Before and After, Take 5

We are just running out of space.  We organize and re-organize and within months that organization is back to being a mess.  It's not because we are messy people, but because it takes so much effort to keep small places organized.

We had been talking about ways to add a little more storage.  That leads us to this next "Before and After".  I apologize now for failing as a good blogger.  I didn't take any before pictures when we go the new item, because I thought to myself "  Surely there are a ton of pictures of that in the crap load of house pictures we have".  Ugh, yeah... not so much.

BEFORE

(sort of)

  Notice the white cart to the very right of the picture that also matches the corner hutch.  Both of these pieces were bought from Target on a SUPER clearance deal.  They were bought with the purpose to give the kitchen more storage--not to just clutter it up with furniture.

The top surface held our toaster, a coffee pot and some napkins.

The drawer was a junk drawer--scissors, tape, pens, pads of paper for grocery lists, gum, and all sorts of other stuff that collected in there from time to time.

The middle shelf held some mixing bowls.

The bottom section held all of my cookbooks.  It was pretty deep, but I didn't need deep.  I needed wide!

AFTER

 It might not be as classy, or match the hutch as great, but it sure does give us more space.  At this point, we had to go with functionality over looks.

There is so much storage now, that I haven't even used all of the spots yet!

I rearranged some of my other cabinets, so the mixing bowls went in there.

As of right now, three of those baskets are empty. Plus, one cubby is empty.

I just threw the scale in there to help fill it up.  Although, I think I'll keep it there.  The place where it was in the cabinets wasn't working.  It would keep falling.

It's deep enough for my cookbooks, but shallow enough not to take up so much room in the kitchen.  It actually makes the kitchen look bigger.

Plus, more "counter" space.

It's not exactly the best decorating decision I've made.  I realize it's a little dorm room looking.  BUT for our budget, our space and our need it works perfectly right now.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like FALL!!!!!

The weather is still trying to make up it's mind what season it wants to be.... but in my house, it's FALL!

Pumpkins and scarecrows are my favorite

Gourds everywhere!

Outside

(before new wreath)

I love it!  We are planning on getting a few more pumpkins and carving them.

Of course, the centerpiece from last year (with a few updates)

Oh, and some towels

I'm not usually a "holiday towel" kind of person, but I saw these (on sale!) and liked them.

Yeah Fall!!  Winter will be here before we know it!

Before and After, Take 4 (Let there be light!)

This before and after actually happened a few months back, but I never blogged about it.  I was taking pictures yesterday of some other stuff and thought I would go ahead and share pictures of our new lamps.

BEFORE

 This set of two lamps was bought in a box from Kmart for $35 when I was moving out on my own 8 years ago.

 See that floor lamp over there... it doesn't work.  It hasn't worked since it was moved into this condo 3 years ago.  I have no idea why.  But I felt the room needed it, so we kept a non-working lamp around. :)

With Michael doing school work, we really needed more light in our living room.  There was no getting around it.  So I went on a search for lamps.  At first I was going to do mix matched and ones with fun shades like the one that is now on the entertainment center by the keys.

I quickly found that the price would add up, because for most of those type of lamps you have to buy everything separate.  Plus, that lamp puts out very little light since the shade is so dark.  So I went with ones that match.

AFTER

 I love them.  They are a little more grown up than the $35 ones! :)

 This one has two bulbs.  You can turn one on for softer light, or  both for a little brighter light.

Michael loves that it has the strings that hang down.  It makes turning them on much easier.  There was LOTS of trouble with our last lamp!!

The floor lamp is a 3 way, which is also nice.  We have lighting options!

We are so happy to have better lighting.  I purchased these at Lowe's for just under $100.  

(They are sold separately.)

Baskets

Baskets seem to have become popular lately.  I've never been a huge basket person.  A container person? Yes.  Baskets?  Not so much.  But I got sick of looking at a closet that I wanted to be organized, but always seemed to look a mess.  It was time for baskets.

Our hall closet always started out nice and neat, but as time went on it would get disheveled and messy.

Here is what I started with

I bought those baskets for the top shelf a couple of months ago.  We had so many blankets and it was hard to stack them all.  I figured if we put them in baskets, then we could just pull the basket down to get what we wanted and it would always look neat in our closet.

I had tons of plastic containers that I use to use in my classroom.  When I left the classroom, they got put to use random places in my house.

There was organization, but I still didn't like it.

Michael's had baskets on sale for 50% off last week, so we picked up a few and this is how it turned out.

Better, huh?

It's still not perfect, but it will have to do for now.

I plan on making tags and hanging them on the baskets so that we know what is in each one.

Too Much Brown

It's no secret that birds scare me.  My "adopted" parents have one and I scream every time it tries to land on me.  I realize that it is small and there is nothing it can do to me, but I can't help it.  It's a natural reaction.

Oddly, I am drawn to bird type decorations.  For example, remember the clock I bought?

 I recently bought something else that sort of went with the bird theme.

 What do you think?  I love it.

I bought it knowing that I was going to paint it.  There was too much brown going on with our already brown (and totally outdated) entertainment center.  So I bought Antique White spray paint and went to town.  However... I have no place to spray paint.  So I made a little make shift place on my front step.

I lightly sprayed it.  I didn't want it completely white.

Then I took some of this

and put it on a paper towel.  

Then I gently rubbed some of the paint off.  

  I did the same thing to the clock.  It was too dark to be in the entertainment center.

I think it turned out alright.  It wasn't exactly how I thought it would turn out, but it works.

Parade of Homes

We went to the Parade of Homes this weekend.  I find that kind of thing fun.  We went last year too.  I like to look at floor plans, get decorating ideas, and just dream of what could be. :)

This year it was in New Albany (which is the city I live in), so it was super close.  It only had 8 houses, which I think was considerably less than last years.  I actually found myself disliking more than I liked, but I tend to have specific tastes.

For example, black paint in the dining room?  Umm, no thank you!

I'm also not really a fan of this stone wall in the bathroom.

This was a wall in a living room.  I don't even know what material it is, but I don't like it!

This picture speaks for itself I think...

Stripper pole?  Really?

I did like this kids craft/work space.  It was at the top of the stairs, sort of like an enclosed loft.

I'm also a big fan of this type of shelving in a mudroom

This clock lighting thing was pretty cool

Guess what else I saw???  AIR PLANTS!!!  Totally ahead of the game on that one! ;)

I thought this was a good layout for a teenage girls room.  Plus, I liked the pillows.

One of my favorite kitchens (don't mind the people)

I've heard and said multiple times (cough, cough Ang) that there are three rooms where you can go super bold... a bathroom, a dining room, and a laundry room.  I really liked the color in this laundry room.

Michael and I both really liked the layout of this library.  The reading/book space is first and then the office space is separated and in the back.

Mirrors on a window that looked out to a private balcony off of the master bath.

Princess room?  Who wouldn't want a hideaway space like that?

This play room was so cute!

This was on a bulletin board about I don't even know what... some small business thing.  I thought it was funny.  If you are from around here, you'll get it.

There were lots of laundry rooms I liked too... they were huge!  It was just too much to capture on camera.

Some things I wasn't sure about were...

It's cute and all, but how realistic is it?  and what is the longevity of it?

This bedroom was on a second floor and then had it's own loft and another huge room.

It's a good idea... in theory.  But you have to go up THESE stairs (along with all your furniture)

 Yeah, probably not.

There was so much to see.  I obviously couldn't take pictures of everything.  Plus, people were always in my way.  It's still going on until Sunday though, so if you are local and want to check it out, there is still time.  Or you can check out the houses here.