Two 5 Minute Organizing Tips for Under $10

I know that our lives can get pretty crazy sometimes, and also that neither of us function well whenever we feel like the house is cluttered. So I thought I would show you just a couple quick, easy and cheap tips that we use to cut out some of the clutter around here.

The first idea is for all those coupons and samples that you don't want to lose but don't know what to do with, so they end up on the table, counter, or in a junk drawer where they never get used because you can't remember what you actually did with them. *Disclaimer: I am not a professional couponer; I don't think I would even qualify in the amateur leagues, I simply cut the ones that we are most likely to use and I don't go out of my way to find them, so I have maybe a total of 15 at any one time. I guess I could be a recreational couponer.* Here is the solution that we came up with for all those pesky papers that you know you should keep around and use but never know where to put them.

 
Yep, that's it! A couple of cork boards hung up on the inside of the cabinet with command strips. You can find cork squares just about anywhere. I think we got these at Target a couple years ago for about $7 for a pack of four squares. Now whenever we want to order pizza or go to Target (a very frequent event in our house) we know where to look for any deals that are to be had. I also organize the coupons by restaurant or store too, so that they don't take up a ton of room on the cork boards and I can just look through the stack when I know I am going to a certain place. And the great thing is that since they are inside the cabinet they are hidden when people come over instead of being out on a counter or hung up on the fridge.

The next handy little trick I actually learned on Pinterest. This is the original link that I came up with, but since they linked back to Pinterest for it we may never know who the genius is that first came up with this idea.

The concept is so simple that as soon as I saw it I thought to myself  "How have I never thought of this?!". I love scarves, but until I saw this I had never found a good way to store them since they take up so much space in a drawer or basket and then you have to dig to find the one that you want. Well this handy little scarf organizer takes all the pain out of storing scarves. And all it cost was a couple of bucks to get the cheap-o shower curtain rings at, where else? Target. It is a very simple process, just take the shower curtain rings, attach them to a hanger (you could use a wooden hanger if you want it to be a little sturdier, I just went with what I had on hand), and then drape your scarves through. It really can't get much simpler or cheaper than that.

I hung it from a hook that I already had on my closet door, but you could just as easily hang it on your closet bar or your coat closet so that they are right there when you are ready to head out of the house.

So there you have it, two surprisingly easy and inexpensive ways to cut down a little on the clutter in your life. I hope you find them just as helpful as we do, and if you have any other simple and inexpensive tips for cutting the clutter please feel free to share them in the comments. 

It's About Time

So...it's been a while since my last post. I have no good excuse, not even a bad excuse, but thanks to a couple of very persistent friends and also looking at the stats on the blog and seeing that for some reason you all still look at it I decided to see about giving this whole thing another shot. One thing is for sure, I haven't been neglecting the blog for lack of projects around here, so I will dive right in on one. The big project we have been working on lately is project baby! And yes, this time this is an announcement. We are expecting a little bundle of joy that is going to be known as Will in late September or early October! We have been busily working on things around here to prepare for his arrival, and it just so happens that it works out that the last post happened to be about the built-in bookshelf that will now be a part of the nursery. So, where to begin? Let's start out where we last left off. The last time we looked at the built-in it was looking something like this.

 

Not too bad, but not the most kid friendly. It has since evolved into this.

The bookshelf got repainted to be all white (it's hard to tell from the first picture, but the backing was a soft cream color) and we have added some kid friendly books and toys. It is far from complete, but it is an improvement in my opinion. Also, you may have noticed that the wall color changed. We decided to go with a soft neutral gray in the room. We used Martha Stewart Living's Bedford Gray (color matched to Olympic Premium). We used that color on the pantry in the back room and really liked it, but it does go on the walls quite a bit cooler than it looks on the paint chip, where it has a more brownish gray hue. We also painted all the trim in the room white. Here is what the room was looking like before our little painting expedition.

 

And here is a testament to what a little paint can do for a room. The color in the top picture is more true to what it actually looks like in real life. 

 

One of my favorite things about the whole room so far would definitely have to be the doors. Jake had the idea to paint the inner panels of them the same color as the walls, and I love the way it turned out, especially with the antique-y looking door knobs that we have. *Once again the top picture has the more true to life paint color.

 So there is one of the numerous projects we have been working on around here as of late. Hopefully it won't take me another 7 months to get to the next project post.