SUYL: Bathrooms.

I'm linking up with Kelly again this week for Show Us Your Life: Bathrooms.  I took last week off because it was kid's rooms and well - yeah, some of you are laughing at that idea.  Anyway.  Bathrooms.  Here's mine:

The guest bathroom (which actually looks quite a bit more put together than the master, at this point)....

And the master (still a work in progress):

I forgot to take a photo of my black leather shower curtain and the toilet area.  Oops.  But you get the idea.

Love,
B

Show Us Your Life: Dining Room.

I'm linking up with Kelly today and showing you all my dining room.  Unfortunately I still don't have much on the walls so this is really going to be a bunch of photos taken over the last few months of my dining room set for entertaining.

One of these days I will get a really cool piece of furniture to displace my fun plates in and some wall decor and then I will really show you all my whole dining room.  But I didn't want to miss the link up in the meantime!

Love,
B

Guest Bathroom Reveal.

Whew...I know I know I've been taking forever to get this stuff up here for you all.  Cut my some slack, I've been in a fulls sprint since April.  But without further ado...

 (note: the counters, faucet, and mirror were part of the revamp)

 (Over the freshly hung towel racks...whoo no more chrome)

(my mom is not in love with this shower curtain, but I kind of am...it's one of two I alternate between, the other is out for dry cleaning)

You can really only see if from the side here but my Mom built that piece over the toilet because this bathroom has minimal storage and I bought an excessive amount of towels ( when you like unique colors you can't be too careful, right?).

So my bedroom and bathroom were both finished my summer and have already had 2 guests.  Looks like there will be a few more on the couple of weekends this summer I'm actually in town.  

Love,

B

Bedroom: Before & After.

I've decided since I wanted to share this anyway to link up with Kelly for Show Us Your Life: Bedroom week.

Ok, I've been sharing that I've been working on my crib the last 2 months.  I showed you the revamped bathrooms, the new color scheme, etc.  But I haven't really shown you one the simplest yet biggest transformations of the summer so far - my room!

Jess and I painted my magenta wall after I moved in and it was a labor of love.  However, when I saved up and forked over the money for a professional paint job, it was time to say farewell to the magenta wall in favor of future selling of the batch pad options.  I admit that while I loved the wall, I probably wouldn't have been interested in a town-home with a magenta wall in the master bedroom and so I figured would the case when I one day decide to sell.  

So the before:

A few months back I had decided if might be time for a more grown up, serene look for my bedroom.  I had fun with the pink and the funkiness of have a zebra room, but maybe it was time to have a bedroom that looked like a 26 year old professional rested there.  I found a groupon for a plain white down comforter and went ahead and ordered it, thinking when I revamped, I would use it.  While my Mom was here she helped me piece this together and so I present to you the new and some might say improved bedroom of mine:

Simple, streamlined, classy.

I also added my reading corner which got a new lamp last week, bought on major clearance at Kirklands and I think it really completed things:

Beside my chair is a black leather...tote for last of a better term which is housing the books and magazines I'm currently working on.

I do have a new throw on the way for this corner.  The one pictures is fine but I got the chance to get a really nice bamboo and cashmere (odd combo, I know) one from One Kings Lane and I had several credits from them to pay for it.  The great thing about my color scheme is that I can move things around and repurpose them.  So this old throw came from somewhere else and will find yet a new home within the house.

The other side of my room with the dresser, TV, etv has stayed the same though all bits of pink have been craiglisted away to go towards future home projects.   You know me: reduce, reuse, or resell!

So welcome, to my new room!  The combo of a few great finds, and a little touch of minimalism!  More house posts to come, so stayed tuned over the weekend.

Happy Friday loves!

B

Catching up From Crazy (a few updates).

Remember that time I went to Haiti, came back and renovated my house, left the next day to explore DC, came home for 2 days before hosting my mom for a long weekend, and now my life is so low key I barely know what to do?  That was now.

This spring has been crazy and perfect. I've had the best time and honestly, I'm a little sad that life is slowly going back to normal-ish.  Oh fine, you all know me well enough to know nothing in my life is ever really normal.  But in a surprising twist of fate, this week has been pretty fabulous.

Here's a few reasons why/updates/etc:

I managed to get my room put together AND clean this week.  Always a good feeling especially going into the weekend.

I also managed to finally find the right colored bath towels during a lunch time trip to Marshalls the other day:

Side note: Lascoste and I see eye to eye on colors.  Marshalls and I?  We see eye to eye on price!  Love.  I had the idea of the color I wanted based on the fact that it's worked into the granite I recently had installed in my bathroom. This isn't the best picture in the world but you'll get the idea.

And after getting the bathroom clean and the new hand towel hung on the towel ring Mom and I put up last week I present to you, the new look:

Also happening at the batch pad this week?  A dog.  Yes that's right, crazy clean freak me who's known for not wanting pets or children has taken in a dog for a week.  May I introduce to you all, Buddy:

Buddy belongs to some sweet friends of mine who are in KC this week, and so Buddy and I are bonding over scary movies and poop scooping this week and having a delightful time, I must say.

I've been playing catch up around the house, having friends over for lunch Friday (more on that later), and will be playing catch up in the work and read worlds this weekend but by the time you read this on Sunday, I will be here:

Ah, short weeks, you do have your appeal.  Nothing but love coming from me to Memorial Day and the week that followed.

Love,
B

Repurposing Project.

Probably the best benefit to doing my house in black and white with accent colors has been that you can repurposing things with ease. Moving decor from room to room as I've added to my collection has really saved my money and made it easy to keep the house fresh.

When my roommate moved in I had to quit hogging all the pantry shelves and under all the sinks with my entertainment ware. I have quite a collection of placemats, napkin rings, paper goods, etc because I love to have people over and I keep my table set every day (mostly because I never actually eat at it). So I bought a 9 cubie piece of furniture from Target and some red baskets for the dining room.

It served it's purpose but I've never really loved having it in there. Since starting in May I will be living alone again, I decided I could ditch that piece of furniture again. Then I thought, why not repurpose it? My roommate has had one exactly like it (in different colors) in her room while she's lived there and I thought, I could put mine up there in the guest bedroom and just change out the colors.

A few weeks ago I showed you a list of DIY projects I wanted to tackle that I'd found on Pinterest. So this weekend I took on this one. I had plenty going on this weekend but I had planned to layout for a few hours Saturday and then it wasn't particularly sunny. So I hit the dollar store after I got off work and bought 3 vases for $1 each. In the same shopping center as our Dollar Tree there's a Michaels, so I bought 2 things of paint in the color I needed and a paint brush. The grand total was less than $10.

I stuck in 'In Her Shoes' between work and going out for a bit with friends Saturday night and put the first coat on:



After the second coat I was so pleased I decided to go ahead and paint a vase I'd gotten free at a banquet my work did 2 years ago. It was the perfect size for one of the cubbies in my piece (I thought to check that before I painted it Kelly green, thankfully...

It turned out pretty swell as well.


Then I took the combo of the vases I'd made, a few things I had around the house, and a blogpost I saw a while back in which they'd used books of a certain color to decorate and came up with this:


Please excuse my towels on top. I just finished washing those for the guest bathroom and until I load everything upstairs after Haiti, I put them there. But I couldn't wait til I move them in to show you my weekend project! I've now committed to help a few friends paint vases they want to do so - painting party coming soon.


Love,
B

Condo Revamp - Getting Ready, Freebie, & Good News!

If my retail friends could see me now! Whew. So much has changed these past few years and I never would have guessed that at 26 I'd be putting off buying close in favor of buying guest bathroom towels and 15 gallons of paint. Oh adulthood, what have you done to the Coach purses buying Becca of the past? Ok fine, I still don't carry cheap purses I just buy them more infrequently...

Making my home upgrade dreams a reality is big deal for me. I've had to grow, stretch, and learn so much these past 4 years of being an 'adult' and taking on 2 big, expensive projects and planning in advance to pay cash for them was huge for me. I felt great about it and my parents have been proud and encouraging along the way. I was so proud when I went to buy the paint and I had perfectly budgeted every dollar needed in advance!

I should also share a few things I've learned along the way...

1. 5 gallon buckets of paint are heavy and you should accept the offer of help to get them in your car.

2. Everything related to a home is more expensive than you'd expect (faucets cost HOW much?)

3. Having a second job is a great way to save for projects faster, if your impatient like me

4. 'They' (as in super professional smart people) say you get back the money you spend on bathrooms and kitchens. I did some researched and that's what it says. So whoever buys the batch pad after me better be ready to fork over the big bucks for my upgraded bathrooms.

5. Haggling is a good thing, even if it's slightly mortifying and makes your hands sweat just thinking about it.

I've focused the last few weeks on getting ready for the upgrades which begin May the 1st. With being out of the country and out of touch the week before this all goes down, I've really had to be on my game. A few of you have been extra excited about these projects so I've been keeping a board of everything on Pinterest for you as well and thank you, by the way, for caring! : ]

If you follow my pinboard you already know I got this for the guest bath:

What you may NOT know is that One King's Lane really hooked me up! A few weeks ago they sent out a survey request and I tried to sign up. I didn't get into the survey and was totally bummed until...they STILL gave me the $50 giftcard code! For doing a whopping nothing. So I signed in on Friday and bought this shower curtain, a beach towel (I'm always working on my stash), and a set of canister for my kitchen and all I had to pay was the shipping and a little tax. Amazing, no?

I really want the guest bed and bathroom to be a place where people can find rest. I want it to be simple, luxurious, and elegant in a way that encourages the people who stay there to take a load off, like their own a-couple-blocks-from-the-water Florida retreat. So that's what I'm working towards...

Ok, back on task...

So far I've completed:

1. Picking out, hunting down, and purchases new faucets
2. Picking out new sinks
3. Picking out granite from a massive yard of it in the middle-of-no-where (Land O Lakes)
4. Unofficial and official measurings and quotes for the counters
5. Scheduling of the counter upgrades, sink and fixture installs
6. Picking out and purchasing 15 gallons of paint and 2 gallons of primer (goodbye Magenta wall, you've been a good friend)
7. Hiring a painter (because let's get real, I'm not doing it)
8. And researching plumbers out the wahzoo. Still working on nailing this down, however.

I've had a roommate living with me for about a year now and she will be moving out 2 days before this all begins. Did I mention I'm insane for planning this 2 days after returning to the country? Yeah, ok...thought so. Anywho, that gives me exactly one exhausting Sunday afternoon to get the guest bed, etc up there before the painting begins and I can't dink any of the walls ever again (at least without a major meltdown).

After 2 months of scrimping, saving, ebaying and craigslisting, working extra hours, bargain hunting, haggling, and maybe even buying a few clothing items and taking them back in leiu of this project, I feel blessed that it's about to begin!

So now for the good news! I found out last week my Mom is taking me up on my invitation/request to spend Memorial Day weekend with me! I can't wait to get some quality time with her just the two of us...and she's agreed to go on a little hunt with me for a lamp, bedside table, and accent chair or chaise for my reading corner. Whoo hoo. It's so nice to have company and an extra pair of hands/eyes. Best.news.ever.

Love,
B

A Home in Progress.

I am a finisher. I hate to start a project that has to be 'in progress', I always want to finish right away. This is most likely made worse by the fact that I keep a notebook of checklists, and I love to check things off. So projects that take time to complete are a stretch for me. But when you're on a budget and you're trying to be responsible to spend what your categories allow, this is just how it has to be.

I'm currently saving up to have my entire pad painted (the inside, not the outside). Since moving in I've really wanted to have this done and I believe it will improve the look of the place drastically. I'm going to keep it neutral for resale purposes, but I just want all the dinks and scratches gone and quality paint so I can wipe off things along the way. I found the painter I want to use and I got the quote back in December but there were a few things that needed to be done first, so this got put on the back burner.

However, after some hard work scrimping and savings (as well as a few ebay'd Coach bags) - I have scheduled the painter to start May 1st. It will be a 2 week process. Between now and then I have to pick paint, pay for that, and have it ready. But that should be the fun part - making the money while delaying gratification is not as fun.

I have become the nerdy homeowner who will return a great top to spend the money on guest bedroom towels. Yes, that's me. But honestly, the more I grow into my role as a homeowner the more I love every moment of it.

My projects after the paint? Actually decorate my walls. I have literally hung almost no photos, so I've bought some cool artwork, 2 funky clocks, etc. and I'm ready to hammer them in as soon as the paint dries.

I've acquired a free queen sized bed from my bestie and will be on the hunt for a fun headboard to go with over the next few weeks (the bed will be in the garage til the end of April so I have some time). But thanks to her, this project of furnishing another bedroom has gotten much cheaper. I feel grateful! (also to my sweet guy friend who is allowing me to bribe him with dinner to pick up said bed in his truck).

I've started a Pinterest inspired project for a wall upstairs between the two bedrooms which will involved 7 framed prints of the states I've lived in thus far. I think this project may be my favorite - it's going to be a tribute to my childhood. I want my home to be classy and beautiful, but also a reflection of who lives there - me.

My biggest project yet to pay for and schedule is having my counter tops in both bathrooms replaced. They are currently the normal white of most bathrooms but I'm hoping that switching them out to granite will be a worthwhile investment in the future of my home. I've found a granite wholesaler here in Tampa that I hope will be able to do this for me in the near future when that fund hits the mark.

Whew, well I think those are the changes coming soonest. But don't worry, my mind is always swimming with new ideas. I will keep you all posted as things come together but I wanted to share for now that my home has officially become a home in progress. Many little, life-changing fixer-ups to come.

Love,

B

Weekend Recap: Purchases, Productivity, and Style.

Well Happy Monday to all -

Hope your weekends were fun, productive, and restful. I also hope you all start this work week feeling as prepared as any of us every feel for our weeks! ; ]

This weekend was anything BUT restful for me considering Saturday night I slept for less than 3 hours BUT what it lacked in rest it made up for in productivity (this is the part where you pretend me be shocked).

I worked A LOT this weekend but inbetween I managed to get a few other things done. I finally broke down and bought the towels from Nordstrom Rack I have been stalking weekly for MONTHS. These will be for the guest bathroom and they are huge and plush as all guest towels should be, in my opinion.

If I haven't shared before this is the bedding for the guest bedroom which will be black, white, and kelly green....

As of the end of a weekend spent working I'm over halfway in my savings for having my whole place painted in the spring (April or May) AND I've made some headway on saving up to furnish the guest bedroom hopefully before my summer company influx. I'll keep you posted on that but I'm feeling good about the progress.

I did find time to put together and try out my new vacuum which I also saved up and bought in cash (delayed gratification is so HARD) - Dave would be proud.

I will enter the honest box long enough to say I'm impressed with this beast of a vacuum BUT vacuuming the stairs is still a pain in the rear. Such is life with 2 carpeted staircases I suppose.

Since I worked the majority of this weekend and drank caffiene like it was my JOB I pretty much looked like this all weekend (yes, I'm drinking out of someone else's Annie mug):

I did take a break from working to attend a NASCAR party on Sunday. I had nothing to wear (my mom suggested cut off jean shorts and showing my middrift would be most appropriate) so below you can find my NASCAR party wear and my feelings about A. having nothing to wear and B. the race getting rained out and ruining my neighbors party....

Who doesn't love a good mirror pic? I sported a flowy tank top, skinny jeans, and sandals. Though I was completely unfestive - I did get several compliments on my top.

The food was amazing, which spoiled my dinner @ the Lodge with Joy and her new hubby! I ended up having to opt out of dinner (which was probably a good thing considering I sat too close and therefore ate a whole place of nachos at the NASCAR party...oops).

I'm feeling good about starting off week two of the daily cleaning crew with the girls prepared! My mom stocked me up with all the household essentials via Sam's Club last week (thanks Mom!) and I not have a year (literally) supply of TP, paper towels, laundry soap, dishwasher tablets, etc. Whew. Let's do this, work week.

Love,

B

Cleaning Bug 2012 (and more Batch Pad pics)

Ok so I was happy to read that I'm not the only one who has had the cleaning bug so far this year. I found this great post on The Secret to Success is Support's blog Friday. I love a good blog post about being organized more than the next girl - but I especially love that Gigi took on her closet clean out with a friend.

When I returned from 8 days away in Indianapolis for Christmas this year, I literally came home and started cleaning. My friend Kayla can testify to this, since she picked me up from the airport and witnessed the beginning of the whirlwind. She came with nothing and left with 2 kinds of dishwasher soap that just didn't work out for me (but I couldn't throw them away, they were practically new!), a tray (that was gifted to me but doesn't go with anything in my house), and a few other randoms.

With my yard sale coming up for Haiti (don't know about Haiti yet? check here) I decided January was the perfect time to go through EVERYTHING in the Batch Pad. And so, it began.

When my Mom was here last spring we did a big overhaul on the garage which included ditch all the boxes and changing what needed to be stored to plastic totes. Did you know that bugs love cardboard? Hince, I won't store any of my stuff in actual boxes anymore. Yuck.

I had an entire tote of office supplies. I believe I've previously confessed my obsession with office supplies? Anyway, they've been in that tote for an entire year without me desperately needing them (or with my buying more because I forgot I had some) - so, I went through them and either, saved, tossed, or relocated them so they would get used up or gone quickly.

Anywho, friday night I came home from work and decided to stay in since I wasn't feeling well. Most people relax when they're sick yes? But not this girl. I go to work.

This is my walk in before (please reserve judgement):

Not hoarders worthy, but certainly not looking awesome.

An hour later when I determined to pull every single thing out, my room looked like this:

My best friend couldn't fly in from Indiana for this - but I did FaceTime her in on my ipad from the floor of my closet for the fun. This cleanup went on way past midnight on Friday night and included finally vacuuming and dusting out my closet before I started returning only the things I wear/use. Whew.

I'm happy to show you that progress was made and my closet now looks like this:

Ta da! I mean, I know there's still alot in there, but honestly, I got rid of ALOT. I made about 8 garage bags of things for my yard sale, too 4 bags of trash out Monday morning from all my bathroom and junk drawer clean outs, etc. I really did good about only keeping what I wear (which obviously is still a pretty decent amount). I will say, however, that another benefit to doing this was figuring out what I still want to add to my wardrobe, or what needs to be replace (like my poor very faded black cardigan).

If you feel like you're in a wardrobe funk this might be the perfect way to remember what you have hiding in your closet, and revamp all at once.

Also, I cleaned the whole rest of the house as well so I thought I'd share at least one picture from the main floor while I'm at it (hopefully more pics to come in the near future!)...

Anyone else caught the cleaning bug in 2012?

Love,
B

A Little Creativity.

Your first couple years out of school whether you finished high school, graduated college, or went on to add a 'Dr.' to your name are interesting. For most of us (unless you happen to have a rich relative who left you a fortune) are poor. Not quite as poor as we were during school when we lived on Ramen noodles and what at Purdue we called 'den pops' (cheap caffeine) but poor in the sense that were still trying to recover from school and get our feet on the ground. These are not the years of elaborate vacations, stock piles of savings, or 4 course dinners - these are the days for creativity.

See, I think a little creativity can go a long way in life. On top of the normal money woes of being 25 and trying to get your footing after college, I also bought a house which though one of the best decisions of my life, has also been THE most expensive (yes, way more than even college!). With that decision I've had to be even more careful to be a good steward of the money I bring in. But I don't believe being responsible has to come at the expense of having fun.

My Dad love to have a good time more than the next person. I remember that most about my childhood. We'd save all year as a family and then go on a huge road trip vacation every summer. As my sister and I got older we both started to think that living out of a suitcase for 8 weeks every summer may have been a little extreme (not to mention he didn't allow us headsets or sleeping during the drive so that we could 'bond' as a family). But what I take away from those now is that you make the the good times in your life and if you play your cards right - you make them the very best times they can be.

That has been THE best 14 months of my life. I love having a place to call home. I love slowly through bargain hunting and penny pinching making my condo the perfect little dream place. I love being able to host people for long weekends or good them dinner or just invite them to use my home and my pool on the weekends. I've had the joy of even allowing a few close friends a weekend there, while I'm out of town. What a cool chance that has been.

I love a challenge. I like to give myself the occasional mind puzzle to figure out. As I've worked to get the word out and raise money for the Walk for Life I've seen first hand how hard it is to raise money these days - whew. Everyone is being tighter with their money than ever before and the fact of the matter is - most of us don't have a lot to give! I purpose to be as generous as I can be not just with my money but with my time, my resources, and my talents (still figuring out what those are). So this week I set out to figure out a creative way to help my friend Tiffany raise support for her missions trip to Russia.

If I had a couple grand to spare, I'd pay her way myself because I believe in her and her passion for that country. She's going with our church, Grace Family Church, and I believe wholeheartedly in what we do as a church for other countries as well. So the desire to help her make this trip happen is there. But the funds, sadly, are not. So, I sat down and wracked my usually worn out brain (I think way too much). I finally had an ah-ha moment a few days ago...

I just had to share the idea with you here even though the plans are in the works and not totally completed. We're having a spa night! While I don't have any sort of beauty-related license (or skills beyond being able to paint my own toenails) I have several friends in the industry. Thankfully, 2 of them are close friends and fellow members of my church. So I reached out to them to see if they'd be willing to donate some time and talent and see if we couldn't throw a spa night to benefit Tiff.

Thankfully, I have generous and ambitious friends! Not only were they willing to help out and donate their time, talent, and supplies but they threw in some great ideas and even suggested we try to raise more money than my original goal. Are they awesome or what? One reached out to a few girls from her graduating class in cosmetology to see if they could come out as well. So the plans are coming together nicely and we think we may even have a date, two sets of times (for two seperate sessions) and will be able to provide a short massage, a mini facial, and brow or lip threading to each person who RSVP's and pays the alloted 'donation' we're requiring.

We agreed to keep it super reasonable but also be sure we raise some funds for Tiff. My contribution in case you were wondering, will be supplying the venue (my place), the goodies, and the fellowship - oh and getting the word out! If having a big mouth is a talent, I've been gifted friends. You know I'll be able to spread the word!

I'm pretty thrilled with how things are coming together but I also wanted to say that I hope none of you are allowing your current situations of much needed responsibility or financial constraints keep you from living life to the fullest. A little creativity and elbow grease can most anything done. Keep at it friends, no task is out of reach.

Love,
B

Cribs: Condo Edition.

The Crib:

Home Improvements - Part Three.

After months of blank walls. Pictures!

Remember that desk I told you I built? Well here she be. How fantastic is it? Eeee. It was like rocket science putting it together. I pulled my first all nighter since college. But success. Here she be.

My house is becoming a home. I'm so proud.

Love,

B

Home Improvements - Part Two.

OK lets go back in time to my Dove party to remind you of these 'lovely' hanging blinds over my sliding door...

Eck, I know. Such a Florida thing. I begged Mom to help me come up with a solution and after 2 showing trips, lots of sewing, and some hardware installation...oh and some haggling by yours truly (saved us 100 bucks).... TA DA:

Black suede curtains with grommets. I love them. Changed the whole look of the room, does it not?

My Mom is aaaamazing. She did some serious work on the grout too. Life changing...

Before:

After:

Fabulous.

More to come, still.

Love,

B

House Work.

Projects, projects, projects! The work just never quite ends, now does it? I’ve been in the mental planning process for a while of deciding which of my list of mini-projects that are swimming in my head I want to take on first. The top three are:

- Home office space! I need a place to land with some of my paperwork, my laptop, writing projects, blogging, and let’s face it – bills! I don’t have a desk of any kind so all of these items have found odd little places to land around my house but it’s time to make them cohesive and accessable. This is to be this weekends project, starting with the purchase of a desk at Ikea. Thanks to my mom’s side of the family I’ve had a little stash of money they gave me for the condo for months now and have been waiting til I decided what to do first to spend it.
- Living room revamp. I have 2 cheap, out of place book shelves I’d like to rid my living room of. But where do put the items that are in need of that space. Also, my TV currently sits on a very cute, but small piece of vintagey furniture that just isn’t doing anything for the room, in that location. So, I’d like to move that to where it could be more useful, and replace it with a larger entertainment center, to better fill the large wall space (a drawback to high ceilings). This may also happen this weekend, if I can stretch the money far enough to deal with both. And if I can stay motivated enough to put together and organize 2 new piece of furniture and as a result, 2 rooms.
- The guest bedroom. Ah, the not-so-dreaded guest bedroom project. My Mom is (hopefully) visiting me for 5 days in August to work on a few little projects at my place. I want to start by painting an accent wall in that room (color scheme is: kelly green, black, and white). Then I need furniture. That’s right, I’m short a whole bedroom suite! I believe we’re going to do the guest bedroom with white furniture to switch it up (my whole house is black and white – my bedroom furniture is black). It also needs lamps, I may install a ceiling fan, some wall art, etc. So Mom and I will begin (and maybe end) that project while she’s around to help (doing all of that along in a day seems a bit too overwelming to me).

For those of you who have seen the condo (or enough pictures), the desk will be a corner desk in the dining room area. That sounds odd, but if you’ve seen the room, it makes sense. It’s a pretty decent size room and only houses a table at the moment and I want to make better use of all the extra space. Plus, in true tackiness, my internet is just laying on the floor in the their, as that’s where the best hook up is. Yeah, we’ve got to fix that asap. I’d like to move the phone (yes, I have a house phone…go ahead and judge me) to the desk area and out of the kitchen, asap. I want to keep my space organized in a way that makes sense. My files are stored in a kitchen cabinet as well. Ack.

So, this weekend (the hours the sun is down) I will be working on projects around the house. I hope to post some pictures and/or videos throughout the process so keep an eye out for those.

Love,
B

DIY: Office Edition.

So as I plan to put together a little home office space for myself this weekend, I wanted to share some cool ideas I found from googling DIY home office projects...

This one reminds me of something you'd do in New York City, with limited space and the ability to close off your clutter when you have company over...

These projects can be bought from the container store and are literally called 'office in a closet'. There's more examples on the blog I located them at. This project can be found here. Go get it my little new yorksters! I did for a half second consider putting an office in my guest bedroom closet, is that wrong? It really wouldn't be such a bad place for it. Until my company wants to hang their church clothes up.

If you have a big backyard, this project is truely incredible...

This project was found here and I for one find it incredible impressive. I don't actually have a backyard (oh townhome lifestyle) BUT if you had the space, what a neat little escape. This would be especially neat if you were a writer and it would give you a change to 'work from home' without the actual distractions of home.

This next picture is of a project within a home office that a newly wed blogger couple posted up and I found through google, they said it only cost $15 and I thought it was really cute.

Learn more about the idea or check out their 'first year of marriage' blog here.

Here's a neat usage of space that would otherwise be hard to utilize....

More on this DIY project can be found here. I don't know anyone who has a house shaped quite like this, maybe this is an attic? That's a rarity here in Florida.

Mine office space will look nothing like any of these spaces, but I liked all the ideas. Pictures of my own project coming soon!

Love,

B