Project Simplify Part 2

I've been having a lot of fun finishing up the different projects from my little book I mentioned a few posts ago. It feels super nice to clear things out for REAL and pare down. I have no desire to fill every nook and cranny with 'stuff' anymore. Here is some of what I've been working through.

1. Laundry room: laundry and a few random supplies, girls' backpacks and coats, drying racks, hooks, and four colored bins, one for me, Ben, the girls, and towel/sheets. That's it.

2. Kitchen cabinets. Only have one set of stoneware dishes that can be used for all occasions. All of our dishes are in this cabinet, except for drinking glasses.

All the pots and pans. Got rid of a large one that I didn't really need so I could fit the electric griddle down there. How many pans do I really need?

All the baking dishes:

All the baking food items:

I tried to organize the spices by letter I'm that neurotic.

3. Media. These two drawers hold all of our DVDs and VHS (yeah, we still have some of those). Got rid of everything that we did not really love or want for the future:

4. This is every single 'adult' book in the house!!!! It's so easy to accumulate book after book, but when it comes down to it, there are so few books that we will end up reading or going back to. So we saved only our favorites or meaningful ones. The first shelf is mostly fiction (Narnia series, Francine Rivers) and autobiographies or biographies. Second shelf is spiritual growth and teaching. Third shelf is favorite parenting and marriage books (not every one we've ever read). Fourth shelf is random but a few practical how-to books. Last shelf is my childhood scrapbook, extra copy of our wedding album, a Spanish 101 textbook, etc.:

5. Linen closet. Just kept one set of flannel sheets and summer sheets for each bed and an extra pair for the girls' bed. Towels- don't need that many. We keep ours in our bathroom, but even then it's only a few. Then beach towels, kid bath towels, and pillowcases. Anna's nebulizer medication, bath time shampoo and stuff, and a blanket:

6. Girls' closet. Top shelf are their travel bags and beach bags with swim stuff. Kimmie's dresses, then shirts, then Anna's dresses. They can wear the same size shirts which is nice. Definitely have more clothes than we need, but almost all are used or hand me downs that we really do love. I have bins in here with diapers, more hangers, and all their clothes that are too small (to hand down or consign) or too big. I like to keep them nearby so I can occasionally see if anything new fits. I also don't like storing clothes in the attic; my goal is to have everything that we use, except Christmas decorations, sports equipment, outside toys, and suitcases/coolers in the room where they are used.

Anna gets the top drawer and Kimmie the second. I just keep short, pants, and skirts in here:

Last drawer is for underwear, underclothes, and junk clothes for outside:

PJs go in the bottom of this hall tree. We probably have way more than we need:

7. I limited little trinkets and smaller items to what you see here. A couple of pictures, the shells from the girls baptism, her crown from Disney, and some hats.

The homemade bunny house found it's home in here! The girls have some sort of obsession with taking their clothes off. And I'm the one stuck putting them back on.

8. My work desk, in the closet.

So far, so good! I think I only have a few areas left: kids' toys, attic (ugh I hate going up there so I might skip this one), coat closet, keepsakes, craft supplies, and paper. I highly recommend this little book! It's been fun.

Semi-DIY Silhouettes!

I LOVE silhouettes. I think they are super classy, and I love how they are a reminder of the beauty and individuality of your loved one. I saw these pretty frames at a stand when we were at Downtown Disney. They are made of plastic but look like wood, and decided I would finally try to get some silhouettes. I looked all over on Etsy and they sold for over $30 each. Some were up to $75! Whoa! Way too much for us! I happened upon one shop where she provided you with a digital silhouette for just $5. I figured it was worth a try. So far, I've had good success with using my printer to create high-resolution images/artwork for my house. Often people can't tell the difference. You can buy lots of digital art on Etsy at a great price. So I sent in my pictures of the girls and they came back within a few days. I printed them out on cardstock paper in high quality. They turned out great, and you would never know they were printed off from my own computer! They look just like they had been painted or cut out. I hung them on the wall in the hallway and I love seeing the girls when I walk by! Yay!

Project Simplify

I'm always into simplifying, but lately I've been wanting to take it to the next level. Especially when I looked at my closet. I think (maybe?) compared to the average person in the US, I keep a lot less 'stuff.' But yet, every time I try to simplify beyond the point I'm at, I sort of hit a wall and have trouble deciding what should go and what should stay. Well, I got this fantastic little book that has totally helped my mindset and figure out what is really worth holding on to, and the benefits of living with less: less clutter, less choices, less desire to buy more 'stuff' (since you've worked so hard to get rid of it!), and realizing the joy of living with less.

The book goes through every different area of your home so you can take it slow and hit each section as you want. Instead of going through your stuff and picking a few things out to send to Goodwill, for example, she encourages you to take everything (literally, everything) out and go through it piece by piece. I really love the questions she has you ask yourself. For clothes- is this something I would take on vacation? Do I have something to pair it with? Do I have another one of these? How often do you do laundry? (who needs two black shirts if you do laundry every week)? I realized that so many of the clothes I hung on to were ones that I didn't love, just tolerated. I went from thinking my closet was pared down to literally getting rid of 50% of it after reading the book. The goal is to have only clothes that you 'love' to wear. It also sets a standard so you don't buy whatever you find on sale, just because it's cheap. If you don't absolutely love it, you won't buy it, because you've worked so hard to keep your wardrobe a 'love it' wardrobe. I can fit all of my seasonal clothes out at once (except I put sweaters away), so I don't have to go through boxes every season. I like that.

Here is my pared down closet. It's kind of embarrassing because I know that so many people around the world would think this is extravagant, and it is. But at least compared to what it was, I think it looks pretty good.

All my warm weather tops (just what's hanging, the blue bins hold 1. bathing suits and 2,3. camisoles that I wear under cardigans):

All my cold weather tops (minus a bunch of heavier tops and sweaters):

All my shorts, capris, jeans, and casual pants. Still feels like a lot, but I wear all of them.

All my dresses and skirts for all occasions:

All my work or nicer pants (four pairs):

My gym bag:

I pared down all my shoes (how many pairs of dress shoes do I really need? What would go with the most?) I saved three pairs of dress shoes- one nude, one black, and one silver. All of these and my work shoes are on the floor shelf, and all my sandals and casual shoes are on the hanging rack. It still feels like I have a lot of shoes, but a lot less than before.

 I also kept only two purses and two belts (black and brown), and two hats:

Here is the extent of my makeup collection after getting rid of unused items. Bare Minerals foundation, concealer, and blush, brushes, mascara, eye liner, an eyebrow pencil, a pencil sharpener, and an lash/eyebrow comb (no curler). It all fits into this little bag that I can roll up to take with me on trips.

And here is all of my jewelry. One side has earrings and bracelets, the other necklaces. It also packs really well:

I don't know if this still is a ton of stuff, but I feel like it's as simplified as I will probably get! Either way, I feel proud of what I've done so far.

Here is my simplified nightstand. I love how the author talks about why having a simple nightstand is a good idea and how to decide what to keep on it. A light, a coaster, one picture frame (my late father), one current book/devotional, and box with a few of my nighttime essentials (glasses and lotion).

More to come on the other areas! I've already done the kitchen cabinets and dishes and bathroom cabinets. There wasn't anything to do in the dining room because there was nothing in it to begin with!

Remembering 2014

I finally finished our 2014 yearbook (photobook)! If you missed this post, I wrote about the details of the way I decided to chronicle our family memories. Here is our newest addition:

(I blacked out our last name :)

And here are all of our books, totaling all of the years spent together on this journey:

Overall I was happy with the way this one came out. I was a little disappointed that the linen cover's color was not the same as the previous yellow from 2011. I guess they changed the color up a bit. I had a color order going on (red, orange, yellow, repeat) so it messed with my OCD nature :)

Making a Wall Collage

I've been wanting to make a collage for our master bedroom for a while now. The ones  I like combine pictures and art and are visually interesting and appealing. I decided to try my hand at it. I always have old frames lying around, so I combined them together, trying to make the best formation. I tried to make some frames line up so there would be a few clean lines, but overall I experimented with different mismatched placements. I chose pieces that were varying in (coordinating) colors and textures to keep it interesting. Here's what I came up with. I did this on the floor of my bedroom.

Then, in order to see how it would look on the wall, I cut out pieces of paper that fit each frame using paper from the girls' art roll. I used masking tape to move them around on the wall until I was happy with how they looked. 

Then I took one piece down at a time, and hung it up directly over the paper. I used a level to keep everything straight. This is how it turned out. I love it!!!!

Tea Time

I haven't posted in forever. I've been mulling over a few things that I will hopefully write about at some point. Until then, why not share a rare, crafty moment.  Let me preface this by saying that I do NOT do this kind of thing on a regular basis. It is pretty out of character for me. In our household, Anna usually fends for herself in terms of entertainment ideas. I'm working on that. However, I got the crafting itch today.

Ben's aunt came over on Monday and gave Anna a few gifts. She also gave me a big floppy hat, stating that it was for tea parties. That got me thinking how Anna would most likely be all about tea parties. So I hunted online and ordered a simple little tea set (also uncommon for me. Ordering a new toy? Gasp! Good thing it was less than $20 yet still quality. Thanks, Melissa and Doug). I went with something unbreakable for obvious reasons.

I loved the tea set but wished it came with a few more things like plates for food, napkins, and a tablecloth. Then I had the epiphany that she already had plates from her kitchen and wooden cookies she received as a birthday gift (duh Lisa). All that was left were the linens. I decided it would be super easy to make my own. So while Anna was busy playing tea, I hunted up some old receiving blankets (while I'm always getting rid of as much as possible, I do save things that I suspect could have future crafty use left in them). I decided which blanket I wanted to use as the tablecloth- I liked the one with the pink edge- and which patterns complimented it. Then I pulled out my pinking shears. 

Pinking shears are great for fabric if you don't feel like sewing. They protect the edges from unraveling much better than scissors. They won't last forever like hemmed fabric, but they get the job done. I cut four squares for napkins. 

Then I used another patterned blanket, some ribbon, and super glue to make two-sided tea bags. 

Kimmie was more interested in the fabric than playing tea party.

 

It was all done before Anna had even finished playing, so super easy. Happy tea time!

Home makeover: Living room, one-hour valences, and the end of the story.

I am finally ready to post the last room in the house that suffered through a makeover! Good thing because I'm getting burnt out on these posts. Here is the living room. Nothing much about this room but it's comfortable and cozy.

(I blacked our name out in these pictures for privacy's sake)

 

 

I don't love this beigey-yellow color but we weren't about to tackle twenty-foot ceilings so it had to stay. If I could paint the room it would probably be a cream or cream-gray. The color isn't too bad.

 

 

I know gliders are typically reserved for baby rooms but they are more comfortable to me than armchairs so I figured, why not put it in the living room? Almost all of our furniture is hand-me-down or consigned, so we don't sweat if things get spilled or dropped since we have zero attachment to this furniture.  I'm not the kind of person to get frustrated at Anna when she has an accident anyway: my mom used to label me as the dog's personal chef because of all the food I dropped on the floor.

 

 

 

This is my favorite thing in the house. I wanted the main focus of the room to be something that emphasized our family's priorities, but I'm old fashioned and didn't want to put a big picture of us on the wall as the focal point. This wood sign is a constant reminder of the things we hold most important in life. Each word was carefully thought out. We got this idea from a fellow blogger.

 

We ditched our coffee table because I like the extra open space and it wasn't a necessary piece of furniture.

 

 

 

 

I chose to use the bookcase to display favorite family photos instead of the wall. Our wedding album and family albums are also kept here, plus some of Anna's toys. In the three bins are books, and the basket holds Legos.

 

 

 

I found this ottoman at a consignment store. I love it because it is solid wood with a ton of storage space. It holds all our games and cards.

 

 

 

The house has this random corner nook-thing that I couldn't figure out. My mom gave us this corner shelf to make some sense of it.

I did move some of Anna's toys to take these pictures. I know many people like to keep certain rooms toy-free, but I prefer to have some toys throughout the house. Not a million toys but a few special things in each room for the girls to enjoy. We keep it minimal. I don't mind that toys are around because they are a sign that life is being lived. It helps that we choose toys that are quality and nice to look at rather than piles of plastic. 

 

 

How to make a one-hour valence

I wanted some sort of curtain on these windows but long curtains didn't make sense in the space. I did not want to block any natural light with shades or valences that hung down. I decided to try my hand at making some pseudo-valences that would hit at the very top of the window without blocking any of the window itself. It was fairly easy and inexpensive.


First I used masking tape to mark off the section of the window I wanted the valence to cover. Then I measured it:

I purchased one sheet of drywall insulation from Lowes which we cut to size with an exacto knife. I cut my fabric about three inches longer on each side, and staple-gunned the fabric to the insulation:

The corners are the trickiest:

I put two pieces of heavy-duty Velcro strips from Lowes on either side of the board.

I placed the boards on the wall using the Velcro and voila! Done. They don't block any light whatsoever, but the windows still look finished. I would recommend using an upholstery fabric for this rather than a light cotton. I used a less expensive fabric myself because I wanted to get 'er done and didn't have the time to peruse, but a more expensive, dimensional fabric would look better, and I can always change the fabric up down the line.