Saturday, February 19, 2011

Hallway Coat Closet

In our new house we have a closet by the entrance door from the garage to the kitchen. Very normal "mud room" area without actually being a mud room. Someday I'd actually like a mud room. Anyhow, this is what it looks like.Yes, it looks empty because I haven't put everything in there yet. Well, the Container Store was having their annual 30% off on their Elfa closet systems, and I was really dying to do that. I got an estimate and it was still too steep for me. $450 including installation. I just can't spend that much on a closet. So, I wish it were like this:Gorgeous! Please excuse that it is a bedroom closet, but you get the idea. However, I decided to get creative and make it work without breaking the bank. Here's how it turned out: A small shoe rack from Wal-mart, hooks on the side wall for the kids coats and backpacks, and hooks at the top for my bags and umbrellas. And on the right side of the closet:These little drawer units I also found at Wal-mart for pretty cheap (can't remember now how much they were) and each is for a member of our family for hats, mittens, gloves, goggles, shin guards, baseball mitts, etc. And the 6th drawer on the bottom right is my "To Go" drawer. That's where I put anything I need to take with me somewhere. Anything I need to return to the store, anything I've borrowed from someone that needs to be returned, etc. etc. You get the idea. Oh, and for a splash of color, I added those floor mats to ensure nothing slides around my slippery wooden floor.

So there we have it! From a potential $450 for beauty and functionality, to about $50 for functionality and sub par beauty. By hey, those closet doors are always closed!

Friday, February 4, 2011

Random simple upgrades

Wow! Crazy life! I've been a little absent lately because I have been moving into a new house! Yes, we finally moved into a house that actually fits our family of 5!! Whoo-hoo! I can't say how excited I am. Right now, I am unpacking and trying to get our house in order. However, I do have a couple of random upgrades to my new life. Yes, they are small, but right now, I consider it an accomplishment every time one of our brown boxes gets emptied!

Isn't this TP storage awesome!! I saw this on someone else's blog, and I can't remember who's it is! Please, if you are out there, tell me and I'll give you credit! I got this cylinder vase at Wal-mart for about $20. Yeah, I wish it'd been cheaper, but I loved this idea so much, I had to do it.
Next, I'd been keeping my seasoning packets in the kitchen cupboard in this hot number:Hey, you make do, right? Well, I thought my seasoning packet storage could do with a little makeover, so I found this at the Dollar Tree. Why didn't I do this earlier? Silly me.
And while I am finding a new home for everything in our brown boxes, I have become best friends with the home storage section in Wal-mart, Target, and of course, the Dollar Tree. Baskets are my favorite things in the whole world!

Well, that's it for today folks. I will have a lot more to blog about as I unpack. Wish me luck!