Closet Makeover #2

We have a cute little closet in the foyer right inside the front door.  I went to WalMart yesterday to pick up spray paint (details on that later) and stumbled upon a shoe rack for less than $3.

This was all the inspiration I needed to do a quick 15-minute makeover in that closet, which, we can both admit, was looking a little neglected:

Why do we have winter coats in this closet in August?

After some quick updates, a 30-second installation of the new shoe rack and some organization, we were left with this:

I added a small hook for the umbrella, I parked the vacuum in the corner beside the DVD binder (yes, we keep our DVDs in a binder), I added the shoe rack, and placed my yoga mat in the back.

Josh's hat now goes on a hook, and using all white hangers, I hung Josh's jackets on the left and my jackets on the right...

We still have the blankets that we use on the couch most often folded up at the top. I wish we could have a little basket for them, but the closet is beneath the stairs, so the ceiling is slanted and low.  I don't think the basket thing is going to happen.  But overall, I think it looks pretty good.  It's the first thing I see when I walk in the door, so if it is organized and clean and pretty, I will always be happy :-)

On another note, I went to WalMart yesterday for spray paint to do a test run on a door knob.  All of the door hardware in our whole house is brass.  We hate it.  We looked into purchasing new door knobs and handles and hinges and locks, but when we found what we wanted (which was the cheapest thing you could get in silver) and added up how much it would cost to do every door in our house, we realized it would be a huge investment.  But I recently saw on young house love how they spray painted theirs.  I am going to give it a try soon.  I think I will do a test run on the door handle on the inside of the office closet.  That way, if it goes all wrong, I can scrap that idea altogether or try again with different products after I reevaluate.  I will update more about that later.  Do you have brass door hardware?  Has anyone out there tried spray painting door hardware before?

Last Weekend of Freedom

Tomorrow is the big day.  School starts again.  On our last weekend of freedom, we were accompanied by my dad and his new girlfriend.  It was the first time that they saw our house, so that's super exciting for us.  We love having visitors!  And even more than that, we love having visitors come back again so they can see our house progress in person.  We went out to lunch at The Shark, my favorite restaurant, also mentioned here.  We spent some time shopping on the boardwalk, laying out at the beach, making awesome dinners, and watching movies.  We even met my Uncle and his daughter yesterday and went to the zoo.  My 7-year-old cousin was the flower girl in our wedding:

What a cutie!

After spending hours at the zoo, the only really great shots I got were not of any zoo animals at all.  I almost stepped on this beautiful butterfly:

And this photo of my cousin pointing to something on the underside of a fake piece of wood:

All in all, we had a great weekend.  My dad also surprised me with a gift he bought in Haiti on his cruise:

A scroll???  Nope....

Some original artwork painted on canvas.  It is really cool, matches some colors in our home, and has music stuff on it.  Not to mention that no one else in the world has it.  I am really excited to get it framed, but have never had anything custom framed before... any suggestions on where to go?

I'm a Closet Blogger

Big News!  I am featured as a guest blogger on friend Mrs. Puma's blog today!   My closet is officially the first room in our house that is completed.  Check out my post on Puma Life:

Maria's Organized Closet Makeover

A Soldier Will Fight Long and Hard for a Bit of Colored Ribbon

--Napolean Bonaparte

Yeah, he quoted that.

***Disclaimer: No, I didn't actually do this project while on vacation in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  I wrote this post a few days ago and just didn't get to post it until now. Enjoy!

On to the point... there is a blog called young house love that is all about home improvement and design.  I read it occasionally because there is some really cool stuff and the husband and wife that write the blog are hysterical. I found this post about a ribbon chandelier that the mom made for her baby daughter's closet.  So I gave it a go.

I wanted to find some ribbons that would go with my spring green theme and still coordinate with the ribbon that I used on the flip flop hangers.

So, as usual, I went to Michael's.  I happened to be at my mother-in-law's house at the time of the proposed project, so she joined me for our outing to the Michael's in York, PA.  We looked only in the $1 clearance ribbon basket and found these goodies:

Looks pretty good, huh?  I also found a 9-inch embroidery hoop while I was there.  I only used the inside piece and painted it white (on my MIL's ironing board).

After the paint dried, I strung some thin, clear bead ribbon around it from both sides.

I tried to cut the ribbon in the general length that I wanted, but still making them all different lengths. 

I used glue dots and little green sparkle things and hung it in my closet so it is the first thing I see when I open the closet door.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking.  I sound like a little girl, right?  This was originally something that was supposed to be for a baby's room, right?  Yes, yes, I thought of all of that.  And I dismissed it completely.  Because I smile every time I see it :-)

Uh Oh... I Went Back to Michael's

And I bought some awesome spring-green stuff for my closet. It's kind of like contact paper and my shelves needed a face lift.

Easy and quick project.  All I did was apply it right to the shelves and add my shoes and clothes back on!

It's All in the Cards

When I was a little girl, I was a pen pal... with my great grandmother.  It was my mom's mom's mom.  She lived over an hour away so I didn't get to see her often.  So we would write each other letters.  I always used a goofy Lisa Frank type of stationery and she would always use the same flowery white card.  I was probably between the ages of 6 and 10 while I was writing and receiving letters from Great Grandma Dot.  Because of my young age, I wasn't thinking ahead very well and either lost or threw away all of the letters she ever sent me.  I didn't think much of it at the time.  She died when I was a senior in high school.  I remembered the letters and searched high and low for them but never found them.  A while later, my grandma (mom's mom) was going through all of great grandma's belongings and found a stack of all of the letters that I ever sent her, full of brightly colored stickers and even some silly jokes:

Yes, that is Pocahontas.

I still have all of them to this day.  Which is why it is hard for me to throw away cards.

Every year you get what seems like millions of cards for your birthday, Christmas, Easter, and any special events like a wedding or graduation.  Some of them are lame (let's face it), and some of them are really special.  But you always seem to keep them for a little while because you just feel like you have to.  For goodness sake, some of them cost as much as five or six bucks!  But... eventually you realize that there's really no point in keeping them and throw them out.  That's what I have a hard time doing.  So I have a ridiculously large box of cards from all sorts of events and from all different points in my life and from all different people.  But, because I am really weird, I keep the most special of all cards in a file in my filing cabinet.  Yep, I know it's weird, but it's true.  See?

And to this day all of the cards/letters I ever wrote to great grandma Dot live in the special card file.

When I saw this spring green beauty at Michael's (of course), I knew immediately what would go on it and where it would go.  It had to go in my closet and I had to put some of the most special cards I have ever received on it so I could see them every day.

Some cards are from family, some from Josh, and one from my best friend.  And I don't feel bad about keeping them anymore because they are special.  And my "card" file is a tiny bit lighter :-)

Can I Get a Flip Flop?

Remember how I talked about my flip flop dilemma here and here?  Well, the solution is finally 100% complete!  I added little ribbon jackets to the hangers I created using the tutorial I found.  They went from drab:

to FAB:

Please ignore the fact that I just said that.  Please. I gathered all of my materials from Michael's.  Officially the best store ever!

 I loved the springy-green feeling of this ribbon!

And although the tutorial originally used big buttons, I found these beauties at Michael's and couldn't resist.  Plus, in my control-Type-A-paranoid-perfect organized world, I could use a little randomness... but not too much:

 

After folding the ribbon around the hanger and fastening it with the ever-amazing glue dots...

...I cut off the excess and hot glue-ed the little buttons on.

 Ta-da!!!

I am quite pleased with the final product!

FYI--I have a feeling that this blog is going to turn into a home decoration kind of thing for a while, as I am really excited to be making our house a home... over time.  It's mostly so our families (and friends) can see the progress of our house from afar.  Enjoy :-)

Closet Update #1

Remember when I said that I was going to remodel/re-do my closet before any other rooms?  Well, here is the before picture:

It's looking much better...

 ta-daaaa!

Phew.  I feel better already!  Pants on the bottom with rainbow-order hangers.  Shirts on top with white hangers, but still in rainbow-order.  Shoes neatly organized on the back left and front right and the kicker... flip flops on hangers!!!

In rainbow-order, of course...

...and the rest of them!

Remember how I was all worried about the huge mound of flip flops that I had?

Well, I did some research online and found this post by another blogger who had the same concern for all of her mismatched flip flops.  I wanted to get wire hangers and spray paint them white, like she did.  But when I got to good ol' Wal-Mart, I found them in white! One step already eliminated!

I used these enormous bolt cutters to cut the bottoms off of the hangers.  I literally had to go buy a larger set of bolt cutters because the tiny wire cutters just weren't cutting it. (haha, get it?)

Using the cutters, pliers, and my bare hands, I managed to make them all into the same hang-y shape:

 

And there you have it.  Flip flop hangers.  I will probably add the ribbon "jacket" on there soon like in the tutorial I found.  But for now, I am happy!

Coming Out of the Closet

Since I currently have no money and I am dying to decorate my home, I decided to tackle my closet first.  I am a Type-A personality and I have a strong desire to have all things organized.  With little money and only time to spare, my closet in the master bathroom was the first thing to get a re-design.  It is very large and can most certainly handle all of my shoes clothes.  I am in love with reading craft and organization blogs lately, so I got some ideas online.  I will cite them when needed.

Here is my closet when I moved in:

bare and very white

Here is the closet after I moved all of my junk clothes in:

random stuff everywhere

On the left are shelves with shoes, on the floor are more sandals and to the right in the tan  thing are my tennis shoes...

oh! and these shoes, too...

here is my mound of flip flops.  you could say I have an obsession...

As you can see, I have a lot of extra space.  It does not look organized or clean.  I have an overwhelming amount of flip flops that I have no idea what to do with.  And looking at it like this gives me a headache.  So my first mission in house decorating and organization is my closet.  I know that may seem ridiculous considering I am the only one who will see it.  But that's precisely why I am sharing it with you!  Updates to come...