Showing posts with label organization. Show all posts
Showing posts with label organization. Show all posts

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Random Thoughts on Organizing

THIS POST IS FROM ROOM REMIX - THE BLOG .

Do you go into organizing mode in January?

I don't go into a major frenzy or anything, but I have been doing some here and there - drawers, cabinets, etc.

I don't have a big organizing plan, and don't consider myself to be an expert on the topic. I think the thing that helps me the most is that I find having a lot of "stuff" slightly overwhelming, so I've never collected a lot. For the most part, if I don't think I'll use it I don't buy it, and if I haven't used it after a period of time I get rid of it. (ok. my office may be exempt from this - yikes! :-) )

Midwest Living

Even if you don't have too much stuff, sometimes there's still just not enough room to keep it all easily organized and accessible. One thing that can help with that is multi-functional furniture and hidden storage.
myhomeideas.com Photo Grey Crawford

Storage ottomans/tables/trunks, baskets/bins, skirted tables, shelves/curtained bookshelves... Look at the pieces that you already have to see if they can be used in a different way (or in a different room) - maybe modified to provide storage in a way you hadn't thought of?  

BHG has some great suggestions in their Table It - Sneaky Storage Solutions slideshow...

Are there spots that you can slide a basket, a bin, a rolling drawer underneath (a coffee table, a skirted sofa or chair, a bed...).  We talked here about nesting tables - could you "nest" a storage ottoman or another storage piece underneath a side table for additional storage?
AJC Homefinder

Who doesn't love a good basket? I have two large baskets on the shelf of my coffee table that hold all my decorating magazines (in addition to my office, this is another thing I do collect). The baskets make great in-plain-sight storage but I also like the additional texture they, and the magazines, add to the room. Check out BHG's Storage Solutions Using Baskets slideshow for basket ideas. (anyone recognize the rug?)

I also love this idea from BHG.com for adding extra storage to an armoire with roller drawers.
BHG.com
In the category of thinking outside the box, this "bookshelf" was created with stools stacked on one another.  Directions here:
Hope you're having a great weekend!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

DIY Decorating - Blogger Projects

THIS POST IS FROM ROOM REMIX - THE BLOG .

Urban Nest did a wonderful job painting a graphic statement wall in her foyer...


After the Before but Before the After decided to expand on the idea and created this dramatic focal wall in her family room!


As we all know, there are a LOT of creative bloggers out there! I never cease to be amazed at the creativity and motivation. Today I'm spotlighting some of the creative ideas/projects that I've saved. Clicking on the links provided will take you to the complete post for each project.

Jamie at Something To Do turned an unused closet under the stairs into an awesome storage room...

BEFORE
AFTER

You know I love the idea of updating chandeliers with drum shades. This DIY shade was made by Living in the 513 using campaign signs and fabric! Creative or what?

BEFORE

AFTER

And many of you may have already seen this on YHL, but I had to share The Keylors drum shade that they made with hoops, plexiglass and burlap!

BEFORE

AFTER

Did you know that you could dye leather? Tatertots & Jello featured Kaysi from Keeping It Simple's leather chair transformation using dye. Complete tutorial here.

BEFORE


AFTER



Using this Pottery Barn image as inspiration,


Lakeitha from Home To Three Duncan Boys created this fun bedroom for her son. I like the way she mixed it up a bit from the inspiration photo by, for example, painting blue and white stripes in the closet versus using the striped duvet. Two other favorites in the room are the pallet headboard and the DIY light fixture. Click here for more room photos, and here for a source list.


Erika at Blu Label Bungalow designed this fabulous boy's room. My favorites are the stripes and the wall grouping!


Her design also included this clever book sling. She has an excellent tutorial so that you can make your own HERE.


Chic Coles takes these chairs (a score on Craig's List) from boring black to fabulous turquoise! Love it!



Candace at Crafty Sisters took an old dresser from this

BEFORE

to this. Yes, she built the hutch herself! If you like the cute metal signs, she made those too and shows you how here.

AFTER

Have an awesome day!

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Cork and Message Boards

THIS POST IS FROM ROOM REMIX - THE BLOG .

allyou.com

Janell at Isabella & Max Rooms just made some message boards for her home and also did a Message Center Ideabook on Houzz (the chalk board fireplace below was my favorite), so I thought today would be a good day to share those links with you and also include a few other ideas/images that I had in my files.
Rie

home design

We’ve all seen the message/cork boards made with the ribbon design. This LOOKS like one, but the design you see is actually a window insert purchased at the hardware store. Find out how they made it at BHG.com



A message center made from a cookie sheet! Find the complete "how-to" HERE.


A cork board. Literally. From Simply Em via Young House Love...


Southern Living shows you how to make this family command center:


Both this corkboard and chalkboard are hung on a mechanism that allows them to slide so that they cover the fuse box but also allow access to it as needed. Clever!

myhomeideas.com

If you've got a little more room, you could do something like this 7-Day Cork Board at Apartment Therapy...


I posted about this in August of 2009 when I had a lot fewer followers/subscribers so I thought it wouldn't hurt to include it again. If it's too large, you could always scale it down to one section. Woman's Day has complete instructions on how to make it.


This isn't exactly a message board, but besides the fact that I just generally like this image, I did also notice that the lamp appears to be cork? Convenient to pin a little reminder to of what you need to remember in the morning? or not... I know. It's a stretch. :-) Great image though, isn't it?

myhomeideas.com Photo Roger Davies

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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Craft Closet Shelves and Undermount Bins Tutorial


I've decide to just link to tutorials when I do them rather than putting the entire thing in a post. The tutorial today is showing how we we made the shelves and mounted the undermount bins shown above for the Craft Closet.

Click HERE for complete tutorial.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Just Looking At This Makes Me Nervous



I will never be this woman.

Can you keep a secret ?

I will never be this woman either.
Lord knows my mother tried to make an organized person.
I rebelled. 
The first thing I did in my 1st apartment 
was to leave my clothes on the floor. 
I didn't even want to leave them on the floor, 
but I did
because I could!!!

This is not my laundry room!
Ahhhh....if only this were my laundry room 
and was this ORGANIZED.

This is
NEAT AS A PIN.

You guessed it.....
...not my office.

All this extreme tidiness and organization makes me feel nervous,
stressed out, and feeling a bit ' less than.'
Because I really do, I want to be organized.

    If this were someone else's desk,

and I were temped to borrow something.....

I would not.
I would be too freaked that I would not put it back
in the same exact spot.
Like I said.....
this much organization makes me nervous.
(and I guess it should)
''The obsessive-compulsive is at the extreme end of a continuum that begins with the person who, for instance, is scrupulously neat about his desk,'' said Blanche Freund, a psychologist at the Program for the Clinical Study of Anxiety Disorders at the Medical College of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia." 


"Evidence from brain studies of people with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, done by teams led by Dr. Rapoport and by Lewis Baxter, a psychiatrist at U.C.L.A., suggest the involvement of a brain circuit that runs between the frontal lobes and the basal ganglia, a series of structures at the base of the brain.
Those brain areas are involved in coordinating what the senses register with how the body responds to it. Dr. Rapoport believes they may have a role, for instance, in patients who doubt the evidence of their senses.
''These patients will turn a knob to check that a door is locked, then start to doubt it as they are going down the steps, and go back again and again to recheck,'' Dr. Rapoport said."

The hardest lessen I have ever learned in life 
was that I need to TRUST MY GUT.
And isn't trusting your senses trusting your gut?

Don't get me wrong I am not a disorganized pig.
I am very CLEAN ( I promise ).
I just am someone who makes piles.
And when the pile is really old.......it gets tossed.
I mean how important can it be if I haven't  needed anything in the pile?
And trust me...........I know my piles!
And approximately what is in them.
I am very organized in that way. LOL

Can most of us agree
that most of us are not this neat?

Obsessive–compulsive personality disorder (OCPD
is a personality disorder which involves an obsession with perfection, rules, and organization. People with OCPD may feel anxious when they perceive that things are not right. This can lead to routines and rules for ways of doing things, whether for themselves or their families.

I was already working on this post
when one of my best friends came over to have coffee and return something.
We have both been busy so we were catching up.
Her boyfriend ( who she lives with)
was just taken to a mental health facility
  ( nut house, loony bin, funny farm ).
He is the most annoyingly rigid,
and organized person within a 5 mile radius of where I live (maybe).
He is about 56 or so............
he just started not sleeping at night....
and continued  to be his uptight controlling self.
Still he was constantly 'directing the show' and anybody else's 'show'
that would listen.
*Ever meet someone who always knew the RIGHT WAY
to do something or the RIGHT ANSWER to a question?
Always.
Everything and Anything.
You can't tell them anything.
They already know everything.....
and if they don't know.....they bullshit their way through.
( and I don't like that )

Well, that is him.
*Extreme control of your environment through organization
of things (or trying to control the people around you)
is usually because you feel out of control.

He's out of control alright.
He's on his way to a very controlled environment right now,
which should have him feeling out of control.
But I guess that's their plan ( at the 'facility').
What ever issues he has, that feeling of fear,
being out of control, just being controlled by others
should bring all his internal garbage right to the surface.
I feel so sorry for him,
and my dear friend.
We are all very fragile
I know you are wondering if my 'dear friend ' reads my blog,
she says she does....I know she doesn't.
And I guess this will confirm it.
It is okay either way. I have said all this to her before his psychic break.
I had a feeling ...and was worried about her being in the relationship.

Last but not least,
this picture was titled 
" command  center."
( Scary Stuff )


Do you know someone 
who is wound really tight? ( besides me)
Are you neat as a pin?

Renee Finberg 'TELLS ALL' in her BLOG.....

credits: NYT  , and here


Interior Design, Palm Beach, Boca Raton,Ft.Lauderdale,Design Service, Window Treatments, TurnKey Interior Design Service,Paint selection, Floor-Plans,Online Interior Design,
Design Center of The Americas, D.C.O.T.A., Compulsive behavior, Neatness, Organization

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