One of my first organizing projects was the kids’ art cubby.  We have one of those awkward cabinets on the back side of the kitchen cabinets.  A few years ago, we converted this to the kids’ art cubby.  It’s right by the kitchen table, so it’s the perfect place to store art supplies.  Well, it was absolutely overflowing with art supplies.  I couldn’t even close the cupboard doors, but with all of the craziness of the end of the school year, there was no way I could get my act together and reorganize this area.

My kids use this cupboard all the time.  My son only uses it when he has an assignment to complete, but my daughter pulls out art supplies almost daily.  An organized space makes it so much easier.  We have bins for watercolor paints, washable paint, stickers, light table and tracing supplies, markers, gel pens, drawing pencils, and card making supplies.

 

I also restocked the writing center with notepads, envelopes, paper, cards, and premade blank books. My daughter and her cousin started writing a book, within about 5 minutes of noticing the newly organized writing center.

I love having the time to get my home organized again.

Happy organizing!

The post Organizing Art Supplies for The Kids appeared first on home is where my story begins....

The bottom drawer in this cupboard is a file drawer.  I had so many things that I just needed to get rid of.  This shredder was great fun, while decluttering! 

I put my kids to work shredding old papers. 

Decluttering and organizing feels so good!

The post The “To Do” List appeared first on home is where my story begins....

The Old Kitchen:

Wow! Have you ever seen a more true “color crayon blue” than in my old kitchen?

This is what our kitchen looked like when we moved in, about five years ago. The tile in the kitchen was almost a deal breaker. My sister kept reminding me, “It’s only the cosmetic things you don’t like. You can always change those things.” The kitchen felt very dark and dreary. I was truly afraid of what might be hiding in the black grout, in between the color crayon blue tiles. I remember the first day I moved in. My sister and nieces came riding their bikes down the street and there was a beautiful bouquet of deep, dark, blue hydrangeas in one of the baskets on the bike. They told me I should try to “embrace the blue.”

Curtains! That’s what I needed to help me embrace the blue. I started thinking about blue and yellow, stripes, ticking, french country. I could totally embrace the blue! This would be fine! You can see the lovely fabric I chose in the pictures above. It was exactly the french country look I was going for. I added a little yellow check to the room and I could ALMOST live with it.

We lived with the blue on the counters for about a year and then I couldn’t stand it anymore. I tried to embrace the blue and do a little french country theme. No such luck.

The New Kitchen:

That’s a kitchen I can live with, but still don’t love. I’ve been throwing around ideas for simple changes I can make to our kitchen to make it more our style. My husband does like the idea of painting the cabinets. So, the plan is to put a darker stain on the cabinets, spray the hinges black, and freshen up the five year old valances. I loved toile at one time, but now I’m needing a change.

Always a work in progress, the new new new kitchen inspiration:


These are my neighbor’s ugly-orange-cabinets-turned-deep-dark-brown-beauties. My hubby and I are in the process of refinishing our cabinets. We have two banks done so far and they look a lot like these!

I purchased this fabric about a year ago at Calico. I fell in love with the French Stripe line. I have thin red stripes for kitchen valances and thick red strips for pillows. I’m thinking it’ll be a summer look. I might need something different for fall and winter. I’m thinking new paint color too. Something neutral. Like I said, it’s a work in progress.

The post The Kitchen – A Constant Work in Progress appeared first on home is where my story begins....

I bought four of these chairs on Craigslist for five dollars each. They are all ripped up and horrible looking, but with a fresh coat of paint and some new fabric, they’ll be as good as new. I have no intention of keeping them. I’m happy with my current kitchen and dining sets. I’m planning to find a cheap table to paint and resell it, with the chairs, as a set. I have had the yellow plaid fabric (below) for quite some time and I’m excited to finally use it. I went to the fabric store and found the other print for the backs of the chairs. The ladies and Calico Corners are always trying to convince me to use two different fabrics on chairs. They say it’s the trend. Well, I’m just going to trust them and give it a try. They are the experts in decorating!

While I was at Calico Corners I fell in LOVE with this fabric (below):

It has a Spring/Summer beachy feel. The fabric in the background is a paint drop cloth from Lowes. CHEAP!!! Layla, from The Lettered Cottage, uses drop clothes as curtains in her dining room and I love the way it looks like linen for a fraction of the cost. If my home had a season, it would definitely be Fall. Everything is warm, cozy, plush, and dark. I’m thinking that a Spring/Summer look is in order. Cheap drop cloth window coverings and just a few pillows with the Calico Corner’s fabric will be a welcome change!

My sewing machine will be running over spring break. I also bought Sunbrella, outdoor fabric, to make pillows for the benches in the front yard.

Oh, and I can’t forget… it’s time to reorganize the kids’ art cubby. The nice little marker and paper bins work best when the kids actually put the markers and paper in them! They LOVE the art cubby. They NEED the art cubby. They USE the art cubby every day. So, they will keep messing it up and I will keep reorganizing it. I have nothing better to do with my time, right?

The post Is it Spring Break yet? appeared first on home is where my story begins....