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Small Spaces: Mini Pantry

When you have a small space, you find a way to fill every nook and cranny. With the quest to find more usable space in the kitchen, we found another little nook that could be utilized. You may remember from our floor plan that there is a door in the kitchen that leads to the stairs to go to the basement. The door opens to a very small landing at the top and at first glance, it seemed too small to be usable for anything. But I was not put off! I knew I could squeeze something in that space!

At first, all we had there was two bowls for our cat. Don’t you just love how she has to make her way into photos?! I guess she’s just wondering what I’m so interested in and has to see for herself :)

After measuring the space, I realized shallow shelves would fit just perfectly there. We had about 10 inches from where the door swung open to the wall and so I bought 7″ x 24″ shelves at Ikea and they were perfect! I was so glad I didn’t have to do any trimming whatsoever!

I could have added one more shelf close to the floor but I had visions of our cat knocking everything off and watching as the items made their way down the flight of stairs. To be on the safe side, I just went with four shelves :)

And then the fun part, I got to fill them up with stuff! I mostly have baking items in here like flour and sugar and, of course, the cat food for our little buddy.

All usable space, is good space :) And the cat made her way into another photo…

The good thing is that I can reach all of the items on the shelves except for the top row. But the top row is mainly small appliances that we don’t use often and then I just get a stool.

Another small space utilized!! Now I’m on the hunt for more…

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Tagged: Club House, DIY, Small Spaces

Small Spaces: Hidden Jewelry

With having a small house now, I find that I am trying to use what storage we have to every last inch. Every closet, shelf, and cupboard are planned to maximize the space and be useful and functional. Cute is a nice factor also :) Not only am I trying to use the storage that is already in place, but I’m also trying to add more storage in creative ways. One thing I’m not trying to do, is cram a 2100 square foot house into an 800 square foot house. That would be completely crazy. When we moved I got rid of over half of our stuff. It was a wonderful thing, no joke. So to keep from getting right back to where we started, I limit what we bring into the house and I try not to buy as much :) But I digress… back to storage. Even though we got rid of stuff, we still have stuff. And that stuff has to go somewhere. My jewelry was one thing I wasn’t sure where I was going to put it. Until I got a brilliant idea :)

I knew that for me to put on jewelry most every day (which is my goal), it had to be accessible and I had to be able to see it all. Previously, I used a jewelry box and a couple of different wall organizers. When we moved, I ditched the jewelry box because I no longer had a place to put it and decided to go in a different direction. I wanted something that could hold all of my jewelry in the same place.

We have this little space in our bedroom that was dead space. It was a tiny space but still, space. In a small house, every space, no matter how big, needs to be put to work. This is the space I’m talking about:

See, I told you this floor plan would come in handy :)

When you open the door to our bedroom, you are faced with a blank half wall that is the end of the closet. A full length mirror was on the list of wants for our bedroom and this blank space was the perfect spot for one. I have always wanted a full length mirror and in all of our 13 years of marriage, never had one. In our last house, I resorted to stand on the toilet to see a full length version of myself in the mirror that was over the sink. In this bathroom, that wouldn’t work since the sink isn’t across from the commode. And so, I found a mirror:

So, what does the full length mirror have to do with my jewelry space? Well, it’s very tricky, I bet you haven’t figured it out yet :)

My mirror is on a hinge! Brilliant, right?!

I got the idea for this and figured we would have to make the mirror ourselves. But then, I was at Ikea, and I found a mirror that already came with hinges so that if you bought 3 of them, it becomes a three way mirror by turning the outside ones. It was perfect for my plan because it was exactly the look I was going for and it had the ability to open. I just added a magnetic catch so it would latch and hung it on the wall. Easy peasy!!

Next, I used a level and tape measure to mark spots on the wall and then drilled pilot holes for the little metal cup hooks. Then I simply screwed the cup hooks into my pilot holes.

Actually, I originally was reluctant to drill that many holes into the wall. So first, I purchased a ton of sticky wall hooks and they worked great… for about a week. And then, they just started to fall off, one by one. And it always seemed to happen in the middle of the night. My necklaces would come crashing down. So I had to give in and drill holes in the wall. But now that it’s done, I’m happier with it. The cup hooks are smaller and I can add more if I want to. It all worked out in the end :)

I actually drilled a bunch of extra holes so that in the future as I add more jewelry, I can just screw another hook into the wall. Really, it resembles a peg board.

My new jewelry space holds all of my jewelry except for a couple of bracelets that are too thick to fit behind the 2″ space behind the mirror. Not too shabby.

So, pretty awesome, right? A full length mirror and a jewelry closet. I love it if you can’t tell :) How’s that for creative storage?!

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Tagged: DIY, Small Spaces

New Doors For An Old Cabinet

Before we made the decision to sell our house, I was working on a project with my Dad for our guest bathroom. Then, when we decided to sell, I quickly finished up the project and it looks so nice I wish I would have done it ages ago!

In our guest bathroom, we had an ugly vanity. I mean, nasty. See, the previous owners had taken the old cabinet doors and filled the groves sloppily in with putty and then painted them with glossy paint. It has always bugged me. I always just thought we would need to replace the whole cabinet but then I got to thinking that maybe just the doors would need to be replaced. That’s where my Dad comes in. He was a cabinet maker for 30+ years so he knows what he’s doing and I knew I needed his help :)

Want to see the before? Ya, I bet you do:

Can’t tell so much from a distance but up close is where the fun starts. And the missing knob? Not so great :)

Can you see those lines? They were all groves filled in. Not a very good idea. Plus there are paint drips like you wouldn’t believe!

And even closer… Gross! Plus the glossy paint made everything show up even more. Time to do away with these little guys and on to something better.

First, my Dad measured it for me and we made a plan and figured out what sizes we needed.

Next, I ran the boards that we were going to use through the planer. It helps cut down on sanding later and I am all about that! I hate sanding. Always have. Anyone with me on this?!

After my Dad cut the pieces to the desired lengths, he ran them through the table saw with two blades to make a groove.

See the groove? This is what will hold the middle panel in place.

Next, he ran the sides through to create grooves so the side pieces would fit together. I’m not able to get real technical here since I had no idea what we were doing, I was just following the master, documenting it all :)

Once everything was cut, we started assembling using some wood glue.

And then we clamped them and let the glue dry. After they were dry, I sanded them all and painted them. Then I had to call my Dad back over to hang them for me. My Dad is the best :)

Instead of going with the original white, I decided to go black and I love it! I was never super crazy about the white with the counter top so a color change was in order. And now it looks super sharp.

A head on view, with me in the mirror after we had just finished and I’m still in my grubby clothes.

Much better! Now when I walk in the room I smile instead of grimace! And you know the best part? I only had to pay for hinges which my Dad found at Habitat For Humanity and the new wooden knobs because for everything else we used scraps my Dad had lying around. The whole project cost less than $20! Pretty good upgrade for cheap! My favorite kind :)

And this isn’t the only bathroom that got a facelift. Wait until you see the master bath!

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Tagged: Before & After, DIY, Our House

Sewing: Tassel Pillow

Ever since I got a new duvet cover for my bedroom, it has sadly been bereft of throw pillows. The pillows I had been using on the bed no longer worked and I have been slow in replacing them. Recently, I added a new pillow and took one step closer to having it complete. And this new pillow? I love it!!

Just curious, how many of you make your bed everyday? I will admit, I don’t. But my husband does. Why? Because he is seriously awesome… and I’m lazy :) That is probably why I have been so lax on making new pillows. He makes the bed but he doesn’t usually add all of the throw pillows anyway so it’s only when we are having company (or I’m taking photos for the blog) that I take the time to make the bed look complete. On a day to day basis I don’t think about it that much. Last time we had people over, I was frustrated by the incompleteness of it. It just looked kind of sad! That is how this new pillow came to be. And hopefully, there will be more on the way.

I have been super into tassels lately and my bedroom was the perfect place to add some since it needed color. I saw a tutorial on Design Love Fest and pinned it for later. That pin came in handy when I went to tackle this project a few weeks ago. Tassels are easy to make and so instead of making them for just the four corners, I decided to add a bunch of them to two sides of the pillow. So first, I made a bunch of tassels using the tutorial in different colors of embroidery floss. Then, I laid them out in what order I wanted them to go in.

I used some bias tape to attach them together and then hand sewed the tassels to it.

Once that was complete, I made the pillow. The measurements I used were 12″ x 18″. When I got to the sides where the tassels would go, I just sewed the bias tape right into the seam. Super simple!

The fabric is from Joann’s and it’s by Dwell. Really, this project looks harder than it is, it was super simple. I promise!! Just make your millions of tassels while you are watching TV :)

One step closer to a completed bed set. I will get there. Just in time to change it up again! Haha!

It’s really bothering me that I didn’t adjust the lampshade to make it straight before I took this photo. Oh well…

A funny side note. I made this pillow 2 or 3 weeks ago. Just yesterday I saw this sheet set at Anthropologie. I don’t remember seeing it before. That doesn’t necessarily mean I didn’t, I just don’t remember it. I thought it was funny that I made pretty much the same thing without meaning to. So if you don’t want to go to all the trouble of making one, you could buy something similar at Anthro.

One down… a few more to go :)

And speaking of pillows… doesn’t this one from Urban Outfitters remind you of the recent pillow I made for my living room?! I think so :)

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Tagged: DIY, Sewing, Tutorials

Sewing: Pillow From A Jacket

Whew! Last week was ca-razy! We had a women’s retreat at church on Friday and Saturday which meant I was working on it all week last week. I kept hoping I would be able to sneak in some time for blogging but the week was packed. This week, I’m still trying to get my head on straight but I am getting there :) I should have some photos to share with you soon of the party and how I decorated it. With all the recent hustle and bustle, I’m kind of glad there is a holiday tomorrow! That means we can just veg out. Ahhh… How great that sounds!

It’s been a couple of week ago now but I made a pillow for my living room out of a jacket. I mentioned in a Thrift Finds post a while back that I found a cool jacket that I wanted to turn into a pillow and I finally got around to doing it. I forgot to take a before photo of the jacket so I took a picture of it afterwards, once I had already cut out the back, but you get the idea. Here it is…

When I saw it at Goodwill I immediately loved the pattern but I knew that it was something I would never wear. I have been wanting a pattern like this for my living room though, so it came home with me. When I’m thrifting I always look at clothes for the fabric as well as for something to wear. If you see a skirt or jacket with fabric you like, it might just work for a sewing project :)

And the after… I don’t usually crowd chairs by putting a million pillows on them but I really liked the graphic punch of the pattern with the stripes. Plus, no one really sits there anyway :)

I gave it a bit more pizzazz by adding some velvet trim that I had been saving for just the perfect project. Turns out, this was the one and I really like the added color it provides.

Not bad for a $4 jacket!

All this talk of thrifting makes me want to go find some more treasures. And I think I shall!

I hope you all have a safe and happy 4th of July! As usual, I’m spending my holiday evening at the lake and I excited for it. In my opinion, the only cure for the heat of the South is a lake or a pool. And I have every intention of enjoying myself and staying cool :)

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Tagged: Before & After, DIY, Sewing