Today I am so excited to introduce a series that I am going to be writing for my friend Jackie of Teal & Lime! If you’ve been around the past couple of months you may remember me mentioning meeting her at Haven Conference. I was so taken with her blog (and her bright and happy self) that I even did a blogger feature on her. Now, I am so honored to be a guest contributor on her site all year long. 2014, I knew you were going to be good to me!
Each month you will find me over on her site sharing Craft Tips and Tricks.
Now without further ado, click on over to her site to find out what items I recommend for beginning your crafter’s arsenal (on a budget no less) so you are always at the ready when your crafting urge hits!
Also, don’t forgot to keep checking in on her blog. She continually has inspiring and beautiful projects – plus there will be other great guest posts from 8 other contributors!
The kitchen is the heart of the home. Where everyone gathers…but doesn’t so much else gather here too? My counters see daily mail, purchases brought into the home, my purse, project items I’m working on…not to the mention the food preparation and eating that goes on in there as well. It takes all my might to clean off the counters each day, so what goes on behind those closed cabinet doors (that no one can see except Eric and me) can get a little scary.
Like this little section of kitchen cabinets.
This section is more of the miscellaneous kitchen items. It is not in the mainstream area for daily dishes and prep items. These are more the occasional cabinets.
Here I store all my recipes (both loose and in books).
It also houses our dessert and baking section – as well as the hot chocolate and popcorn section.
Then there is the massive amount of water bottles, vases, glass containers….the list goes on.
Operation clean these cabinets commence!
Out it all came for the sorting phase. Sort the like items together. Get rid of any trash. Find as many items to donate as possible.
Now is the reassembly phase. I had some extra baskets on hand and organized like items together.
Now I have a baking basket, a popcorn basket, a hot chocolate basket, and my dessert baskets (yes, I NEED my dessert baskets).
I went through all the recipes and only put back the books I used and the recipes I actually make. Now it seems so much easier to figure out what to make for the week.
I pared down as bottles and vases as I could.
Now, as the final finishing touch to make this side of the kitchen organized and functional, I added a little hidden message center for all of those little papers and reminders.
All I did was take a cork square and tape off a pattern and painted it white. Two Command strips and a few push pins later and it was ready for messages!
All it took was some purging, sorting likes together, utilizing baskets, and creating a message board to turn this side of the kitchen into a fabulously functional space.
Sidenote: If you like what you see in our kitchen, make sure to check out our final kitchen reveal post where I shared how we updated our kitchen on a budget.
Now that you’ve seen what I’ve been organizing, hop on over to these blogs to keep your organizational steam going!
I know you must smile each time you open this set of cabinets and see your newly organized area. I like how you put like items in baskets to keep them organized. Having a small bulletin board inside of the cabinet is a great idea, too.ReplyCancel
Oh that feels good doesn’t it?! Our kitchen is a busy place too Megan and your purging, sorting and cute cork board for messages is just the thing I need to get & keep the organizing steam going!
Thanks!ReplyCancel
I can’t believe all of that came out of those cabinets! I’m scared to empty mine out lol! Everything looks so much neater and easier to find! You are so right about how things gather in the kitchen…it’s my biggest battle! I’m feeling motivated to organize something in there now 🙂 XOReplyCancel
I can’t believe it either Christy! It is scary when it all comes out. But it looks like so much less now that it is all organized (well there is less too). Good luck organizing!ReplyCancel
Girl I cannot believe you had all that in your cabinets before! It didn’t look like a whole lot until you emptied it onto the counter. Great job organizing the space! I really need to do that to some of my cabinets. Love the hidden message board too!ReplyCancel
Your cabinets looks so cozy and warm. I also put a cork table on the refrigerator and it is really funny when we put there some sweet messages. Regards!ReplyCancel
We’re back here again – to the place where a beautiful item was given to us by our beautiful family. It’s the story of our china cabinet (see its history with us as I modernized it a little with the wrapping paper backed on foam boards and then organized the heck out of it). A china cabinet that isn’t something that I would have picked out myself but it has a history with the Rapp family (and is a gorgeous and valuable piece of furniture). So I’m working to make it work – cause I think that is doable.
Here is where I was at after adding the paper backing and styling it.
Can you notice that is it hard to photograph all that glass? It is also hard to see behind those glass doors. Plus, you have to elevate everything on the bottom so it is seen through the glass.
So I decided to change it up. Actually, it was a comment from a reader (and close friend) who first suggested when I posted about this last year….and I’m finally doing it. Which was really necessary since I had pillaged the contents of the china cabinet for my new geometric shelf.
A screwdriver and a couple of minutes later the doors were off and a blank surface was wide open. Which was so enticing and exciting for me that I immediately started playing around with combinations.
Whoop here it is.
Isn’t it crazy that just taking a few doors off makes such a difference? It makes is a little less china cabinet and a little more bookcase. It also makes it more informal, which I’m digging. This whole room is informal and fun so it was time to fun this piece up a bit.
This is also where we find ourselves back in styling land (I seem to be here a lot recently which is neat).
I started layering in the larger pieces first – so books and pictures and plates and larger vases in this case. I tried to balance out the items, so I did books on both sides of the top. Then I completed the little triangle of books on the bottom but I flipped them to horizontal.
I also tried to find harmony in both tall and wide objects.
It also doesn’t feel too formal and it feels like something I can use daily. Swap in a book, take out a picture to gaze upon.
What makes this styled piece even better is that all the items really have a place in my heart too, not just in my china cabinet (hence all my “this feels…” statements throughout the post). I’m trying to really get rid of anything that I don’t absolutely adore, that isn’t beautiful, that isn’t purposeful.
So I have books I love, pictures of the man I love (at all ages), a plate I painted, memorabilia from trips around the world, and pieces from my childhood.
I like the fact that these items mean so much to both me and my family so when we gather around meals they can act as conversation pieces and fond memories.
So I guess styling isn’t just all about what looks right to the eye but also how it feels to the heart.
Decorating with your spouse. Yup, we’re going there because it’s a big deal. It’s the person you love eternally but most likely will have different opinions than you (good – that’s healthy). Except it is also challenging. Especially when it comes to decorating. Marrying two people = easy. Marrying two styles = difficult.
Enter our living room rug buying as prime example one.
This is the first room we decorated together. Before this blog. Before I had really realized my love of decorating. Before I had defined my style. Before Eric and I had longer conversations than, “Is this comfortable? Do you like it?”
So we were in this state for a while. Then this blog happened and my obsession love with all things home started happening.
Then I realized that the living room wasn’t jiving with my taste. So I talked about changing it. Then I realized Eric loved this room. This is what it was looking like.
Then came the question, “When comes the time to compromise? Do I let him have this room because he generally doesn’t care what I do in the others? Or should I push since I believe that we both should love this room?” So I compromised and I pushed at different times and using different methods. I didn’t know what to do so I tried everything I could think of.
Here’s what I found:
Find the right time to talk. Your spouse probably has a time of day/week when they are most open to talking about things. Or at least you know the times that are best not to talk about anything. So find that prime time when your spouse is relaxed, not stressed, and not distracted. That sets up a good time to have a good conversation.
Use pictures. I think the pictures in my mind are so great. But no one else can see them so it’s not the most effective argument. If you have specific ideas bring pictures. Show your spouse the pictures. They can really help make your case.
Ask open ended questions. Don’t just ask, “Do you like this?” Ask instead, “What do you like about this? Do you like this with a pattern? Would you rather have a solid? Or a texture? What colors do you like?” Make sure to get specific.
Don’t rush it. Eric and I were on the hunt for a rug forever. One weekend I felt like I was in rug boot camp. I spent hours scouring websites and looking at rugs and showing them to Eric. I got so burnt out on rugs. He got burnt out on rugs. No rugs were found until we found three perfect ones randomly. One popped up in an ad on Facebook, one I stumbled across on a website when I was looking for something else, and the one we decided on was from a link to a company on a blog.
After that whole process, we finally found a rug. It took all the combined points above to make it happen. But happen it did. We were patient and kind and finally found something that suits us.
One final point remember is when to say enough is enough.
A rug, sofa, or lamp is NOT more important than your spouse. Once I found then rug the decorating changes started snowballing in my head. It frustrated and overwhelmed Eric who was fine with the rug. He agreed with me on a few small changes to come but he said no to some other items. That is the time to compromise. So I did. Now we have this rug and that is enough.
It’s nice that your husband has an opinion about decorating and wants to be involved in decisions. I’m pretty lucky because my husband and I usually have the same taste or he doesn’t care and goes along with what I want.ReplyCancel
I was just thinking about this myself the other day. It is tricky to decorate with a spouse but it sounds like you’ve found a good way!! And yes, showing a picture of what is in your head is a wonderful idea!! I really want white woodwork so I need to get finding some pictures to show him. : )ReplyCancel
Ultimately I think it is the most rewarding type of decorating too. It is unselfish and loving decorating! Who wouldn’t want that in their home?! I’ve found pictures help tremendously! Hit up Pinterest for those white woodwork pictures! Good luck!ReplyCancel
How do you feel about styling? Do you find it laborious or a fun treat? I fall right in the middle of it. I love styling but sometimes it can wear on me when I’m shifting around items for the 2,347th time. I think to myself, “Why can’t I just get this?!” But then I keep going.
I really think that is the trick in styling – keep playing until your eye says rest.
I also think it is helpful to have a small arsenal of items to pull from. I pull from places around the house and our storage before hitting up a store. I only like to buy something for styling when I have played around with what I have and see a hole. Then I know the shape/style/height of a specific item I need instead of just adding to the hoard of pretty items.
So that is where I began in my styling endeavor of my favorite newly white (thanks not-scary-anymore chalk paint) geometric shelves.
Lots of corners provides a little more of a challenge than regular straight shelves. I decided to really play up the geometric lines by making some shelves a little off kilter themselves.
Buh-bye books all lined up. It’s time to make you all squirrely. That’s probably the thing I like most about this styling. It seems a little bit unpredictable and fun – at least to me.
I also tried to give the styling some breathing room. If you notice only every other shelf is packed to the max. I didn’t want it to be overloaded. I’m all about trying to make our house more minimalist – in the way I can (which for me isn’t the definition of minimalist but is more like just clearing out and leaving white spaces).
So there it is folks, my unconventional styling. Is it still tame to you? Or is it more about of the box to you? Do you try to shake things up in the styling department?
Here are some other fun posts as I try my hand at styling different surfaces:
Love the shelves and styling! That’s pretty much in my wheelhouse, as far as design goes, though I’m kind of terrible about making things like artfully sophisticated. I’m working on it!ReplyCancel
Great post, Megan! I tend to be on the “will this really look right?? side of the question! I don’t love styling shelves or doing vignettes, but I do love them when it all comes together! I’m pinning! Visiting from blogtalk.ReplyCancel
Thanks so much for visiting! Styling can definitely be hard, which is kind of why I decided to just throw rules to the wind and just try whatever came to mind. It’s so much fun and freeing that way!ReplyCancel
Your room looks like so much FUN, Megan. I’m house is SERIOUSLY lacking in styling. Like–IN ALL AREAS, lacking. I’m going to use your tips for keeping them uneven. I like that look! 🙂
The shelves are really cute! I like you theory of eye rest. That’s what I call the breaks in between vignettes, gotta have some calm around each storm. 🙂 And that desk??? I need that desk! Very cool looking room!ReplyCancel
Thank you so much! Eye rest is a great term – and so needed! I need to tell myself that repeatedly because I love everything bright and colorful everywhere. The desk is one of my favorite things ever! It is a door from an old house on saw horses.ReplyCancel
I love how you styled your new shelves. I also shop my house when styling before I buy something to use. I sometimes will have to try what seems like 50 million combination before I finally find one that clicks.ReplyCancel
I am with you on those 50 million combinations. It took me many different tries and trips around the house to get these to where they are now. They wouldn’t let me leave them until I got them right though…I kept trying to walk away and just kept coming back!ReplyCancel
[…] So I decided to change it up. Actually, it was a comment from a reader (and close friend) who first suggested when I posted about this last year….and I’m finally doing it. Which was really necessary since I had pillaged the contents of the china cabinet for my new geometric shelf. […]ReplyCancel
Love this!
Thank you so much!