies, wrapping items and her large stock of Creative Memories products that are available to her customers until it started to burst!!! She has clearly grown out this space and this space does not represent her crafty, pulled together self!

Here's something I love about her. Many people have 'stuff' and aren't sure what they have. She knows what every single thing is. See the picture below? I would point to a box or basket and she could tell me exactly what was in it. Each grouping of photos is a specific event or planned album. Even the baskets are labeled!

She knows how to keep her things organized but there were a few things holding her back!

-the space she needs (work space and storage)

-areas for her current projects, of which there are many (all we crafty people can relate, I know I can!)

-storage items that work together. She bought some baskets but then 6 months later needed more and got another kind and though they would work on their own, together they just don't all tie together.

-a style update is needed. She is OVER the flowers and wants a fun but classic space to not only allow her to work in peace but inspire her!


This is a fun makeover! We have worked together for weeks now and though we aren't quite done, I will give you a sneak peek in a few days!!!

House Tour-Pool House (the before)

Welcome to my Pool House! This is a small little building that is attached to the pool area. I actually took these pictures many, many weeks ago. Currently, you can't walk in it. See that white cabinet right there? That was in the twins' nursery that you saw last week! Removing that began the mess that is now my Pool House as everything in it got set on the couch. That was the plan though! First, I'll show you how it was and then tell you what I am up to . . . There is a bathroom that I will show you with the 'after' of this redo. This space has worked great for what I have needed it for. That would be to hold spare drinks, be the bathroom where wet bathing suits land (should be on a hook but it always seems to be the floor) and allow my parents a quiet place to sleep when they stay here! I didn't show you the fridge because it's boring and ugly but it is behind the door when you walk in to the left. It is full size and is fabulous for extra drinks and more freezer storage. We live FAR from a grocery store so this is a necessity. The couch is a sofa bed and though it is fine, it is not the most comfortable thing. The storage was minimal but worked for the room.

So why am I changing it? My home is very open and flows from room to room and anyone that lives this way knows the only problem--no storage! No closets! I LOVE my house but I need a place for STUFF! What stuff? Sewing, crafting, gift giving, client items I am holding, insane amount of kitchen books and magazines I keep for work inspirations, projects I am working on, decor items and I'm sure other things I'm not thinking of. Even silly stuff like I am hosting bunko and have bought stuff--I have no where to STASH it! I will have several 'project/event' bins and that would become a project until the event is over! My scrapbooking area in the house is perfect and is staying as it. The other craft items are crowding it so they will go away and allow me to scrapbook inside and go to the pool house for everything else. I am nervous about how much space a bed will take up but my parents do need a more comfortable place to sleep when they visit so a queen size bed will fit in as well. I'm quite excited to get it done!

As far as the style of the new room, I am getting rid of any basic 'country' blue but am sticking with the yellow, softer green and more teal blue tones, like the pictures about. LOTS of white will be coming in with some natural tones and rot iron but my 'rule' is no black, dark brown or any red! I LOVE black and red and it is everywhere so I want this room to have a different feel than the rest of my home. I was born in Cape Cod and am trying hard to evoke that feeling without having anything say 'beach', since I don't live on the beach! Do you know how hard that is? Seems everything cute in these tones says "beach"! We'll see if I pull it off! When I walk in, I want to feel relaxed and calm yet inspired and happy.

Here's a fun grouping over the couch that I need to find a home for. Every year in high school, my friends and I had our portrait taken. Then in 2007, the 12 of us that have stayed insanely close and vacation together every year had a 'redo' taken in Atlanta! So 5 pictures that we all LOVE to look at must stay! Many of them have slept in this room and they are all coming here for a long weekend in July and some will stay here so these must work into the space somehow! The name plates are hard to read but it has the year each was taken, 1986-1990 and then 2007.
I hope I get done with this room soon, though I'm guessing it won't be until April at the rate things are going! I've been VERY busy with work and will show you what I've been up to soon!

Twin Nursery

Oh, this could be the longest post ever. I'm sorry. See, it's a bit more than just a 'post'. It's a baby nursery for some special babies. See, I'm a twin and guess what? Okay, saying this doesn't really get old at all . . . . My Twin is Having Twins! Yup, two girls! Kim lives 7 hours away but I made several trips and did LOTS of work in between the trips in order to pull off her nursery.

I'm really trying to edit all this but also want to show you everything as we both worked really hard to get this room as over the top as we could! Ha! She's been trying to have a baby for only 8 years so please just follow along on our whim . . . . Oh, I should also add that I have 2 boys so as soon as I heard 'girls' my mind got busy!

Okay, here is the bedding she picked. This is of course where it starts--fabric. Note a few things as I am the queen of Altering! The window valance came with the bedding set but was not interesting enough for us to use. The mobile is adorable but doesn't everyone have it mounted on the crib on the plastic arm thing? Can't have that! Ha! The sheets are cute but with the bold bedding, we decided they were really too busy. But we don't waste! So as you see the room, look for these things as they were all used, just not as they were supposed to be!

Here are some before pictures. Painted room! We got the cribs put together and moved in all the shower stuff and started piling all we needed. Lots of fabrics, ribbons, canvases and stuff! The cribs piled full of more stuff! A white rocker that our Mom found at a yardsale for $30. An outdoor metal shelf that Kim painted. This is what we started with and had many projects going and nothing done!

Cribs are made with cute and fun bedding (notice we used a solid sheet, so much easier to look at don't you think?) and now we need to make the room match the bedding! It is time to WORK! Kim's 8 year old daughter (she also has a 10 year old son) delivered drinks--how cute is she?

I shopped where I live and sewed a ton before arriving for our busy weekend! I wanted to pull the flowers and fun colors into the window and here is what I came up with! We decided to have fun with ribbon too so that is what we used for the tieback. Kim loves pom pom trim so I had to work that in. I showed Kim an inspiration picture for this but didn't let her know exactly what I was doing so that I could surprise her and she loved it!

I don't know if I need a better camera but I can NOT take a picture showing you the entire room. But it's not a huge room. It's a 4 bedroom home and this room is closest to the master. The door, closet and window are all on different walls and the only complete wall has the door opening onto it so it ended up TIGHT! We really struggled with the crib placement and everything traditional did not work. After a couple creative ideas that did not go over well, I put the cribs back to back and finally we all sighed with a bit of relief. It's certainly unique! It's tight on the left side of the crib but will work really well! Next was to create a great focal point for the cribs and Kim saw a picture that inspired this canopy! Here is the basic mobile but off the plastic arm and hanging in the center of both cribs on lots of ribbon!

Next, I must sew something to jazz up that boring white rocker. I have some pink fabric left, those crib sheets we didn't use, that valance that was cute but too boring for the window, some sheer window panels I saved from my old house and some green polka dot fabric that I bought. Here's my fabric mound. By the end of the sewing project which took way too many hours, my back was killing me and I never wanted to sew ever again, but we were all thrilled with what I created!

Here are pictures of the room put together!

And some details! Kim painted the canvases and then used uppercase Living for the words. It is a bit surreal to see my name in their room and I am honored that 'baby B' will be named after her aunt, ME! She also painted the shelf and the dresses will be replaced with christening gowns one day soon. I used the same flowers that are on the window topper and these are on a tiny table to the left of the cribs in the corner. She had some Southern Living at Home items sitting around and rubbed paint on the wall art to tie it into the room and I added ribbon to the door buckets for a bit of color.



Do you think she's ready???? These pictures were taken 3 months before her due date and LOOK at all she has? She has great friends and had fabulous showers!

I can't wait to meet these baby girls and will share that with you once that happens!

A kitchen rebuilt after a devastating fire

Here are a few 'before' pictures of my friend's home that was hit by lightning almost 2 years ago.

They were blessed to at least, in this situation, have a clue and somewhat of a plan! He is in the building industry and he and my husband Jim worked together on jobs at Disney Long, Long ago. As I mentioned in my 'before' post, they had basic plans drawn of a home they wanted to build someday and they have a relaxed, Italian style which led them through their design process. It's so much easier to plan a new home when you know how you want to live in that space and visually how you want it to feel and they had this pulled together from the start.

When the plans were given to me from the first design phase, the kitchen had a large L shaped peninsula. It was just too 'builder grade' for what they wanted and I started drawing different options, hoping that they would be trusting and let me move forward with a double island plan which is not 'standard' at all! It's hard to wrap your head around "two islands?" if you haven't seen it before but I love the way it functions and looks. They loved it!

Here is their new kitchen, taken from the coffee bar area.

We had a couple challenges, as any kitchen design has. One was that the actual wall space was sparse. The new open space designs that are so prevalent today create easy flow from different living spaces but its only draw back is the loss of walls! With the window and a hood, there's not much space left! I had to fit the microwave in and decided to built this into the center island. I have mine in the same area and it's so nice when your young children can pop their own popcorn and I love NOT seeing it as a focal point. This next area really fell out of the kitchen area in regards to function--all things that are needed in the working area are in between the 2 islands (DW, sink, trash, microwave) and the range and refrigeration area. We decided this area needed to be set up for a food service area or drink bar area with great storage. They moved back in right before school started and have finished lots of the decorating that is on their long list. One thing she is looking for is a unique wall scroll with an Italian saying on it to go above this window and I can't wait to see what she finds!

Another detail I had to work through was how this space would look as you entered their home. If you look at the first picture, the front door is to the right on that back wall; the kitchen is essentially their entry. I threw out a rather fun idea that I felt would really transform the back of the center island which is what you see first. The 'norm' would be to finished it with wood panels and while that would look great, I really wanted to do something unique that ties into the way they live and would fit well with their style. I had NO idea if they would want to 'play it safe' or really work in something fun. They let me do it and we all love the end result! Here it is--a chalkboard! Isn't it so Pretty and Neat??? Here is their kid's after school schedule for the week! She also writes menus on it during parties.

My next challenge was to somehow define the entry area from the kitchen. I accomplished this by placing bookcases at the ends of both islands. There are plugs in both bookcases which is one thing I always try to work into bookcases and office cabinets since we have SO many handheld items these days. My goal is to NOT see charging phones on any kitchen counters and I work this into any kitchen I transform! She has a gorgeous table on the main wall of the entry and it really flows nicely. These end cabinets create a barrier from entry to kitchen yet still tie into the islands as a cohesive piece and maintains the open feel that was the ultimate goal. Oh a side note, check out those cool stairs! They are not the main stairs which are right behind the entry and are very traditional and lead up to a landing area that leads to 4 bedrooms and a fun Family Room. You can see behind the kitchen is a cafe style sitting area and a dining room and the wall behind the range is a home theater, complete with projection television right onto the wall, theater seating and a popcorn machine! These stairs that you see are 'ladder style' and each foot goes on a different plank, don't know if the way I described it makes sense but it's really unique and one of the many things that makes this home such a fun relaxing home. Oh, they lead to a huge family/game room that you don't expect--it's a fabulous space.

Okay, I'll stop talking about the rest of the house and won't go on and on about her fabulous 2nd story decks that look over a horse farm or tell you about the large back patio area that they are currently transforming and will instead get back to the kitchen. Behind the entry and kitchen is the cafe! How cool is that? They have a cafe! Yup, I'm jealous too. And I have curled up in those fun chairs with coffee and she truly has created a relaxed, comfy home that is so perfect for their family. And there is the coffee bar!
The coffee bar was quite simple on my end--lots of drawers for storage and they found a really cool sink and faucet to finish it off! Here is a straight on view. Gee, now I think I need to end this and get some coffee!

I really enjoyed not only working on their kitchen but being there to support friends through such a nightmare. They were able to take a mess and at least turn it into a stored away dream, though the path required to get there was not enjoyable at all. I am thrilled they are back in their home and wish them happiness in their new space.

How's this for a "Before"?

This Before occurred in June of 2007.

Great friends of ours had their home hit by lightning and it was stunning to see first hand how life can go from 'all is well' to this.

Both of them as well as their 5 year old son and 8 year old daughter were home one early evening when they smelled smoke during a bad storm. Within hours of what one can only imagine was terrifying to watch, their home looked like this. They went to a family member's home that night with less than what any one of us would head off to college with. Even things like a toothbrush or address book or favorite hairbrush--gone. Baby pictures, wedding mementos, your shoes, your spare contacts, even a change of clothes for bed that is in a few hours--gone. I really couldn't imagine what this must feel like . . . for the adults let alone their children who had not even their comfortable pillow or favorite toy.

Because I am a fun decorating blog, I have to tell you that a fabulous kitchen 'after' is coming for you to see! But before I do that, I thought their 'after' couldn't be told without their 'before'.

My brother is a fireman and though I certainly know nothing more than the average person about the science of fire or the aftermath of fire, I am someone who always paid great attention to any news of fires and read stories about fires. Yet when I walked into this home I was stunned at things that I didn't quite understand about what a quickly extinguished lightning fire could do! So, I thought I'd share some of that with you. When the topic of my friend's home being rebuilt has come up, I often am asked "So, it burned to the ground? Nothing was left?" With the assumption that if it wasn't 100% soot that it wasn't quiet so bad and perhaps something could be salvaged. I recall being told it happened in the roof and mostly engulfed the second story and I went over the next day thinking "maybe I should see if I can help clean out the kitchen"--as if it wasn't a 'total loss', since it was still kind of there. Well, here's a collage of a few things:

My most surprising moment was when I saw the paint that was melting off the wall (bottom left). Then I was confused by the spider web like feel of wires and didn't know what it all was until it was explained that all the pretty white and blue and other colorful, plastic coated wiring and cables and cords installed in your home melt and all that's left is the exposed tiny lines of wire. It's so thin that you can barely see some of the thinner lines (top right) but it felt like you were seeing a metal spiders web and you couldn't just walk through a room without moving around all this. You can clearly see (bottom right) that the fire didn't reach the downstairs family room but look at how that strong metal rod bent from the heat and how the ceiling fell in from the 2nd story into that room as well as onto the staircase (top left). Between the water from the fire hose and the soot and burned mess that fell, you can imagine now how bad a home that has sustained fire damage is, even if you can see the outside walls and think it wasn't a 'total loss'. It was!

I am certain that you can't say that there is a 'light at the end of the tunnel' with this kind of loss and I am also sure that if they could go back and have this not happen, they would. The inevitable thing does happen though to a family with homeowner's insurance and you do somehow get through the next day and get through the next day and eventually end up with a NEW HOUSE! I was privileged to be able to design and create their dream kitchen and I can't wait to show it to you! They had always dreamed of building a new home. They had plans drawn and had hoped to one day find a lot and looked forward to the process and excitement that comes with building one day. They have great style and got their gorgeous home but accomplished this through great loss and amazing stress throughout the entire process. No planning, no dreaming, no excitement--just urgent reaction. I wouldn't wish this for anyone but am thrilled they ended up with a beautiful home and will show you how I was involved in their project later this weekend!

Drowning no more, a New Office is complete!

I really enjoyed helping this family take this space from piles of stuff that they didn't know what to do with to an area where there is now a space for everything. They were so frustrated with not knowing what to do in here that not only did they give up on organizing their office items but they allowed kitchen and garage items to end up in here as well. Just allocating those items to their rightful spaces really made a difference.

Here is where things were when we started:

This is to the left of when you walk into the room:

This homeowner is very handy so phase 1 was for them to get some things handled--remove the left file cabinet from under the desk to open that space, remove the armoire that was too dark, short and limiting in this space and build shelves. I provided exact specs and materials but instead of having to bring in an handyman that would require payment, he was able to do all this himself! He also agreed that the monitor was too large and that they wanted a wall mount monitor so that was handled prior to my arrival as well.

The use of these walls were so needed and finding homes for all the small items and creating zones was the top priority. I organized their file drawers years ago before they had 2 kids and they have kept up this system rather well.

Here are the new shelves completed! Behind the curtain is the other file cabinet and lots of storage for scrapbooking and family memory items.

The use of a Family Resource Binder, as well as binders for other often referred to resources, helped group together all the paperwork that had no home or always seemed to be left out. Drawers that can sort and house their office items complete this area along with bins and baskets that group together crafts, projects and decor items.

Part of the wall solution was a track that displays their son's artwork and an organzing system for their pens, stapler and craft items. All the little papers that come in now have a home with the clips. Most people need coupons and gift cards on clips as that is what some seem to have piled but each family has to create clips based on thier needs. This family has 4 clips for 4 things--internet log in info, tax deductible receipts, bills and events. One mistake made when trying to make your space 'perfect' is to not allow spots for the 'stuff' that you don't want there. Everyone's 'stuff' is different. In my home, it's the seemingly bags full of receipts that my husband manages to pull out of his pockets and won't allow them to be tossed as he 'needs to go through them'. In this home, it is small tools and items that need to go to an outside shed. If a spot isn't allowed for these items, they will just get piled. I have a pretty container that holds the receipts and this home now has a fun bin. Sure, he needs to put things away when he uses them and no we don't want to 'enable' a stasher, BUT we also want life to be lived without make a big hoopla over a screwdriver. SO, if he leaves it somewhere, it goes in the bin and he knows that the next time he goes out, he needs to take out whatever is in the bin. Finally, we needed some pretty things! A big part of this was to sew two skirts, one to go under the shelves and another for the side of the desk to hide the filing cabinet and the large bin that remained, full of kids color books and other large craft items. Then we added many things to tie it all together through pops of color! Flowers, great artwork that was being stacked in a bin created by their 4 year old and fun tags! These things aren't 'needed' but they sure take the space from boring to fun!!! And wouldn't you want to put your stuff away when all your bins and baskets are so cute?

Here is this area, complete!

The space to the left of the entry into this room didn't need too much. The book case blocked their laundry room door and made it difficult to move around so we switched it out for something a bit smaller. Their son's backpack now has a home, their bulletin board is a bit more organized, and they have a spot to set things like a purse or library books or item to return or anything that they need to handle that day. The fun bin for shed items is right there and is easy to take with him. Here are some fun side by side "Before and After" comparison shots! I know they were thrilled when it was complete and it was a rewarding project to see such a large transformation!

Small Office screams "I'm drowning, save me"!

Today, I am taking over this space.

It belongs to a young family with a 4 year old and newborn in a home they have really outgrown. They are making a smart decision by making it work for them and focusing on maximizing what space they have!

This small space is just enough room for a desk and some storage but maybe it's not big enough for that chair? We'll have to figure that out! Oh, and the fishies are really causing a problem so I must find a home for them. And it seems they have file cabinets and bins that are functioning well but I must minimize their view. The color is so fun and I plan to have a great time playing off of that! And what must one do when they can't spread out? Spread up! Look at those naked walls!

By evidence of the piles, I also have issues I must help resolve and will find systems that are manageable for this busy family so they can see their desk and enjoy their space!

This is going to be fun! I'll show you what I pulled off next week!

My kitchen window treatment, revisited

A reader was kind enough to ask about the window treatment in my kitchen that she noticed in my fall decor pictures. She wanted a closer look. Thanks for noticing it because it was the first thing I ever sewed from a pattern and was TONS of work! I choose the fabric because it has all the colors that are in my main living areas and I personally LOVE to sew with plaid because it makes measuring and cutting and sewing SO much easier (you just follow the lines!) so I felt for my first pattern it was just the way to go! I bought the same fabric that one of my sofa slipcovers is made from, a butter yellow duck fabric, and that is what backs it. So here it is a bit closer.

The red trim seems rather bold close up but it's a large area so it works! Now, I went to this reader's blog, Little *Precious Boutique, so I could actually refer to her by name but I didn't find it anywhere. I did see her amazing vibrant photography thought! She mentioned about having hers made but if she has anything to do with her etsy show, she seems to sew! So, whether you need this for yourself or whomever sews for you, this is a pattern from Vogue & the number is V7984. Here is a picture of all that comes in that pattern, obviously I used the bottom right. I added the trim and one thing I did that wasn't on the pattern was to wrap a part of the trim around each loop. With such busy fabric, that part just blended in and you didn't notice that detail and that tiny bit of trim fixed that! I will warn you, this requires a TON of fabric and I was stunned at how much I had to buy. I don't remember the exact but it was 3 or 4 times the length of the window, just an FYI!

I taught myself how to sew many years ago because I just could never find what I wanted or if I did, I was appalled at how much it cost. I started unsure of how to make a square pillow and just kept at it and now will tackle almost anything and am still amused that I now get paid to sew!

My most favorite topic though when it comes to sewing and why I sew is that a huge thing I love to do is to alter store bought items. Sewing is essential to take something simple from ho-hum to WOW. Here is an example of that. My client found this bedding that she loved. You can see some of the throw pillows on the couch that has the coordinating striped fabric which is also on the shams on the bed. This is the set where you have some choices but all that was availabe for windows was a 40" long valance. My client bought 2, thinking we'd just pop a rod on top of that huge window and it would work. OH NO, IT WON'T! Ha! Imagine just a straight line of a short valance on this huge window and massive room? But in her eyes, it was the only option so her though made sense. You can't buy this fabric elsewhere so what choice do you have? That's where a decorator and someone who can see things differently comes in! So, I found gorgeous store bought drapes in cream and had her return 1 valance. I took the other valance and chopped it up, sewed on loops, redid the seams, bought these finials and completely altered that boring valance into toppers of gorgeous 10' tall treatments that you could never buy from a department store. It's these little details that transform a space when decorating.

Very soon, I will show you a few things that were done with items I didn't love in a 'bed in the bag' type set for a nursery. I put another boring valance as well as sheets to good use and can't wait to share that project with you! Oh, and the mobile--I can't wait to show you what was done with the baby mobile! Coming soon . . .

Home Office Before and After

Is it mid November? Because that is when I promised this after! I'm SO sorry! It really takes a bit of time and focus to edit, upload, and write a blog entry and I bow to those that manage to do this every day!

This client is a busy Mom to two wonderful kids and has several businesses, all run from home. She is really smart and really knew what would work for her and what wouldn't and was quick to make a decision. She just didn't have the time or the systems in place to manage it all! I am confident that, after our weeks of organizing and giving her rules that fit the way she works, she will be able to not only manage these spaces but translate what she learned to the rest of her home!

The Project:

Get the office area under control

and

Help her plan and move into the new family/playroom

(that my husband built for her family!)

The office:

Let me point out a few things that we needed to find solutions for and then I'll point them out in the afters.

-1st they itemize (this is regarding taxes) so they keep ALL receipts. They didn't know where to put them. Filing them daily doesn't make sense for their time. Their solution was to put them in a gift bag. The thought was that it was big enough to hold them all and it was within easy reach so it worked. It is the light blue one on the floor.
-they had a desk that was designed for large CPU computers and lots of software. An entire shelf above the monitor was just for disks and the space for the large computer tower was tall and skinny and it became a place to just pile stuff out of the way.

-Pictures are very important to her and there were many, everywhere!
-she was WAY ahead of me on one of my must haves and that is binders. She knew binders were the way to go with records that have to be maintained and she had lots of them, in many sizes and colors.

Here's a closer picture of the desk. Most of what is on the floor is from that tall area made for your CPU. She is well traveled and has many maps that she needs for future trips!

She has lots of photo paper and cards and different types of paper and it was an area where she truly didn't know what she had.

Here is the after!

The entire area is now a great space that functions well for her. I didn't take pictures of every area in this room but there is a huge bookcase and that was redone as well. We moved some furniture around to create a space for all her pictures which was a huge goal of hers.

All her supplies are now in bins that fit perfectly in these drawers and are labeled to ensure she can find whatever she needs! Behind these bins are 2 magazine holders that have all her maps, sorted by domestic and international.


Her binders are virtually identical to what she had before EXCEPT they are now all white and all have the same style label. It took perhaps 30 minutes to change these over and what a difference this makes! She is also using a Family Resource Binder that I made her (details in a past blog entry) and she LOVES it and said she didn't know how she didn't have this before!

So what is that pretty red container for? Her receipts! We did this in November and it was getting full but we felt it was a good size and would work for the entire year. If not, she may need to pull them out and file them once a year and NO mess or pile, or gift bag on the floor!


The area where the unused disks sat now have every day items like stamps and her business cards as well as a spot for cards that she is given that once were in 7 different places. I don't like to give ALL my secrets away but one is to certainly look at things differently. Like the red planter is now a receipt organizer. The cute white bins with the fabulous tags on that tiny shelf? They are from the Wilton section of Joannes! Yes, candy trays!

All of her photo paper and other paper are now sorted and easy to get to. Everything has a label and a 'zone'. Everyone has a 'thing' that they seem to have too much of or love and she loves having cards on hand! She had SO many! We sorted through them to ensure cards had envelopes and decided to get rid of older ones so that whatever she kept would fit in the one bin you see. Then they were categorized by event--if she needs a sympathy card, she can now easily grab one! If she needs any paper, she just pulls out that basket and grabs what she needs!

Now, the Family and Playroom:

I didn't take a picture before we got busy--it's SO easy to get into a groove and work and then go, "OOPS, I need before pictures"! This space was completely empty on day one. We discussed layout and what things were needed and they went on their own and bought the furniture which I think is great for this space! It is Ikea and is part of their Expedit line. For rooms like this, Ikea is fabulous and the Expedit series is THE greatest open storage for scrapbooking too! It holds 12x12 paper systems and scrapbooks perfectly!

Okay, back to this great room--they set all the furniture up and then I started pulling all the items that we decided need to fit into this space from 4 other rooms! Small toys, all books, all games and all craft items. Here it is at the start of the piling phase.

The biggest challenge was to not only sort through all the girl crafts and get them organized but to create a system that an adorable but busy crafting preteen could actually keep up with! I'm sure it seems hard to organize a business but let me tell you, taking on a girl's collection of beads and markers is just as challenging! Here are some pictures of these items as I moved them into the room.

Here is the After!

Most of this is rather self explanatory. Books in one zone, games in another, toys in another.

Here is the craft area.

What do you see? Craft bins? No? How about kitchen items? Back to my opinion on using items for a use other than what they were made for! The markers are in utensil bins straight from the Target kitchen section. Think about it--those are usually dishwasher safe or at least easy to clean and they have perfectly sized spaces for all things crafty! I have tons of these in my home. One full of just kids scissors and glue, put away for the next kids' party. You can get cute and colorful ones at stores like Joannes once summer comes out but this was in the Fall and this space is for adults too (umm, did you see the cool projector screen? Which was put in that spot because when the entire wall of sliding glass doors are open, you can watch it from the pool!). So the stainless was really a perfect choice. This type of bin also grows easily with your family and has many future use options (um lipstick and makeup brushes once the preteen is 14?) so they are a great investment. What else can be used another way in the future? How about that great wine bucket that is currently holding crayons? Oh, for the parents though please. And do you see? The beads are in the bead boxes again!

More kitchen items coming your way! The disposable 'tupperware' type containers are perfect for crafts as well as for a drawer where you are sorting electronics. Label the lid or edge and break down all the small cords for ipod, blackberry, canon camera, on and on--just the right size. These containers have all her tiny things sorted and NOT labeled. Why no label Miss Organizer who loves labels? Well, kids always change their stuff. AND the bin is clear. So, this allows her to change things as she gets new products without having old labels and then it's 'wrong'. This will always be right as long as she keeps like things together and she can identify each bin easily since they are see through.

This was a great client and a rewarding project! I hope you enjoyed it!

I am so honored!

I was featured today on Today's Creative Blog! How cool is that? I love Kim's blog and go to it all the time. I'm always so impressed at the talent that is out there and am honored to be in the same category as the others who are featured on her blog.

I'm still a blogging newbie so I don't even know how to link to it but the site is
http://todayscreativeblog.blogspot.com/
maybe that will be a link?

I have to confess that I started the day facing my largest personal organizing challenge! I moved into my home last spring and focused so much on the house that I allowed and contributed to the complete disaster that would be called my garage. Though a car has never been in it so is it even a garage? That is, until TODAY! I woke up, emptied the storage unit that I should have done last year (with my brother who is SO sweet to help me) and then cleaned my garage! It's fabulous! My husband even drove my car into it, just to show me how a real garage works!

So, I finished the day finally feeling legit! I organize for others and pride myself in living daily in a Pretty and Neat space yet I would cringe when those garage doors went up. So I get this one 'issue' pulled together and truly feel relaxed and rewarded for the effort and then I log onto my blog and see that I am her featured blog today! So I feel legit, twice!

If you are visiting because of her blog, I am going to try harder to blog more often this year! I am working on many great projects and can't wait to share them with you!

Kiersten

Laundry Room that needs a counter and more storage!

I wanted to share a laundry room that I just redid. This home is beautiful and the homeowner had lots of things to store. The laundry room did not work for them at all. The storage was too open, there was no area for hanging so the original homeowners hung the rod on the left and the storage they did have didn't maximize the height of this room. You can't quite see to the ceiling but there is a lot of room above the cabinet.

Look at the space they have now! These cabinets give her so much storage that when they were first installed, she was worried they were too big. Seeing them so deep and so high was not at all what she was used to! Once it was done and she was able to use this space, she loved how much storage she had! This area is hard to photograph but here's another where you can see how I wrapped the washer and dryer with trim that matches the cabinets. She has a rod to hang clothes and still space to fold and stack. The cabinets all are increased in depth to maximize space and allow many serving pieces to fit up high.
She no longer cringes when the door is open and can be proud of her laundry area which is now gorgeous like the rest of her home!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Blogging World! I have had a great time decorating my home and we had a great holiday! Here are some pictures of our decor this year.

Our Front Porch:

Thank you Uncle David and Aunt Cheryl for my beautiful new topiaries!

Our Tree:

Some spaces in my entry:

This is my santa hat collection

I made these ribbon trees last year


I made this tiny ribbon tree and red hot tree also last year!

I made this candy cane tree last year and my sister made the starlight and gum drop trees last year. We both seemed to have more time last year!

A few things in my kitchen:

My friend Jolyn made these ornaments for me last year

Christmas Eve Brunch:
Every year, we serve brunch to family and friends on Christmas Eve. This year was our 9th Annual Brunch! Here are a few pictures of the set up before my guests arrived!

The Food--egg casserole, hashbrown casserole, homemade waffles and cinnamon buns

Waffle Bar
Dessert in the Dining Room

Kids Drinks on the patio

Adult Drinks on the Patio

The Marshmallows rolled in peppermint that I made with my son Carter

The Coffee Bar

The reindeer food that my son James and I made, thought I forgot to hand it out!

Brunch, Christmas and time spent with my family was a blessing and I hope you had a wonderful season as well!
Happy Holidays!

My System for sorting Mail and School Work

I promised that I would write a blog about how I sort my 'stuff'. Whether I am chit chatting with friends or problem solving with clients, many topics come up that appear to be an ongoing issue and one is paperwork! Whether it is mail or school work or church and organization flyers, it is hard to manage. The number one rule is 'touch it once' and that requires strict sorting discipline! It sounds like 'work' but it is very exciting to see a stack of stuff and turn it into a few things and be done with it. I promise! So, last week I promised that when I came home from helping my sister for 3 days that I would show you my stack of stuff that arrived while I was gone and show you how I knock it out! You won't find stacks of mail and paperwork at my house but if you look around you will find several different organizing tools that help me accomplish the same things we all have to accomplish. Bills, school paperwork, filing, tax items, school art work that I want to keep, things I want to hold onto but don't need to do anything with, magazines and catalogs that I want to read and on and on and on . . . They are all here but they have a place and I am very picky about what stays and what goes.

So, here is the stack that I came home to:

-A box from the scout store

-many catalogs including walmart and Tiffany, what a contrast in my mailbox!

-Bills, a check for scouting as I am treasurer, Christmas card and lots of junk mail

-School Papers and a receipt that I paid for a fieldtrip

Okay, you must sort everything now! It's a couple seconds when it comes in the door but if you stack ALL the bills and have to sort all of it at the end of the month, the 'bill paying' chore will seem large. It only takes me a few minutes to pay bills with this system. Here's what I kept and what I tossed.

-Tossed all the envelopes from bills, all I need is the bill as I bill pay online

- kept reward check, like a gift card
-kept scout shirt
-catalogs that were boring I flipped through quickly and tossed
-magazines and catalogs that I want to really look at go in my magazine bin. Once I read it, I recycle it but until I read it, it goes in my bin!
-kept Christmas Card
-kept money for scout account
-Tossed school items that were uneventful, 1 item had a lot of writing so I wanted to keep that.
-kept a magazine from school for my 4th grader

Here's my first secret. This table is rather large and is in the center of my family room. The white bin with the ribbon is my magazine bin and I read them and look at the catalogs when I watch tv. I have parties and no one has ever even noticed one of my biggest organizing secrets sitting right here, under the table.

TAKE A PEEK!

Bend down a bit and look under my coffee table.

Here they are in full view for you. They are actually 'containers' that I think were intended as planters from Southern Living At Home, aren't they pretty?

Well at my house, the big one is my trash can and the little one is my urgent TO DO bin. Whatever comes in that needs 'action' within the next couple days goes here. I look in it daily and do what is needed and it's small and never full. My office is not far but to make life simple, there is a pen, pencil, checkbook and pad of paper inside for me!

Nothing on my table was urgent that day. Now, I should define what I think is allowed to be put in "to do". If it takes longer than 2 minutes and you need time to do it, then it should go there but the check for cub scouts that came in the mail, I just filled out a deposit slip and that is done so it didn't need to go in there. If it had been 15 checks and cash from popcorn sales, it would have gone in there! Touching it once requires that you really use your time. If I had put that check down to handle later, I would have used up more time than to just do it now!

So Where Did The Rest Go?

Here are a few spots in my office. They seem pretty and are decorative items but they have high function! The green bin has all my bills. When it's bill time, I grab the bin, pay my bills and that's it! NOTHING goes in the bin except the bill--envelopes, flyers, promo junk has all been tossed while sorting the day the bill came into the house. I literally take out 8 or so pieces of paper.

The black basket is my Pending To Do. Meaning, it isn't urgent but I need to do something with it soon or I am waiting for someone else to do something. For an example, right now, here is what is in this bin--notebook with measurements because tomorrow I need to finalize a kitchen design, stack of documents I need to hold onto until I confirm that our old insurance is completely cancelled, a school project for my son that is due Friday and I am holding onto the rules, a scouting assignment that we need to work on and info I need for a reunion I am the treasurer for. Notice that anything Pending requires action at some point. If you just want something (article, catalog, school work) those items are a reference or memory item and need a different place.

Here is where I display the kids' work that I or they love. In the black cabinet is a drawer where this year's school work is that I want to hold on to. It is not a large drawer but I do not need to keep a lot either! Their report cards and 'official' items go in a school file folder in a file cabinet but their work and art are considered memories. I have a system for memories that I wrote a while ago and you can read in detail about my school work suggestions here.

The writing assignment that I wanted to keep went on this wall and the school magazine that my son needs to read went to his desk in his room. In a week, I will find it and toss it! He is still a kid!

Sometimes newsletters come home from school and some keep them or post them. I suggest you read it and immediately put dates in your calendar and anything you need to take action on (send and item in, talk to a teacher about something) should go on your To Do list. Then toss the newsletter.

This catalog bin is by my back door and it hold catalogs that I want to hold onto. Most catalogs you can view online but unique ones like Southern Living at Home, Tastefully Simple and many many other home show sales items aren't available online so I hold onto those.

Attached to this are 2 clips. The one on the left holds things that I need to take somewhere with me. Bank deposits are almost always on there and sometimes a document I need to drop off somewhere. The one on the right holds gift cards and coupons.

The reward check that I recieved went onto the right clip and the scout deposit went on the left clip.

I have a display area for Christmas Cards so that is where that went!

The bins in my mudroom have all our scouting stuff. I am NOT a fan of letting these uniforms along with sport uniforms end up in my kids rooms as inevitably, they can't find them when you need them! Makes me CRAZY! So I control these items and they go in 2 of these bins! I toss them in the dryer to get the wrinkles out in case you wonder how I store shirts in there--it's a sacrifice I make to not have to search for them every week!

So the new shirt went straight into the bin!

The garbage went out the door! Stack is done! Writing this, it seems like a lot of info and may seem like I did a lot but the work is in setting up the system! The sorting of this stack took me 4 minutes and I was done! I told you Rule #1--Touch it Once. But Rule #2 really made this work in 4 minutes. Rule #2--A Place or everything and everything in its place! It is not a cliche, it really makes life easy!

I mentioned that I am made fun of for being organized and I am a dork in that I love systems and finding solutions and really have a passion for making life easier on myself and others! So I'm teased a bit, whatever. I was shopping in a cute boutique this weekend and saw a cute saying that I thought those of you that like to make fun of me would like. It seems that you can find a way to make fun of anyone so here you go:

Organized People

Are Just To Lazy

To Look For

Their Stuff!

Happy Sorting! And remember, TOUCH IT ONCE!

House Tour-Home Office

This part of my House Tour is my Home Office. Though I have to tell you, it is NOT just a home office. It is a home office, craft room, tv room, mudroom, pantry and main family entry. Oh, and it gets better--it's only 7' wide. One 'issue' with a farmhouse, at least the way we made it, is that is has to be symetrical. Our house has a center and then even sides and 2 stories so 4 'boxes' exactly the same size where all the rooms fit. So if I wanted one room to be bigger, I had to widen all 4 sections. Basically, to finish this long explanation, this 'room' ended up crammed! I was rather distraught with this space as I dreamed of a huge workroom with a work island in the center but knew that it was the only 'make sense' option when I finalized the plans. I spent a lot of time while designing this space to keep it open while maximizing the storage and ensuring that every inch was used wisely. I don't think you will feel like this space has too much in it but you will notice that every inch of these walls has something built into it or something on it!

Because it is a long alley of a room, it is very hard to photograph so I will do my best!

Here is my desk which is what you see from the entry while looking through the dining room. These cabinets hold TONS! The upper cabinets are deep in order to fit drawer systems and the open display helps prevent this area from looking like a big wall of cabinets. I am a big binder girl so I love my binders being out and available at any moment. I had a plug planned for this cabinet and in the basket by my binder is all our chargers--just put in your ipod or phone and it's not out on a counter!

This area is to the right of the desk. I had fun designing this wall because it was a big challenge--the window and small area had me stumped for a while! The window seat is something I drew with my carpenter and then had him cut it and nail it and I did the rest. It has storage underneath and holds things that I don't need often but want available. The craft cabinet has lots of scrapbooking items as well as a drawer that holds this year's school work that the kids bring home that I want to keep.

Here is a view of this area from the other end of the room. You can see that across from the cabinets is a built in area that keeps ALL my craft items!

The skirt hides boring storage and hides glue sticks and other functional craft tools, scrapbook work in progress, page supplies and pending scrapbook work. Above the cabinet is my jar heaven. I blogged about this before but to keep this together for the House Tour, I'll repeat a bit! The jars don't need much explanation--any craft item I have is here. I use my ribbon weekly and love that jar! The magazine bins at the very top hold things that I call 'resources'--things that I want just in case like scrapbook magazines or catalogs for future inspiration, catalogs that I don't plan to shop from right now but want for possible future shopping, kids yearbooks, volunteer reference items that I have to hold onto, every packet of school pictures where you use 5 of them and don't know what to do with the rest, etc.

Sitting to the left of the cabinets in a fun spinning system that holds all my scrapbook embellishments and above that is where I keep my often looked at catalogs along with things I need by the door--coupons, gift cards and items I need to take somewhere such as deposits.

The pantry is pretty simple--great storage. I had an outlet put inside so my roomba is always charging and my pencil sharpener is always plugged in too, but I don't have to see it.

Here is a view from the pantry and mudroom end. The door, which is our side entrance, is in between the craft/office space and the pantry/mudroom space. At the end of this long room is our half bathroom. You can see that the side of the pantry is where I keep my calendar system. I use Outlook and print my calendar every few weeks for my family to view. That way my husband can't say he didn't know because I can then point out that the calendar is right by the door!

This mudroom area is right across from the pantry. Shoes go under the bench, and the left basket has my younger son's sports items and the right basket has things that need to go out of the house like umbrellas, sports glasses and anything that we need to take somewhere or that just belongs in our cars! The bins above have storage for things we need randomly like scouting items, cooler bag for long games, sports items, etc. The boxes above hold photos from my pre-digital days.

This space is maxed out in storage even though it is not a big room. I hope it shows you that you can get function out of any space with the right planning!

My system

I get teased. It's a problem but also an amusement. I am an organizer. I love to be organized. My brain requires I be organized. Friends recently commented that they wanted to know where 'my stuff' was. Where is 'my stash' and 'my piles'. I have systems, not stashes! I answered questions which got them going on teasing me more about how their brain hurt from all the info. It made me realize that I should probably show you instead of tell you because it is NOT that complicated. I think it is really simple. Cut and Dry. Black and White. If you have systems, there's only a few places where you need to put things.

So, Follow me through a day!

Here's my plan. I am going to be out of town all weekend. I leave Friday morning. So I will come home to several days of mail, paperwork from school, magazines, sales flyers, etc. I will show you my "process". I will photograph and list what I had to work through on Monday and publish this sometime on Tuesday! And you will see that it is not only SIMPLE but also PRETTY and NEAT! I promise, no headaches . . .

It's time to decorate for Christmas!

I have lots to do but here is the wreath I made. I decided to work in Pink since my new niece would be here for the first time this Thanksgiving and I was hosting a shower for twin girls the weekend after Thanksgving in my home! It adds a nice touch I think and is a bit fun!

Happy Decorating!

Baby Shower for the TWINS!

I had a great time hosting a shower for my twin, who is having twins! Here are two collages that I made of the decor!

Baby Shower for McKenley!

I so enjoyed being able to help my sister-in-law celebrate the exciting arrival of her new daughter, McKenley. This is my first personal experience with adoption and it is really an amazing experience! Scrambling with no real plan is rather interesting and NOT what I am best at but I think I and her friend Normia pulled it off with only a few weeks notice! This shower was hosted at Normia's home and I really enjoyed just showing up with stuff and throwing a party! I have been loving paper lanterns and this was the first time I used them. I made the banner with fun paper and my new Cricut--what a great machine! There is a closer picture of the start of the banner so you can see it better--it said "McKenley is Here!". I showed you the diaper cake last week but here it is in its official place at the shower. The Baby sign was just something fun that I did because I couldn't stop playing with my Cricut! That sign with the shadow letters took me like 10 minutes? Is this a Cricut commercial? Sorry! The cake was made in Sebring and was gorgeous and tasted great!

A few silly games! It wouldn't be a baby shower without games! I am a fan of interactive games where you don't have to stand in front of a crowd and talk 'at' them and where they have to sit all together for 45 minutes. We played a game where you were blindfolded and you had to find safety pins in rice for a specific amount of time and it was quite difficult!

This is a 'memory' game that I put together. I mentioned before that I am hosting a second baby shower this coming weekend and am doing this game with a fun twist so check it out when I blog in early December!

This was fun and simple--guess the amount of pacifiers! It's hard to see here but these are the cute decorative pacis that you can buy at Michaels or party stores. It was fun to not only announce the winners but to also see how low and how high some people guessed!

This is a gift that our Aunt Harriet has given us for every single baby! I should have taken one out for a better picture but they are imprinted disposable diapers with the baby's name on it--cute!!

What a fun shower and great celebration! Every baby is a miracle and every baby comes (hopefully!) from dreams and anticipation but there is just something special about the reward you get when the path of adoption is added into this process. She is a little miracle for her parents and big brother (who thinks his little brother will come in "another week") and I'm so proud to be a new Aunt!

Happy Fall Ya'll!

Since this week is Thanksgiving, I thought I would post pictures of my Fall Decorations! I don't do Halloween since we are in a rural area where people don't trick or treat (don't worry, we go somewhere else, my kids are not deprived of 15 lbs of candy that they don't need). Instead, I do "Fall" and leave it up until the end of November! Though I will admit that this year is a bit different. Because I am hosting a baby shower here the weekend of Thanksgiving and going out of town the following weekend, I decided to start Christmas early! But normally, Fall is up through Thanksgiving weekend! I stopped decorating and tweaking once I realized that things had to change but here is what I did before I had to take it down!

I thought about not showing you my front door because I'm not loving the garland above. It was very heavy and didn't 'swag' very well but whatever, I tried it and it didn't work! Next year I will get something that drapes better, deal with it!

Here are some areas in my entry:

This is living room and dining room areas-I didn't do much in either as I still like clean spaces when it comes to where we spend a lot of time!

Here are pictures from my kitchen:

Even my coffee bar got some fun candles!


I am looking forward to a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and a busy weekend celebrating the pending arrival of new nieces! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

Baby Shower Decor!

I am co-hosting a baby shower this weekend for my new niece! It is not in my home and I am taking what I am doing out of town and mingling it in with another person's decor and style. I hope I won't scare her because I have lots of stuff to take! I'll post pictures next week but wanted to share my diaper cake! The shower theme is brown and pink so I went with that, of course! Yes, it is 100% diapers, except the center which is bottles.

I love doing something totally FUN and cute and since I don't have any girls I am having a BLAST with this shower! OH, and the TWIN GIRL shower that I am hosting for my TWIN in two weeks! Yes, just typing that gets me teary eyed--I mean, how CUTE and UNIQUE is that????? That will be at my house and I plan to have fun so I'll put that up early December!

Home Office in great need of systems!

Here is my newest project! This homeowner is very busy with multiple businesses and 2 children. They just completed an addition to the back of their home in order to gain space! This room is right off their entry and she is a bit overwhelmed, can you tell? I am reorganizing this space as well as setting up the new Play Room. Most importantly, I am merging things together from many different areas to create true "homes" for all items and am creating systems to better manage her busy life! She is very intelligent and juggles more than most and just needs an organized environment and rules to follow in order to maintain a Pretty Neat space!

I will post After pictures next week!

Halloween Drink Bar

I know this isn't really about Decorating or Organization but this blog is also about creativity and making everyday things fun so I thought I'd post it!

I made a Creepy Halloween Bar for my friend's party and had SO much fun!

Here is the bar. I used a basic black bowl and glued the halloween trim to it. All the labels were made with basic scrapbook paper and ribbons that I found. Using halloween inspired sticker letters would have been expensive and time consuming. An easy solution is to download cool fonts instead. All the fonts I used were free. I didn't take a good picture of the wine covers I made but they were quite cute too and are in the background of the bar.

This is the cosmo with Dry Ice and it was so much fun! Dry Ice has several rules that you can easily find online if you want to try it one day. As long as you follow the safety guidelines, it's a blast and really made the bar creepy and cool! The ice popped and bubbled in the ladel.

Yes, gross. That's the point. Isn't it fun? You can see I set it up with some shot glasses but I didn't think anyone would actually drink it so I didn't put out a serving piece. One person wanted to try it and he said it wasn't that bad! Note that if you do a fun gooey shot like this, it's all about the container. This in a shallow glass or colored item would not have looked great--it needed something pretty to make it look all the more creepy!

This is the sandwich I made. It is just crossaint dough wrapped around ham and provolone. Easy but fun! I also made adorable eyeballs for dessert for the kids that were SO easy but I didn't take a picture!

I LOVE crafting things for holidays so stay tuned--it offically is the season! I'm also working on TWO baby showers this month and will have lots of fun with those as well!

House Tour-Red and White 1/2 Bath

This is our 1/2 bathroom which is off our side entrance.

My "pretty" item in this bathroom is the sink and wall mounted faucet. I love vessel sinks but I am not contemporary at all and 90% of vessels are. I spent a long time shopping and found this one on ebay, perfect for our farmhouse! I love ebay!

My something "neat" item is next. This large corner behind the door needed something and these baskets were a housewarming gift from my friend Amy! We are in a rural 'swampy' area and have a pool so it is filled with bug spray and sunscreen along with lotions and, or course, TP!

The funny wire bride on top of the rolled towels is something I made for my wedding and the jar has a bridesmaid boquet in it. I was married in a rose garden and there are little red roses scattered at her neck and waist. I made 3 or 4 of these brides and they were spread out on the buffet table if I recall. I kept one and never had anything to do with it until we moved here. I thought it blended right into the red and white bathroom!

Since this is a house tour and I want you to feel like you are truly a guest here, I should show you what is always a conversation piece when I have company. If you were really here, you would come out of the bathroom chuckling and if you didn't live in our area, you would ask me WHY! It's pretty self explanatory--we have a septic and some don't understand that you can't put a lot down the drain! Every time I had a large group of girls over, we would be calling a plumber days later. SO, I made these and put little bags in them that I found online at a hotel supply site. There isn't one in my bathroom or my kids but the guestroom bath, this bathroom and the pool house all have a color coordinated bag! You do what you have to do right??

I love decorating this bathroom for Christmas and switch out all the smaller red towels with fun, whimsical ones and it's quite cute in here!

I like it when clients go on vacation!

This makeover has been in the works for a few months now. My clients went on a 10 day vacation so we have been planning and discussing and I've been shopping for quite some time in order to take over their home while they were gone. True to my commitment, I spent more time in their home than my own this week and it was well worth it! I have worked in this home before but have not yet done the one thing that I think is truly required when you truly decorate your home--PAINT!

Before I show you the before and afters, I have to give credit where credit is due--the homeowner found the bedding and picked the paints. I was going for a relaxed, spa like feel in the bathroom and my first paint suggestion was a soft green. Well she wanted BOLD!! Which I LOVE! Their past bedroom had tan everything with a white duvet so I didn't expect this drastic of a change, though it totally fits their fun, dynamic personalities. This is a HUGE change for them and I'm excited they decided to make it a true transformation! So get ready for ORANGE paint as well as Green and Brown from the new Ralph Lauren Metallic line! It is GORGEOUS!!!

Master Bedroom

Check out the plain white raised ceiling in the before-it's now orange! They are considering a corner sectional in the right area by the couch. I would like some creamy toned side tables over there and there is a large mirror to hang between this area and the bed if they decide to not change this area but I avoided the furniture cost as well as a large anchor in the wall until the decision is made.

She bought coordinating straight valances for the long window that matched the bedding which I could NOT live with so I asked her to give me just one of them and let me alter it and add drapes and she let me do my thing! That is a favorite trick of mine--altering something simple off the shelf that lacks in 'umph' and make it unique while adding some style!

Master Bathroom

This bathroom is large and quite unique with the tub in the middle of the room and had great 'bones' but was just non descript with the tan walls next to the tan tile. I edited their accessories, added pops of color and created display areas for the things that they needed on the counters. The phrase on the mirror raises your eye and really makes you see how large the bathroom is, though this was VERY hard to photograph with all the reflecting mirrors.

Here are a few areas in the bathroom that helped create big changes. One thing that I LOVE about the homeowners is they have things they truly love and like to see that hold personal value when others would perhaps put them away if they didn't fit into the room. One of those things is a clay tube of toothpaste and toothbrush that the husband made when he was little! It was on his counter so I put up a shelf in an empty area so it had a worthy home. And I love how it looks so great with the paint, which I wish I could say I thought of but I didn't, it just worked! This shelf needs another item which I will figure out on another day.

Guest Bathroom

They owned the beach inspired pictures so I used those and added a few accessories to tie in and look at how easy this change was!

Bar/Pool Room

This room was set up but didn't have much personality. We wanted it moody, relaxed and a great room for parties! ! This paint is SO dark that I couldn't get a good photo of the entire room so below the before and after are two pictures close up where you can see the shimmer and true tone of the wall--GORGEOUS!!!

The bar cabinet was full of alcohol and couldn't be closed so I found the shelves at Pottery Barn and they helped enable us to organize and close the doors. The shelf display can be changed out to focus on a different theme or even drink motif! I used what they had for now but plan to talk to them more about what they love to really personalize this for them. Here are a few ideas to use as a display:

• High end liquors with several old fashioned glasses
• Wine accessories with a gorgeous decanter and cork screw
• Martini glasses with different mixers, a shaker and martini mixing set with a martini recipe book
• Fun shooters (the kind that look like test tubes) with popular shot liquors such as goldschlager or you could display ingredients for a popular shot or shot you are serving like a B52 or Lemon Shot with the recipe displayed in a frame and of course a Shot recipe book which is more fun to read than actually use!
• Unique beer steins with a display of your favorite regional or international beer

The ideas are endless!!


















Dining Room

This is right off of the bar so we chose to paint a niche to tie into the room and I also had to add shades to the chandelier to complete this area! There is also an entry area that we painted green and another bathroom that is also green and an office area that was painted brown but this post is getting long enough!


I enjoyed this week so much and love that they didn't see it as it was being done so they can fully feel the transformation when they walk in. It was a TON of work and their house was a MESS during this process between painters as well as myself working in the same space so I'm glad they were gone for that reason too! I wish all my clients would vacation for a week and let me take over as I think it is a rewarding process for everyone!

Tour of My Home

Welcome to my Home! If I were a Gardener, you'd want to see what my yard looked like, right? You can certainly see that I'm not a landscaper! That is on my list of things to do, I promise! Dentists had better have white teeth! And hairdressers should always have great hair! So I assume you wonder, how do I live? My #1 goal with my customers and with my blog is to bring beautiful living and functional living together and I would love to show you how I live.

We have been here since the Spring of 2007. I drew the plans for this house years ago and always had a 'vision' of what my dream home would look like. When we finally found land, I took my drawings to our structural engineer and we had blueprints done and submitted for permitting 2 months later! Nine months later, the house was done! You can do things fast when you know what you love and what you want. I enjoyed the process immensely and loved planning it all from the 'big picture' items to even the smallest details!

I'm still not done, but who ever is? In almost every room, I see things that I need to do or things that aren't complete in my opinion but I will go ahead and start this so you can see how it is now and as things change, I'll show you that as a project!

Because my goal is to always make something beautiful as well as functional, I will show you each room and then point out something "pretty" that was either a focal point or something I created for that space and then something "neat" that helps myself or my family use that space better or easier.

I will try to put up a new room every week until our tour is done!

School Paperwork Solution for a Disorganized Child!

Do you have a disorganized child? I do! He has a form of autism and he very much struggles with not only keeping his paperwork where it belongs but also is not very gentle so he destroys things much easier than most. Every year, he has a planner and by mid November, it is looking pretty rough. By mid January, pages that should be intact are falling out. Also, paperwork that needs to come home sometimes doesn't and paperwork that needs to go to his teacher is lost between the car and the classroom! If any of this sounds like your child, read on!

Last year, we had to brainstorm on solutions and his teacher came up with a folder like this! I took on creating this year's folder for his new 4th grade teacher and of course had fun with it! He LOVES legos and I've had this scrapbook kit sitting, just waiting for the right project!

Here's how to set up the binder:

• Planner goes on the rings (this planner is school issued)
• Binder clips are clipped on both sides so it is opened to this week's page. NO tearing through pages trying to find where he is supposed to write.
• On the left pocket is a sticker that says "Keep at Home"
• On the right pocket is a sticker that says "Return to School"

Here's how to use the binder:

• His teacher helps him sort his items each day to bring home
• Items he does not need to touch that she is just sending home, she puts in the left pocket
• Homework sheets and things that need to be sent back are on the right.
• I place anything that is going back in the right pocket along with his completed homework.
• The teacher takes his folder and pulls it all out, preventing him from putting things where he can't find them!
• As I check his folder Friday afternoon, I move the clips to the following week.

This has worked great for us and I hope it helps you if you have a disorganized child! Working with the teacher is obviously necessary as this requires more support than most kids are accustom to. We have found that a little more effort on the adult's part makes it not only easier for us in the long run but takes stress off of him as sorting all this random paperwork has proved a bit overwhelming!

If you have other organizational issues with your child, let me know in the comments and I'll be glad to address them. I think it's safe to say that most problems we have faced in this family between this child on the autistic spectrum and my other child with a very short attention span so bring it on and I'll try to help!

Stacked Laundry Area

One functional decision we made when building our home was to put a washer and dryer in our master bedroom, in addition to a set in the upstairs laundry room. Anyone with a master on the 1st floor and kids rooms on the 2nd floor knows the frustration of having laundry on only one of those floors. We had this in our last home and I loathed carrying the laundry up and down the stairs. This was an easy decision for us!

When you walk into the closet, those stacked machines are the first thing you see. We custom build a hamper in a lower cabinet and then had the surround built around the machines to maximize storage. People have asked if you can stack this type of machine. They are so large that you can't imagine how tall they will be and picture it huge! You can see that they are a bit shorter than a standard closet cabinet which is to their left and is not as bad as you would perhaps have pictured. My 9 year old can reach the top controls just fine, though my 7 year old can't. There are other chores he can do so that's okay! It works great for us and I think it's easier on your back too! If you have a tight space and want to maximize your storage, this is a great solution.

I didn't love that you see the side of the machines when you walk in. Building our surround storage deep enough to cover the sides would have taken up too much space and I felt it would have been more of a "wall" than I wanted so we opted to leave it open and set the storage back. This storage, though large, would have also been too deep to function well, sometimes "less is more". I found this fun decal through Uppercase Living and I think adding this turned something boring into something fun with a bit of whimsy! I smile when I walk into my high functioning closet and what else could a girl want really?

A forgotten hall closet

This closet was a great place for things to "collect". It had lots of random stuff and it was a place where they looked for things they needed, not sure if it was there or not. One of those "maybe it's in the hall closet?" spaces. This space was a perfect spot to organize all their household items--light bulbs, cat food, tools, batteries, extension cords--all those things you need but often end up under the sink or in a desk drawer. I picked up a few of my favorite things (these bins, notice how there isn't an ugly gray handle on it!) and viola! A space perfect for all thier household items. Now when they need something, they know exactly where it is!

Back Porch Redo

I recently showed you the family room redo with the fabulous green window treatment. Now that their family room is done, they decided they must redo the back porch. They are in Florida and could use this space for many relaxing evenings as well as another seating area for large parties, which they do have!

Interesting story to consider: I mentioned I was working on this space to a mutual friend who had been at a party in their home when it looked like this (Right). He said "they have a back patio?". It was so underutilized that it didn't even exist! They didn't use it and their friends didn't even see it--even through the 16 foot window!!

Here is another view of the patio BEFORE from the newly completed family room:

Here is the same view now that the porch has been redone:

The #1 change is the screen enclosure. This gives them a bit more shade and will help keep their new furniture clean. A brilliant idea that the clients had was their use of a refrigerator as a side table. It is topped with a natural branch runner to give it some texture and interest and used just like a side table but if they would like a cool drink on their Florida porch, they don't even have to move! The outdoor rug soften the pavers and makes it all the more comfortable. They now relax with their laptop and a drink and use a space that at one time was rarely uses!
This is the view from their breakfast nook area. We are still looking for the perfect simple 'something' to disguise the AC system. The clients now enjoy grilling which is something they never did before this redo!

What a difference a window treatment makes!

I showed you this completed room a few months ago and had not yet posted a picture of the entire window treatment. This slider is 16 feet long and was quite a project! This massive space needed quite a POP and I created that with green dupioni silk. Here is the BEFORE:
The topper is one continuous piece and is double sided with a blackout liner in the center. It weighed a ton and I could barely lift it on my own. The side panels are backed with the same blackout liner and they close to block light on the afternoons that they want to lie on their comfy couch and watch a movie.

This client had a friend visiting one day and he said this was the "sexiest" window treatment he has ever seen. I thought that was quite a unique compliment!

Note the back patio as that will soon be the BEFORE of the redo for their outdoor space.

Pulling Together A New Office

I was asked to help pull together a small medical office. This was for a Chiropractor that will see patients in a Pediatrician's office once a week as both doctors are working toward integrating standard medicine with fields that focus first on wellness, which as a parent I love the idea of. I feel odd mentioning names but if you are in Central Florida and are interested in this type of partnership between doctors, email me as I'd love to recommend them to you!

He has a waiting room and a room next to it for his adjusting area that was not private nor defined from the other. He brought his green table into an office with baby blue walls and red chairs and I must say, I was a little perplexed how I would make this space feel cohesive when I first walked in!

The Challenge:

Make a curtain that could provide privacy for the adjusting room. Warm up the space. Provide something for kids and siblings to do while waiting. If possible, try to make the curtain tie into the green table and blue walls and red chairs. (Um, okay!)

Before: waiting room area

After: waiting room area

Before: adjusting room.

(This also clearly shows the colors that I was working with)

After: adjusting room

Once I saw the small window, I had to complete a valance for that as well!


Here is a closer look at the fabric I found! You can't see the red well in the pictures but it does stand on its own in the space. It softens the room up and ties the colors together!

Fabric really is amazing isn't it?

Make Your Own Window Seat

I do encourage doing everything on your own but you may need a little bit of help on this unless you know how to use a saw! It only takes a short amount of time to do the construction part and it isn't that difficult! The fabric is all you!

1. Determine where you want your seat and the size. Lay out large paper if it has a unique shape which is what I did here. I free handed the curve. Or, determine the exact dimensions if it has straight lines.

2. Cut the seat shape out of two pieces of MDF. Yes, TWO.

3. Take one piece of MDF to your local upholstery shop and choose your foam. The thicker the better. You need to do this first, or at least know your plan, before you build your seat so you know exactly how high the base seat needs to be built. They will cut it for you to match your top exactly. To give you an idea of cost, mine is 4" thick and was around $70.

4. Use 2x4s to support one piece of your MDF seat at your predetermined height. Use studs to support the seat on the wall as well as legs and then make legs every 8"-12" where it isn't attached to the wall. If you plan to use this as storage, make sure your legs are spaced correctly for function. You won't see it so just make it strong and you are set! Construction is done!

5. Buy your fabrics!

6. Determine the bottom skirt measurement. You will need to leave 3" inches to staple on the top. The length should be adjusted based on how much gathering you want. 1.5 times your actual length gives you a decent amount but play a bit before you cut! Hem the sides and bottom. Start gathering and pinning until you get the piece the right length with gathers. Do one run on the sewing machine to hold the fabric in place and remove the pins. If you need to tweak it, just loosen or gather more as you go, especially around the corners but doing this first makes it easier. Staple it to the built in bench. You should use an upholstery stapler to get through the MDF which you can get at any craft store.

7. Set your seat fabric face down on a flat surface. Set your cushion and then your MDF, also upside down. Ensure you have enough room surrounding every side to cover before you start to staple! The TRICK with upholstering is to take it slow and to maintain your fabric lines as you go. Do not start at one point and stay in a straight line. Put a few staples in the center of the left side, a few on the right, a few in the front, a few in the back, always ensuring that your fabric is staying taunt, not pulled too tight and remaining straight. Do the corners last by gathering each piece carefully so you don't have any areas with a large amount of fabric. Staying balanced is key. Curves are tough! You must use fabric with some give. Email me if you need some hints but most likely, you won't have to worry with that!

8. Viola! You have a window seat and it's gorgeous and custom! Now sew some pillows from coordinating fabric to go with it or buy some! Mine has some scrapbook storage under it and if I'm in the middle of a sewing project, I slide the storage box and other stuff under until I'm done with that project! It's a great hiding place too, the kids love it!

"Make Me Pretty" said the desk . . .

Can you tell these clients have a BIG house? They don't even NEED this area! Surrounding this area by their garage entry are 3 bedrooms and a bathroom and one room is a large office. So this area did not need to be used at all as an office but it did need something!

The Challenge:
Move the collectibles to another area. Create a space that looks good!

What Worked:
Decor: Clean Slate
Organization: Lots of space!

What Didn't Work:
Decor: This became a space where things collected. I didn't take a picture before I moved a few things but it basically housed extra wine and collectibles.
Organization: There are drawers but they weren't organized. It was an easy catch-all. However, there was no home for anything so her purse and his keys ended up in the kitchen or laundry room or sometimes here. The goal was to find places where all these things belonged! They own 2 businesses and had lots of paperwork, flyers, marketing they wanted to read, pending decisions, industry magazines, etc. that ended up in other areas as well and I wanted to find a place for them to sort these things too.

I organized this space along with several closets all at once in order to zone everything. Batteries are now in one place and not in 4 different areas, for example. The desk holds everyday office type supplies like tape, pens and thank you cards! No more screwdrivers and light bulbs here!

The basket holds things like sunglasses, the hooks hold keys and her purse and the tower sorts all their pending business materials until they are ready to take action or toss them. The bulletin board holds pictures, invitations and upcoming items. The clips can be used by anyone for whatever their 'thing' is that always seems to be sitting around. Maybe it's paperwork to take with you or forms to send to school or banking if you run a business from home. For this family, they always had coupons as well as gift cards sitting around so the clips are labeled and now they have a home for them!

Can you do anything with this space?

I enjoy a unique challenge and this was certainly a tough one! This bathroom is the employee bathroom in a medical office. Their office is very busy and every inch of space is used for their patients, except for a narrow area for the only private office and this bathroom. So, it has become storage along with being their bathroom. As you walk in on either side, there are two LARGE metal units that house all their office supplies. It was so narrow I couldn't even photograph inside them. Past them as you start to see the actual bathroom area housed cleaning supplies and you can't see it in the picture but in between the right cabinet and the toilet was a small tower of the paint cans they needed for future touch ups.

The Challenge:

Organize the space, help us find space, make it look better and Nothing can leave! That's right, even the paint cans need to stay! There really was no other room in their large office for these things.

What Worked:

Decor: The wall color ties into the office and I am pleased I can unify this neglected space with the rest of their office that has been set up quite nicely.

Organization: They have done a good job of keeping things up with their space challenge. Their supplies were in order and everything they had they did need.

What Didn't Work:

Decor: Definition between storage and bathroom had been completely lost. I had to take back the bathroom area as tight as it was!

Organization: Zones were desperately needed. A few storage items were needed to maximize their storage space within the cabinets.

It's tough to see but on the sides of this picture, you can see the tan 6' tall storage cabinets that take up pretty much this entire space.

Sorting through every shelf, bin and box and determining specific zones made a huge difference. Parts for medical equipment were clearly labeled and given their own zone which had no place of its own before. They now have a system set up with a reference at each cabinet along with labels on everything so they can quickly locate anything from a paperclip to marketing for future holidays. Zoning items helped free up enough space to move everything off the floor--even all the paint!

Here is the after. I made the sink skirt from a shower curtain and the basket to the left of the sink on the wall was in the CD section at Target that was not made for hanging at all. Altering items and using them in another manner than what they were intended can save money while solving problems! I hung the cleaning supplies and the mop bucket is under the sink. Everything that had been in the plastic drawer system is now in the cabinets.

Wallpapered Niche

Here again is the before:

I asked if anyone had any idea what I was up to and yes, you guessed it--Wallpaper! I know, wallpaper is not on the top of most of our lists of great things. If you have ever removed it, you are, I'm sure, with me! I knew I wanted something different in this area above my refrigerator. I had lived with the green for a year, thinking and thinking about what it is I wanted to do there.

At one point, I though it would be fun to decoupage it with scrapbook paper as I was inspired by this from several decorating blogs. But I'm picky. And they didn't railroad. Meaning--match, line up, connect. So I checked out wallpaper and fell in love with this wine label paper. It had great bold color that matched my home so I decided to just do it! I bought the cheapest paste so that I can pull it down in a year or two when a new idea strikes me. I picture this spot being a place where I can move things around as I am inspired or my collections change.

Once I was done, the red pottery just was too much with the white and the wallpaper so I pulled more of my white collection together (American Atelier, Athena with a few pieces from their Baroque line). I do not normally encourage wallpaper but it's great for a small 'pop' in places like this. You can back display cabinets or bookcases too! This spot took me 5 hours by the way, imagine wallpapering the inside of a box! I won't take this project on again anytime soon!

Lets talk about pillows!

So, we all have pet peeves. Things that bug us. Just annoys us. This is really minor in the realm of life but one of mine is the pillows that come with your couch! Sure they 'match' but they don't really give your couch character now do they? 90% of couches are a basic neutral color which I am ALL about. But you still need to have your couch coordinate with your room and leaving the neutral pillows on it leaves it just a blob of tan in the middle of your room! Here are gorgeous couches, but all looking like 'tan blobs'! Once you have a color scheme, pull those colors into your room through new pillows. You can buy some or make some, or both. Mix it up! Here is an example of how to do this. Here is a room that I transformed and their couch is gorgeous and feels like a soft sweater but it had no life!

We started with this store bought striped pillow. This pillow captured all the colors we wanted in the room and this became our base for all color choices. I focused on decorative pillows but also think that at least one pillow should be comfy--one that you can just curl up with! That pillow in this room is the butter colored pillow. I used a high quality down filled pillow form for comfort and no trim so that it would be cozy and not easily damaged.

This red pillow was purchased and then I made this green pillow from the same fabric used on their window treatments with a lush trim that coordinates with all the pillows.

Using the same green and using some tassels from the same trim, I made these pillows for chairs that flank a console in the entry which help tie that space into the family room. Imagine this same area without the pillows. It would look fine but there wouldn't be enough color, the chairs would look a bit cold and it wouldn't have as much interest.

Here is the same couch with the new pillows. Doesn't this couch look alive now? No Tan Blob in this room!I know, you don't want to 'waste' a good pillow. Neither do I! You have 2 options. 1. Use the pillows that come with your couch somewhere else. If you have chairs or a different couch elsewhere in the room, perhaps they would work there. If you view my Home Tour, you may notice that the pillows that are the largest and on the back of my window seat in my office are actually the matching pillows from my couch in my family room! 2. Use the form that came with the couch but sew new covers. I did this on the chairs on my patio. Forms run from $8-30 depending on size/quality so the 6 pillows I used saved a lot of money! The nice thing about doing this is that the old cover is now your perfect pattern! Just measure, pin it and make sure it's the same and sew!

Okay, go arrange your pillows please! Oh, and the same 'issue' happens with bedding sets so check that out too!

Kitchen Niche Project

Here's another Before! When I designed my home, I knew I didn't want the usual wood lined niche above my refrigerator. It is expected and darker than I prefer. I pictured this area a bit fun with a burst of color. And also something that I could change around as my decor changed. So, I just had them drywall it and paint it until I could get to it. After much back and forth in my head, I have decided what it is I am going to do! I have ordered what I need and should have it in a few weeks! Lets just say, it is something I never thought I'd do again and something my husband is quite apprehensive about! Can you guess? Here is a BEFORE of my project and I can't wait to show you what I have come up with!

What could be prettier?

Okay, my kids smiles should be my first answer I know! But besides that, I just love to look at this jar. Am I nuts? I walk past it all the time and love it when it catches my eye! I so enjoy needing to use it as I love to dig through all the tiny ribbon that makes such a huge difference when I'm creating!

I know this isn't a life altering design tip but really, if you don't love the things you have in your home, what's the point? You should look in every room and see areas that you love and that you are drawn to. I have seen many blogs where they photograph those areas and items (anything from a photo wall to flowers on a side table) and show all the pictures. Maybe I'll do that someday . . . My ribbon jar would be on the top of my list.

Craft Supplies!

So, you buy supplies for a craft project for your child's class and have left over googly eyes. Probably a few pipe cleaners too. Then you decorate for a girl's baby shower and now have tiny pink flowers and lots of sheer pink ribbon left over. Oh, and lets not forget about the remaining teeny tiny clothes pins that were so cute holding up baby socks at the same shower. And you were nice enough to buy all the leather rope and primary colored beads for a cub scout project and they only come in 5 lbs bags! WHERE do you put all this stuff?

Years ago, I'd store it in the original bag and put it in a craft drawer. But in a rush to complete another school project, I almost always bought more googly eyes because it's just too much work to dig for the old ones! Right? Here is how I solved that problem. I think that anything can be gorgeous if you display it beautifully! All of the above mentioned items are mixed into this wall and they don't go together at all but look at how great they look!

Here are a few pointers:

-Buy many different sized containers. This wall has 4 glass containers. The big candy jar bins (4 each of 2 different sizes) hold chunky ribbons, stamp pads, stamps, beads, large tabs, handheld punches, etc. The tiny jars hold all the tiny things you end up with from brads to flowers to tacks to clips. The taller medium jars are perfect for smaller ribbons, those googly eyes, smaller tags, pins for sewing, etc. The toile bins hold things that are too tall to fit in the bins and provide a pop of color that tie into the rest of the room behind the teeny tiny jars. The basket holds scrapbooks that I've made at expos and hope to complete someday! Shelves are from http://www.ballarddesigns.com/ .

-Make sure you buy enough containers and get some extra! In two years when you have a few more things, you want to have matching jars. If you want more and have none and they are no longer available, it will start to look junky if you start a new jar in a row of all matching jars.

-What makes this wall cohesive is that they all coordinate. All are clear glass with simple lids. They aren't all from the same container line but they still work together. Imagine if the tiny jars will all silver and contemporary looking and the medium bins were all white that look like cookie jars and the big ones were clear glass. Everything would be stored but it wouldn't look as cohesive and wouldn't have as great an impact.

-But I don't like matchy matchy, what about me? If you like the vintage look of old jars that don't match, go for it! I love that look! But there is still a trick to make it cohesive. You should make sure you have a wide assortment of different sizes and different shapes. What doesn't look as good is if you have say 10 jars that all match and then 3 or 4 that are different. Or 15 jars that are all the same tall size and 3 that are short. Varying the styles, shapes and heights so that they all are different but so that the variety is balanced makes it a cohesive collection!

-Labels. I am a bit obsessed with labels. But I didn't label my jars! Why? Creativity and art are always evolving and I don't want to be stuck with labels that are an issue to change every time I decide to add or take away an item. In a year, if I start using more brads but stop using letter stamps, I'll just switch things around instead of having to deal with label changes. Also, they are clear so the item is a "label" in itself.

This picture is what this area looks like from the side. My "office" is a little less than 7' wide but runs the entire length of the house. In it is a desk with computer, lots of cabinet storage, this craft area, my kids school display area, a window seat with a tv above it, a pantry and our mudroom. It is truly a "multipurpose" room! Just so you know what else is in this wall section, the built in below that is curtained covers 12x12 paper storage towers and more craft items that aren't as pretty (rolls of tape, kids scissors, gluesticks, etc.). The very top shelf is full of magazine bins that I have shown you in another post.

This wall is really the epitome of how to make a space PRETTY NEAT!

Family Resources

Every family needs a place to hold your reference items and my solution is a Family Resource Binder. What goes in it? Well that depends on your family. Mine has a menu section, school schedules, homemade gift ideas that I might want to use someday, a 'personal education' section where I have an article about wine and books I would like to read, vacation spots I'd like to some day visit and the list goes on.

After sorting through your clutter areas and determining what it is you are holding onto and why, I can create a custom Family Resource Binder for your family.




If I am not organizing your home but you would like one, I will gladly make one for you at a cost of $65. That includes the following: Binder, 80 pages to hold your items, custom cover where you and I will work together to select the colors that best fit your home, custom tabs that coordinate with your cover, and Content page that details the topics of your Family Resource binder. We will determine the "content page" together, based on your family's needs and you will be given a word document of that content page so that as your family changes and grows, your Family Resource Binder can as well.

You can contact me at Kiersten@ThePrettyNeatCompany.com if you would like to discuss your own Family Resource Binder.

I have readers!!!!

Wow! Welcome new readers!!! I barely know how to put up posts and hadn't even shown my mother until last night yet people are visiting! My blog was designed by Jennisa (her link is on my side thingy and she does SUCH a great job!) and I am listed as one of her designs and it seems 2 people have come and even left me comments! I have comments! :) And one of my sister's friends in Georgia said he will be following. I am now a multi-state read blog! I feel famous which I know is sad. I really have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to this so thank you for showing me what it feels like to have someone look at what I am up to! I have a web address (theprettyneatcompany.com) but have NO idea what to do with it (so it is "parked" and is a future project) and have an email address (Kiersten@theprettyneatcompany.com) but I have no idea what to do with that either! Someday, once I am not spending hours just getting the format of one blog correct, I will figure that stuff out as well as start wandering and visiting you all too, I promise.

Since it feels so great to have comments, go ahead and keep them coming! :) And if you have a decorating or organizing question or "issue", let me know and I'll do my best to come up with a project and example in the future for you!

And a special 'shout out' to Jenn who has left 2 comments and added me to blog reader! I have NO NO NO idea what that means, though I assume it alerts her that I have written something?, but it makes me feel really special! Hee hee!

Thanks for visiting and I will do my best to post things that will keep you interested! And by the way, I wrote a lot in the past without actually getting around to taking pictures of the projects that go with them. I'm recalling my Family Resource Binder, kid's paperwork area and magazine bins to name a few so give me a few weeks and then go back and check them out too if you would like to see those completed posts!

Because I really love blogs where there are lots of pictures, here is a picture of myself and some of my girlfriends at a party I had this past October. I have known them all since middle school and some much longer--Nicole (teal shirt in front) was my first friend from this group at age FIVE! Oh, the history . . . . since they are intermingled very much in my life, they will not be surprised to see themselves on my page--once I get around to giving them a link to this. :) And someday, I'll tell you more about how I made that cornice board and how I think that outdoor accessories, like the ones on the wall to the right, can easily work into your interior decor too! Oh, and that chick that looks like me in black and white--that's my twin, Kim. I'm blending into the window treatment in the very back . . .

My first blog "After"!

I am finally ready to post after pictures of the family room I have redone. I focused on utilizing what they had as they have lots of beautiful, new furniture and accessories that they have collected in their travels. Other than buying a small side table and a large expense in silk fabric, the rest of the room was transformed through some new accessories and rearranging what they owned. Every single thing purchased has color and I'm sure you will agree that it makes a huge difference.

Here is the before:

And here is the after:



Pieces were added to maximize the tall walls. Color now gives this room life! The walls and shelves still utilize her collections while obtaining a better scale to the room. Storage solutions were found for things like magazines and remotes under the coffee table. See the green on the pillow? That's the same silk I used on their 16 foot long (yes, huge!) custom window treatment! I have never sewn anything so large--the valance weighed 40 lbs I think! You can see on the left that space was found for a massage chair from another room that the owner loves and here is a picture of that area, which also shows you one side of the window treatment.

This slider is so large with so much light coming in that a long shot has not come out yet but I'll keep working on it and am sure you can imagine how much this space has changed!!




I am still working on many other spaces but wanted to show you the progress so far!

Flat Screens, Game Systems and Cords, Oh My!

Cords are an inevitable problem whenever you have a flat screen and/or game systems. There are very expensive solutions to this and anyone can figure that out, however, I'd like to show you a trick to 'fix' this without hiring a framer, electrician, drywall guy and painter!

Here is an example of a flat screen mounted on the wall with the cords hidden in a tunnel in the wall. Once the tv is installed, it is very hard to add a cord so once the Wii was purchased, there's still a visible cord! As with any system, lots of games and remotes were added to the pile. And LOOK at the cords on the floor! There's not a lot of room to tuck in cords at the tv so all the excess ends up on the floor.

Here are some simple solutions! The cord was run to the right of the tv (taped underneath!) and two plants were put there to make it disappear. Two coordinating baskets were added to the area--the smaller one holds games and the everyday remotes and the large one on the floor holds the larger accessories. A simple frame or canvas print works perfectly to disguise the mound of cords--this one was around $15 at Old Time Pottery. The pot of flowers just adds an extra element to balance the basket. It became a beautiful area with just a few accessories!

There is a phrase in the design business--"Decorate Around It". This is a perfect example of when this rule can be used successfully!

If you are mounting a flat screen in your existing home, it is a tricky project to get it right but you can do it! First, determine where it needs to be mounted based on your framing and the height you want. Before you get the tv up, determine where the available space for cords will fall on the wall and then find an area between the framing to poke a hole through. Cover it with an outlet plate that has a large hole in it. Make sure that space does not have electrical on the floor. Do not saw but 'poke' so that you don't cute any wires if they are. Determine the best spot behind your console/table and poke through again. First get the cords up to the tv by dropping a long wire and then pull it all up--be patient here! Attach it all from there and enjoy your gorgeous new tv!

FYI, If you are building a home, you should have your framer make a solid area in the spot where you plan to hang your tv. You should have an idea of the size you plan to put on the wall as well as the height. The 'rule' is eye level when you are sitting but I think if you live like my family does that it should be closer to eye level when standing. Anywhere within that range works, in my opinion and if you are in a large area where you walk around often, like watching TV from your kitchen island in the attached family room, go higher! It has never bothered me to look up from my couch but it would certainly bother me if I couldn't see the TV from the kitchen because it was being blocked by heads on the couch! Then have them make a 'tunnel' from the very bottom of where the tv will be (look at the back for the cord space) to an area within the first 2 feet on the floor where you can run all the cords up to the tv. Plan ahead--if you think you are going to add something, get the cord in the tunnel!

Window Treatments

Here are a few window treatments I have made, all very different. I think that a high end treatment can change a room and take it from okay to gorgeous. However, I also think that a little creativity on a small budget can go a LONG way! Here are some examples: The treatment was with a pattern, is lined with the same fabric the couch is slipcovered in and took a lot of fabric and a lot of time. It has a heavy trim and the time involved in making this is where the cost of some treatments comes from! The second one is 'altered' drapes! I took two cream panels that I had no need for, had my husband cut two 1x2's 2" longer than the window and created these working roman shades. I cut the fabric and liner, sewed on the 2 different trims and then stapled them on the board. I then sewed the rings on to make it function and then carefully screwed them onto the wall. Obviously, some very precise measurements and a level were a part of this but for the cost of trim and some roman shade rings, I think they are a gorgeous 'altered' treatment! This treatment was for a large slider that is 10' long yet the plan was not to stay in this home and a large expense was not an option! We bought this fabric and swagged it over a strong rod and there isn't a single stitch of thread. Not only can the 25' of fabric be used in the next home but there was no expense in sewing! And it looks amazing! If you notice the additional texture on the treatment, we draped glass red beads on the swags when decorating for the holidays and liked the way it looked so much, we never took them down.

Three treatments--high end custom, altered from something store bought and a 'no sew' option--and all take the windows from ho-hum to gorgeous!!!

Pillows

Does fabric make your heart skip a beat? I love how a window treatment or that perfect pillow can transform a space. This is my favorite pillow. I made it several years ago and my children haven't pulled a single tassel off it yet! I hand stitched the B. The fabric is striped and we (my friend Megan helped!) mitered the stripe to frame the B. It was more work than I normally would take on for something so small but it was well worth the effort.

Empty walls--what to do?

There are times where a wall just feels boring and you just don't know what to do. My favorite solution is http://www.uppercaseliving.com/ . My mother sells it and it is the perfect thing for an area where art or pictures just might not work but you need something to take it from good to great. Here is a wall in my boy's bathroom. I enjoyed painting the stripes and loved the room but with two elementary age boys, I couldn't see art work or pictures. Here is my solution. This is basically just like a rub on tattoo and is also removable!

This was hard to photograph because of the bright light coming through the doors but it says "A house is built with Boards & Beams, A home is build with Love and Dreams". This home is a farmhouse and window treatments weren't wanted in the area yet that space was SO bare. Iron scrollwork was considered and would also have looked amazing but each door is 6' wide and this would have cost quite a bit. This was less than $150 and makes quite a statement! What artwork can you buy that is 14 feet wide for that price?

If you want to check out their online catalog, go to the site, enter the customer area and enter this info to view. id-843597 token-marcy You will be required to register but won't be contacted. The info will be saved and makes it easier if you decide to place an order. The possibilities are endless!

Family Room Redo

Before

The Challenge:

Make this family room warm and comfortable. They moved in but haven't had time to decorated. What can I do with this room without spending money on furniture or painting?

What Worked:

They have great furniture (the couches feel like a comfy sweater!) and lots of beautiful art work. Their home is very large and has high ceilings.

What Didn't Work:

Decor: We need: color, to maximize the height of the room as everything was very low, to find ways to display the collectibles and soften the edges and make it look comfy and inviting.

Organization: They had blankets, magazines, books, game system items and remotes all in the room but those items had no home.

Stay tuned for the After!

My favorite storage container

This drawer system from Sterilite is my favorite! Let me tell you why. It has no ugly handle! Many have round gray handles and some have blue ones. Tell me this, where will you put your pretty label on those drawers? THESE drawers have a smooth curved area under the drawer pull that is perfect for gorgeous clear labels! Here is a picture of some I have in my home. I can find a staple, photo corner, sharpie, notebook tab, super glue and many many other things in seconds!

Bonus: These hold regular paper perfectly and they also make ones that holds 12x12 paper--scrapbookers rejoice!!!

Kid's junk--lets see it!

I think the first instinct that comes to mind when thinking of organizing kids spaces is to HIDE the mess. Toy baskets, primary or pastel themed bin systems, cardboard type shoe boxes, canvas drawers on shelves, dressers, the BIG toy box, and the list goes on with the ways that well meaning parents 'help' their kids get organized. The problem with this? Once you organize it on day one, you have no idea on day two what your lovely kids have thrown in there. How many times have you cleaned out a toy basket only to find juice boxes, a 3 week old sippy cup, 11 McD's toys, wrappers from straws or a cracker or two? There are many many directions one can take in a child's room depending on their space, interests and decor but the one thing that I feel is a MUST in all kids rooms is clear storage.

Consider a child's perspective. If you don't know what they have stashed in their bins and boxes, how do all those bins and boxes look to them? Having clear storage bins helps them see what they have immediately and begins the early training they need in sorting. It is a life skill, I promise! There are many bins on the market but my favorite is from http://www.thecontainerstore.com/ . They have many options but the Men's Shoe Box (in picture)is the best! They are $3.79 each though you can buy them by the case. The regular shoe box is a bit too small but the Men's Shoe box can hold large groupings together from tons of lego to all of Barbie's wardrobe. The reason I prefer this box is that simplicity is key when it comes to bins. Many have wide angled sides, bulky colored tops with clip down 'locks', large lipped handles and none of that is needed and just makes the area look cluttered while taking up valuable space.

Another issue with kids rooms is labeling. I have done it myself. You want to help him sort his toys so you label all the bins or if you are an AMAZING mother, you put a Polaroid of what's inside so they can 'see' what it is before they can even read. WONDERFUL and BRILLIANT idea. Except, someone has to maintain it. The second you get them a new Ants in the Pants game or someone gives them a special lego system or they are now done with the clown stackers but now have a magnetix set, you have to go back to the way you created your system and update it. 9 out of 10 times, it just doesn't happen. System Failure. This is another reason clear bins are a must. I feel labels are a distraction when it comes to toys and they should learn to sort these items visually. Letting them sort their things, decide where their bins belong and finding their bins in their large closet are all skills that will help them in school. All too fast they have to organize their own pencil box, sort their spelling work from their poetry writing, know where the classroom books go compared to their library books that should be in their school desk while figuring out what to put in the teacher's box and what to sort into their take home folder. I promise, creating a simple system that they can navigate and maintain at an early age will improve their education. See how important organization is?

"School Stuff"

I hear this phrase over and over when I ask clients what problems they are having with paperwork and things they need a solution for. I have some pretty strong opinions about what to do with that A+ reading comprehension test or 1st hand print or creative drawing or funny story or ladybug mobile or or or or, should I go on? I cherish and love all the things my kids make at school. But I cherish a fresh, clean space just as much! Here are the steps I recommend as things come in the door. Before you can follow these steps, you need 2 things--a display center and a school in box.
1. Sort. Work that you LOVE, display it. What is worthy of keeping (really neat writing on a test you are proud of, interesting grade you want to hold onto, hard math homework that they did well, etc), put it in the school in box.
2. The rest (same old math sheet that's been graded, indifferent art work, repetitive spelling tests, etc.) TOSS! Yes, TOSS. You do not need it. If you have a child with learning issues and do need to hold onto everything for reference, I will address this in a future post--please look for that as I have my own child like this too!
3. Important, if you have more than one child, especially young children, make sure their name is on it and perhaps put a date on it if it is a 'first' or a writing assignment at the start of 1st grade for instance to compare to at the end.
4. As you display, let your child decide what should come down as you put up something new. They must learn limits when it comes to spending or eating or getting enough sleep and they must also learn limits when it comes to 'stuff'. If the wall is full, we can't make the wall bigger, we must make choices!
5. If something needs to come off the display, either toss it or put it in the school in box.
6. Summer requirement--at the end of the year, sort each child's work into their own stacks. Then sort each stack into categories that are important to you or your child--art, tests where you want to acknowledge grades, writing if you are documenting their progress, etc. Now, get out your scanner or head to kinkos where you can use a color copier. Scanning--print them 4x6 or upload them to a site like walgreens.com and order prints. Copying--copy them smaller so they end up the size of a photo--4x6 or 5x7. Now toss that important work. The paper, pen ink, pencil marks, cheap glue and even cheaper paint are NOT archival so if you feel you are doing the most loving thing by holding onto the originals, realize that what you have in 20 years will be a mess (paper will yellow, paints will chip off, pencil marks will smear, etc.) and those photo prints will still look fresh and clean and perfectly capture the real work they created.
7. Scrapbook or archive. I have one album for each child that is just for school. Each year gets around 10 pages and is done in the summer. I have an order to how I set up each year and the last 4 pages have the art work with a pocket page on the last page for extra work I couldn't fit in.
Rules--never let a year overlap with the other. Summer's requirement is essential to make this work.

Okay, this was a long post and a LOT to do but once you get it sorted and set up, I promise it is an easy system!!!!

Pretty Neat Tools

Has "well I wanted to put pictures there but my husband hasn't done it" ever been spoken by you? If so, this post is for you! First, you need your own tools. If your garage is a mess or your husband 'loses' tools or they are so dirty you don't want to deal with it, get your own! You can buy a small tool box or just a few basics. You will feel WONDERFUL when you do it yourself! Ask for help if you want it but if he doesn't help, then DO IT! He will be a bit stunned and perhaps annoyed that you didn't need him or let him make the decisions necessary to complete the project. He will certainly ask you if you used an anchor as men are obsessed with anchors. Frankly, if it weights 1/2 lb and I don't intend to touch it again, I don't use them. If it's supporting anything or is heavy, I do use them. Don't get confused by trying to match screws with anchors--just go buy the box where they come together.

One 'husband issue' is that they take the tools and you can't find them. SO, here is my hammer--all the little things above it are the tiny screwdrivers that hook together in the handle!! He hasn't stolen this and I don't expect he ever will. I also buy 'girly' versions of his tools like a small level and a Coach tape measure and even a leopard print broom that I'm sure he won't take out to the pool deck and leave outside ever.

Take ownership of your projects and if he is type A and wants to be in control, he will JUMP off the coach once he hears you with your pink hammer! If he doesn't, then you really don't need his help. If you don't know how to do something, it is ALL online--there are no excuses!

If you need some help hanging pictures, the number one rule is to hang them at eye level. Grouping pictures together makes a large statement on a wall and seeing one or two puny frames on a large wall is a huge design mistake. If you don't want to get into centering and leveling lines, get a few picture ledges, make sure you leave enough space in between them for pictures and hang them. if it's too hard to line them up perfectly (again, a level!) then set one to the far left of the wall area and the other to the right. About 2/3 of the shelves should be on top of the other with 1/3 of each shelf sticking out on the sides. Make sure there is enough room in between them for the frames you have.

Ultimate Girl Trick. Okay, I feel badly suggesting such an unprofessional solution to my readers. I mean you are here because I know what I'm doing after all! BUT, if you want to make a collage on a wall and don't want to deal with measuring or leveling, I would like to provide you with what I will call "Kim's Wall Kiss". My sister has many beautiful collages. In order to get them spaces correctly, you should be measuring and leveling and marking each picture. Some people will tell you to template the frames and tape them up, measuring everything and marking all nail holes. Some tell you to lay it out on the floor and template it on graph paper and draw it on that way. I recently learned her secret to her beautiful collages. She hangs the first picture where she wants it. Then she visually decides where she wants the next picture. She makes sure it's spaced right and then she takes a tube of lipstick and puts it on the back of the frame where the nail will go, then she holds it back up to the wall where she wants it and pushes a bit. The lipstick is now on the wall, she hammers in a nail at that spot and voila, she's done. Kim's Wall Kiss--it works! :)

Magazines and a "To Read" bin

These are often an issue in homes where they collect on counters or side tables or even stack on the edge of couches. Just like everyone needs a 'to do' bin, everyone needs a 'to read' bin. But remember, they should be pretty! Here is the one on my coffee table. Not only do I put magazines and catalogs in it, but also the school newsletter, a flyer that came in the mail that I want to check out or a manual for an item that I just bought but haven't gone through yet. It all goes there but there are 2 rules to this system:

1. If the stack starts to fall over, it's time to sit and read! Pour a glass of wine, send the kids to play in another room and read, read, read! My extended family members can tell how busy I am by how tall my stack is. Sometimes you just have to make yourself sit for a while!
2. Toss it or file it. Do not read it and put it back in the stack. If you don't need it, toss or recycle it. If the item or article is a resource that you need, file it. Most likely, these items should be going into a magazine bin or into your Family Resource Binder. If you are saving it, think about why you are saving it. Just make sure there is a future use for it and that you aren't collecting catalogs. Remember, almost all of it is online anyway! FYI, most often I need to have my calendar nearby during my reading time too. School newsletters for instance have dates I need to add to my calendar. I don't recommend just moving it from reading to a new stack of 'to do'--just have your calendar handy and do it at the same time!

I love a good catalog!

I do, catalogs are wonderful! What are my favorites? Anything scrapbooking, Ballard Design, Oreintal Trading (but only if I have a party coming up soon!), Frontgate, Company Kids and J. Jill. But I don't want to see them cluttering my home! We all get the same Pottery Barn and Oriental Trading catalog that is easy to throw away but what about the ones that you don't receive all the time? The collection that you love and you found a complete catalog in a boutique, Tastefully Simple or Southern Living at Home that you received at a recent party, or the scrapbooking catalog that you probably won't order out of but it is great inspiration so you don't want to toss it! They need a home! They could be in a specific drawer or in a labeled magazine bin. In my home, they are in a magazine bin by my back door. The hook holds our random keys that don't need to be on my daily key ring, the left clip gets used for things like bank deposits, mail to put in the box or things I need to put in my wallet and the right clip gets gift certificates that I need to use! If they are lost in a drawer, I will never use them!

I also have a magazine bin section for many other books/catalogs I want to hold onto. Kids yearbooks, old scrapbooking magazines I want for inspiration, old school pictures and other resources that I need access to but don't want in my way. You can buy expensive magazine bins but I prefer to get the ones that are sold for just a few dollars for a set and are literally cardboard that you put together and then decorate away!!! Here is a picture of mine. I bought these at Ikea and they were quite affordable! I love the finger hole because they are high up on a shelf but I can still easily grab one when I need something. These bins should be used when you are sorting your mail. For example, you receive a great scrapbook catalog that you want to hold onto for future reference, don't set it on the counter, put it in its bin!

Calendars, post its and pens!

Are you always looking for these things? How many times have you said 'just a second, let me find a pen' or 'let me get a piece of paper . . . '? And what about that calendar? I'll admit, I had my years when my husband was able to say, I didn't see that on the calendar! Well, now he can't! I love scrapbooking and whenever I can find a way to make something that helps me stay organized, I go for it! My board is right at our side entrance where we can't miss it! The events pocket is where I slip a child's bday invitation or concert tickets or a printout receipt for an upcoming convention I have registered for--anything that is on that calendar that I will need for an event! The emergency contact tag is quite simple--numbers a babysitter would need most likely but poison control is there too and I may need that someday. The post it notes are obvious but where are the pens? The flowers! My now 9 year old helped me make those when he was 4 and I love to be reminded of that sweet day. My husband and children would never walk off with these so I always have pens just for me! Of course, I bought my favorite pens because this is all about making something work for the person using the space! If you aren't into flowers or even the scrapbook look, this can be done with a memo board and very classic labels and the post its and pens could be in a stainless steel hanging system or drawer built into a cork board.

Kids School Work

How many of you are SO proud of the hand print flower or first short story that your child brought home but don't want to put it on your fridge? This is a universal Mommy Issue! There are many solutions, depending on the space and layout in your home that will allow you to clean up the clutter on your fridge while letting your child display their work that you are so very proud of!

Here is a picture of what I have done in my own home. I really wanted to take it all down and 'clean it up' before I took a picture. But really, the beauty of it is that the kids put up whatever they want, it looks a bit messy but it is all in one place, they are proud, it's not in boxes or on a counter and it is in a part of my home that you don't see unless I have truly invited you in. Win/Win! At the end of the school year, I will take it down to preserve what I would like in their school albums.

During a consultation, I can help you determine the best place and items needed for you to create this yourself or I can provide all the items and install one for you if you like the way this looks! My kids love to switch out their work and this is a GREAT place to post all things school related. Where do you put the lists of things you need to send in for a party in two weeks or the list that comes home in the spring with back to school info? Or the monthly kids lunch menu if they must check to make sure that it's not refried beans day! These things will never get lost in a 'to do' bin again! There are many options that will work in your home to pull all your family's school stuff together!

Kitchens

I believe kitchens can be functional and that things can be in easy reach without being cluttered. As a kitchen designer as well as Mom to two boys, I strongly encourage appliance garages. This kitchen, which I designed for my own home, has two. The one in the corner has a plug in it and the toaster is always plugged in. The one on the right hold those 'all the time' things like bread and salt and pepper and the butter dish. The paper towels are even on the counter but you can't tell because it is behind the hand towels on a beautiful rack I found at http://www.ballarddesign.com/. I have many ideas when it comes to where things should be placed and how food should be organized and would love to help you reorganize your kitchen so it functions better for you. If you are building in the future, I can assist you in two ways. #1--I can work with you through out the entire design process. I am the designer for our family owned cabinet company, Interior Cabinet Design and we sell 4 brands that can cover any design element you require from the very high end where the options are limitless to our lower price point that provides gorgeous, high quality cabinets with flexible yet affordable design features or #2-- if you have a cabinet company in place but want to ensure you are maximizing your new spaces for the way your family will live, I can provide a design consultation to ensure you are maximizing your storage, space and functionality. Everything CAN be in your reach without it being seen!

A bit about The Pretty Neat Company

Welcome to The Pretty Neat Company's first post! I am Kiersten and I LOVE to organize and decorate. I am obsessed with finding ways to make life easier when it comes to running your household. I feel that every aspect of your life can function easily if the correct system is in place. I have been a kitchen designer for several years for our family owned cabinet company and am married to a residential builder who owns his own construction business. I have been organizing and decorating people's homes for years and have been told more times than I can count that this is what I should do, "officially". There are many amazing designers and many creative organizers in their fields and what has always been missing, in my opinion, is merging those two aspects to make a space not only gorgeous but also function for you. I call it "Decorating for the way you live". I can not decorate without organizing and vice versa and have decided to offer my unique approach to Design and Organization through The Pretty Neat Company.

I am the mother of two amazing boys and will understand all your kiddy issues. Your problems with craft supplies, homework and artwork piling up, pictures that you really want to scrapbook someday, messes in closets, dirty socks by the back door, wii remotes on the floor--none of it will scare me!

I also have experienced the challenges that come to your home when you are self employed or run any aspect of your business from your home. That personal experience helps me tackle any business, whether it's in your home or in a large office. My experience is broad, from organizing mortgage companies with their massive amounts of paper and systems that are legally mandated to a computer consultant's home office where he was buried in cords and needed simple sorting solutions to find the largest harddrive or the smallest USB plug.

I hope you enjoy my blog! I have created it for inspiration, information and a visual resource of my work! Whether you are in the NorthWest and are checking me out or in the Greater Orlando area and are considering hiring The Pretty Neat Company to help you create better spaces in your home, I hope you enjoy what I have shared on my blog and would love to hear from you!