How Could You Not Have a Good Day...

...if you started your day with coffee from this mug?

I'm looking forward to a good week!  Hopefully my leg will get a little better each day, and I get to dig into Adobe Dreamweaver and Photoshop and Quickbooks this week!  Finally bit the bullet and went software purchasing crazy this weekend.  Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Friday's Organizing Item

Today's Agenda:  Clean up the kitchen before the weekend gets here!  We try to clean up a bit on Friday so when Saturday morning comes we can enjoy the paper with some coffee and not have to do so many chores.  And, to be honest I don't mind cleaning up the kitchen so much today because of my new find!

I had been on the hunt for a french three tier basket for awhile.  It had to be interesting, not too large, with not too much metal or wire, not too modern, not too rustic, sturdy and sweet.  Okay, I was going for perfect.  But I felt like perfection was an okay thing to strive for with a fruit basket.  And it was more of a challenge than anything.

I had been tempted by a few $19.99 ones at Marshalls and Homegoods but I knew they weren't quite "it".  And then one day I was wistfully perusing items at Wisteria.com and ran across this.

It met all my requirements!  The size was great, the wooden birds were a sweet, rustic touch, the metal and size of the mesh baskets was perfect.  Here are some uses shown online {Wisteria.com is great about showing the items in rooms, alone and for different uses.}

I love having it on our long countertop {I think it's a great bridge too from post-holiday decorations which can be a real let down and make your space feel not so interesting anymore!} and it's great for keeping our fruit, bread and other foods we are using organized.  Nothing gets lost in a corner on our other countertops and I feel like we will go through the fruit faster with it all in sight.  You could use it in an office too for fabric swatches or office supplies, in a closet for stockings and tights, in a dining room or storage area for napkins and placemats. 

{I was going to take the bread and cookies in the plastic bag out of the basket but you know what, that's actually how I use it and how we live so wanted to show that it could still look neat and organized when used for how you live.}

{Update:  I took the bread and cookies out...I couldn't help it.  Here are some other views!}

I really find Wisteria's site very charming and easy to use.  Some items are pretty well priced as well and then there are, well, some "reach" items.  Which you need to be able to dream...right??? 

And for those of you in the Dallas area there is an outlet -- with a sale going on now!  Call me if you go and I'll get online to shop virtually with you :)

I am in love with this wire basket too.

 

But no room in our house for it.  Would be perfect in a bathroom for towels, in a walk in closet for shoes, in an office/craft room for fabric or rolls of wallpaper and/or wrapping paper, in a child's room for toys.  Here are some other uses shown on Wisteria.com...

 

 

Entryway Love

Today's Agenda:  I'm in the process of trying to recreate this entryway scene for a client. 

I'm going for something that is visually fun but also is easy to use -- i.e., the "right" place for coats, keys, mail, shoes where it naturally looks tidy and usable at the same time.

I think I'd add a couple hooks on the wall next to the bulletin board/frame and a few little containers/plates/vintage bowls for miscellaneous items {but not too big so that it becomes a massive pile of unknown items!}. 

One in, One out

Today's Agenda: Post my "one out" item to Craigslist.

In my new life {post-lawyer} I am trying harder to follow the "one in, one out" method.  For example, if I buy a pair of shoes, they should replace a pair that I have which should then be donated to goodwill.   I successfully followed the one in, one out method when I purchased my full length mirror. 

But what happens when, say, just hypothetically, I go into one of those design stores that smells delicious and that you "ooh" and "aah" over the gorgeous light fixtures hanging everywhere and I stumble upon two trays/stands that are regularly $340 each in just the perfect color with a sweet pattern on the tray and now just happen to be 80% off and perfect for my newly designed dining room space.  Well, clearly, I had to {quickly} find something that they would replace!  It's a good thing I came up with something {our old bar from Crate and Barrel - sort of like this} because I wasn't sure how I was going to pass these up...

 

 

I am in the process of moving our dining room from what is technically our second bedroom into what I was using as a sitting area.  {I seem to not get enough of trying out different configurations of our furniture/rooms, which is what drew me to our open loft space in the first place -- the idea that each room could have more than one purpose and I could change it up based on our needs -- or just my need to move furniture around!} And these were just the perfect depth and height to snuggle nicely under the wall of pictures we already had up and the perfect spot for a little bar area {which can easily be transformed into a sideboard for serving food}.

 

I was able to pull a couple of lamps that I had in our bedroom that are glass and thin so they don't cover up the design on the tray -- and now they can be displayed properly. 

Then grabbed a few of the amber colored wine glasses that I didn't use in a project {but had to keep...oops}.

Edited our liquor selections and am using the perfect silver tray on loan from my mother-in-law.

Added some of my favorite napkins from West Elm.

And a few toothpicks and cocktail straws resting in two of my glasses from last year's Rountop market in Texas.

And, now, I have my perfect new bar area {view from the kitchen}!

{View of entire dining room - which is to the right of this area - to come soon once I'm a little bit more mobile and move my computer and printer back upstairs to the office!}

Have a room that needs a quick pick me up?

Today's Agenda:  Spread the excitement of Graham and Brown's wallpaper sale -- 20% off on all regularly priced wallpaper {just use promo code Wallpaper1}!! 

Wallpaper is a great way to give a room a quick pick me up.  It can instantly add a focal point, color, texture, interest.  You can wallpaper a whole bathroom, an accent wall, a backsplash, a door, anything really.  Even just wallpapering dull outlet covers could add that interesting element or change you may be craving in a room. 

There are a ton of great wallpaper makers but I love Graham and Brown.  Their website is easy to use {you can search by color or style}, they have beautiful samples available for $2 each {which you could use for envelope liners or wrapping small treasures later on}, and their paper is affordable but still luxurious. 

Without any specific projects in mind and after a quick scan through the website by color I am drawn to these patterns...with the idea of an all white and grey room in the back of my head...

Illusion {Blue}

Chinoisie {Hot Pink}

Amelie {Blue Wallpaper}

Enchant {Black Wallpaper}

My all time favorite Graham & Brown wallpaper though are two that I have used in projects.  They turned out so nicely...which makes me so happy!

Favorite Wallpaper No. 1:  I used this wallpaper in a recent Capitol Hill living area redesign. 

The dilemma was that the client wasn't too charmed with the tile that was in the entryway...that I assume was originally intended to be charming when the house was built.  With the tile being original to the house and stripping it out and replacing it seeming like more than a "minor" undertaking in the midst of redesigning the entire living area, we opted for a way to live with the tiles.

{Before}  

 

My goal was to try to distract the client from the tile and have them focus on something else {the green paint that was there was trying too hard to match the tile which was just drawing attention to the tile}. 

I was excited to find this white squares wallpaper for three reasons -- first, it had the look of the tin tile panels that you see on ceilings in older homes {and you just want to touch it -- the design is raised on the paper and so fun!}; second, the design was appropriate for the space -- a distinctive design to hold it's own while at the same time being subtle enough to not eventually get on one's nerves {I feel like I'm describing the perfect person! Kidding...}; and, lastly, this wallpaper is paintable -- by painting it the same color as the living room that the entryway opens up to, I could achieve a sense of continuity so it didn't feel like the entryway was a separate afterthought but more of an invitation to continue on into the living room...

 

{After}

Favorite Wallpaper No. 2:  This lovely paper was used in a recent home office project {Hi Dina!} and I first used it in our guest bathroom {thanks to Dad for hanging it and doing such an awesome job!}

For the home office our goal was to turn an underutilized space into a fabulous one!

{Before}

I think we did it!

{After} 

In my guest bathroom, I wanted to do something interesting where this weird little wall was and I was looking to create some drama...

What I love is that even though the wall is tucked in a corner, you can see the wallpaper as you approach the bathroom in the mirror! 

Just a few easy ways to have fun with a space that might otherwise just be ordinary! 

I found it!

Today's Agenda:  In my effort to get a little bit more mobile each day, I ventured to Marshalls for some retail therapy.  Oh, how I missed getting out and about! 

And, I'm so excited that I found a calculator for my desk.  I had wanted a "cool" one -- you know, one that made numbers fun.  I had thought acrylic or white lacquer.  But hadn't found "it" yet. 

Here she is! 

And, only $9.99!  I can't wait to do some number crunching!

Finally...Friday's Organizing Item!

Today's Agenda:   Trying to get back to normal a little bit each day.  After my last post {which seems like ages ago!!}, I trucked up to NYC {okay, I bused up there...love the Bolt bus -- wifi!} and worked on a new project helping a client/friend put together a New York 1 bedroom apartment from soup to nuts.   We sat on every sleeper sofa couch in the city {if you need recommendations let me know!} and the West Elm Chelsea folks became our fast friends -- it was a ton of fun and we got a lot done in a few days.  Unfortunately, when I got back I ended up going to the hospital to treat cellulitis that I had been dealing with for awhile.  A trip to urgent care, the ER and my first ever hospital stay were the high points of last week.  I have been staying off my feet {which is hard for me to do} and trying to rest since then.  This little episode definitely made me thankful that I have been so healthy my whole life.  I'm feeling a little better, definitely sleeping better and getting back into the groove of the life I love...

I've been dying to show you a couple projects I finished last year {isn't it still funny to think it is 2010??} but I still need to get myself organized and edit the pictures and pull the sources.  I did show you a preview of my DIY project in my last post -- the ribbon organizer and that is today's Friday's Organizing Item!

A home office client had a beautiful collection of ribbons from various wedding projects she has worked on.  The ribbons are gorgeous colors and fabrics but as those things go they are also odd sizes and didn't fit in those "handy dandy ribbon organizers" which, maybe it's just me, but I feel like they never really work.  You know the ones -- with the holes that you daintily leave the ends of ribbons hanging out of.  I just end up lifting the box and grabbing the ribbon I want, cutting it and put it back.  Basically, it's an expensive box.  Anyway, I thought about those wood shelves with pegs on them and I liked the idea of the peg -- you could put two or three spools on them and they would be uncomplicated and easy to get at.  After looking at a couple of stores {kid stores/sections are good for this kind of stuff} I didn't really find anything.  So, off to Home Depot. 

One peg board, 20 dowels, 1 can of spray paint, 1 thing of Gorilla wood glue, 2 handy peg board baskets, and 1 black picture frame later I was off to construct my ribbon organizer... 

...and, here is the final product!

It was pretty easy to do.  Here are the steps I took.

1.   Have dowels and peg board cut to the size you need.  {Note if Home Depot doesn't do this or have a self-help area where you can do this or you don't have an area at home to do this, try Lowe's.  My wonderful husband/unpaid intern actually did this step for me and it was a huge help!!}

2.  Spray paint peg board and dowels.  {I used a high gloss black which looks great.}  Be sure to lay them on a plastic surface or large piece of cardboard.  Towels or any surfaces where leaves or dirt can blow in are bad.

3.  Let dry overnight {or at least a few hours -- some spray paints have a faster drying time than others}.

4.  Attach peg board to open frame.  I went to the picture framing section of Michael's and bought 1/8" fasteners that you just screw on to the sides of the frame.  It's not a tight fit but for this project worked well.  You could also go to a framer and ask them to insert the framing staples to secure the peg board.  Just depends on where you are hanging it {I was just going to lean it against a wall on the floor} and how much time you have.

5.  Lay peg board/frame down and begin to fill in each hole with wood glue and insert a dowel in each hole.   {Note that you can't put too much weight on each dowel but for other projects you can find a hook that fits in the size peg board you have purchased.}  The Gorilla glue expands to fill the hole which let to some dripping -- you could spray paint over that or by laying it down flat avoid that.

6.  Let dry overnight. 

7.  Go to town organizing!!!

It also has me thinking of how else I can use peg board, especially with a high gloss spray paint and a fantastic frame {love some flea market or Marshalls finds!} -- you could do so much! {I also want to know what else can I spray paint -- the spray paint available now is amazing! Lamps, vases, chairs, desks, etc.!}

* What about a silver ornate frame with a fresh aqua paint in a bedroom -- for necklaces and bracelets!

* Or a white simple frame with a high gloss white in the kitchen-- for colorful spoons and tongs, etc. in the kitchen!  Ooh, maybe tangerine colored utensils...against a light gray wall...

* Or gold frame with high gloss red or emerald green in a dressing area -- for your black bags or fun evening bags!!

* Or a cute little frame and peg board in a high gloss yellow for your keys -- a cheery way to start the day!

A New Year!

Today's Agenda:  Still trying to think of how to start off this new year on the blog -- lots of pressure for the first post of the year! 

Basically, I'm really excited about 2010!!  I have some great projects to recap from the end of the year and several more that I'm so looking forward to this year.  Since I'm resolving to make no New Year's Resolutions this year (there was a lot of personal growth going on last year after leaving the law and starting this new design venture so I'm laying low on personal growth and just working on having fun!!) I feel like I'm left without a list...but, wait, I do have a few ideas for upcoming posts so why not do a little preview of what's on my list to help me get organized and stay on track (okay, I am resolving to do weekly Friday's Organizing Item posts and be disciplined about it...but that's the only New Year's Resolution...).

Here's a sneak preview of a few of the posts on my list!

1.  Another home office redesign...completed!  Can't wait to show you the details...here's a preview of the before!

Okay, couldn't help but show a sneak peek of the after!  (More details AND video testimonial to come -- which is so rewarding to see!)

2.  A great before and after of a living room and dining room and such a good example of how to make some simple changes without going out and buying new furniture.  Here's the before...

3.  Speaking of furniture...I can't wait to post on refurbishing furniture!  I feel like I painted about 30 pieces over the holidays at my mom's...it was well worth it though and I feel like I came pretty close to recreating this little Pottery Barn number --

4.  A first for me -- venturing to the "Lumber" area of Home Depot to make my first ever DIY Ribbon Center.  (I have to admit I did get pretty excited as I crossed past "Hardware" and "Organization" into "Lumber" at the big HD.  Big time chills.)   Here's a look at the finished product! 

5.  And, finally I'm getting ready to dive into Dreamweaver...(I can't say this word around our house because my husband will break out into song every single time...like clockwork)...I've finished up my web design classes and am getting ready to take the plunge and start designing one to highlight projects I have done, ideas I have and design services I can provide.  (I may make some of you testers for the site so you are forewarned!!)

I think this is a pretty good start!! Happy New Year!!