it's about life.. down here in ...

letter F Cast Iron Capital Letter R (North Scituate, RI) alphabet series - e letter N C letter H L metal verdigris letter I typewriter key letter Q U white paint on blue - rusting chocolate letter E
Showing posts with label organize. Show all posts
Showing posts with label organize. Show all posts

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Organizing the books...

Metamorphosis Monday is hosted by one of my favorite decorating bloggers, Susan at Between Naps on the Porch... If you'd like to see more of Metamorphosis Monday participants, link here to visit Between Naps on the Porch... I'm working tomorrow morning, so I thought I'd get an early start...


In the beginning, my books were crammed into this little flimsy bookcase and one other similar in my office... the books also resided on the floor, stacked in piles around the room, in the closet... well, you get the idea... though they were loved, they were certainly not cared for...

So, the first step... get the books to the dining room table and sort them... first by subject matter and then by size... and here they stayed for a couple of weeks...
until Ricky put my two large bookcases together... purchased at Target on sale for $80 each... a good buy considering the alternatives... Then I put the books on the bookcase in similar order as they were on the dining table... awaiting their next transformation...
I found a lovely idea in one of the many decorating and organizing magazines I consume each month. For the life of me I can't find the original inspiration; but when I do I will certainly give them credit here... In the meantime, just know that I was inspired by someone else's work...

I have found that in decorating, like the rest of my life, I'm very eclectic. In the bedroom, I like the serenity of Traditional; but in my pink bedroom, I like Shabby French...
In my office, I tend to lean more toward Traditional with a little French flair, lots of clean lines and organization... and so...

The book project.

You're going to need one of those craft cutting sheets made for a rotary cutter, a rotary cutter, a long straight edge... mine is a metal yardstick... and vellum by the roll. Oh, and of course, some books... lots and lots of books...
I found it easiest to measure the book's dust jacket, and then stick with the same size book when cutting the vellum...
be careful cutting... those rotary cutters are sharp!
I managed to get a little less than half of the books covered before I ran out of the two rolls of vellum. This is going to be a little more expensive than I had originally thought... but look!
Pretty books, all covered in vellum... I can still read most of the titles, but the books... they look so pretty and organized... I like this... I really really like this!
Hobby Lobby is closed on Sunday... good thing.. that means I don't feel compelled to run into town and buy more rolls of vellum! It can wait a few days... There is much more to be done in getting my office redecorate/declutter project finished... down here in French Lique!

ps.. if you missed the completion of the door morph... read on to the next post...
and a P.S.S.....
Precious just dropped by to see what all the goings on were... she must have noticed the camera flash.. and she hates it when Roxy gets posted on the blog and she doesn't...

With all the organizing and decorating going on in my office this weekend, my little Roxy has had to stay out. Tonight, I looked down and there she was... laid out on the Flokati rug with her head on her little toile pillow... What a life! I think she missed her mommy.

Friday, January 16, 2009

The China Cabinet Declutter... a success!

Let me preface this post by saying... I can't tell you how many times I've searched the internet for help with organizing my china cabinet. I was looking for something practical, with pictures (I'm a visual person); because I wanted it to be organized, but also pretty. Until now, I had absolutely zero success... and then one day...

Browsing though magazines while getting my monthly hair highlights at "Bernie's Mane Event" last month... I came across the February 2008 issue of Better Homes and Gardens. Inside I found a piece on organizing your China Cabinet. "Bernie (short for Bernadette), can I borrow this magazine...?"... Bernie replied, "Take it... and don't bring it back." (that's Bernie!)... and so I did.


sorry the photos of the magazine aren't so good, but I think you'll get the idea...


Finally, last weekend, while putting up Christmas, I took time to follow the instructions and organize my china cabinet. Wow! Looks great! I couldn't believe how much stuff I was able to get in there... and when I get my office organized and redecorated this weekend... I'll move my Lladro into my new curio in my office, and my china cabinet will be perfect!
Why can I never remember to do the before photos????!!! Ah, well!
and while I was in the kitchen/dining decluttering mode...

I finally convinced Ricky that we could let go of this 30-year old set of everyday Corell. Yep, 5-piece place settings... 10 of them for everyday... going to Goodwill this weekend. Goodbye old friend; you survived the tough years, now it's time to retire from this household and move on to greener pastures, where someone else will love you for the next 30-years... everyday. And thank you Organising Queen for the encouragement & inspiration to declutter!

I've already done my Pink Saturday and Blue Monday posts, and scheduled them to show up on my blog on the right day. Why you ask? Because for the next 4-days I'll be organizing and redecorating my home office. That means, limited access to my computer. I'm going to take the before pictures today, and hopefully, post the before and the after pictures early next week!

Dreaming about being decluttered and organized in my home office, down here in French Lique!