Organizing the Closet

Well, redoing the bathroom also spurred on a "need" to redo the closet. The door to our closet is actually inside the bathroom, and is usually open at all times....so having a new, pretty bathroom, and a boring, messy closet = no fun.

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I'm on a new kick to start being more creative with my wardrobe (which at the moment is going very well). While I was gathering inspiration for this, I came across a whole slew of blog posts on how having a more organized (and pretty) closet will help in making the most of the clothes and outfits you already own (my favorite series of posts on this subject can be found here, courtesy of Kendi Everyday).

So, all of this new motivation was put to good use this weekend as we took our closet from boring and less-than-functional, to something that really works.

Here are a few "befores":

Notice that all of my shoes are thrown on the top shelf (that I couldn't even see over...which means that I would just grab whatever my hands touched first). I also hung a jewelry organizer that worked really well until I started packing it too full of stuff :).

We also had an issue with throwing shoes on the floor. Especially when there wasn't enough room on our shoe rack.

All of Bryan's clothes are on the bottom rack, while mine are well, everywhere else. It gets a little crowded.

Another form of DIY jewelry organization. This was cute for about 2 weeks, and then the pins started falling off because my jewelry was too heavy, which resulted in an even bigger mess (and both Bryan and I getting stabbed in the feet).

We also had boring, beige walls, which looked really yellow with the uncovered light bulb.

So, we cleaned everything out...

And started over!



I'm a white hanger addict. They all have to be the same. It's the OCD in me. All of our clothes are still pretty packed in, but we just had a huge garage sale two months ago, so I wanted to give everything we have a second chance before I decided to toss it :). I also found a place for my scarves, and was able to put my beloved Vera Bradley on display as well as other favorite purses.

We went and bought 5 white wire shelves at Wal-Mart for our shoes. Best. Decision. Ever. It is SO much easier to have our shoes organized on these. Love. Bryan was able to fit all of his shoes on the top 2 shelves, and I put my heels and flats on it. I cut the hanging shoe organizer that we already had and put sandals and casual shoes in it.

My boots are the only shoes that remain on the top shelf of the closet, mostly because it's summer and I don't wear them right now. I'll probaly switch them out when the seasons change.

I have too many shoes.

You may have also noticed something a little different (and fun) on the ceiling. Yes, my love of stripes made it's way into the closet too (You can also find them in our laundry room)!

We also found a light to cover the bare bulb...much better.

Last but not least, I tackled my jewelry problem. It still looks like I have a lot (which I do), but I got rid of about half of the jewelry that I already owned. This isn't even all of it. Many of my favorites are on display in our bathroom. (I am ashamed).

I found cup hooks at Wal-Mart and had Bryan install them. Love this. It's so easy to see every piece of jewelry that I have now. In fact, I'm wearing a pair of earrings today that I haven't worn in 3 years just because I didn't realize that I still had them. But now I know :).

And there you have it. That was our weekend project!

Have a great Wednesday :).

How To Treat People

I found this on Stumble Upon the other day, and really loved it. I thought that maybe others could benefit from it too.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Five Lessons About How To Treat People

-- Author Unknown

1. First Important Lesson - "Know The Cleaning Lady"

During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?"

Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.
"Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say "hello."

I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.


2. Second Important Lesson - "Pickup In The Rain"

One night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car.

A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab. She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home.

A special note was attached. It read: "Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband's bedside just before he passed away. God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others."

Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole.


3. Third Important Lesson - "Remember Those Who Serve"

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10 year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. "How much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked. "50¢," replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it.

"Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he inquired. By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient. "35¢!" she brusquely replied.

The little boy again counted his coins. "I'll have the plain ice cream," he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left.

When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies. You see, he couldn't have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.



4. Fourth Important Lesson - "The Obstacles In Our Path"

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand - "Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition."


5. Fifth Important Lesson - "Giving When It Counts"

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year-old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes, I'll do it if it will save her."

As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?".

Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Source: imgfave.com via Katy on Pinterest

Have a great week!

Fashion Sense.

My thought of the day:

I really need to be more creative with my outfits. Silly, I know. But I'm in a slump. I head to work everyday and usually just throw on whatever I see in the closet that's clean (somewhat, ha) and unwrinkled.

I didn't used to be like this... am I really already starting to "let-go" at 23? I sure as heck hope not! I won't let it happen, which is why I'm now in the process of trying to be more creative with what I wear. Especially to work. Looking "stylish" in a business environment is not exactly the easiest thing in the world (I'm still very used to "college girl" clothes), but I'm bound and determined to do it!

Of course, Pinterest has played a huge role as my main source of inspiration. Here are some of my favorite outfits that I've seen lately:

Source: thedaybookblog.com via Katy on Pinterest

Source: blog.needsupply.com via Katy on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Katy on Pinterest

Source: sidebysideblog.blogspot.com via Katy on Pinterest

Source: kendieveryday.blogspot.com via Katy on Pinterest

Source: cupcakesandcashmere.com via Katy on Pinterest

Source: thedaybookblog.com via Katy on Pinterest

Source: None via Katy on Pinterest

Source: thedaybookblog.com via Katy on Pinterest

Of course, I've also been kind of obsessed with fashion blogs lately. Some of my favorites are The Daybook, Cupcakes and Cashmere, Could I Have That, and Kendi Everyday. Great, great inspiration. And most of them buy a lot of things thrifted which in turn spurred on my very first shopping trip to Goodwill (a little scary and gross but in the end: very good results). More on that later.

So...that's that. Sorry to my dad and father-in-law for having to read through this post. You probably gave up at the words "being more creative with my outfits", but if you made it through, I am very impressed (and you were very bored). Although...I know my dad will appreciate the Goodwill comment. I have never seen a bigger bargain-lover in my life. Go Dad!

THE Workbench.

Bryan's dream for the summer was to make a workbench in the garage. Last week, that dream was achieved, but I have to admit that when I came home from work and saw the reality of it, I was a little surprised.

This is the biggest workbench I've ever seen in my life. And it's in our garage. Forever.

The counter comes up to my elbows. I'm not joking.

It's unfortunate that the pictures don't show the true huge-ness of it, but I promise you....it takes up half of our garage. Oh, my husband. At least he's happy with it, right? And I suppose it's good that he has a designated space to work on now, instead of using the entire garage and/or house. He also spent a lot of time hanging everything on the walls and making it look pretty, which of course I thought was cute :).

Happy Tuesday!

Monday...

Source: christinemeintjes.co.za via Katy on Pinterest

Ch-ch-ch-changes

As I've mentioned before, I am in the process of finishing the living room. I LOVE our living room, it is my favorite room in the house and is definitely the place we spend the most time.
I've made a few changes this week and I wanted to share them with you all.

Here is what the living room looked like in February:

And here it is now:

The changes are subtle, but I love them.

The first (and most obvious) change is the new painting that is above the mantel. I found this at Ross for $49.99 and just had to get it. I also finally hung a mirror that I've had for several months over the little dresser in my favorite awkward corner. Excuse the sticker that is still on it--I haven't felt like using Goo Gone yet!

Love, love, love it.

The lovely little sliver of my reflection-HA.

Here's another picture of the vignette that I talked about in this post.

I also bought my most favorite lamp ever at World Market and put it near our couches. It seems to fit the style of the room a little better, no? Glass lamps are the BEST thing ever.

So here is the living room as of now. I'm really loving it, but I'm still getting used to the bright colors of the painting. I'm worried that they are too bright...what do you think? Does it fit? I can't wait to keep working on this room, I have so many ideas!

The next few goals in the living room mainly consist of getting more stuff on the walls and making it all feel more "home-y". I'm excited to work on the wall that the TV is against. More details to come!

Pretty Pictures.

Here are a few living rooms that are inspiring me today:

Source: houseofturquoise.com via Katy on Pinterest

Source: inspirationfordecoration.blogspot.com via Katy on Pinterest

Source: houseofturquoise.com via Katy on Pinterest

Source: houseofturquoise.com via Katy on Pinterest

Source: houseofturquoise.com via Katy on Pinterest

Source: inspirationfordecoration.blogspot.com via Katy on Pinterest

Source: fortheloveofahouse.blogspot.com via Katy on Pinterest

Source: houseofturquoise.com via Katy on Pinterest

Source: inspirationfordecoration.blogspot.com via Katy on Pinterest

Source: houseofturquoise.com via Katy on Pinterest

Have a great rest of your day!

The Master Bathroom

Our bathroom is teeny tiny. Like 5'x7'. No joke.  There's nothing "master-ish" about it all. But, we've worked with what we have and actually really love how the space has turned out.

BEFORE:

And the AFTER:

Such a big (and better) difference, in my opinion!

I found these mini sunburst mirrors at Ross. The succulent is in another milk glass vase that my mother-in-law gave me and the glass jar is from the one and only TJ Maxx.

Bryan re-tiled the floor with basic beige ceramic tile from Lowe's. If this hadn't been a starter home and we were planning to stay for a long time, we would have done something more fun, but I still love this! He did a great job. The bath mat is from Ross.

Bryan put a fresh coat of paint on the cabinets (they were SO chipped) and I went to town decorating the countertop.

The soap dispenser is from Target. I found the milk glass bowl at an antique shop and designated it as a "jewelry bowl". I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I tried to be more practical when decorating our bathroom....so I figured I would make a pretty place for jewelry to belong rather than just throwing it all over the counter...and house.

I also chose to display makeup brushes in a little box I found at Ross. I found a sponge at Target and thought it would be cute to display on the counter. It ended up being too big, so I cut it to fit haha!

The paint color we used is called "Castle Sands" by Valspar. It's very similar to what will be going on our bedroom walls too! I bought the bamboo blinds (that are throughout the house) from Overstock.

Pretty.

I LOVE the shower curtain. Target. All good things come from Target, I've learned.

This little sunburst mirror is hard to see in the other pictures, but I really love it. I just hung it off the window pane. I think it adds a really fun touch!

And there you have it. Our new and improved Master Bathroom!!

Have a great Tuesday!

I am sharing this HERE.