And so it begins again… yesterday, I spent several hours with a stack of paper and pencils to map out the next round of projects. I got so caught up in all of the planning that I went a little overboard and made an extra page with my pillow and bedding ideas, too. I saw the look of fear in my husband’s eyes last night when I showed him my plan. He knows how dangerous I become once it’s all written out on notepaper like this.
Holly from decor8 had the most brilliant idea for a portable mood board, and I’m planning to start one of those for this next round of design work. It sounds so much better than me carrying around crumpled up ribbons and fabric swatches in my pocket (and losing them in the store, I might add).
This weekend is a bit packed with activities, but I’m wondering if I can “accidentally” steer us to a fabric store to pick out pillow fabrics. Do these accidental visits ever happen to you? I am an obsessive planner, and my husband prefers spontaneity. This used to really bum me out until I realized I could just keep my planning a secret and then we would just “happen” to show up at the store at just the right time, coupons and shopping lists in hand. What a surprise!
Filed under Organization.
Tagged with planning, sketching.
Happy Wednesday! It’s hard to believe this week is half-way done. I missed being here yesterday, but I was called in for jury duty. Thankfully, I escaped after a long day of praying not to have my name called. I am so happy to be free and and am now playing catch up.
This weekend, while I was daydreaming about this bedding, we found some lamps.
I totally get that this does not sound like a big deal. However, in our home, this is huge news. WE. HAVE. LAMPS. We have been looking for lamps for the bedroom for almost two years. Yes, that’s how long it can take us to find something we both like. I am so happy that I no longer have to check the lighting section every time I walk into a store. I can now look at the picture frames or the pillows or something else I can obsess over and not buy until 2013. It’s so great to move on!
So the lamps were a big deal, but what pushed this shopping trip completely over the edge was that we also bought a q-tip holder. Yes! I can retire the glass from the kitchen that was standing in as the q-tip container. I nearly fell over in the store when my husband said I really like this one. Um, me too. Me too! We even got the matching toothbrush holder. (It’s ok. I know that you are either thrilled for me or worried about how sad my life has become.)
I’m ok with that.
Filed under House & Home, Organization.
Tagged with decorating, the last 5.
Today, I thought I’d give a quick update on my fabric organizing progress. Since we last talked about making fabric mini-bolts, I purchased the comic book boards and have started folding my fabrics. (There’s a nice tutorial on this fabric organizing method here.) I have just barely started, and I can tell this is going to take a while. However, it’s already making me very happy.
Here’s the good news:
- I think this is going to make it much easier to pull fabrics for a project and put them away. I’m pretty good about folding and organizing my stash a few times a year, but I dread trying to wiggle the fabrics back into their stacks. It only takes a few projects, and then all of the organizing falls apart. I found a very inexpensive bookend at Ikea so I can line up all the fabrics on my closet shelf:
For me, the critical step is securing the fabric with a pin. I’ve seen a few people online who skipped this step and I thought about doing the same. However, ultimately, if you’re going to spend all of this time folding and arranging your fabric, why not make it a little more secure? The whole point for me was to keep the fabric from flopping around when I try to put it away, so the pins keep the whole bundle nice and neat.
The downside? Well, it may be a few more weeks before I can share the glorious “after” photo. This is going to be time consuming. I’m trying to set a daily quota so I don’t have to fold a gazillion pieces of fabric all at once. I’ll let you know how I feel about this project again once it’s all done.
Filed under Fabric & Sewing, Organization.
Tagged with comic boards, fabric mini-bolts, organizing fabrics, sewing organization.
[the last 5 is a series of posts about tackling unfinished decorating projects and adding your own personal touches to a room. Find out how it all started here.]
This past weekend was just about perfect. It rained a little and neither of us were feeling 100% yet, so my husband and I watched movies and tackled little projects that we’d been putting off (hello taxes!). I am not sure what type of person writes “taxes” and “perfect weekend” in the same paragraph. We aim low around here, apparently. However, I guess if you’re with someone whose company you really enjoy, even taxes can be ok.
I finally got around to cleaning out my desk and put some of my new storage purchases to good use. For some reason, all of my sewing notions seem to scurry off and hide themselves in the four corners of this room – never to be seen again, or at least never to be seen again when needed. I always hate purchasing the same thing over and over again – snaps and velcro and D-rings. So the only hard part of this project was rounding up every last needle and thread into one giant pile. There is a 3rd much larger drawer (not photographed here) where all of the bias tape and hardware went.
We lined the drawers with some left over pieces of my favorite wrapping paper (inspired by this Design Sponge post). Two sets of hands made this a little easier. I held the wrapping paper, and my husband cut the paper down to size with a craft knife. The paper is secured with double-sided tape.
The drawer lining is not the most permanent of projects, but I wanted something I could easily change if I wanted to. I don’t know why I didn’t do this before. The wrapping paper makes for such a lovely surprise, and I’m hoping it keeps me motivated to keep the drawers nice and clutter free.
The organizing bug is definitely going around right now. Almost everyone I talk to is cleaning something out. How are your spring cleaning projects going?
Filed under House & Home, Organization.
Tagged with desk, drawer liners, Organization, sewing notions, the last 5, wrapping paper.
If you’re following me on twitter, you may have heard me mention that I’m doing that thing where you run out of space and decide to buy a bunch of bins. Lucky for me, I have a husband who sees right through this tactic, so I had to make a very good case about how I was going to use them before he would agree to it. I do not claim to have it all figured out yet, but looking at this pile of tubs and dividers gives me some hope.
I’m knee deep into my next project, so I’m not sure when I’ll squirrel away the time to arrange everything. However, I’m getting some very strong nudges from the husband department in that direction – so I am thinking it will be sooner rather than later. I’m planning to try this fabric storage method and see if that helps with the chaos going on in the big gray wardrobe. (Anyone with fabric storage tips? Would love to hear them!)
Every time I’m arranging fabric, I think about that day when some bolts of my very own will arrive. (In the future, people! One day!) But it’s good to leave a little spot for them, right?
I have paper wrangling issues, too. I used a gift card and picked up this acrylic file holder on sale at The Container Store. I am still a hopelessly old school – pencil to paper - kind of girl when it’s time to plan. All of my designs start out on sheets of recycled computer paper. I have a few nicer sketchbooks too and I do use them, but I still like the freedom of a fresh piece of paper that isn’t attached to anything.
I don’t even want to bring up the photo studio I’m trying to build in here either. The room is big, but not that big. This is definitely a multitasking space. Now to get back to earning my keep… more soon.
Filed under House & Home, Organization.
Tagged with container store, fabric storage, filing, organizing.