Kitchen Confidential (But I'll Share) . . .

Ok, so the kiddos and the hubby were both out-of-town last week and that left me and the dog. Hattie (our black Lab) is fun but she won't fill my days nor will she take out the trash (was really missing hubby on the second trash day he was gone!!). I was pulling another filled trash bag from under the sink and was grossed out by what I saw. Originally, I had laid down a shelf liner like this -

Here I was, thinking this was so smart. Reality check - NOT! It appears my family is a group of slobs and only hits the trash can accurately about 60% of the time. The rest obviously misses and lands on my shelf liner. Funny thing here, the liner has little open squares and the missed trash would fill these holes and harden. When I removed it, there were actually squares of dried nastiness. I had to take a razor blade to the gunk to remove it. I then bleached the cabinet floor and this is the best I got!

There was a small, wire pull-out shelf that held cleaning supplies
but basically no other organization.

I ran (ok, not literally) to Home Depot and bought 6 vinyl tiles.
I figured these would be much easier to clean and it only cost $7.00!
Armstrong 12" x 12" Peel & Stick Slate Modular Brown Vinyl Tile

I was able to cut the tile with an old pair of scissors.
Forgot to take a finished photo of just the tiles but trust me here,
it looks SO much better!

I added a pull-out trash can  and shelf, all from Home Depot,
and now have everything in reach.

I do plan on adding some sort of dividers for the shelf
because if I close it quickly, some of the items tend to fall over.
Other than that, it is clean and organized.

My youngest daughter was really impressed with the new and improved look so that's enough validation for me! Of course, the new rule in the house is to always pull out the trash can before adding anything to it. That way, we avoid the messy overspills. 

I am so excited to cross another item off my Summer To Do List. Crap!! Just pulled it up and another project not on my To Do list - ugh!

Off to finish something ACTUALLY on the list but that is for another post.

Saving for a Rainy Day . . .

Ok, so those who really know me, know I love organization (but I never quite get there). I lay in bed at night thinking about ways to improve my house to make it as functional as possible. When I drive long distances by myself, half the time I don't have anything playing in the car, I think about how to make the best of the space I was given. I love that when someone in my family asks where something is (I so try to train these people but, again, never quite get there!), I can tell them exactly where to look and lo and behold, there it is. In fact, my hubby had an ah-ha moment when he was looking for a charger for his iPad. He started to ask where one was, caught himself and said never mind. He walked straight to the storage closet, opened the door, pulled out the labeled box and got himself a charger! I practically did a dance!! I also jokingly told him "good boy" and balanced a treat on his nose because you always want to reinforce that good behavior! In all honesty, he actually said it was nice to know where things are. Now if we can just work on him and his car keys!!

So I was reading some articles about how to organize money and I was intrigued by an idea I had read in one article. In our house, I am in charge of all the bills. My hubby takes care of long-term savings/retirement, but I am in charge of the monthly bills. For us, the biggest challenge is saving money for large bills that will be due in four months - especially when I come across a great sale while out shopping!! Anyone else have this problem?? I have money in my account so why can't I buy it?? We refinanced last year but chose to not have an escrow account so we pay our homeowners insurance, flood insurance, and property taxes on our own. This saves us a lot of money monthly but made me nervous about paying the big bills!! In the article I read, the writer talked about using Ally Bank to set up different accounts. It's an on-line bank and you can have as many checking and/or savings accounts as you want. I on-line chatted with an Ally customer service rep to ask questions and he patiently answered them for almost 20 minutes! There does not appear to be any hidden costs or loopholes. I read a bunch of customer reviews and the biggest complaint was the difficulty in setting up accounts. I set-up all my accounts in about five minutes and had no difficulty whatsoever.

Here's the game plan, I set up the following accounts: Homeowners Insurance, Flood Insurance, Property Taxes, Christmas, Car/Home Repairs, Rich's Life Insurance, Gator Season Tickets, Medical Expenses, Travel, Rich's Travel, Overdraft.

We should be getting our tax refund soon and when it clears my Regions account, I am going to transfer money to each of these. You can transfer money back and forth between Ally and a non-Ally bank for no charge, it just may take a couple of days so I have to plan ahead when paying a big bill. Most of those accounts are savings (ie - Life Insurance, Flood Insurance, Taxes) and the checking ones (Christmas, Rich), get a debit card. I don't plan on using the Christmas card on anything other than Christmas or birthday gifts. We recently gave my oldest her own small prepaid debit card for when she is out with friends. That account is at Regions and they charge us $5 a month. If this Ally Bank thing works out, I am switching her to one of these accounts.

So that is our new financial, organizational goal. In my head, it works like a charm and I picture myself happily buying airline tickets from our travel fund and skipping through the mall at Christmas time making purchases with my Ally card, no, little forest animals do not escort me (but that might be fun!). I will let you know how this works out but that is for another post!

Bathroom Decor . . .

Ok, so I am so happy that I have been getting things accomplished this week. Next week is spring break and while we are not taking a trip (I have to admit I am THRILLED to be at home this year and just hanging out), I know I won't be getting much done around the house because the Mom's Limo Service will be running 24/7! The older the kids get, the more they want to be out of the house and with their friends (Wonder why? They think I will put them to work - which I will!).

So back to another To Do being Ta Done -

My new Pottery Barn shelf and towel rack,
not to mention the cool canisters.

This is what it looked like when I took it out of the box.
Fun, right??
But it wasn't that hard to assemble and boy, is it heavy.

You mount this to the wall first and then the large piece slides on.
This way you can easily move it from left to right, or reverse.
Then you screw the bottom to the wall so it is super stable.

My youngest shares the bath with us (until her sister moves out) so that's why there are three towels hanging. Each of us has a hook to hang our towel so we don't use each other's by mistake AND they have a chance to dry and be used again. Right now, this system is working great (check with me in a month)! So I am still playing with the decor on the shelves and having fun looking for the perfect accessories. When I cleaned out the storage area yesterday, I found a few things I liked so I brought them up and  . . .

Here's version two -

Not in love yet but will get there.
Just playing with the accessories to get the right look
and then will change out photos.
Thinking a nice beach shot here, maybe black & white?

Same for this little nook?
Organizing photos next week so will find the right one for these frames.

So that is my newest project. Finally getting this room spruced up. Looking forward to next week and the down time. Turning my attention to the pool area, upstairs porch and photos but as you know, that is for another post!

Storage Cleanup Happening . . .

Ok, so one of the things that I really LOVE about my house is that it has a ton of storage. We live on the water in Florida so our house is three-stories. The first floor is garage, a playroom-turning-craftroom, and a long storage area. Love, love, love the storage area. We moved to our current house from a house built in 1925 so we were lucky to even have closets, if you can call them that. One of the first things we bought for this house was shelving for this area to store all our holiday/extra items (remember: I am a more-is-more person!).  A few years back, I had my G-T-G (Go-to-Guy) build heavy duty shelves throughout 90% of it. Over the years, I rearrange it and move things around but want everything off the ground.

This is what it looked like most recently -

This drove me absolutely batty. I do not like having to move items, to get to another item. It is annoying and a waste of time. Imagine how long it would take me to get to something on one of those shelves - freaking forever, in case you were wondering.

So today, with  my current mindset of "getting things done", decided to start tackling the craft room/storage area. And, I am proud to say, here's my
progress  . . .

Not a bad after, if I do say so myself!

This is all that little miscellaneous household decorating/serve ware
items you "might" use. I will be going through and getting rid of stuff
I haven't used in the past couple of years but now that I can see it,
items will be used more frequently.
In the drawers are my faux fruit and flowers for decorating.
In a perfect world, I always opt for fresh but in Florida,
items don't stay fresh for long.

 

This wall is the back of the built-in shelves in the craft room. I decided to
put some nails in the wall and hang some of my front door wreaths.
(Yes, I am hoping to replace those Fall wreaths before the next Fall
but you never know so I am not getting rid of them yet).

This is at the end and is more of a craft corner.
The plan here is to put holiday items for crafting that I will
do over the summer or on a rainy day.
Let's see how this works but it sounds very
Martha, doesn't it???
I also store all our Gator goods because you never know
when a tailgate is going to break out!

So this was today's project. It took awhile but I am happy to say, every random holiday piece has found it's way back into the right box. My husband (the little elf who happily, willingly, with a smile, hauls all these boxes up and down the stairs - if I compliment his muscles, he's not as crabby about doing this!) would like me to label and number all the boxes. He thinks, and I agree, that it might be easier for him to put boxes away if I number them.  I just might do that, but that's for another post!

Hang On . . .

Ok, so I have finally gotten one thing done. Now it's a little something but it clears out four drawers that I can use for something else! Yeah me!! I hung all my tablecloths and table runners. Now some people might ask, why would you do that? Weren't they comfortable  shoved in the drawers, getting wrinkled and forgotten about (kind of like my behind - get it?? Ha, ha!). Well, I never used them, one because out of sight, out of mind, and two, because who really wants to iron them?? 

So moving on, I was inspired by this . . . 

I like this but think it would be hard to get items in the back row.

This is perfect. It slides in and out and the tablecloths hang in the direction I want
but I don't want to spend a lot of money (I know, that's a first!).

So, here's my solution . . . 

Isn't she lovely?
 Probably not what Stevie Wonder had in mind.

Here's the pants/tablecloth hangers I used.
I like them because they are open-ended and can fit wider tablecloths.

I added a tension rod (that I already had) to hold the hangers. I made sure it was super tight and had to use a hammer to whack it into place. Perfect.

Then I hung the tablecloths/runners and the tension rod fell. Whoops! So me being me, I just put a small screw under each end of the rod and presto, bingo, it works and I have four free drawers and wrinkle-free cloths!

One more look at my pretty! Now, what to do with those four drawers?? Can't wait to show you but that is for another post!

Coming Clean and "Un" Done . . .

Ok, so you have heard me whine and complain that I have started many minor home improvement projects/room renewals, without actually 100% completing them!! I decided to lay it all on the line and share all the rest of my started-with-the-best-intentions projects. No other explanation needed, here goes:

Upstairs outside porch and our go-to room this time of year . . .

Great space, colorless and sad!

You might remember me sharing bitching about this project -

Painted, but nothing else done!

My pantry before . . .

My playroom-turned-craftroom (again, almost!) . . .

Definitely some promise and maybe a light at the end of this tunnel??

Who can forget my family room?

Close, but not quite a cigar!

The entryway to our home . . . 

Sorry for the dark photo but this is BORING!

And the front hallway closet . . . .

Yes, it's all our photos I plan on putting on DVD . . .  someday (said wistfully in my head). 

The garage . . .  need I say more?

I have organized this space at least four times since living in this house.
The next time will be the last time!

Our sad little stairwell hallway (but love the portraits of the girls done in Paris) . . .

And the master bedroom retreat (it's clean but I am sick of this look!) . . . 

The wasted-space-we-now-turned-into-an-office . . . 

 And my sweet Olivia's room  . . . 

Started with removing the popcorn on the ceiling before repainting and decorating.

A small sitting area on the third floor . . .

 And lastly, the laundry room . . .

Ok, to be fair (and make myself feel a little better), I am showing you these rooms on their worst days. They don't all look like this on an on-going basis and many of them, I have already started their changes (and they have been cleaned up but yucky photos always make for a more dramatic reveal!). 

Therefore, I am sitting here on a Saturday night, fighting to stay awake at 8:08 p.m. (in my defense, I am at the end of a pretty nasty 3 day cold and spent the better portion of the day selling Girl Scouts cookies), so I can pick my oldest daughter up from a birthday party and I was just reading my blog and getting depressed reading in almost all the posts about my Befores and no Afters!

So, from here on out, no more projects started without completion (until I at least make some headway!)!! I promise it to you, and more importantly, to myself! Since the weather has been so nice lately, I am going to tackle the upstairs outside porch and backyard first. I mean really, who wants to wait until Florida summer kicks in. My hair frizzes in the humidity. Hand to my heart, I promise you, an AFTER coming soon, but that is for another post!