Bathroom Organization: Drawers (Again)

One of the many things about me that drives Chad crazy is that nothing is ever finished.  For instance; I'm more likely to organize something that I have organized before than I am to organize something that isn't organized at all... yet.  That's because if I've organized it already I can deconstruct it all Sherlock Holmes style and tweak the pieces that aren't working perfectly until it's perfect... which it never is.

So my bathroom drawers, until yesterday, looked something like this.

And then I was shopping at Target for face wash and magically found myself in the bathroom organization aisle, somehow.  Target seems to be competing with The Container Store for my affections.  and Target just won itself a brownie point.

I brought one home and made a Mani/Pedi Tote since I'm constantly grabbing fistfuls of nail polish, remover, cotton swabs, and other crap to do my nails while watching TV and then leaving it in the living room until it finds its way back to the bathroom again.

I mean come on.  How much lovelier is this than an old makeup bag.  Have I ever told you how much I hate makeup bags?  No?  We don't have time today people, I'm talking about how pleasing that image is, so much better than stupid disorganized makeup bags!!  And then I was so pleased that I had to bring more home and redo the drawers... (of course!)

Sigh.  I'm trying to bask in the glow of more efficiently organized bathroom drawers rather than thinking about all the other projects that I could have spent my time on... :)

splish backsplash

Kalie brought up a good comment the other day about my Ridiculous Summer Project #1...

BACKSPLASH

Yes, Miss Kalie, I have been agonizing over the backsplash and ... ok, I'm going to bring this up but seriously, don't tell Chad.  He loves me... But I don't know if he loves me enough to handle what I'm about to say...

the granite counter tops.  GASP!!

But seriously?  Black?  The kitchen is far away from the sliding glass window/door to the porch.  The entire room is practically cavelike.  Were black counter tops really the best idea?  I don't think so.  Why am I not in charge of more things regarding the universe and condos???

But back to my agonizing... I don't know what I'm going to do about the granite right now.  I'm mulling.

In the meantime, let's look at pretty backsplashes.

Oooooooh!  Aaaaaaaaaaah!  Ok, we can stop oohing and aahing now.  Unless you want to keep doing it... in which case, I'm not your mama.  Do whatever.  I'll wait.

I like the white but then I feel that there would be waaaaay too much white with the white cabinets and the... white ceiling?  I like the colored tiles (whoa... did it just get racist on this blog?) but I'm really in love with those millions of different blue tiles that look like they belong in the bathroom...

But they look like they belong in the bathroom.  What's that thing I'm always saying about don't sh*t where you eat?* No bueno.  Seeeeeeeee?  I have so much agonizing to do.  My cushy life where all I have to worry about are paint colors and wall tiles is just so... wait, yeah, I'm going to stop whining now :P

*I have never said that

lions, tigers, and dinosaurs

This past weekend a few of my friends and I decided to visit the new(ish) Utah Museum of Natural History... you know, the totally non-nerdy thing to do with a Saturday morning.  It was surprisingly uncrowded, quiet, and fun.

So my cute totally non-nerdy friends helped me cross another item off of my list.  Thanks guys!!

Visit the Utah Museum of Natural History

Ridiculous Summer Project #2: Living Room

The most ridiculous plan (and this is saying something) is to get rid of the dining room - actually we're storing the table & chairs in a family member's basement for the next little while - and move the living room in it's place.  The argument for keeping the dining room was the maybe 5 times a year that we need a formal dining room.  Since those are family functions that could easily be moved to another family member's home it makes little sense to tie up what could be used as a bedroom just to have both a living room and a dining room.

So off it goes.

And the issues:

• Wall color
• Media storage
• Wall art
• New curtains to match new wall color
• A bar

The plan:

• Same wall color as the kitchen (obviously) Silver Strang: Behr

• Much of what the 4X4 Shelf is holding will be transferred to the new kitchen cabinets so I'm hoping it will work as media storage.
• Wall art ... still working on and looking into
• New curtains (Pottery Barn)

• Bar... remember the bar/buffett I got for a steal?  It has been holding a china set since we got it, and with the new kitchen cabinets I'll finally be able to use it for the intended purpose.

• Move the couch, ottoman, television, and media in.

Ridiculous Summer Project #1: The Kitchen

I have a problem, somewhat the opposite of the idea "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."  In this particular scenario I'd like to blame it on the evolution of me, which is that for 15 years of my life I was used to having 3 months off each year during summer in which to dream up huge projects that would fill all that free time.  And for the past few years I've spent my summer months consumed with home projects.  At my age it is called "nesting".

So to make a long story short; the story being that the condo that I've been painting and furnishing for the past two years is all wrong and I need to fix it and Chad doesn't understand but he loves me anyway; I have several large projects that I hope to accomplish before my birthday.  And one of them is the kitchen.

You know... this one.

So here are the issues:

• The paint color that I had custom mixed drives me insane... too dark.
• Not enough cabinet space, and I hate the color.
• The ceiling track lighting have expensive lightbulbs that are hard to replace and they heat up the room more than they light it.
• The bar stools... broken, hate them, need more.

And here is the plan:

• New paint (Silver Strand: Behr)

• New cabinets (and trust me I've weighed the pros and cons of replacing vs painting): White Custom Cabinets - that will go all the way to the ceiling: IKEA featuring a side open cabinet which I'm very excited about.

• New track lighting - I haven't decided what to go with yet but it will use regular lightbulbs.
• New barstools: IKEA

And if that isn't enough to be getting on with, and breaking a carefully planned and saved budget - I'm also looking into replacing the 10 year old dishwasher.  That was first on the list until a new water heater broke into our emergency appliance replacement fund.