Tag: Organization

The Library Alcove’s New Storage

As my shop (Pink Loves Brown) has grown, so too has my need for more storage. The library’s alcove is right outside of my studio, so it’s a perfect place to store some of my inventory and supplies.

The alcove used to be more pared down and it looked nice, but it didn’t really serve any function. I put four bookshelves with doors together in an ‘L’ shape, and it’s a much better use of space. The unit in the corner is only half-accessible, but it’s working out just fine.

The knobs on the doors were from Anthropologie. I bought them when we moved in for my closet before we decided to use sliding doors, but they were so pretty that I decided keep them. I had never found the right spot for them until now.

Also, note that I finally found an Orla Kiely pitcher (that I’m using as a vase) in green! I thought it was going to be yellow from the photos I had seen, but the green is nice.

And because I know someone will ask if I don’t source them… Those are dried billy buttons in the vase. I bought two big bunches a while back, and they’re always showing up in various spots all around the house.

March 9, 2009
Orla Kiely (and Other New Details) in the Kitchen

The Target near me finally put out some of the Orla Kiely goodies I’ve been wishing for, so I picked up a couple of canisters for the kitchen. The cheery pattern is really cute in there!

I put this “Eat” sign above the fridge quite a while ago, but I hadn’t taken a photo of it until now…

My mother-in-law has the same sign in red in the family’s Wisconsin lake house. I bought mine from Feather Your Nest (though it looks like they have different word signs now).

And how cute are these little measuring spoons? I love the soft clacking sounds they make as I open the cabinet.

February 24, 2009
Toy Storage / Play Area

The nursery has very strange little alcoves at each end. One side is setup as a closet, but the other side is just open. It looked like this when we moved in:

I had painted the woodwork white and sewn white curtains to close the space off when we had the room setup as a guest room. It looked much better, but there was still no purpose.

When we talked to the girl that grew up in this house, she mentioned that she had kept her bed down there. We thought that was a good idea for a kid’s room (what kid doesn’t like sleeping in a fort?), but we still wouldn’t be able to use it for several years. Then I started thinking about how well the TROFAST system from IKEA would fit, and I realized that the area would be great for toy storage.

I was lucky enough to have a toy closet as a kid for a few years, and I remember spending hours in there playing. It would get hot and stuffy, but I didn’t care because it was my secret little world.

I carpeted with FLOR tiles, but I could see adding a fluffy little rug and a bean bag chair down there for comfort. I had planned to close off the left half of the opening and build shallow shelves for books, similar to the Catalina Magazine Rack.

Now that we’ve built the crib though, it blocks that whole side. Maybe we should still do it and just leave the shelves empty for now?

I know we won’t be able to use it much at first and we’ll have to put up a child safety gate, but I hope our daughter will eventually love her little play area.

January 15, 2009
My Organized Closet

Somehow, I can leave dishes in the sink (instead of loading the dishwasher that’s two feet away), and I’ll let random things pile up on the dining room table, but I am not someone that can shove a bunch of stuff behind closed doors and consider it “put away”. Yes, I DO that (I’m nowhere near perfect), but it bothers me and bothers me until I can go through and thoroughly clean and organize everything. So that’s what I did this weekend.

My closet is a freestanding wardrobe from IKEA. It’s nothing special from the outside, but everything fits inside. Clothes, shoes, hats, purses, jewelry… it’s all in there.

Here’s the overall layout:

I think I got rid of about half of my shoes when I cleaned everything out. I decided to only keep the shoes I really loved… the cute heels, the simple flats that go with everything. All the shoes I had been holding onto that hurt my feet or that I never wore just had to go. Now the shoes I have fit nicely in two drawers.

My boots go along the back, tucking behind my dresses.

And speaking of dresses, here they are:

My jewelry and perfume used to be over by the bathroom, but I thought it made more sense to keep everything together with my clothes.

Brandon was a bit shocked at how much I was getting rid of, but I feel so much better. My sister took some of it, and all the rest was donated to charity. And now I’m nicely organized.

December 16, 2008
Dining Room Display

I started setting up the dining room, now that all of the kitchen stuff is out of there. I’m most excited (and most daunted) by the built in buffet.

Many of you already know that I have a kajilion white vases (some of you have been asking where they are!). I haven’t really found a good place to put them in the house. I had used our low bookshelves in the old apartment like a mantle, but now those are in Brandon’s office.

in the old apartment

Well, I thought I may as well try to make them work in the dining room. I couldn’t use the really tall vases, but I was able to fit most of the smaller ones in. I have to be honest though – I’m not crazy about the whole look. I like the mix of sizes that I used to have going on, but now with just the smaller pieces it seems a bit meh. Plus I can’t decide if the look is charmingly eclectic, or just cluttered. I love everything in there, but I’m leaning towards cluttered.

My other thought was to maybe just embrace the mish-mash of items and keep going with it. Throw in some more pattern, make a paper garland to hang from the shelves, add a bunch of little felt pom-pons… my crafty nature is showing! I do like the idea, but maybe not for my own home.

I will be putting up wallpaper in the dining room eventually, so I like the idea of having all of the pattern on the walls and keeping the display simple and mostly white. Something is also really appealing about just having plates in there. It would be so much cleaner, visually. Er, then again… sometimes more is more.

See? I’m flip-flopping. I’ll live with it for a while – It’s easy enough to change around.

May 31, 2007