Contained Chaos

Caitlin “Creative Chaos”, our middle daughter, is treading that fine line between little girl and pre-teen. There are days she asks for definitive timelines regarding particular life privileges like shaving her legs (we aren’t there yet) or how long she can continue to trick or treat. That is why it wasn’t a huge surprise when she requested her own desk for a little more independence while doing homework (and other creative chaos.)

I found a couple of white desks online, but they were well over $100, so I turned my attention to thrift stores around town. After a couple of weeks of searching, I found a very dirty, cobwebby (is that a word?) and damaged antique vanity at a bargain center. A very helpful salesman agreed that although it was an antique, he would part with it for $20.

I like the bones of the vanity with its turned legs and potential for a flat writing surface.

The first order of business was to remove the damaged top and scrape the peeling veneer.  Removing the top proved to be quite a challenge…have you ever tried to remove nails from petrified wood? (dramatic interpretation) 

It took almost a whole day to shimmy off the top of the vanity without causing major damage.

With the old vanity top removed, it was time to fit the frame with a new desktop. I will state for those of you who are unfamiliar, I LOVE power tools.  I currently do not own a router (the nifty tool that creates beveled edges on wood pieces) to cut my own desktop.  A chaos comrade, offered a helping hand…and use of his router…to fashion a new edged desktop (thanks, Mr. Tony!)  Then it was time to prime, paint, sand, paint, sand, paint…well, you get the idea.  I finished the project off with some very cool reproduction crystal drawer pulls.  I and my (almost grown) Creative Chaos was thrilled with the results!

A nice coat or two or three of white semi-gloss goes perfect with the rest of her furniture.

See that pretty beveled edge Mr. Tony did!

I love the retro look of the faux crystal drawer pulls!

Our foreowners…that is to say…the previous owners of our beloved home, had very specific tastes which included linoleum flooring in the kitchen (and avacado green countertops, but those were replaced quickly and I am trying to block the memory.)  We knew very early in that we wanted to replace the flooring with ceramic tile. 

I have a fondness for power tools.  It is almost an obsessive thing.  I don’t have to know how to do something as long as I have the tools to accomplish the task.  Sadly my father still believes that his little girl’s place is not behind the the blade of a wet saw (although he is perfectly fine with her pulling up extrordinary amounts of toe molding to prep the room).

We found tile that coordinated with the countertops for under $1.00 a square foot...*happy dance*

Daddy laid the tile meticulously…

Fun fact - my father draws a diagram of the room to "lay out" flooring prior to putting it on the floor.

Then he let me assist by floating grout.  Yes, I said floating…I am learning the lingo.

Two of the chaos canines inspecting our work.

And the finished product…drumroll please…

I am constantly redecorating my home…in my mind.  My furniture is rearranged. the walls painted new colors.  Vignettes fill spaces.  And then I remember I can only do one thing at a time on my to-do list. 

Occasionally small projects render big visual impact without breaking my budget.  The drapes in our master suite turned out this way.  We discussed the marital bliss which is our master bedroom makeover in this post.  Although the room felt very comfortable. the picture still needed some additional “framing”.  Window treatments were in order.  I was looking  for something to pull in the blue/green accent color that was used with the bedding and the wall color in the adjoining master bath.  After looking at several price points, I found these faux silk lined drapes at Walmart.

The drapes were around $15 for one panel and we have two windows in the master.  I will own it…when I don’t HAVE to spend money, I don’t.  So, four panels needed…only two panels purchased.  Hmmmm…I took each panel out and cut it in half, pinning a seam, and running a hem using my sewing machine (you can use the fusable hemming tape and an iron if you don’t have access to a sewing machine!)

Presto…two panels in one.  Does it seem familiar that Rubix the wonder cat is always passed out on the foot of the bed?  He must really like the new room design. Oh heck, who am I kidding.  We could decorate in palm fronds and burlap and the cat would still be passed out on the bed.

Our house is definitely home.  Even though our blended family of five has lived here just under three years, tears, laughter, and love have been shared throughout the rooms.  We have taken special care to customize the spaces based on the interests, aesthetics, and personalities of everyone in the home.  It would seem logical that the first place we demonstrate our family’s personality through design would be the space people see as they enter our home.  To the contrary, our front entry way has remained a relatively blank canvas for the better part of three years.  To make decorating the space more complicated,  I am an advocate for making every space count by including practicality and functionality (in addition to affordability) beyond simply surrounding my space with things that visually appeal to me and my family.  Simply stated, I am willing to wait to find the right combination of elements that fits the area.

With a renewed interest in updating our entry space, I was looking for options that fit with my decorating criteria.  I decided because of the close proximity to the study (which also contains a gaming area for the family’s Wii competitions ) it would be nice to have additional seating for people to interact while using the area.  Our need for board game and music CD storage continues to expand, so I was also exploring alternate storage options.  A bench with storage seemed like a natural option.

Here is what the entry way has looked like since shortly after moving in to our home.

I found several benches that included storage and seemed to feel right with the flow of the adjoining areas that ranged from $200 – $350.  That was more than my frugal nature would allow.  So I waited.  Last month, I found that one of the benches had been reduced for clearance to $125 at JC Penney.  Bonus that I had a 15% off coupon and found a free shipping code online.  Bingo!

In goes the bench…

Add baskets to store music CDs…

Some fun pillows…

I think we have successfully put the first touches on a new interesting entry way that meets the needs of our family home!

In the beginning, it started with a color.  Committed Chaos and I decided that it was about time to revamp the Master Suite.  Largely he lets me take the reins when decorating or organizing our home and is content to share responsibilities in other areas.  However, this time he requested we use the color yellow in the room.  I will admit, yellow was the LAST color that came to mind when envisioning our private retreat.  So, the project got put on hold for a month and then two months and then three months until I decided to see what I could do to feed my need for change while respecting his desire to be included in the decisions.  It started with a search for new linens.  I found two ensembles that I could live with and got Committed Chaos’ vote on his favorite. (he picked the brightest, sunniest yellow !) 

I realized that it was going to be a bit of overkill on my senses to have yellow walls in addition to yellow bed linens.  To complicate matters, I had beautiful blue-green picked out for the master bath.  So with two color swatches in hand, I went in search of a third color to pull into the room that would tone down the brightness of the contrasting colors.  I settled on a deep clay / taupe color.  Who, puts these colors together? I do!

Committed Chaos and I have a system for painting rooms.  It works like a charm.  I paint and he plays video games is fully supportive by bringing me needed items and giving me much needed pep talks.  Seriously, I like to paint and do home improvements and he doesn’t.  He prefers to do laundry.  I do not.  Win win if you ask me.  So, once the long awaited color was selected, the wall were dutifully painted.  This is the wall color after the clay / taupe. 

It is understated, calm, clean.  Everything that a bedroom should be…but wait…we needed all that color pizazz.  In come the linens!

*Sigh* It just begs for an afternoon nap…

There is still some work to be done, but I am very pleased with the initial results.  Who would have thought those three colors could work so well together.  Kind of like marriage.  Different, but complementary.  Let me know what you think!

Fall has long been my favorite season. I know spring is the season for renewal and growth, but fall brings about its own renewal.   School begins again.  We anticipate SEC football (War Eagle!).  Holidays and New Years are just around the corner. 

This particular season has spurred me into life on some long overdue home improvements.  For this reason, the house is a little more chaotic than usual, but the Chaos Clan has taken it in stride.  I will post more on our progress as it comes along, but for now, I wanted to give a shout out to those who have taken the opportunity to celebrate the season with decor galore (Southern Hospitality is always a favorite! Could you possibly beat beautiful and cost effective decorating like Thrifty Decor Chick?).  My wish is to pay tribute to the season more fully in 2010 when I am not surrounded by paint cans and drying grout. Until then, fall just needs to know that it is still my favorite season even if I have neglected to visually demonstrate it.

As I work through my house one space at a time, (sad I know, but even the obsessive aren’t able to do EVERYTHING at once) in my mind, my home will look like a page out of Pottery Barn or at the very least a small editorial in Southern Living.  Beautiful wood furniture in pristinely decorated spaces with aesthetically pleasing color palettes.  You know the rooms I am talking about…the storage containers that blend seamlessly into the landscape of the room in a way that not only organizes but enhances the surroundings.  I fantasize about this.  I clip pictures of these rooms.  Then I remember…Oh yeah, I live in real life…

See how these buckets perfectly enhance the decor and provide storage? Gives me goosebumps.

In my real life with my real family and my real budget, I use plastic containers in my closets, cabinets, and storage units.  Plastic containers and labels from my handy dandy label maker.  So, when my laundry room cabinets got too much for me to handle…my shopping cart looked like this…

There is a process for using plastic containers.  In order to optimize your space and the use of containers, you should (1) always use square shaped containers.  Odd shaped containers will not make full use of cubic area. (2) Measure your space. Select containers that fit neatly into the area you have available.  (3) As with any organizing project you will need to empty the area; purge old, broken, or unneeded items;  and sort items into logical categories.  Then it is time to go hunt for your containers! For this particular project I chose Sterilite brand items.  They have clasping lids, come in a variety of different sizes, and they stack neatly with corresponding notches in the bases and lids.  I was super excited with the end result…what do you think? Not only can I find everything I need, but my previously overcrowded shelves, now have some EMPTY containers that I can expand into as needed.

Pottery Barn it isn't, but it still makes my heart flutter!

Here in Central Alabama during July and August, the climate could be compared to a rainforest on the equator. Hot, sticky and condusive to fostering all kinds of vegatation…both wanted and unwanted. This fact does not deter my desire for organization, even outside my house.

Isn't she beeeeeautiful!?!

Two days ago I was planting a “knock out” rose bush (I highly advocate these plants. They are low maintenance and bloom into the winter months.) when I realized how my flower bed had become a bit overgrown with weeds and the bushes needed to be trimmed to tidy them up. I still had the plastic bag from Home Depot that carried my new rose bush and my pruning clippers were on hand…inspiration hit me. I slipped the handle of the plastic bag over my left arm, addressed the bush to my right, and shaped it with my pruning clippers. In ten minutes I had a neatly shaped shrub and a half filled plastic bag on my arm. I was repurposing the bag, I didn’t have to rake the clippings and risk losing the mulch in my beds and the whole process took less than fifteen minutes. I proceeded to snag any weeds that I found around the base of the plant, tied the bag and deposited it in the garbage on my way in.

Neat and tidy...just like a garden should be!

Last night I grabbed a plastic grocery bag out of my recycling and my pruning clippers to trim another bush and weed beneath it. It only took ten minutes, so I did another. In 20 minutes, I had trimmed my two largest bushes, weeded their area and neatly had all the clippings in the bag hanging on my left arm. AND I never broke a sweat.

I say all this to suggest that never again will I spend half a day with clippers, pruning supplies, garbage bags, rakes; sweating and fighting with my front flower beds. In an average of 15 minutes an evening, I am able to do my entire flower bed in about a weeks time. I can focus on the worst bushes first to give myself a feeling of accomplishment and not drain my energy, my hydration, or my patience.

This weekend, I was presented with a very different kind of organizational dilemma. It was Saturday morning and my five year old step-daughter was bouncing on my bed while I was pointlessly attempting to salvage an additional minute of sleep…when I was suddenly wide awake:

curly top chaos: You and Daddy need another kid.
chaos caretaker: Excuse me?
curly top chaos: We need less dogs and more kids.
chaos caretaker: Why don’t we talk to your Mommy about getting a new kid?
curly top chaos: She doesn’t have enough rooms at her house.
chaos caretaker: We don’t either.
curly top chaos: But you could get a bigger house with another bedroom.
chaos caretaker: Your Mommy could get a bigger house.
curly top chaos: You have one extra chair at the kitchen table. *at this point curly top chaos smiles smuggly and puts her hands on her hips as if she knows she has me now.*
chaos caretaker: I ice cream you.
curly top chaos: I chocolate you.

I think I am putting that extra chair in the storage room today.

This weekend I bought a new container. It is beautiful. I like the simple lines combined with the detailed patterns. The size is ideal. The color of the metal blends well with my decor. AND it was on sale for $9.00.

It made me think about how I organize and purchase organizational tools. This purchase was a little backwards from most of my container purchases. My typical mode of operation is to clean out a space; purge dated, exess, or unused items; categorize or sort remaining items; and purchase appropriate organizational tools based on the size of the area (while always keeping in mind convenience and cost.) Sometimes I carry a list of boxes, bins, and other items (along with their measurements) that I need to complete a project.  Here was my dilemma…this item wasn’t on my list.

I brought it home and have identified two potential purposes for it. It is an ideal size to hold kindling by my fireplace. It would also serve as a tidy place to house extra toilet paper in my spare bathroom. I am posting this to point out that sometimes it is acceptable to purchase items for storage even if you had not been planning on them, but keep the following in mind:  (1) The price is right  (2) You can think of at least one practical purpose for the item in your home (3) It fulfills a clutter free vision for your home. Now instead of an impulse purchase that will add to the clutter of your home, I have practical purchase for storage and decorating at an exceptional value.