It all started with paint. This room was in desperate need of a fresh coat of paint. Originally it was a light taupe color like most of the rest of the house. It lacked any and all inspiration and it just didn't feel "good" in here. Ya know what I mean? So I (um, my husband) painted the walls Gold 4 by Laura Ashley. I love, love, love her paint colors. Our living room is Gold 3, my son's room is Taupe 3 or 4 (can't remember) and the kids' bathroom is Navy 1. They're such nice colors. I won't bother showing you a before picture, cause well, that's just boring! Here's what my room looks like now:
One of my favorite parts of the room is the display of layouts on the main wall. I've seen several scrappers do this but most recently on Layle Koncar's blog. So I knew once I redid my room I wanted to do that, too. And it's really inexpensive. The curtain rod was less than $10 at Target and the layouts are hung in page protectors held by clip rings. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!
I made the "dream*create*inspire" with Provo Craft vinyl that I cut on my Silhouette. Man I love that thing!! I bought the vinyl at Hobby Lobby for $6 (after using my 40% off coupon) and it was enough to do the letters (along with a goof up or 2). It goes on pretty easy. They also have transfer tape to help you line things up but I was too cheap to buy that so needless to say I had to move the letters about 3 times. It's not perfect but I don't care! Oh, and the letters were cut in the CK Chemistry font.
I also cut out a few birds with the leftovers :) I wanted them bigger but I ran out of vinyl. This picture gives a better idea of what the wall color really looks like, too.
On the one wall I have this
which holds a hodge podge of stuff ~ ribbon spools, wooden stamps (that aren't Stampin' Up!), string, the white plastic basket holds journaling tags, paint, my small Xyron, and the metal basket on top holds more ribbon (the kind you buy on a piece of cardboard, like Making Memories, etc).I bought this organizer at ACMoore on clearance but I originally wanted it to hold all of my Making Memories jars that I use for flowers. I didn't realize that there were 2 different types of these organizers ~ the one I bought and one from Making Memories sells. Keep that in mind if you're looking for one cause my MM jars won't fit on this one :( It's ok, I still put it to good use! I want to figure out a way to hang some of the kids' artwork below but for now they're just taped on the wall.
Along this wall I have two 4 foot folding tables that I bought at Lowes. I also have my Stampin' Up! stamp caddy, a basket with journaling books and tags that can't fit in that little white basket, my sewing machine (cover I bought on etsy here), and a basket of mini albums
And my computer, printers & stuff are to the left but you don't need to see that. Underneath the 2 tables I have plastic storage drawers
The one on the left holds my bigger Xyron, heat tool, Bind-it-all stuff, bigger stuff like that. The one on the right holds all my thickers, extra ribbon, etc. That little clear container with the blue lid I got from my Secret Santa at Wrappers Delight (thanks again!) and I use that for all those little ribbon spools (that are SO cute that I can't stop from buying them!) and extra fibers, ribbons, etc.
It really works out well. Under the other table I have more storage drawers
I decorated all the drawer fronts with patterned paper (Basic Grey Mellow). The basket to the left holds some of the really big punches that I use a lot. Some of the smaller punches that I use frequently are in one of the drawers. All of the others are in my closet (that I'm not going to show now because it's not quite as organized at the moment!) The file folder thing to the right holds all the monthly kits that I get. I keep them together til I use most of the kit and then I put the remaining things with everything else.On the wall to the left of my tables I have this big bookcase that I snatched from my son's room. It wasn't being utilized very well in there and I knew I could put it to better use!
This things holds all my patterned papers, cardstock, Stampin' Up! stamps, chipboard letters, idea books, etc. I will save the paper & letter storage for a separate post as this one is getting pretty long! The white storage drawers hold more of the "office" type stuff ~ ink refills, cds, printer stuff, etc. On top is one of my other favorite things ~ a Clip-it-up.
I've had this thing for a couple years now and I *love* it. It's not the prettiest to look at but sometimes you have to opt for functionality. When I organized mine I found that I had many duplicates of things. Now when I need something I can see exactly what I have and don't have. Well, as you can see I have *lot* on this thing!Well, I think this is a long enough post! I'll share more with you tomorrow. Need to get some sleep or I'll be falling asleep in church tomorrow!
