Storage. Not just for plastic tubs.

One way that you can cut the clutter living in a small space is to look for pieces with storage built into them. For example, my sister gave me these excellent end tables when I moved. (She did the tile mosaic on the top. So creative!) We have two of them, so there are six extra drawers for storage. Much more than if we had typical table-style end tables. Plus I love the hardware on them.
Other ways you can add storage is by using ottomans with a top that comes off, a chest for a coffee table, a stack of vintage suitcases as a bedside table, or a dresser as a changing table or sideboard. You want your furniture to multi-task in small spaces. If you have any tips, please leave a comment and share!

Adding some texture

I'm getting started on a project for our office area. When I picture the office area, I really wanted some natural textures incorporated. I have seen other bloggers use jute twine in their projects, and it looks easy, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Here are my supplies: I used a tin can with the label taken off. To prevent sharp edges, the top of this can was taken off with a safety can opener (LOVE those things). I got the twine at Ace Hardware (I love the selection there and the service was incredible.) Basically I glued the twine in a spiral around the can and kept going!

I used waaaay too much hot glue, though, so for my next one I'm going to try to use less and really push the twine together as I go along. It looks a little forlorn all by itself, but I think it'll look really good on the desktop with the other stuff. And such a green craft!

I'm going to link this to DIY day at A Soft Place to Land (with THE Kimba, who FYI, commented on my rug! Woot!)

High Storage

This is a picture of the upper cabinets in our kitchen. Whoever designed the kitchen put cabinets from floor to ceiling! Even the toe kicks are only about an inch high. I see a lot of houses today with cabinets that don't reach the ceiling. For a situation like that, it would be a great place to display items that work with your decor. I love that I don't have to worry about creating "vignettes" because I have no horizontal space! I'm terrible at stuff like that. You're going to have to ask The Nester about that. While for a shortie like me it doesn't seem super practical, its a great place to keep candles, vases, and other stuff I don't need to get into very often. It's going to look so good painted! I can't wait to get started!

Underbed storage

Back at it! We just got our new computer (!) up and running, so I've been away a bit.

I realized recently that we are not using the space underneath our bed and our guestroom bed. This is prime real estate in a small home! I decided to use the space under our guestroom bed as gift wrap storage.

We have a TON of gift bags from our wedding and our baby showers. When you get married and have a baby in a 15 month span of time they tend to pile up. Also, we almost exclusively use gift bags for the reuse aspect of them. That's why I decided on this storage solution.

Since they fold flat, I just got some cardboard underbed storage boxes from the dollar store. I folded the mountains of tissue paper flat as well to be reused.

So we went from this piled up in the basement:

















To sliding these away under the bed:



















These are the boxes I used from the Dollar Store:

They do the job just fine for something you won't be in and out of very often. I'm happy with how it frees up the basement space (another one of our projects). And with the amazing number of babies due at our church and in our circle of friends, we'll hopefully weed through those gift bags and free up some space for other things.

A bit of healthy accountability

Groan!

I'm about to share with you some of the more...unsightly corners of our casa. They are the places that need some help. But thankfully the ideas are flowing. But it's gonna take awhile.

Behold! Our stained counter tops. They are white and speckled. Some would say that speckled is good because it hides the spots, but they pretty much just look LIKE spots to me. We're planning to tackle our kitchen this spring or summer. Which should be interesting, because we don't have a budget for it. Or any of what is to follow....But! We're going to paint the cabinets, and get new counter tops, as well as install a bead board back splash as well as other tasty ideas I have stolen from other bloggers. Mwahaha...

Gasp! I know, this is not like those other blogs, with their beautiful glossy pictures and their fabulous for less glamour. Nope, we're getting down and dirty today! This is the top of our stairs, which is shockingly right next to our back door (where pretty much everyone enters). Not very welcoming. AND it has potential to serve a purpose that is not being realized. This is a big no-no when you are trying to live in a small space.

Headed down the stairs. I don't even know what kind of material is on the walls. But it seems to be some kind of fiber-y board that has been painted different colors over the years. Blaze orange, green, and now white.

Next, onto our office area. Our office is currently located in the "butler's pantry". It is really just an extra wide hallway, that we will someday steal space from to put a bathtub in. BUT I'm very excited for the office, because I've been doing a lot of Mod Podge research, and Mr. Wonderful gave me full reign to transform his file cabinet! Plus, we have this fabulous library table from my parents to work with.

Lastly (for now) our coffee table. With these monstrous brown couches and a brown coffee table and natural wood floors and trim (I know, I know, everyone is painting theirs white) our living room is being taken over by a lot of dark brown. So the least I can do is paint our coffee table. In the past, I really didn't like our coffee table, especially the hole where there used to be a drawer and now there isn't (the hole is on the other side of the table). However, lately I've been picturing it white with a little shelf where that drawer used to be, which is the perfect size for our laptop, or mmm...maybe Ticket to Ride (our favorite game. Small obsession. Very minor.) But I think the shape of it will come out more with some white paint.

Do excuse the mess. I know I should probably try to make my house look pristine for pictures, but I always get a little discouraged by "perfect" houses I see on the web, so I want to try and be real here.

So there you have it! If you don't start seeing some progress on these projects, tell me to get in gear! The painting projects might take some time, as it's cold here and I don't want to paint indoors anymore!

Go With the Flow

Continuing our series on small space living, let's talk about spacial flow.

I recently learned from a Young House Love article that round tables are better for spacial flow than cornered tables. Which makes a lot of sense, now that they mentioned it. I would start looking for a new coffee table for our living room, but I don't think it would work for two reasons. #1. we have an unnatural addiction to Ticket to Ride, which fits perfectly on our table. And #2. a circular coffee table would look funny off-set on a circular rug. And I am not making another one. :0)

Using a round ottoman mixes up the shapes used in this configuration, and makes it so much easier to move around. You cannot DIY that view, my friend!

Well, I'm off to try and figure out how to get some of these fabulous pictures to show up from the web instead of just putting up links. Because this blog post is looking BOR-ing.

I know! I'll post a cute picture of Ava!

Tutu tutorial

"Tutu cute". "Gaga for tutus. " So many options!

A friend of mine made a couple tutus for our other friend who is due this month, and she shared her secrets with me. Once again, it hadn't occurred to me that one could make one of these adorable baby accessories rather than pay $25 for them. But it is a no-sew, super easy and super CHEAP project. Not to mention that tutus are the latest in baby couture :0)

Materials:

A length of ribbon. I chose pink satin ribbon and I got a yard of it, but it would probably be smarter to, you know, measure the waist of your prima ballerina.

Tulle. I ended up using 2.5 yards, but I've seen tutorials that use SIX yards. Depends on your desired level of fluffiness.

Scissors.

And that is seriously it!

I figured this out as I went. All you have to do is cut rectangles of the tulle, and tie them onto the ribbon. I'm guessing my rectangles were about 6" wide and 12" long. At first I used knots, and then I started looping the ends through and around the ribbon like so:

I don't really notice a difference either way. I just kept tying the tulle on until it covered the ribbon to where I had just enough left to tie a bow in the back.

At the end I just trimmed it with a scissors until it looked even to me. I should probably burn the ends of the ribbon to stop it from fraying too. The cost was about $4.00 (with coupons at Joanne) Don't you wish I had posted pictures of Ava wearing the tutu? Well, stay tuned, because they are coming. And the cute factor is going to go thorough the roof, so watch out!