Happy Memorial Day!

What an absolutely beautiful weekend at the River!  I apologize for not posting my finished product pics, but we all unplugged and spent some quality family time together.  So much fun!

Wyatt relaxing & lovin' time in his chair!

I want to take a quick minute to share a cool find.  Where from you might ask? I found it on Pinterest and mom gave it to me for Christmas.  We were always looking for a high chair that would be easy to cart around and store.  We have a space saver chair for the house and a booster, but both of these chairs require a chair at the table.  I found a traveling high chair, "Ciao!  Baby" Portable High Chair (the-go- anywhere-high-chair), that folds up like the adult lawn chairs we have.  It even comes with its own bag to travel in, a cup holder (or "holster" as daddy calls it), and a plastic surface that's easy to wipe clean.  It was perfect for the cottage.  We were able to take it out when we needed it and put it away to save on space.  I LOVED the chair because Wyatt was able to join us for cocktail and snacks on the deck and eat at the picnic table.  The picture says it all! Oh yeah, and you can order the chair by clicking on the link: Ciao! Baby Portable High Chair.

Projects Galore!

This weekend was phenomenal!  Beautiful weather, productive, and lots of time with the family.  To say I am excited would be an understatement.  I am bursting at the seams to share the projects I completed over the weekend.  I have some finishing touches to add and then final photos to take.  The first project is a game for the kiddos (Wes will enjoy it next year) and for us! I added a cool twist to something I found on Pinterest.  The second project I (or should I say "we" since the hubs was key) tackled was a pallet table.  I know there have been several to view on Pinterest, but I was intimidated to try because there were never any directions.  My hubby was nervous about the outcome and my crazy Pinterest idea, but I can now say he's a believer (& a very patient teacher since he taught me how to use power tools & overjoyed that he now has his shed back for storage:) Well ladies & gents, I will post step by step directions, pictures of the process, and of course, the final product, later this week.

Desk Area Organization

 I really wish I had before pictures of my kitchen desk, island, & shelving area.  Our house is older and we've renovated almost everything but the kitchen, so I am trying to make it work.  I LOVE the cupboard space (not the actual cupboards:), but the setup and unique features, like the desk and multiple book shelves create somewhat of a design/organizational challenge.  In my first post I mention how guests at the house kicked my butt in gear.  Below are the "almost finished" pictures of the kitchen area after my butt was in gear.  I have to finish labeling the baskets and hanging the monthly menu planning calendar (my next project!).  It honestly looks like this every night before I go to bed.  It takes me five minutes to put things away because everything has a place.  Imagine that?!  

Best part of the desktop are the blue bins labeled with my
name & my hubby's name.  We put our cell phones, keys, wallet,
hands free, etc. in them.  It has made a huge difference...no more
daily scavenger hunt for these things!  I upcycled soup cans & baby
food jars, covered them with contact paper, labeled them, and
filled them with supplies.  

Both baskets have the dividers from drink cases in them.
One basket has all of the cords (cell phone, Kindle, etc.)
and our Ipod shuffles, labeled in ziploc bags.  The other
basket holds our baby monitors and camera (Yes, we
need an entire basket to house these:).  The other polka
dot bin holds our camera, the charger, and all of the
cords.  I use this every day so the bin provides very easy
access and creates a tidy look.  

$ Store bins labeled "Books/magazines", "Cookbooks", and "Recipes".
Looks so much better like this.  One of the baskets on top has all our sunny day gear in it, sunglasses, sunscreen, chapstick, etc.  Super easy to just grab & go.  

Cool Find!

Trying to find time to get to local thrift stores has been a challenge.  So happy I finally made it there last week.  Found some great deals & created a Mother's Day gift, a 1st anniversary gift for my sister and her husband, and something to help organize my bathroom.  To see details on the gifts, click on the page labeled "Gift Ideas" at the top of the page.  Below you will see my cool find.  I found it in the serving dish section, but saw that it would make the perfect organizer for my bathroom counter top.  LOVE it! 

The tiered dish is perfect!  We don't have a ton of counter space so going vertical with organization is our only option.  I love using the top dish for the earrings & necklace I wear everyday, bobby pins, hair bands, & chapstick!  So great keeping it in one place, off the counters, but easily accessible.  :)

Adventures in Organizing Part I

There's nothing like having guests come to the house to kick your organizing butt in gear!  All of those projects I had in mind actually came to life.  Don't get me wrong, we have a long way to go in the organizing department, but boy does it feel so good to have finally left the start line.  The feeling of a tidy, clean, and organized house is almost better than chocolate.  Almost better than exercise.  Almost better than...you get the picture.  My goal was to create spaces so that everything had a place to go.  I was sick of the stacks of papers, the clutter on my table and counter tops, the ridiculous amount of toys that I was sure I would twist or break an ankle on, and the overwhelmed feeling I experienced every day. Did I forget to mention the millions of times my husband asked where his keys were or "Have you seen my phone?"...Miraculously enough I usually found them, but not without lifting stacks of mail or laundry I still needed to fold. I had even implemented the "5 minute rule" for the hubby.  Before he was able to ask me where something was he had to look for 5.  LOL!  It would take anyone more like 5 hours to find something amongst our chaos.   It was time to take action.

We have an open floor plan so the family room, dining, and kitchen are like one big room. I needed to think seriously about storage options.   Like I said before, this is just the beginning of something wonderful. :)  Alrighty, I will explain the steps I took to get started.  I did read some wonderful blogs & had a ton of pins so I will give credit to those that have helped me along the way.  My favorite blog is Iheartorganizing.blogspot.com.  By some miracle this wonderful blog landed in my lap via pinterest.  I am SO thankful. 

Getting Started:
1. Storage "Bins":   Search your house for any bins, baskets, crates, or other storage containers that are not being used.  I found that I was just throwing stuff in bins.  Think outside the box too!  I upcycled soup cans, cereal boxes, and baby food jars.  I found some great (affordable) canvas-like bins at The Dollar Store.  $1 each and super cute.  They came in all different sizes, cute colors/patterns, and were perfect for the space I was working with.

2.  Focus on Area:  Start in one room or one area so you are not overwhelmed.  We have a desk in the kitchen and I knew if I organized the desk it would take care of the clutter that seemed to permeate all the way to the front door! 

3.  Attack the Paper Piles:  PAPERS...argh!  So many papers.  So many piles.  I've tried putting them in bins, one for me and one for my husband...I'm embarrassed to say that one of the bins I found had piles of papers from 5 years ago!!!  Instead of just throwing papers into piles, I found a new file system on pinterest that caught my attention.  It led me to the iheartorganizing blog and the love affair began :) .
Click on PROJECT ORGANIZE on the top tab.