Minty Sea-foam Little Bathroom

I've been moving around a few pieces of art in the house to change things up a bit. I am so glad I moved the thrifted Van Gogh print, because the Irises' seem to fit perfectly in the void space above the storage shelf, pulling everything together in this teeny tiny bathroom of ours.

(Part I) Over the toilet pretty!

There is a huge lack of storage space in our bathroom. When searching for storage options, too pricey yet my taste vs. rickety yet my price was the dilemma. When Matt came to me with his drafting paper in hand and a sketch up of the perfect over the toilet storage unit, I pretty much melted at the thought. Collaboration, a trip to buy wood, a free quart of paint from Ace, and some weekend hours of labor later, and we have the perfect little bathroom storage. You can see what our bathroom looked like before HERE, and stay tuned for Part II of this little project. (OH, and leave a comment if you want the plans/sketch/wood dimensions added in to the detailed post- a.k.a. you are just jumping at the thought that you could build this too, and get a free quart of paint at Ace (Aug. 4th!), and make this shelf for your very own commode. Because if this is the case, I will make sure they are included!).

Dreaming of {functional & affordable yet design-y} garage interiors.

Does anyone else get goosebumps when they walk into a garage that is neater than their house? It is the rarity, but an organized garage that meets Martha Stuart standards can be done. It may not always look pristine, because lets be honest, life is messy, but just some simple additions can really transform a space. One common thread is vertical storage, hooks, and labeled containers. For some people, their garage is a work space, so having an area that is charming and inviting, with things in their place, makes work and projects that much more efficient (and you can spend more time on the actual project rather than digging around for materials). Matt and I are lucky this time around, because not only does moving into a new place mean a new chance to purge and reorganize (done and done), but moving into a new place with a brand new garage means starting from scratch in the design department. The wood still smells freshly cut, its that new. Up until now, and most likely forever, the garage is Matt's space....but a girl can still dream about design elements, right? Honestly, having a handy man engineer for a husband is a dream, and one that is on the neat side of the spectrum to boot. I should really thank his mom again for that (Thanks, Jayne!) You should see our garage progress so far (You will see it eventually, its in the works. For now, see some early garage construction here and here). That man has a hidden talent for garage organization. Hallelujah. I may just enter in to add some labels and organize my own area of diy/paint/misc storage. So back to that dreaming about beautiful yet functional garage bit (even without built in cabinets).

Martha Stuart Living
Vertical and mint green

Tip Junkie
Peg wall gardening station

BHG
White bright and labeled. 

Martha Stuart Living
Tool tracing and mason jar storage

BHG
Potting space with cleaning storage

Goodhousekeeping.com
Traditional and functional (This could be my grandparents garage)

For specific photo credits and more ideas meander over here.

And here is a * gold star if you actually have a garage that looks like any of the above! You could teach a thing or two about donating the unneeded and organizing like a pro. Any tips out there for garage design from you readers? What has been super helpful and something you would suggest for a soon to be "use the garage as a catch all work space in the dead of winter" girl? 

Decorating for a khaki scout: boxes, warm hues, and a sense of adventure.

Our big project today was to organize the garage. As we unfolded everything that was to be put away in the rafters, up on shelves, and across the work table, I found some of my old boxes that I deemed too beautifully rustic to be kept out of sight. It may be my recent viewing of Moonrise Kingdom that made these adventurous boxes stand out (they could easily have been used as props in Wes Anderson's latest film).

 Old metal tool/gardening box.

Rain or shine boxy picnic basket.

Painter's box.

Wine box (filled with momentos).

With red and teal mixed amongst neutrals, these boxes are now part of some bookshelf decor. They add visual interest, filling the space throughout, yet they also store practical items like my gardening tools, oil paints, and picnic supplies. I love that when I look at this shelf I am filled with a sense of adventure (doesn't it truly seem like a khaki scout and a daring girl live here?).  

Noteworthy from top to bottom:
Old tool box:  my grandma's old gardening kit
Wine box:  Thrifted
Picnic basket: Gifted
Vintage-like print:  Denver Goodwill
Phrenology head: White elephant gift
Drift wood:  Idaho springs trails, CO
Red cashbox (with ever so important lock):  Matt's childhood
Painter's box:  from my grandpa
Folded up quilt: Handmade by my grandmother
Misc. baskets:  Ikea, Home Goods, and JoAnne's

Organizing a stacked washer & dryer closet.

I typically have not shared any of my ways of organizing. I usually leave that inspiration to bloggers like Amy over at 20minutemom and other neat and tidy Martha Stuart like women, who do it ever so gracefully. But with any styled home, all the clutter and household must haves need a place to be out of sight and out of mind, so that the rest of the fun decor can really pop. As you've taken some tours of my home via blogging, you may have wondered where the laundry room was. Or where the linen closet is. You must be asking yourself, "That girl lives in Denver, where do they keep winter coats, blankets, mountain gear, and hiking boots? She has a dog and a husband too, where does she hide all of their toys and hobby items, and the things she uses to clean up after them [and herself]?" 

To answer the first two questions, I will give you a simple response:  My once linen closet is in fact my laundry room.

Before: A seriously mundane laundry situation.

Before we moved in, this house was completely gutted. Part of the remodel moved walls, expanding the kitchen, but removing a hallway and laundry space. SO now, the washer and dryer along with the water heater are in what would have been the linen and coat closet. (Hence why we made over the door bathroom storage and a coat rack). I have not given the "laundry room" much attention and reached my point of no return when my Shout and Wrinkle Remover continually fell off the top during the spin cycle and I was always making trips into the back bedroom in times of paper towel necessity. I wanted all my laundry needs in one place, organized, and pretty to the eye with a "No more Tears!" stamp of approval from Johnson & Johnson. 

I had to get creative if I wanted to fit paper goods, cleaning supplies, stain removers, detergent, hand towels, ect. all in this little closet. I had the top of the dryer space as well as a potential small door hanging space to work with. First, to eliminate items falling off the top of the dryer, I utilized the inside of the door to hang a bin filled with all my stain removers, lint rollers, wrinkle release, and wash bags. The blue bin is from Target's dollar spot and I made a label using brown paper bag, sharpie, and yarn. With an over the door hanger, I was able to fit my ironing board and my organized bin. When I am doing laundry, I can easily lift the bin off the hook and get to my supplies.

Getting closer to no more tears when doing laundry.

{this one is for my mom, because I know she's reading}

Tag supplies.
Next, I put paper goods in a large basket and made a brown bag label. It fit just right on top of the dryer, wedged against the wall (perfectly snug and moving nowhere when the washer is in full spin).

Using a shelf insert from Ikea to create another level of space saving storage, I organized the rest of my laundry goods and cleaning items next to the paper goods basket. 

Getting giddy because I love 'neat' in cramed spaces.

There is just enough space on the top of the dryer, in front of the stored items, so that the bin hanging on the door has room to fit once the door is closed. 

After: A cheery little laundry closet.

Finally, a space I can work with and that looks good too! Now you no longer have to wonder about where I wash my clothing. I have more hidden storage (not much) in our home. If you like this post and want to see other ways I have organized, or will soon organize, I'd love a comment so I know whether I should continue sharing on the topic. Happy Friday!

Frames, maps, and a sewing machine {the beginnings of a functional guest bedroom and workspace}

The other day I wrote about glorious gallery walls and how my plans in the second bedroom were to piece together my very own frame covered wall. I have so many frames, with photographs, thrift store prints, my own art, etc. etc. After countless times stumbling around in that room and tripping over frames, I decided to get my picture hanging on. It was getting ridiculous and too messy for too long, so this morning I got to work and have some progress to show you on this long awaited guest room (which for the past month you could call a storage closet of sorts).

windmill sketch: thrifted
wooden shoes: bridal shower gift from Matt's mom
hand painted pot: from grandma's house
hard-cover books: thrifted
glass votive: anthropologie sale
wooden library box: thrifted
vintage desk: craigslist
green runner: Ikea

We have very little storage space in our Park Hill home. We do have a garage which is wonderful, but storing inside items (linens, coats, games, photographs, paperwork, wedding dress) that should steer clear of extreme garage weather are left for me to get creative with in the home storage dept.  The closets are filled to the brim, and even then, there is still more to store. With this second bedroom, I used a lot of trick storage. The wicker hamper next to the desk is filled with board games. The box setting on top of the hamper is actually a wine rack. We have a hutch now that houses all of our wine, so this wine storagebox is full of letter writing materials, sewings bits, maps, and travel books. The maps are not vintage, but merely trail maps we've gotten from various hikes. Instead of having them folded flat in a drawer, I rolled them up  add some visual interest. I like that this box has built in handles, making it easy to lift the box and access the board games in the wicker hamper below. (You will get to see more of this room soon, and the rest of my visually pleasing "store it" tricks).

Sewing Machine: from my grandma
{chair missing because it is being painted}

I merely created this space with things I already had. It was fun to put together because I had to make do with whatever was not being used in the rest of the house, and piece by piece hang each frame until it looked just right. Now I have a great corner of the room to learn to sew in, write letters, map adventures, sketch, read my Bible, and work on other small projects.