Trader Joe's Scones

For the Love of Trader Joe's . . .

Have you tried their cranberry scones with orange glaze?

Very Dangerous.

Rearranging Furniture

My living room has always been difficult.  It is an awkward space and is narrow.  If I had an enormous budget and an interior designer, it wouldn't be a problem.  But I've been trying to make it work for years, with what I have, and it has never felt quite right.

I stopped by Jennifer's blog yesterday.  She challenged readers to use hutches/china cabinets in ways we might not normally use them.  This inspired me to move my furniture in the living room.  I have always had the end table next to the couch, but thinking out of the furniture-layout box, I moved the dresser next to the couch instead.  The hutch (mine is a desk hutch rather than a china hutch) went to the other side of the room.  I think it works. 

Here's the "before" ...

It feels cluttered and not right.

The hutch in the corner is almost finished.  I thought it would be perfect over there, but it just wasn't working.  It threw everything else off.

The dresser between the windows.  Not bad here, but the balance in the room is wrong.

"After" photos ...

The dresser is next to the couch now.  I love it!  I think it fills the wall space nicely and it looks less cluttered.  I tried the hutch here but again, it didn't work.

I still need to hang the mirror and update the pictures/art on the walls.  One thing at a time.

I put the hutch between the windows.  I'm a little more inspired to finish it now.  The chair is one I picked up for a couple bucks.  It needs paint and new fabric.  I'm undecided about whether I should use cranberry fabric (like the current fabric) or do a neutral instead.

This is where the hutch used to be.  I think this photo is a good example of "you should't line all the furniture up against the wall."  It doesn't look like it, but it is a good 4 feet from both walls.

There is still work to be done, but I'm so much happier with it.  Thanks Jennifer!

Home Depot Rug

I picked up this rug at The Home Depot for $39 today.

Not a bad price.

It's an indoor/outdoor rug (perfect for under my table).

Yay!

Dog tested and approved.

Jewelry Organizer

I've been trying to figure out how to organize the Teenager's jewelry.

She has a lot more than what's in this photo and it was a big mess.

I had just pulled this peg board off my craft room wall because it was feeling a little cluttery.  Her clothes are in an armoir, and her closet is set up with a makeup table (desk), a mirror and a light.  I put the board just to the left of the makeup table.

I cut the peg board to fit the space (you can have the Home Depot guy do this if you don't have a saw), and painted it the same pink we used for the PB Tile Board Knockoff.  All the little hooks and trays came from Home Depot.

To mount the peg board, I put two pieces of wood between the peg board and the wall.  This way, the peg board comes out a little (the hooks go through past the back of the board and need a little extra room).

Here are some others I found:

I saw this cute version via Craftzine.com.

Casa Sugar Member MRB929 used knobs for hers. 

It looks like she hung her board from hooks instead of mounting it to the wall.

That is a fabulous idea!

Michelle from Three Men and a Lady (found via Design Sponge) made this one with a painted frame.  I think I see some wall hooks on there.

Beautiful.

Craftstylish put ribbon through a pegboard.  That would work well for earrings.

Look at this cute board I found at Erin Compton Design.

She even has a tutorial.

I think I need one of these for me.

Linking up to:

We're Organized Wednesday at Organize Your Stuff Now

Wordless Wednesday: My Dogs Are Nerds

Use What You Have Organizing: Ribbon

I've been organizing everything lately.

One of the things I've wanted to tackle for a while is this mess ...

This is only a small portion of the ribbon pile

because I started this project without taking a "before" picture.

Duh.  How long have I been blogging?

I didn't want to spend money on this project.

I'm trying to declutter, so I didn't want a bunch of jars on the wall.

Then I saw what Chris at Just a Girl did with her ribbon.

I still wasn't convinced I wanted to do this project

because I'm really too lazy to cut cardboard and wrap ribbon.

It took me a couple of weeks of looking at the

ribbon pile to finally commit to wrapping.

But I was still too lazy to cut cardboard, so I used index cards instead.

I took 4 cards (to make it sturdy enough),

folded them lengthwise, and stapled them (you don't have to staple).

Then I wrapped the ribbon.

Once I started wrapping, I couldn't stop because it looked so good.

I fastened small ribbon with a stapler.

Big ribbon I fastened with a rubber band.

This is one of my favorite ribbons.

It's just dollar Walmart fabric ripped up.

I love the little fringe.

I put them all in one of my scrapbook paper drawers.

Isn't it beautiful?

Featured on:
I'm an Organizing Junkie

Linking up to:


We're Organized Wednesday at Organize Your Stuff Now

Pottery Barn Knockoff

The CSI Project Challenge today is Pottery Barn inspired projects.
A while back, Mr. Jones and I made a memo board for the Teenager
(Pottery Barn calls it the "Tile Set").
We cut up a peg board, cork board, and dry erase board into squares,
and the striped panels are just plain boards covered with an
extra pillow case from her bedding.
Then, we nailed it all to the wall, and framed it with trim.

Stop by CSI to see some other PB Knockoffs.