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!

Starting to Feel Crafty . .

Ok, so I have been going on, and on, and on, and on, about my play room that is S.L.O.W.L.Y. turning into a craft room.

I have shared the paint job with you (love the color) -

I have shared my makeovers (love the outcome) -

I have shared the items I created for this room (love the look) -

And don't forget my awesome ribbon holders (love that the ribbon is viewable and accessible) -

But I have yet to share with you the B-A-N-E of my existence, the stairwell leading to the craft room -

And now you know why!

Doesn't the aesthetics of it make you want to run and curl up in a fetal position? I have on more than one occasion.  In fact, my large workspace has me looking at those stairs, not feeling so craft now! So I started high and worked my way down the walls.

I painted all the walls. I used the same color paint I am using in the living and dining rooms (look at me saving money and use existing paint!). I think it warms it up just enough but still goes nicely with the blue grey of the room. After it dried, I pulled out all the frames I had bought at Ikea this past March (yes, you read that right, I said March. I know it is 6 months ago but please, can't we just let it go?). I just love Ikea and can spend all day in there. Heck, they way they design it, it's almost impossible NOT to  spend the whole day there. You get "stuck" in their floor patterns and have to follow the arrows, not many shortcuts to be had - and those of you who have been there, know exactly what I am talking about! So I bought these really inexpensive, but actually quite nice, frames to fill with some of the girls favorite artwork.

Here's the grand reveal -

I think the finished product looks great! I might buy a couple more frames to fill some gaps but I think I accomplished what I set out to do. The girls are really proud to have the artwork on display and we had fun going through their keepsake boxes for them to pick their favorites. 

Also, if you notice on the right side of the photo, I have a bulletin board strip. Actually, I have four of them going up the stairwell. These I use for all the other art the girls bring home or seasonal art I have stored away. I also hang the selective pieces made by a then very young artist named Kristin! Can't believe the paper has disintegrated!

So I am thrilled with the overall outcome and love seeing all the great colors made by those little hands! Now I have to tackle the stairs themselves but that is for another post!

Ribbon Dilemma . . .

Ok, so while making the conversion from playroom to craft room, I came across a HUGE box of ribbons. Actually, make that a couple of boxes. Every now and then, while I was out shopping, I would come across big ribbon sales and stock up. The problem was, I kept the ribbons in boxes under the bed, never to be seen or ever used - what's the point?

So I decided I needed a better ribbon holder (yes, I do realize that if that is my biggest problem of my week, I am SUPER lucky!). I headed to my handy dandy Pinterest and started looking.

This was clever and economical but not pretty.

This was really smart but I am fussy and don't want my ribbons squeezed!
(Take that whatever way you want!)

I thought this was the best, and prettiest solution, until I realized it would be a pain to have to remove the entire rod every time I wanted a ribbon. Then you would have to pull every thing off. Too time consuming for me!

Then I saw this, and knew I had a winner!
Thanks Martha, you saved me once again.

Now the copper in these gutters is quite beautiful but would not go with my new color scheme. Sooooo, I took myself to the local Home Depot and perused the gutter aisle with ribbon in hand. I wanted something pretty but practical. I also wanted to make sure the ribbon would fit in the gutter and this is what I came up with -

This, as seen on a previous post, holds the ribbons that are too large to fit in
the gutters ribbon holder.

The gutters came in 10' sections and only cost about $5-$10 each. I had originally bought 3 sections because I thought I wanted a lot more storage but decided to go with only 3 rows, therefore only needed 20' feet. I cut them down with my circular saw and added the end caps, which I think were about $6 for a set of 2. I just screwed them to the wall and added my ribbon. I absolutely adore it! I just walk over to see what I need, grab it and then make sure to put it back when I am done. Seeing everything helps me make sure it all gets used and that I don't buy ribbon I already have. I am notorious for being consistent with my taste and buying the same item more than once but not realizing it, of course that problem will not be happening in September!

So if you are looking for a ribbon holder, I hope this post gives you lots of great ideas for what would work best for you. All the original links can be found on Pinterest, just search for ribbon holders.

Off to finish organizing my hall closet but that is for another post!