hanging in the bedroom

We have had my old college bedroom curtains in our master bedroom for almost two years now.  I feel like having them up as a substitute only prolonged our buying curtains we really liked but oh well!

Our quilt is very colorful and our nightstands are blue and we have green shutters hanging on either side of our bed.  Basically we have a lot going on and I couldn't ever decide which direction to go for curtains.  I've always been drawn to these from pottery barn but just couldn't bring myself to pay for them.  That's when I discovered this secret aisle in Hobby Lobby.  It's near the fabric but too close to the yarn aisle that it is too often is ignored.  Hobby Lobby sells pre-made curtains and pillow covers in a pretty good assortment of neutral colors and a few patterns.  I know I seem more excited than is necessary but they happen to have curtains in the right size and in that beautiful blue color I love from pottery barn.  The material is cool too, almost like burlap but softer. Oh and the best part is the price, only $30 per panel as opposed to...$119 per panel.

We bought the same wooden curtain rods from Lowe's as we did in our living, breakfast nook, and M's nursery but we changed it up on the finials.  We love the wooden rods because we can cut them to any size and they don't bow in the middle.

What do you think?  I love how it brings the blue out of our quilt and night stands and I love how it frames the windows!  So exciting to get a great look at a low price.  Do I sound like a Hobby Lobby commercial yet?

getting ahead

So this is our bed.  We purchased this sweet old mattress in Jacksonville for our tiny loft and decided to keep it in our new house.  Why waste a great mattress right? and we both have our college beds in the other rooms too so no need for a guest bed.

We've been talking about making a head board for a long time and finally made our way down the to do list.  Originally we wanted to get fancy with a design but when looking at the bed with the shutters and tables, we opted for clean straight lines.  

We set out to find some fabric thinking we would get burlap, but man burlap is not very comfy!  We bought some soft linen in a neutral taupe.  We gathered other supplies including 3/4" plywood that home depot cut for us, 62" X 38", some hardware to attach the head board to the frame, and a mattress pad from Target.  We already had the other supplies so we lucked out there; spray adhesive, nail heads, staple gun with staples, scissors, drill, and hammer.

Joe ended up trimming a little off the edge and also cut the pieces we would use to attached the head board to the bed frame.  Nice ear protection Joe!

When we unwrapped the mattress pad from Target, it was all dented and deformed, so we took it back and got another one.  Wouldn't you know, the same thing.  Then we read the package and it clearly says to let it sit for 2 days to remove all deformities.  Sure enough, in one day it was back to it's full size.

We layed the board on top and cut the pad to size.

Using spray adhesive, we attached the mattress pad to the board.  Honestly, this didn't work very well.  Probably because we didn't want to wait for it to dry.  But we made do and re adjusted when we needed.

Joe attached the hardware to the bottom of the board before we got started covering with fabric.  This hardware will attach the main head board to two legs that will attach to the bed frame.

We stapled on 2 layers of quilt batting for extra padding and more of a secure hold. Next we stapled on the fabric carefully folding the corners and adding extra staples where needed.

Remember these guys?!  When Joe and I first moved in, the kitchen had a border of painted diamonds with nail heads in each corner.

 When we painted the kitchen we salvaged almost all the nail heads and saved them in case we needed them in the future.  Perfect!

We didn't get very scientific with placing the nail heads around the border.  Joe started on one side and I started on the other and we kind of just went for it. They were a bad word to put in!!  Patience is not my best quality and you need it when hammering these tiny things through an inch of padding.

Taking out the time we took buying supplies and waiting for the mattress pad to expand, we did this project in one night!  The head board really adds a lot to our room and it sure is comfortable for our sleepy heads!

  

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starting line up

I was unpacking my bag from a weekend trip out of town and putting my toiletries back in my bathroom drawers when I got the urge to spruce up my drawers and cabinets.  The previous owner of our house did an excellent job protecting the finishes with this lovely floral pattern drawer liner, but it's not really my taste and it was starting to wear (and tear) from age.  When I peeled it back, it left a sticky residue at the bottom of my drawer and we all know that wouldn't work with all my shed hairs floating around. GROSS!

I didn't want to run out and spend money on drawer liners and I needed something fast to take away the stickiness so I got creative with my wrapping paper.  I had an old roll of this wedding wrap in a white and gold scroll pattern that would work well in our white bathroom vanity.

I simply measured and cut to fit and smoothed it out over the already sticky surface.  There wasn't a sticky residue at the bottom of the cabinets so I had to reinforce with a washable glue stick.  When it's time to peel back, the glue will wipe right off with some warm soapy water.

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Disclaimer.  Paper is a great substitute for drawer liners but only in areas where water is not going to harm the pattern.  I would not recommend paper in the kitchen!  If you try this project at home send me your before and after pics...getittogetherproorganizing@gmail.com

Copyright 2012 Get It Together Professional Organizing

august=bath

It's that time of the year to take a bath...no no, I mean organize your bath! 

Now that I am sharing a bathroom with Joe, the amount of things I need to store has definitely increased.  Joe has a pretty impressive collection of razor blades and grooming accessories, but I have to admit I have him beat with all my hair accessories (bobby pins, straightener, dryer, curling iron, brush, spray, etc, etc.), lotions, perfumes, make up, and nail polish. Luckily he doesn't complain when I spill over to his side;)  

Less is more.  To keep the bath looking neat and tidy, we keep the bear minimum visible on the counter top.  We have a tissue box, toothbrush holder, and soap dispenser...that's it!  Everything else has a home under the sink or in one of our three drawers.

His and Hers.  A drawer for him and a drawer for her makes things easy.  No point in crossing over each other to get to your items, just keep it on your side.  Try personalizing your drawer with liners from Hammocks and High Tea.  I love their patterns!  Tidy up a bathroom vanity with drawer organizers that have several compartments.  They keep things from rolling around and the consistency look better.

BHG

Medic.  Do you have a medicine cabinet built into the wall?  Me too, and I hate it.  Why would someone create a cabinet with such little functional space?  I would rather hang a beautiful picture there! Oh well.  To deal with it, try purchasing shallow stacking cups or boxes (dessert cups work great and add character) that fit your space.  Group like medicines (headache, children, stomach, etc.) and then label each container accordingly.  The stacking ability helps max the vertical space and you don't knock over 3 bottles each time you reach for something.

Extra.  I like to have backups in the bathroom.  Not the kind that requires a plunger. For example, when we run out of shampoo, I have one in stock, and then it goes on the grocery list to replace our inventory.  No need for the back up items to be under the sink.  If you have space in a linen closet or in your master closet, throw the extras in a bin and label it to match your closet decor. It's like your bathroom stockroom in a box.  "Case, do we have any more body wash?"  "One second while I check the back....."

Pin.  Here are some of my favorite bathroom organization pins:

labeled bins

coat rack for towels

bobby pins on magnets

Copyright 2012 Get It Together Professional Organizing

black and white and organized all over

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Copyright 2012 Get It Together Professional Organizing

cabinet conquer

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Bathroom cabinets are tricky because piping usually makes it difficult to have a clean appearance, but it shouldn't keep you from having easy access to all your bathroom essentials.  For this simple project we installed a white wire shelf with a sliding basket, as well as a turntable.  The basket is perfect for storing feminine hygiene products you don't need everyday and certainly don't want to see first thing.  Turntables are great to utilize in hard to reach spaces, so we used it to store products needed on a daily basis.  A simple project such as this took only an hour from start to finish.

Copyright 2010 Get It Together Professional Organizing