Monday, August 25, 2014

Vacation Photo


It was great, but we're back now.

Monday, August 18, 2014

The Gym Room


One of the reasons my significant other (SO) and I decided to buy our house was that it had a downstairs room that we thought would be perfect for use as an exercise room. Fast forward two years, one dog and one kid later and it's been used for only one thing, storage. There are many reasons for this failure but I'd like to get back on track. Here is the room after two organizing sessions. One day, I hope to proudly post a finished gym room like in my Pinterest board. Hopefully, you never get this far off track like we did.

Organizing my Utility Room...



There is not much to say here, so I'll let the photos do the talking. This is part of a larger effort on my part to free up physical space in my house to make way for future endeavors (like parenthood) as well as the unexpected. I do not want to be held back by previous endeavors (vacation souvenirs, sports equipment I no longer use, failed paintings, items I regret buying, furniture or decor that suited previous residences but don't fit in at my current home...). I am trying to pare down the items I own to include only those that are useful, with a few items that are sentimental sprinkled in - you know, my basics.

Step 6: Under the Sinks

A while ago, I found a 21-Day Home Organization Challenge, and slowly, I have been doing them. Step 6 (because there was no way I was going to get it all done in only 21 days) was conquering the area under the sink. And, here are my results:


The basic idea is always the following:

  • Remove items that belong someplace else
  • Toss items that can be thrown away (e.g. expired, broken, useless, duplicate, or empty items)
  • Donate items that can be donated (not applicable this time)
  • Consider making use of vertical space (not applicable this time)
  • Group like-items together (preferably by corralling them in some kind of storage container)
  • Do not fear empty space - it's a good thing to have leftover space

I have now done step 1, step 2, step 3, step 4, and step 6 (above). I did step 5 too but I really don't think the Internet needs to see the inside of my purse to prove it ;). Plus, my clean purse results lasted all of like ten hours, whereas I have been successfully making sure the other areas that are part of this challenge don't get recluttered.

DIY Needlekeep


When I cross stitch, I want a handy small yet noticeable (not easy to lose) place to put my needles. I decided that a "needle keep" (also called a "needle book") would be that place. I tried to buy a DIY kit for this item, but I could not find any such kits. Although normally I hate the results of my DIY efforts and sewing, and normally I prefer buying something ready-made if I can find it at an inexpensive price, I thought it would be artistically disingenuous to be cross stitching by hand while using an item made by a stranger to hold my supplies. So, despite these totally cute needle books on Etsy, I made my own using thread, a sewing needle, and two colors of felt.

Needle books on Etsy, from top left, going clockwise:

Cross Stitch Sunflower

Here is my finished gift. The sunflower was created using a kit. However, I added the lettering using an alphabet I made up (there was not as much horizontal space as most cross stitch alphabets require so I had to improvise) and a purple thread I bought seperately. Over all, this wound up being a somewhat expensive gift because I bought a frame (after spending twelve hours on this I wanted to protect it with a frame). Additionally, I had a lot of trouble with this pattern (as documented via twitter), because of the subtle variations in the colors (I could not always tell them apart) and because of the weird color names (salad dark, salad medium, salad light...). I still have two more cross stitch gifts I need to finish before the end of August!

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Playroom... Still Working


Here is the new mood board. The older version of the mood board is here.