It All Comes Together

If you are still reading this saga, you are either super patient or super bored! If you haven't read the past two days, I'll take a minute and catch you up to speed...Our old house has no laundry room. It does however have a super great sewing closet which slowly turned into a junk closet. What it lacks in the laundry room department, it makes up for in having two small coat closets. We purged and merged our coats into one closet and turned the other into a cloffice. This left us with an empty closet and still no laundry room...

Empty Closet + No Laundry Room =

Laundry Closet

lauset is the technical french name

Today it's making its big debut! With further ado, I would like to introduce the best thing we have done to our old house...

I keep the things I use daily within easy reach

the Smurfs lunchboxes

two shelves of cleaning supplies

I L.O.V.E. this new area we created! We purchased a new washer and dryer and stacked them. I had enough room for a small (but big enough) shelving unit to put beside them. We didn't want anything permanent to make maintenance to the machines easier. The shelves are on felt pads and they are super easy to slide in and out. Behind them I mounted the iron and ironing board to the back wall. This has been a wonderful use of space! Mr. T and I are beyond thrilled...and I can't say that enough!

If you are up to speed...you might wonder where this leaves our kitchen/laundry room/breakfast nook? Once again...stay tuned...

Rachel :)

As the House Turns

I've been rambling for a few weeks now about changes and switches we've been doing in our old house. Remember this post about the wonderful sewing closet Mr. T built for me last summer? At some point it went from looking wonderful to looking like this:

real life is not always pretty!

My wonderful sewing closet had turned into a...gasp...junk closet! Truth be told, I wasn't sewing too much and when I was it was bigger projects that required the use of the dining room table. I would take everything I needed out...and then shove it back in. Since it looked like this for a while we decided to "downsize." I went through all of everything in the closet and made some decisions. We had two coat closets we merged into one and turned our other coat closet into this:


With all of the switcheroos going on, we now had an empty closet. Here is what it looked like:

not entirely empty, but you get the point.
this wood was given a coat of stain and a new life in the cloffice!

It was the perfect size and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it! Stay tuned...

Rachel :)

From Coat Closet to Cloffice

Spring is officially here which has lead to fruit basket turnover at our old house. We have done away with the wonderful sewing closet that Mr. T built last summer. I'll post more about that later. There are two other closets we have, both of which were terribly packed and full of...stuff! We took some time, sorted and condensed, and were able to move what we needed into one closet. The rest of the stuff was packed and put into our newly organized attic while some things were packed and sent to Goodwill. It was a super easy decision on what to do with our empty extra closet...turn it into a cloffice!

I wanted a space for my sewing and other crafty supplies. Brainy Smurf and Smurfette wanted a homework area. Mr T wanted a spot for the family computer so we would leave his office alone. Ummmmmm...that's a lot of stuff crammed into a 4 foot x 2 1/2 foot space...watch out! We had to dig deep for this project and we were on a serious budget. I started shaking paint cans, trying to find the one with the most in it. We settled on Restoration Hardware Silver Sage. It's the same color we have in the Master Bedroom, but we didn't have to buy paint! I also had left over chalkboard paint from this project. We recycled the the wood from the former sewing closet and I managed to find a few old cans of stain and polyurethane in the shed. We were set!

 

before

 

 

We started by taping out the chalkboard area and cutting in with the wall paint. Mr. T put in side boards for the desk to lay on. He measured and cut the old desk, then I sanded and stained. We wanted to leave the old shelf in the top of the closet along with the old iron clothing rod. When we were ready to put it all together, the desk went in first, then the shelf, and the cubbies up top. I went through all of the items in the previous sewing area and had to get rid of a lot of fabric. No worries though! I saved what I needed and got rid of the fluff! The cubbies and top shelf are devoted to my sewing machine and supplies, fabric, and craft paint. The desk is just for the kiddos. I mounted a bulletin board with their practice schedules on it along with some fun family photos. There is a hanging organizer on the opposite wall with plenty of notebook paper and rulers. I keep a pencil jar stocked with sharpened pencils for homework. Under the desk I have a large drawer set on wheels filled with scrapbooking materials. In the center is a woven basket with wrapping paper, tissue, and gift bags. On the right side is a 3 drawer organizer with more sewing supplies. All of this is super organized, but hidden with a skirt I made for the desk. Our new area is family friendly, super organized, and we love it!

top of the shelf...all of my sewing stuff

Mission accomplished!!! Sewing closet + homework desk + family computer = one very efficient space = one happy family!

Rachel :)

 

The Great Closet Clean Out!

At the beginning of each Spring and Fall I clean out my closet.  I keep my current season's clothes in the walk-in closet in our master bedroom and the off season wardrobe in the guest room closet.  As someone (who must know me very well) recently said, "Marlene's problem isn't bargain shopping...she does that.  Her problem is volume." Well said, well said.  What can I say, I get bored wearing the same thing every week.  I probably have 9 dresses in varying shades of blue hanging in there right now. 

I started trying to take pictures of this delicate process and the shutter on my camera broke.  You'll just have to use your imagination.  While you are picturing me surrounded by sweaters and pants and boots, also picture a mischievous two year old climbing all over me and undoing all that I've done.  For reference, he looks adorable in his dinosaur footy pajamas.

I've gotten pretty good at sorting through what to keep and what to give away (I donate it to a women's shelter).  Once, a friend even asked me to write down my decision making process for her.  Since you are so kindly reading this, I thought I would share it with you.

For the outgoing season:

1. Start with shoes-They are all over my floor and I couldn't get in the closet if I didn't start here.  Look at the toes and heels of your shoes.  Are they scuffed, broken, etc.?  If they look ratty it's probably time to toss them.  Did you wear them over the past season?  If not, toss them! Are they hopelessly out of style because you have been hanging onto them for over a decade?  TOSS THEM, Mom!  Oh wait, sorry.

2. T-shirts and Basics-I usually toss all of my black and white t-shirts. If you have spent money for nice ones, just make sure that there aren't holes, threads, stains, etc.  I always have at least 2 or three of each color in my wardrobe each season.  These are easy and cheap to replace.  You can get decent ones at Old Navy for around $10 and they will last one season, which is all you need!  It seems that my blacks always fade and my whites get dingy.  Rather than tossing them, you could keep them for working out, paint smocks for the kids, dust rags, whatever.  

3.  Pants/skirts-First and foremost, TRY THEM ON!!!  Do they fit? If not, get rid of  'em.  Nobody looks good in ill-fitting clothing, no matter how stylish it may be.  Do the same inspection here-tears, fading, threads, stains.  You get the idea.  If you didn't wear them over the last season, you probably won't next year either.

4. Sweaters-very important!  Check for picks and pills...sweaters can look bad really quickly.  Especially if it's been a season favorite.  Look closely at each one. 

Incoming Season:

1. Does it still look as good to you as it did when you put it away?  There are some things I put in the off-season closet that never make it back into the "current" closet.  Don't be sentimental...it's clothing, not your grandmother's china. (unless it's that pair of Chanel shoes you SHOULD have gotten engaged in-keep those)

2.  Try it on-I have had some major weight fluctuations since having kids.  I can't guarantee that what fit me last year will still fit. Hey, if you get lucky it will be too big-that happened to me (once).

3. Has your life changed?  I left my commercial real estate job for one in the jewelry business.  I wore khaki or black pants and skirts nearly every weekday for almost 11 years.  Now I wear jeans and cute tops or fun dresses.  I kept 3 pairs of my old corporate pants and tossed the rest.  I can't imagine ever wearing them again.  No since in them taking up space that could be used for more jeans! 

When the new season gets hung and folded, my closet looks just like J wishes it always would.  It's all sorted by sleeve length and color and very neat. I can undo that in about 3 days.  I did something last year that was almost life changing-I changed all of my hangers to those Joy Mangano Huggable Hangers.  I literally threw away every single hanger that wasn't huggable.  The pant hangers are so wide that I can hang two pairs of pants side by side on one. Talk about space saving!

I know this was alot of information without pretty pictures, but hopefully it will help you!  Hey, if you are going through your closet and ever have a question about whether to keep something or toss it, send me a picture-I have lots of opinions!

Marlene

Come On In

As promised in an earlier blog, here is an inside peek in my 1950's closet. My family lives in a 60 yr old brick ranch that I absolutely love! I've lived in new houses before and I'll take an old house and its problems any day! We have plaster walls, plaster ceilings and beautiful hardwood floors you can't get today. I love, love, love the character that this house has. This being said, old houses are known for small closets and small bathrooms and this house is no exception! Our master bedroom closet measures a whopping 4 feet deep by 3 1/2 feet wide. Not exactly what someone thinks of when they think of a walk in closet...but I can walk in mine! It helps that Mr. T uses a closet in the hall for all his clothes, so thankfully I have this one all to myself.

A double hook mounted on the inside of the door helps me keep my scarves (for layering of course) in order. I have a 4 inch plastic circle that is big enough for me to hang them on. Keeps them neat, wrinkle free, and makes it super easy for me to find which one I am looking for!

I keep all of my tops together, organized by sleeve length (yes, I was kidding when I said they were organized by color...I'm not that OCD!). I start with spaghetti straps and work my way down to long sleeves...so easy!

Pants, skirts, and jeans are at the bottom. I rotate them depending on the season and keep the current seasons bottoms towards the front.

Shoes that I wear a lot are kept on my shoe rack. Other treasures (like my wonderful Vanellis) are kept in their boxes lined along the bottom of the closet.

This is my favorite! It's a two-plate plate rack that i mounted and use for bags and some jewelry...notice I don't have very much of either...I'm pretty simple!

Have fun making your space more usable!

Rachel:)

"The One with the Secret Closet"

Do you remember this FRIENDS episode...

Chandler discovers Monica has a secret closet which is always locked. When he finally gets it open, he discovers a terrible, messy pile of junk...

Chandler: He-he-he-he-he. You're messy.
Monica: No, you weren't supposed to see this!
Chandler: I married Fred Sanford!

Do we have any Monicas in the house? Who out there has a catch all closet? You know...the place where everything that doesn't have a place lands? My catch all closet is the closet in our den. There are no shelves, no clothing bar...nothing. It was just an empty space when we moved into this house two years ago and it didn't take long to fill it up. Holiday decorations, boxes that I never unpacked, books, art projects from the kids...you name it; it was in there. I always had great intentions of cleaning and organizing it, but it never seemed to happen...until last summer...

The kids were gone for a few days, so Mr. T and I took it apart. Unloaded everything. Unpacked everything. Threw everything some things away. Then repacked what needed to stay and put the rest where it needed to go. Mr. T took measurements and we were off to the hardware store. You don't need mad carpentry skills to build a great space, just a few ideas, a little bit of $, and the ability to put it all together! Who needs an expensive, name-brand closet company when you can build one yourself! After the wonderful employees at the hardware store cut our wood we were on our way!

I wish I had taken a before picture...it was pretty much like Monica's secret closet. I now have a fabulous closet/office/sewing nook that holds everything from fabric to art supplies to computer cables to wrapping paper. It rocks my socks!

 

Mr. T did such an awesome job putting it all together...I am happy because I have a place to sew and get creative. He's happy because I'm not pulling out stuff and tossing it everywhere. Smurfette is happy because now it takes me no time to whip up a cute costume like this:

No worries for all you "frou frou" girls out there...Marlene will be back tomorrow to talk about things that sparkle...


Rachel :)

How are we friends?

Rachel and I have been friends for almost 15 years now.  Along the way we lost touch, but for about 8 years we've been solid.  We could not be more different in our interests.  I know I can count on her for menu planning and exercise advice and she knows she can count on me to identify the designer watch she must have (and make sure she receives it for her anniversary) with just a glance. 

We started this blog because we are both really good at what we do!  She is excellent at organization, DIY projects, saving money and decorating her home.  While I rock at putting together a wardrobe and accessorizing it (I am a private jeweler by trade http://www.ascotdiamonds.com/ for those interested), finding out the newest restaurant or store opening, or the latest thing in skin care, I am terrible at homemaking. If you put us together, you would have the perfect woman.  We talk about 5 times a day and my husband says that one day Rachel and I will just live together.  I always respond that we would have a gorgeous house and fabulous wardrobe!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not proud of being a disorganized mess.  I make several attempts a year at turning over a new leaf.  Please see exhibits "A" - "C" as to why I have multiples of a lot of things in my closet.  I usually can't find anything in here.

 To be fair, my father does own a shoe store. You're welcome, Dad.



When we put our house on the market last year the real estate agent suggested that I put my "off season" clothing in another closet to make it seem like there was more room.  He was astounded that I already do that.

I hope that by having Rachel put her ideas and tips on "paper", I will learn something.  Maybe she will learn something from me and stop wearing those shoes that start with a "V".

Marlene