Small Changes Big Impact

My boyfriend asked for my help in redoing the guest bathroom in his home, of course being the good girlfriend that I am I said yes. I challenged myself to make a big impact with just a little big of moolah. I started out by looking in my paint stash to see if I had a color that would work, low and behold I did, its a really pretty blueish green.  I used the same color in my guest bathroom last year, I don't think I ever showed it to you guys, another post for another day. The only money I spent was on the updated shower curtain.

 Just a few changes made a biggggg difference, don't you think.. Take a look at the before

 

And just because I like to see side by side action

Nothing spectacular, but for only spending 25 bucks, its a major difference. We did add a "new" mirror over the sink, but he already had it somewhere else in the house so that was FREE!!! I have a couple of other things I want to do in here, like add some artwork on the other side of the room, declutter the cabinets, and basically accessorize. I thought about painting the cabinets white, but not sure about that. What small changes have you made around your home that have made a big impact?

Happy Monday, Yall

Deciding what to wear is always a chore for me, especially when it comes to what to wear to work.....I'm pretty good at putting outfits together, but lately I have feel like I wear the same things all the time. So whats a girt to do, look on pinterest for inspiration. I found a lot of work appropriate outfits, for my job anyway. My job attire is pretty flexible with the exception that we can not wear jeans, bummer but oh well.... So this week I will be using the following pictures for inspiration, and I am not buying any new items.....

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ootd 1.10.11 by turquoise22 featuring a genuine leather belt

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I am sooooo excited to put these outfits together.......check back on Friday to see my interpretation of all the outfits....

In other news...

I'm still working on organizing my Master Bedroom Closet and I've started working on decluttering the guest room for the big transition.

Oh, yea on top of all of that the highlight from this weekend....I started a new home based business, I cant wait to tell you guys all about it....

Switching Rooms Around

I'm in the process of switching things up a bit in my house. My sons bedroom is going to become my "home office" and the disaster guest bedroom is going to become his room. This is going to be a long process. Its always good to start with a little inspiration. So here are some boys rooms that I like....

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First things first I need to declutter the guest room which is mainly nothing but a big ole storage room. Its awful.....Really I thought I had taken a picture, but I cant find it at the moment.....

Here is the game plan....

Phase 1

• Declutter Declutter Declutter
• Remove everything out of the room 
• Paint the walls
• Buy Queen Size bed frame (My best friends mom gave me the queen mattress that she was no  longer using)
• Inventory what I have and what can be used in the new space
• Sell stuff on Ebay, Craigslist, Yard Sale to make money to redo the room....
• And I guess I should get the little mans opinion on what he wants to room to look like... 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on boys rooms...they can be sooooo hard to decorate.  

Beginning of a Master Closet Re-organization

This weekend I continued my goal of organizing by working in my master bedroom closet. It was a mess I really need to learn to make a home for everything and actually put things back into place, that sure would make life easier.

Here is my super messy and disorganized closet.

First off give me a high five for what is actually working in this space. What do you see that's working, not much right. Well look a little closer and you might see a few things 

1.  Storing shoes in plastic shoe boxes works great but would be much better with nice labels on them.

2.  I love love love scarfs and have a nice collection, non of which I want to part with so the hanging scarf organizer works well. 

First off I went through every single item in the closet and put them in categories of

KEEP

SALE

DONATE

I filled one garbage bag full to take to goodwill and two totes that went to consignment or will be in my super sale in the spring.

I got rid of enough clothes that all my hangers matched

But that wasn't enough for this gal, I took it a step further when I remembered I had these hanging out in the trunk of my car, yes I forgot I had them.

I just love how much better my clothes look on these hangers

And if you look closely you will see good ole Roy G. Biv in action yes think back to elementary school I sure did organize my clothes by the color of the rainbow Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet

By this time I simply had no more energy so the rest of the closet will get tackled in increments this month. Stay tuned for more!!! Have you tackled your Master Bedroom closet, I'd love to hear your tips!!!

High Five For Friday!!!

It's Friday Ya'll.....Hope you guys have had a great week!!! This week has gone by fast, but I'm so glad to see the weekend!!!!

here's a look back at some of my 5 favorite moments from this week:

 

 

1.  I love shopping at Target, but love it even more since I have the Cartwheel app on my iphone.  Do you Cartwheel? If you don't, I really think you should give it a try. Just this week I was able to buy King size sheets that were originally $60.00 for $32.00 after the Cartwheel discount and using my Target Red Card.
 

Details:

• The program may be accessed at cartwheel.target.com with a smartphone, tablet or computer. A Facebook account is required.
• Offers are easy to add: just click on the image and you’re done!
• To redeem a Cartwheel offer, either present a printed copy of your Cartwheel barcode or show it on a mobile device at checkout. It only needs to be scanned once because all offers connect to the same barcode.
• Offers are valid in U.S. Target stores only.
• After signing up, a user automatically gets to add up to ten offers. “Unlock badges” to access more.

Sign up now and check back here for hot deals using Cartwheel!

 2.   We got snow here in North Carolina this week, so we had fun playing in the snow. We dont get it very often so we have to take advantage of it when it comes. 

Details:

• The program may be accessed at cartwheel.target.com with a smartphone, tablet or computer. A Facebook account is required.
• Offers are easy to add: just click on the image and you’re done!
• To redeem a Cartwheel offer, either present a printed copy of your Cartwheel barcode or show it on a mobile device at checkout. It only needs to be scanned once because all offers connect to the same barcode.
• Offers are valid in U.S. Target stores only.
• After signing up, a user automatically gets to add up to ten offers. “Unlock badges” to access more.

Sign up now and check back here for hot deals using Cartwheel!
- See more at: http://thekrazycouponlady.com/2013/05/09/target-cartwheel-free-savings-program-with-store-coupons-and-more/#sthash.xDQRGqWF.dpuf

Details:

• The program may be accessed at cartwheel.target.com with a smartphone, tablet or computer. A Facebook account is required.
• Offers are easy to add: just click on the image and you’re done!
• To redeem a Cartwheel offer, either present a printed copy of your Cartwheel barcode or show it on a mobile device at checkout. It only needs to be scanned once because all offers connect to the same barcode.
• Offers are valid in U.S. Target stores only.
• After signing up, a user automatically gets to add up to ten offers. “Unlock badges” to access more.

Sign up now and check back here for hot deals using Cartwheel!
- See more at: http://thekrazycouponlady.com/2013/05/09/target-cartwheel-free-savings-program-with-store-coupons-and-more/#sthash.xDQRGqWF.dpuf

3.  SNOW CREAM.....love it!!!! I think my was just as good as moms.....

4.  I've set a goal for this year to eat out less and cook more. So I put my crockpot to work this week and made slow cooked barbeque ribs for dinner one night.

5.  Got my kitchen pantry and cabinets organized. Ready to tackle another space in the house....

Make sure to stop over at Lauren's blog - From My Grey Desk to check out other High Fives and then make sure to swing over to Let Them Eat Cake for That Friday Blog Hop!

Kitchen Organization 2014

Have you been over to Mary Organizes, if not you definitely need to stop in for a visit. She has a lot of simple and practical tips to help you in getting your home organized.....One of the first blog post that caught my eye on her blog was De-Clutter Your Home in 91 Days, I'm not so sure I can get this house de-cluttered in 91 days, but I am going to try. For the first week you focus your attention in the kitchen, time to toss that mismatched tupperware, get rid of the deep fryer you never use, and simplify to just what you really use.  Just a little work each day and you can see some results. I started in the pantry and had way too much food that I had to throw away because it was expired, sad but true.

BEFORE


I didn't make a lot of changes other than decluttering and moving things around a bit...but I actually see a big improvement...

AFTER


 Cabinets were next......
 
My spice and medicine cabinet, not awful but the after is sooooo much better

I really like the lazy susan for the spices and I still enjoy my thrift store canisters with the chalkboard label. Sometimes I think that having the canisters out on the counter would be nice, but I love a clear counter it makes my kitchen look bigger and cleaner..

This next cabinet had the biggest transformation in my opinion, at first it was a collection of a bunch of different stuff with no sense of order..My recipe books were falling over and I hadn't even taken my Pampered Chef items out of the packaging

It is sooooo much more functional, now and I think the magazine holders with my recipe books look great in this cabinet. Plastic containers hold all my Pampered Chef gadgets.

There are many more cabinets and drawers I could show you but I won't bore you with all of them..

Usually when I have worked on organizing in the past I focus too much on making it pretty that I get sidetracked and never finish actually de-cluttering. This time I got rid of the junk and will spend time making it pretty later, right now I just want to get rid of stuff....Have you started organizing this year? Any tips on getting and staying organized.

Making Progress

Wayyyy back in the beginning of 2012 I created a long list of 101 things that I wanted to do in the next 1001 days. Well like a lot of goal setters I wrote the list, but I didn't come up with a real plan of attack to complete the goals. See here is my long list, feel free to skip to the bottom and not read every single one of my goals, unless you are like me and like to see everything someone is interested in doing...


Starting date: 1/1/2012
Half way date : 5/16/2013
Ending date: 9/28/2014
Completed: 16.5/101
In Progress: 9/101

Items in RED have been completed. Items in GREEN are in progress.

1. Blog about my thrifty outfits 33 times. (2/33)
2. Get a massage.
3. Keep hands and feet maintained with a manicure/pedicure. (1/5)
4. Clean email inbox and organize with folders.
5. Take a photography class to get better at photography
6. Go to the Ikea store
7. Go to the spa with my mom.
8. Buy a designer purse (purchased a Coach purse from the outlet stores)
9. Go to a concert.
10. Visit 3 museums.
11. Floss daily for 30 days
12. Keep my car clean every day for 6 months in a row (0/6)
13. Strengthen existing friendships and make others.
14. Get a facial.
15. Back up all of my pictures onto an external hard drive.
16. See The Nutcracker during Christmas.
17. Successfully complete graduate school.
18. Read 30 books not related to school (7/30) Hunger Games Series (3books), 50 Shades of Grey (3books), The Kitchen House,

19. Go to Sunday morning service 4 times in one month.
20. Start having a quiet prayer time daily.
21. Get involved in a small group at church.
22. Read the Bible, cover to cover.
23. Send cards to family and friends at least 45 times (0/45)
24. Pay for the person behind me in a drive-thru.
25. Perform 100 random acts of kindness for strangers. (1/100)  

• Got out of my car in the rain to allow someone into the parking deck at work who had misplaced their swipe card

26. Take my aunt and mom for a mani/pedi
27. Invite our friends/neighbors over to our home three times. (0/3)
28. Volunteer locally. (0/5)
29. Make a meal for a family that has had a loss or had a baby.
30. Hit 140 pounds and maintain (give or take 5 pounds).
31. Work out at least three times a week for 6 weeks (0/6)
32. Drink at least 6 cups of water a day for 30 days in a row.(0/30)
33. Take vitamins every day for 30 days in a row (0/30).
34. Do my morning facial routine for a month. (0/30)
35. Do my nightly facial routine for a month. (0/30)
36. Complete a 5K (Color me Rad in October 2013)
37. Finish 101 in 1001 with 3 months of income.
38. Make a realistic budget and follow every month.
39. Finish 101 in 1001 with a better credit score.
40. Pay off all credit cards
41. Start and stick with Dave Ramsey's envelope system.
42. Only eat fast food or at restaurants once a week (at most).
43. Sell something on craigslist
44. Sell something on ebay.
45. Take a weekend trip (Asheville NC in October 2013)
46. Go to a drive in movie
47. Host a game night.
48. Get back involved with Sorority events.
49. Take a nice vacation (Bahamas in September 2013)
50. Go to a Carolina basketball game
51. Take family pictures
52. Play with Ayden each day for at least 20 minutes for one month (0/30)
53. Get a headstone for Alana's grave.
54. Visit my dad at least 6 times (2/6)
55. Send out Christmas Cards by December 5th every year. (0/2)
56. Get involved in the PTA at little mans school.
57. Go white water rafting again.
58. Paint all baseboards.
59. Update light fixtures in kitchen, dining, living room, entryway, and bedrooms.
60. Follow cleaning schedule for 2 months (0/2)
61. Buy a new bath rug for the master bath.
62. Decorate master bathroom.
63. Decorate guest bedroom.
64. Create a compost bin.
65. Create an "office" space
66. Change out the big mirror in the master bathroom to 2 framed mirrors.
67. Landscaping in the front and back yard.
68. Hang a picture collage (kitchen)
69. Add Board and Batten treatment to master bathroom
70. Organize master bedroom closet
71. Organize little mans bedroom closet
72. Paint cabinet in master bathroom and add hardware
73.  GET RID OF PAPER CLUTTER
74. Decorate dining room space.
75. Rehab or purchase dining room table and chairs.
76. Hang curtains in all rooms. (4/6)
77. Change all door knobs to brushed nickel.
78. 2 new lamps for living room.
79. Make or paint headboard for bedrooms (0/2)
80. Decorate living room.
81. Paint kitchen table and chairs.
82. Add crown molding in dining, living and kitchen.
83. Add hardware to kitchen cabinets.
84. Make a sewing/craft area
85. Install countertops in kitchen
86. Install countertops in bathrooms (0/3).
87. Complete the Spring Clean Year Round Challenge.
88. Menu Plan for one month and stick to it (0/1)
89. Organize pantry
90. Organize coat closet
91. Redo the flooring in the entire house (downstairs, upstairs)
92. Have the house power washed (0/2)
93. Organize and decorate the laundry closet
94. Try 12 new recipes (3/12) Pumpkin Cheesecake, Kielbasa Sausage with Apricot Sauce,Peach Cobbler,
95. Sew five items (1/5)  (Ayden's Regalia)
96. Bead five items for little mans regalia (0/5)
97. Host a decorating swap at our home.
98. Purchase and arrange flowers 15 times (1/15).
99. Create 3 projects found on blogs or magazines (0/3)
100. Organize craft supplies.
101. Donate $10 to charity for every item I don’t complete at the end of 1001 days.

 Pretty much everything that I have accomplished on this list kinda randomly happened....I didn't make an effort. For instance I didn't plan to buy a designer purse, I just happened to be in the Coach Outlet with a coupon and got a great deal on a new bag, yep that was easy to cross of the list.  Now I have until the end of September to complete all the remaining goals on this list, I guess its time I make a plan. I have 8 months left to reach this goal, some of them are impossible to reach. One goal was to send out Christmas cards twice, epic fail didn't even send them out once.  Some of the goals are ones that will take more than one month to complete, such as the one to get a manicure/pedicure 5 times.  I'm not really sure how to break these down, but for the next month I am going to focus on these

• Create 3 projects found on blogs or in a magazine
• Organize the laundry closet
• Play with Ayden each day for at least 20 minutes
• Blog about my thrifty outfits
• Floss daily
• Read some books
• Daily quiet prayer time
• Pay for someone behind me in line at a drive through
• Send cards to family friends
• Random acts of kindness

These are the FOCUS but I give myself permission to work on others as well...... What goals are you working on in February?