Bedroom Organization: More Closet Dreams

As is often the case when I am excited about something it doesn't always turn out in real life the way it does in my head.  For instance, my mother in law had some glass vases that she didn't need and I wanted to use them for some storage.  Unfortunately I imagined that everything would fit inside the glass vases that were about 1.5 gallons too small.  At least free vases don't come with buyers remorse and I'm sure I will find some other use for them soon :)

What I need is something like this two gallon glass jar from Crate & Barrell.

Another storage situation I'm trying to solve is all of Chad's hats.  He loves hats.  But they are a bitch to store.  So I'm going with a cloth bin that can corral all those hard to store hats from Bed Bath & Beyond.

I'm just waiting for the time to get all these items picked up and put into the closet.  All I can say is that I'm really glad our clothes are hanging up and not draped all over the dining room anymore :)

Bedroom Organization: Closet Dreams

We finally installed the closet but there is more work to be done before there will be pictures.

What has been bothering me the most is what I will do for shoe storage.  Thanks to Pinterest I think I've brought some ideas together...

The first part of the plan is to get the Billy Bookcase in white and buy two extra shelves.  If my calculations are correct this will not only fit perfectly into the space but also hold all of my shoes with a little space left over.

The second part of the plan involves several extra hurricane vases my mother-in-law no longer needs.  I want to store our socks in those and put them on top of the shoe ... shelf.  For this project I also want to get some cute chalkboard tags from etsy to label the vases.

Also, the closet needs a floor length mirror, purse storage, hat storage, and some finishing touches.  I'm still working on all of that.

I'm really excited to put it together so I can feel the closet is completed enough to show off :)

mellow yellow

For Christmas, Santa gifted me a new closet system from The Container Store which arrived early last week.  Taking apart the old closet, patching the walls, and painting took most of the weekend and the new closet isn't even installed yet so most of the condo is still covered in still homeless clothes and shoes.

All this closet work made me very aware of how much I love dresses and how few I have.  I've kind of been obsessed with dresses lately.  And since the weather has been gray, cold, and snowy I've also been in love with yellow dresses.

Doesn't that just make you want to smile???  Chad's sister's wedding is coming up this May and I'm thinking I'll get a LYD to wear to the function.  Or maybe I'll just keep looking at it and thinking of warmer days and finished closets.

new camera

This Christmas, Santa Claus brought me... (Lalalaaaaaaaa) this baby:

Isn't she beautiful?  I haven't taken her out of the house yet... too worried I will become Clumsy McDroppy-Pants.  But in the meantime I've been trying to learn how to use the manual settings.

Auto:

Manual:

It's lots of fun to play with manual settings with a lit Christmas tree.  Maybe I'll learn more tricks this year with other scenery ;)

Anyway, even though I didn't buy the new camera with manual settings... but I got one so I think it counts :)

Buy a new camera with manual settings

Bedroom Organization: Jewelry

I have had lots of complicated ways of storing jewelry since I did away with the ballerina jewelry box.  Throughout my early 20s I had LOTS of cheap jewelry that was displayed in various ways and usually covered in dust from being nothing more than art.  I really only had 2 or 3 pieces of jewelry I really loved - the rest were pieces that I'd been given, didn't like, but couldn't bring myself to give away.  And so my biggest issue wasn't that I didn't like wearing jewelry, it was just that the 2 or 3 pieces I liked were jumbled among that many pieces I didn't.

When I started acquiring pieces that I did love and wanted to start making an effort to wear I realized that I needed a new plan.

This is how I had things set up for awhile, which was working since my necklaces were always displayed so I could find what I was looking for but I didn't always have the best way to find my earrings.

Now things are a little more functional.  First I started by sorting by color and use.  Then I bought 3 floating shelves from IKEA for $7 each.  Then I repurposed the shadowbox, square shelves, and mismatched tea cups that I had already been using.  I also had a cache of Japanese dipping bowls that my mom's friend had given me when she moved.  The end result was this:

I'm fairly pleased with how it has turned out.  All my jewelry is visible, within arms reach, and easy to take out and put back.  I have definitely noticed how much more I wear jewelry since I completed this project.  I think it is missing a little something but I feel the best part about it is the room to grow.

New Year Fun & Cleaning

With the hectic holidays and us going to the gym at different times (if at all) brunch was not high on our to-do list the past several weeks.

For our very first dinner of 2012 Chad (and Sanda, Joe, and Stefani) and I were fortunate enough to be invited over to Pin's house for another marvelous meal.  This time we came prepared wearing pajamas.  We were not disappointed and her floor is much more comfortable when I'm wearing an elastic waistband.

On Monday morning we got out of bed at a decent hour, went to the gym, and then went grocery and doggy food shopping.  After all of that someone decided we should go home and clean rather than spend a leisurely morning having brunch made and cleaned up for us by other people.  Must have been all of that New Years-y Will Power that will hopefully be gone by the middle of the week.

In any event the Christmas tree is out in the trash bin and all the Christmas decorations are cleaned and away.  Yes, I wasted even more time today by cleaning all of the glass ornaments since they looked a little dusty.  Now they're all sparkly and clean for next year.

2011: A (nother Utah) Year In Review

It's that time of year again, the one where I wax poetic on the previous year.  As always this is more for me than for you so sit down and shut up enjoy.  We again sent out a Christmas photo of our most photogenic family member...

I am glad to report that only minor injuries were incurred from that photo shoot.

1. Bella turned 3... yep, I'm being that person.  She started successfully attending Doggy Day-Care weekly which has helped her get along with other animals AND we're now able to put a muzzle on her for her protection as well as ours.  We're very glad we brought our little terriorist into our lives.

2. We celebrated our first anniversary this year.  We celebrated at Log Haven by ourselves for a quiet evening consuming an entire years worth of calories.  

3. We welcomed our first niece Lucia on 11/11/11.  She is adorable and has also gotten us off the hook as far as being real parents for at least 3-5 more years.

4. Chad's sister Brandy got engaged so we've welcomed another member to the family, Trevor.  We're very much looking forward to the wedding in Hawaii this May :)

5. Fortunately we had the time to take a few trips this year: Becca and I went to visit Annie in New York in March; Chad spent a month in Southern Utah for work but also got to visit with his grandparents; Becca, Brian, Chad, and I went to Disney Land in September; Chad and I went to visit Laura, Mel,  Lucia, and many other members of our extended family in San Francisco in December; and as usual, even though this is very likely cheating, we both spent a handful of evenings in Park City with various groups of friends.

Happy New Year!