Organizational Fun @ decor happy

You can find me over at decor happy

 today joining in with other fabulous bloggers sharing our organizational tips!

{decorpad}

XO Barbara

{the great clean out}

Today I am participating in 10 Rooms' The Great Clean Out.

It is fitting as we just had The Great Switch at our house to start the new year of with an organizational bang.

 For those of you who don't know what I mean by that, we switched around 3 rooms upstairs in our home in order to create a space for the kids to hang out with their friends. My daughter moved out of the large room {which technically is a games/playroom} and moved into her brother's room. Her brother moved into what was the den. The den moved into the newly carved out games room. A switch of this magnitude required planning. My daughter and I drew up plans to make sure furniture fit in their new spaces. We had to switch the ownership of a few pieces, which are now waiting for an updated paint colour.

What I am focussing on for The Great Clean Out is the bookcase and closet in the new games room, since the room is not quite finished. 

What this great switch forced me to do was to finally go through all the boxes and books we stuffed into the bookcase and closet when we moved in 2 years ago. I failed to take a before picture but here is an in-the-middle of the switch picture.

After sorting, purging and re-organizing...

here is the after.

The bookcases are Billy bookcases from Ikea filled with the kids' books, photo albums {which I hope to either re-cover or replace}, photo boxes, a few mementos and reference books.

Using boxes from Michaels {only $2 each}, I was able to house all the photos {pre-digital days}we have that still need to be put into albums. The labels were just printed onto card stock. Some of the boxes house ipod cables, camera cables, and other small computer "stuff".

Baskets are used to corral other stuff that just don't really have a place.

Out came our "vintage" cameras to put on display. One is my dad's old camera from the early 70's that takes the most amazing photographs. The other was our last film camera. Something the kids probably don't remember using!

Using large canisters from Ikea, we were able to house and display our large collection of seashells from our trip to Florida.

Moving onto the closet...
Which is a work in progress.

The closet in this room is very generous and I was able to house all our boxes with files, momentos, games, my teaching binders, husband's coaching binders, and office supplies. I am still waiting for a wire shelf to come in at the local hardware store to fill in the blank space above the games. so some of the items that are stacked will head onto that shelf.

Into the closet I placed a small Billy bookcase we have had for 16 years. It didn't fit into my son's current space and fit perfectly into the closet! Now it houses, bins with crafts, beading supplies. paper, games, etc.

{sad blurry photo, still learning how to use our SLR}

This closet still has a way to go but I am happy with the progress thus far.

Can't wait for this room to be finished.

Being frugal and a procrastinator it is moving along slowly.

Make sure you check out the other bloggers participating at 10 Rooms The Great Clean Out!



xo Barbara

{the great switch}

With New Year's still fresh in our minds, the organization bug has hit our home. We decided to bite the bullet yesterday and finally move and switch 3 rooms on our upper floor. Living in a 5 bedroom home has its advantages, it allows for flexibility in room arrangement, or in our situation, re-arrangement.

Our dilemma:

With the kids getting older {2 teens and a tween}, they need a place to "hang out" with their friends. Conflicts were arising when our kids wanted to watch a movie with their friends while their dad felt it was necessary to watch a hockey game in our family room on the main floor. 

We needed a solution.

{My daughter putting her drafting skills to work}

The solution:

Move the younger daughter {she was technically in the games room} into her brother's room, whereas he move into the room that was the computer room. The computer and bookcases move into the daughter's former {technically a games room} room that would become a multi-purpose room: a room for the kids to "hang-out", to house the computer and second TV.

Current situation:

Furniture has been moved but walls need to be painted in 2 of the rooms, which is what I am doing today.

 I will make sure to keep you posted as I move forward with the re-design of the 3 rooms.

Rubbermaid Bins Get a Makeover~

My laundry room is not only a place where LOADS of laundry get cleaned but a room where I store craft supplies, sewing materials, etc. For storage I use Rubbermaid bins. I love Rubbermaid bins of all shapes and sizes, they are all over my house. We have moved so many times that a majority of our items that belong in the crawl space or basement are stored in them. The movers enjoy it because they have less boxes to pack and unpack! 

In the laundry room I had a collection of mismatched clear Rubbermaid bins but wanted to unify them. First I switched out the lids to white using other bins that are in various closets throughout the house. As I was rummaging through my paint collection I remembered my pint of chalkboard paint. Why not paint chalkboard labels onto the bins? I had attempted to paint some here, when I thought I could replicate a Martha project. If you look closely at my laundry room photos you will see I spray painted over that. 

First I taped off rectangles onto the bins. Using a disposable foam roller I painted an oil-based chalkboard paint over my marked area. I had to paint about three coats to cover the plastic. After letting it dry for 24 hours they were ready to be used. 

I am not sure if this would work with latex paints, it might not adhere to the plastic. I know Rustoleum carries a spray-on plastic primer that would then make the plastic surface accept latex paint.  I considered using that for the lids and spray painting them black but the weather turned on me and I didn't feel like waiting for a sunny day.  

Later this week I will share:

How to turn a window into a chalkboard
How to make a faux roman blind
How to make an ironing board cover
The story behind the license plate (someone asked!)


Linking to:
DIY Day at A Soft Place To Land
Power of Paint @ Domestically Speaking
Saturday Night Special at Funky Junk
Make it Monday at Cottage Instincts
* edited Feb 26 :Frugal Friday at the Shabby Nest

~Finally Finished!~

If you read my previous post, you would of read that what should of been a simple Martha-inspired project ended up stressing me out! Well, I am pleased to announce I am finally finished! I used what I had around the house except I bought a can of Rustoleum's Painter's Touch Heirloom White spray paint. 

~before~

~Rustoleum Painter's Touch in Heirloom White~

~painted small squares using chalkboard paint~

~painted a frame around the chalkboard square~

~finally finished~

Now I need to have a few days free and no rain to finish painting the furniture in my girls' rooms!

Linking up to some of my favourite blogs: DIY Day at A Soft Place To Land
and The Shabby Nest
and Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

~Martha I am Not~

I came across a simple painting project in an article from an old issue of Martha Stewart Living. I like to clip articles from various magazines and store them in a plastic sleeve in a binder. I have planned on doing this simple project for some time. I thought I would jump on the chalkboard paint bandwagon and attempt what I thought would be a quick and easy project! There are so many projects out there in blogland that use chalkboard paint. 

Well, Martha always makes it look easy.

 I took my small Ikea Fira mini chest of drawers that I used to store my sewing supplies and spray painted it with Heirloom White (jumpin' on the "Heirloom White" bandwagon too).

I followed Martha's directions, painted on the chalkboard paint then attempted to paint a red border. This is where the whole project fell apart. The tape I used caused the red paint to bleed through and now I have a mess. Why is it when you attempt something you think will be easy it ends up being a headache!

Photo from Martha Stewart Omnomedia

I have come to the conclusion, that 

I am not Martha

I am trying to fix my red mess and hopefully can show some after photos. Stay tuned....