14 Week Home Organization Challenge - Week 8- Kids Closet

I know what you're thinking...Where are weeks 6 & 7??? The master bedroom and closet?? Well, it is all typed up and ready to go, but I realized I am missing some 'After' pictures. And it wouldn't be fair to share the before without the after. So, instead of putting it off completely, I am bringing you the kids bedroom.
Today, only the oldest got his bedroom and closet taken apart and put back together. While he may have moaned and groaned in the beginning, once he started to see progress, I think he actually enjoyed finishing. I only got pictures of the closet makeover, but that was the biggest adventure in his room. Here is the before...Lots of hangers. This closet used to be nice and organized...then a teenager happened! Haha He looks like he was even trying to hide from it all!

We got to work pulling everything out that didn't fit anymore, or that he just didn't like anymore. There was a lot of both!
Our church was (conveniently!) doing a clothing drive, so we were able to donate all of his castaways to a good home!

You'll see in my master bedroom closet makeover that I got us some grown up hangers. I saved all the white plastic ones and gave them to J. His hanging clothes are separated now for school/church/etc. and they all get to be on nice white hangers. It looks so much nicer! His closet is now super organized. All the board games have been rearranged and put back together. And look at all that space below!! This was definitely a win for today!

But wait...there's more...I also got A's closet cleaned out since she doesn't really need it right now. Hers is completely empty for a big adventure we are about to take on! I will be sharing more details about that soon!! :D

Want more organization ideas??
I will be sharing more updates over on my Facebook page!
I have a whole Pinterest board dedicated to the subject!
Sometimes I also share on Instagram

And- You can follow along with more organization at A Bowl Full of Lemons

Stay tuned for the Master bedroom! :D

14 Week Home Organization Challenge - Weeks 4 & 5 - Launch Pad & Living Room

Okay...we're almost caught up now! I planned on posting these two weeks together since they are in the same space.
 I was not very excited about these weeks.  This is our 'grown-ups only' room. No toys allowed. The room that I loved so much, that used to be my favorite place in the house, had somehow turned into just a room in the house. How did that happen?? After some thought, I realized when it may have happened. It was a very slow process. First, the baby items came in. I expected this, and I know they won't be here long. But then the snow came, and with it all the hats, gloves, scarves, etc. They all piled up by the door. It just started to feel like stuff was cluttered everywhere. I got right to work clearing out all the extras. Once it was all done, I walked into the room so many times throughout the day just to soak it all it. My favorite room is back!
Let's get to it, shall we?
Here is our entry table. With Valentine decorations that were never properly displayed. And the basket of winter items. And the baby's car seat. Ugh.

And a close up in case you can't see all the crazy!

This is the view looking from the kitchen.

I decided it was time for the Valentine's Day things to go. Valentine's is over now, so we don't need to see it anymore. I took the car seat and moved it by the garage door for now so it can stay in the car. I also refreshed my flowers and updated our picture in the frame.

So much better!! I'm planning on getting a new candle for the candle holder!

Next was the living room area.
From the kitchen entry and around...

This crooked picture is what happens when I hold my phone above my head and try to get a wider shot! :D

I finished removing all the Valentine's related décor. Put the pillows back on the couch, and rearranged the items on the shelf.

I also pulled the rug closer to the couch and tucked it under a bit. Pinterest said that would help the room feel more grounded. Haha. We'll see!

I also dusted off the TV stand and rearranged our little bird family on there ♥

 This whole process, including shaking out the rug, and moving it, and vacuuming the room, took less than 30 minutes. It was definitely a much needed transformation. The room is so much more peaceful again!!

You can see the full challenge here: (I will update as I go!)
Week 1 - Kitchen
Week 2 - Pantry
Week 3 - Dining Room
THIS IS WEEKS 4 & 5 :)
Week 6 - Master Bedroom
7 - Master Closet
Week 8 - Kid's Closet
Week 9 - Linen Closet
Week 10 - Bathrooms
Week 11 - Office
Week 12 - Playroom
Week 13 - Laundry Room
Week 14 - Garage/Car

Do you have a favorite room in your house? Stop by and let me know!!
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You can follow along with A Bowl Full of Lemons to Organize your home in 14 weeks, too!! This week, I'm working on the Master Bedroom!!

14 Week Home Organization Challenge - Week 3 - Dining Room

So, I was sitting down to write up the post for weeks 4 & 5 and I realized that I never even shared week 3!! I can't believe it. First, that makes me a little farther behind than I thought. Second...oh my gosh! I was so excited about this week! I know exactly what happened, though. It fell on the snow week....everything has been messed up since then!!

But, have no fear...here is week 3...the dining room! I initially thought I wouldn't be doing much in here. A little dusting and rearranging maybe, but nothing too serious. Let me tell you, I was wrong!!
I was talking to Austin about a 'maybe' idea that I had. He sat and listened through the entire process. A few minutes later, I had to get up to go lay the little down for nap. When I cam back down stairs, he was already moving things!! Yay!!
Here is the photo I snapped at the end of week to as my 'peek' into my dining room

And one I took as I was heading upstairs (obviously on a different day where much more chaos was involved! :D

And my awesome husband moving the cabinet upstairs...

And the afters...
I have a real coffee/tea bar now! ♥ All in one spot!

 Updated this morning after I took down all the Valentine's...

Did you notice my sweet little creamer cow??? I was SO excited to finally find this over the weekend!!

Isn't she beautiful??

 I was even able to make a little 'bar' area on the counter where the coffee machine used to be! It's perfect!

 I don't know how I didn't get a full dining room shot after we finished, but I got my favorite parts. I will try and update with one later...
For now I am going to leave you with this 'peek' into our living room and launch pad area (week 4 & 5) I know it's not a true peek, but our dog was being a creeper and it made me laugh!!

I will have the Launch Pad week and Living room week posted together (probably tomorrow!!)
In the mean time, head over to Facebook and let me know if you have a pet that likes to be a creeper sometimes! :D

You can see the full challenge here: (I will update as I go!)
Week 1 - Kitchen
Week 2 - Pantry
THIS IS WEEK 3 :)
Week 4 & 5 - Launch Pad & Living Room
Week 6 - Master Bedroom
Week 7 - Master Closet
Week 8 - Kid's Closet
Week 9 - Linen Closet
Week 10 - Bathrooms
Week 11 - Office
Week 12 - Playroom
Week 13 - Laundry Room
Week 14 - Garage/Car

You can also find me on Instagram and Pinterest!!


I am following along with A Bowl Full of Lemons for this 14 week challenge!
They are on Facebook, too! :D

Happy Fall Y'all!!

Man, have I been gone long or what??
Life has been so busy lately...3 kids, another on the way (she's here now!) end of school, summer, me starting school, and having a newborn will really leave you with no blogging time! But I found a few minutes today, and I want to share some of my Fall setup with you!
Fall is my most favorite time of year. I love the weather, the comfy clothes (leggings are my favorite!) everything pumpkin, apple picking, baking...I could go on and on...
This week I slowly started bringing out my fall decorations, and realized I don't really have too many. Just loads of pumpkins. We need to work on that! So far, I think this is my favorite little corner in the house.

I scored this chair for $10 on a resale site here! I was so excited. I found this cute little pumpkin pillow on Amazon that sits perfectly on it. (I love Amazon!) The FALL blocks, I have had for a few years, and I don't remember where they came from.
I will be updating with more fall home photos as I get it done, but I just couldn't wait to share this today! I also have my first furniture remodel to share with you! Be sure to check back for those updates!

Happy Fall!

12 Days of Christmas Crafts | Day 6 | Pillow Covers

Today's post actually comes from a couple weeks ago. I took a trip to IKEA. I really really love that place!! I found these great pillow covers for only $6! I couldn't decide which one I wanted more, so I got one of each. I don't have enough pillows in their size to get two of each. Our living room couch has 6 pillows on it, 2 of each size. I had the middle size covered, so I needed to find something for the others. I ended up going to JoAnn Fabrics a few days later on a mission. I wanted something Christmas-y, but I didn't want Christmas Trees and Presents and such. I also wanted a heavier fabric than all the holiday prints offered. Our living room is very neutral, so I wanted to bring in some seasonal color. I ended up finding a solid marigold color and a green printed fabric that I love.

I usually make envelope-style pillow covers, but I found a bunch of zippers in my stash that I decided to use this time! They were the perfect size! I even love how the colors compliment the fabric, but aren't the same color (or just plain white!) There was no method to these covers. I laid my pillow on top of the piece of fabric, added about an inch, cut it, and sewed it shut. I wanted something quick and easy, and that is how I accomplished it! I don't always have time for pre-planning and measuring and pinning and such!

Here's how they all look on the couch! What do you think??
I am very pleased with how they all turned out. I love walking into the room to see the bright colors. It's even better to know that I MADE it! (Except the two from IKEA, of course!)

This guy is sure enjoying them! :)

 I have no idea what we will be crafting tomorrow, so be sure to check back!! :)




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Hey! Where have you been??

Here I am. Gosh, it's been a while. We have had so much going on the last few months with school ending, summer activities, and many other things! I feel so far behind!! We have been working on a few fun projects. I thought I would share one to get back into the swing of things!!
I have been seeing a lot about Rit Dye, and it got me wanting to dye something of my own. but it couldn't just be anything. I wanted to make it worth it! We have this bed set that we have had for 3.5 years now. I LOVED it when we got it. I still love it...super comfy, keeps me warm, nice and broken in, all that good stuff...but I just wanted something different. Last time I looked at new bed sets, the ones I wanted were over $200. I thought, "Not this time! I'm going to dye my own!!" SO I did!
Here is what they looked like before:

 The sheets were off white, and getting boring...

The comforter was maroon and white...



I went on the hunt for the perfect color...and was lucky enough to find just what I wanted!

 I read lots and lots of directions and tutorials before I got started. We have a front loading washer, so I had to make sure I did everything right. I found THIS super helpful article from the Rit Dye Company! I gave my sheets a quick wash, and began adding the dye! This is what it looked like:

 I decided to do the comforter a little different since it was so big. I didn't want to end up with a tye-dye comforter! I did MORE research about dying in the tub, and enlisted the two cutest helpers ever to help "agitate"

 Then we rinsed out all the teal water! (This took a while!)

 It only took me three days a little while to get around to cleaning the blue ring out of the tub!

After one more quick wash of everything to make sure the dye was all out...we had a brand new bed set!! What do you think??

IKEA Hacks

        Have you heard of these? I just recently had a conversation about this new trend. Now I love IKEA, but I never thought to makeover the items i have bought.
        Until I heard someone talk about these hacks...So I started to do some research. I have this table from IKEA that I bought for my little one. I wanted something that he could sit and eat or play at, that didn't take up too much space, so he could be in the kitchen with me. This table won when I saw that it came with two chairs and was only $20! I started to browse through Pinterest (there are lots of great ideas there!) and saw people were doing all kinds of makeovers to IKEA furniture! I started to get really excited!
         Now, I am a very much an instant gratification kind of girl. I did not want to wait until my husband came home to help, so I got to work. I went into the garage and found out we had some paint left over from when I painted our entry way. It was blue...how perfect for a little boy! Then I found the leftover chalkboard paint from painting our chalkboard wall...even better! Finally, I wanted something fun for the chair covers. During my research, I saw many options. Since I knew my two-year-old would be eating/drinking (Spilling!) at this table, I wanted something that was somewhat water resistant...(Insert light bulb moment here) I chose contact paper!! We always have lots of it, so, once again, I didn't have to make a special trip. Instead of just using plain white (boring) contact paper, I used some clear and put a colroful piece of scrapbook paper underneath! Are you ready to see the results?
First- here is the before:

 Cute, but boring!
Here is the mess I made while refinishing!

 

And the seat with scrapbook paper and contact paper

 

Did I tell you the best part....I used chalk board paint for the top!!

And finally....the finished product!

What do you think?? I would love to see anything you have transformed from IKEA!!