Under the Weather

I have to apologize, but due to illness and some minor surgery between a couple of family members and myself, I haven't been able to spend any time organizing and/or blogging!

 

Please stay tuned because with all this recovery time, I've been thinking about organizing and will have lots of exciting things to share soon!

 

In the meantime, I thought you might enjoy some great organizing checklists from Real Simple that I came across. Follow this link: http://search.realsimple.com/results.html?Ntt=speed-clean

Happy Organizing!

Annie Sloan Lamp Makeover

Last week I shared my experience with giving my dresser a makeover. I got some replies from readers about their furniture makeovers, and thought I would share one regarding this new paint I've heard a lot about.

My daughter picked up this lamp at a garage sale.

She's been talking a lot about Annie Sloan chalk paint, and wanting to experiment with it, and thought this would be the perfect item to try it on.

The paint is amazing! It's a chalk base paint, and can literally go on anything - wood, brass, floors, etc.

After applying two coats of paint (which took about 20-30 minutes per coat to dry), she applied a layer of the Annie Sloan clear wax. She said that applying the wax is necessary because the chalk-base paint leaves the finish feeling a little rough without the wax.

After one coat of the wax, she sanded the lamp to get some texture, and then immediately applied another coat of the wax.

I think the final product looks great, but here's another shot of the before and after:

Has anyone else experimented with this paint? Would love to hear about it!

Happy Organizing! 

Dresser Gets Makeover

As part of my guest room makeover (that I mentioned in an earlier post), I wanted to incorporate a piece of furniture that I could use for storage as well as something to put a tv on for my guests. We had a dresser in a storage facility collecting dust and costing us "moolah" to store it. It's a solid piece of furniture, but just wasn't going to work with the finish that was on it. So, I decided it just needed a different color and some new handles.

I've only refinished one other piece before this one, which I shared with you earlier, so I am definitely a rookie when it comes to refinishing furniture. Hence, I've learned a lot of "to do's " and "not to do's" when it comes to this task.

I have to send out a big "thank you" to our friends, Dan and Liz, because I'm pretty sure they saved my right elbow when they told me about "liquid sander". Anxiously, I ran to Home Depot and picked up a bottle of Citristrip Stripping Gel along with all of the necessary tools needed to use liquid sander to complete my job.

I was shocked at how easy the finish came right off. I used a scraper and a stainless steel paint pan to scrap off the finish. The entire stripping process took less than an hour!

I used painters tape to protect the areas that didn't need any stripping. After 3 coats of paint and 2 coats of polyurethane, I was finished!

I tossed around handle colors and decided I wanted something simple and went with these:

I couldn't wait to get it into the guest room to see it bring the room alive. I am so pleased with the turnout! I've already had several guest who have loved it and its even made part of my Halloween decorating!

So, here's the before and after...  What do you think? Have you done any furniture makeovers.? Please share!

Under the Kitchen Sink!

As I promised yesterday, I want to share my latest organization project! I hope I inspire and challenge others who are in need of a makeover under the kitchen sink to roll up their sleeves and enjoy the results!

Here's how I did it:

1. First, I removed everything from the cabinet and purged items that I didn't need. I also moved housecleaning products to a different cabinet which I will share in a later post.

2. Then I cleaned the cabinet with soapy water and wiped it dry.

3. I laid down contact paper which I had purchased from Target for around $6 per roll. I used less than one roll for my cabinet.

4. Once I had my paper laid down, I categorized like items together and used these organizing bins, which have a great stacking feature, for storing. The bins were also purchased at Target.

5. Lastly, I decided to place tags to identify where my items were located in each bin.

Mission accomplished! Now it's your turn! Please send pictures of your before & after to oisfororganize@gmail.com and I will share on my blog!

21 Day Challenge Results

Well, today is day 21 and I wish I could say that the Purseket was a huge success but unfortunately, for me, it wasn't what I would consider my "unorganized purse solver".

 

What I liked about it:

When I did take the time to put things back in a pocket, it did keep my purse straight.

If I was using it in a floppy purse, it held the purse upright better.

What I didn't like about it:

I couldn't seem to remember what I put in what pocket and the dark color made it hard to locate easily. Maybe a clear Purseket is the way to go if they make it!

If I was using a purse that had more than one opening, it was difficult to fit into the purse.

 

Now, I will say, one tip I received, I've used and now has become a habit (hence, the 21 days), was to empty all of the trash and receipts out every night. I have managed to multitask while brushing my teeth, so it's not really adding any more time to my evening rituals.

So, there you have it! If anyone knows of any other purse organizing tips, I would LOVE to hear about them!

Happy Organizing!

Stay tuned tomorrow for my "under the kitchen sink" makeover!

Purses and Pegboards

Purse update - 14 days in and my purse is still looking great! However, I'm still struggling with hunting through pockets for things! I know I talked about labeling the pockets, but I haven't found anything that really works. I love the idea of the pockets, but not so sure I like these, which got me thinking.....what if the pockets were clear? You would still have a designated spot for each item, but you would also be able to see it when you looked in to retrieve it.

So, if anyone out there knows of a purse organizer that has clear pockets - please let me know. Otherwise, I may have to resort to ziplock!

Now, on to bigger and better things...although not so sure what could be bigger and better than purses...haha!

I was thumbing through my Get Organized Fall 2012 magazine the other day and came across these great pegboard organizing ideas and thought I'd pass them on to you.

 "Get Organized" Fall 2012

I have used one in my office that I shared in a previous post, but I also have this one in my laundry room: 

I think mine needs an overhaul and I love the idea of painting it! (I'll have to put that on my "to do list" soon!) You can purchase pegboards from Home Depot and/or Lowe's and they will cut it to your dimensions.

Would love to see any other pegboards out there that are making life easier for you!

Happy Organizing!

Purse Challenge Update -- Week 1

Purseket Update

So far, so good! I only had one moment of what I thought was going to be chaos in the purse since last Wednesday when I started my challenge. I accidentally turned my purse upside down in the car! But, I have to say, thanks to the Purseket, nothing fell out of the purse. When I turned it back upright it was loose in the purse, but just outside of its pocket.

There are two things I want to share with you after my first week on the challenge -- one being positive and the other being an area I'd like to improve on. They are:

1. Because each thing has a place, if I go to put something else in the purse that really doesn't need to be in there, i.e. trash, I find myself finding another option, like a garbage can!

2. I'm thinking about some sort of labeling for each pocket because I do find myself hunting the pockets when I'm looking for my tape measure, keys, etc.

So, there you have it! I would say week one was successful. I'll update again next Wednesday.  How was your first week of Purse Organization?

Fall Makeover

Well, I've spent my day bringing out my fall decorations, and here are the updates on my back patio:



                   

                                I picked up these Pumpkin Ale glasses from World Market

My sister Pege suprised me with this squirrel bowl...isn't it adorable?

I added some fall decorations to my baker's rack.

This is a shot of my indoor table for the food...thought you might enjoy!



Book Club Party brings in Fall!

I will be busy today getting ready for a book club party I'm hosting tonight. My book of choice was "Solo: A Memoir of Hope,"  which is all about the U.S. Olympic Soccer goalkeeper. Interesting read! I decided I will bring the party outside to my back porch.

Last year my husband spent several months in Greenville, South Carolina, and while he was away I had the porch screened in.

While visiting him, he took me to downtown Greenville, which was absolutely beautiful. There are a number of great stores on the main drag and I purchased these awesome candle hangers at one of them.

We have enjoyed the porch so much already. I love to have Sunday coffee and breakfast at the table.

And even though the temperature won't exactly be "fall like", I'm going to attempt to make it feel that way!

I purchased this sign at T.J. Maxx the other day and will be adding some autumn scents and a few other pieces I already have. That along with some Williams Sonoma Pumpkin Spice Bread should hopefully do the trick!

Stay tuned later today if you are interested in seeing the transformation!

Happy Organizing!

And so, the challenge begins!!

Guess what arrived yesterday!?!?!?!

I was so excited to see the box at my doorstep and get started on my challenge! However, I was in the middle of cooking dinner, so I wasn't able to open the box until this morning.

I purchased a medium size Purseket - brown and tan logo print.

So here's what I have to get back into my purse....yikes!

I always carry a tape measure with me so I can measure items for clients, and of course myself, when I'm away from the house. I love my pill box that I found at Stein Mart!

Kleenex, keys , glasses and gum - are all must haves!

I also like to keep a small bag with pens, pencils, and toiletries inside my purse. I love my Mud Pie phone case and have to have my lipstick case (which by the way, is actually a Vera Bradley eyeglass case that I use to keep lipsticks in instead.)

Here's everything in it's place:

I like how it holds my purse upright.

So, the challenge begins! I have to say, I'm a little skeptical that it will be easy to keep things in order, but I'm going to give it my best shot.

I will keep you updated throughout my challenge, which ends on October 16th.

Wish me luck!