House Peace was here

If you were to describe our house, "peaceful" wouldn't crack the top 100.

We're loud, we're busy and we stack things.

That's my main organizational or "cleaning" challenge in my house: we stack things here, there and everywhere. So you don't walk around tripping over things all the time, and it's not that you look around and see junk on every surface. But look around the perimeters of the rooms, and you'll see stacks of toys, books and even clothes that have been folded but not put away.

I hate that about myself.

My friend Tara has a whole business -- House Peace -- built around helping people get organized. She offered to help me a couple of months ago, but I told her -- in all honesty -- that I had $10 in my hobby account and I couldn't afford to hire her at the time.

Tara very sweetly offered to come over and just basically show me what she could do in a couple of hours, free of charge. Which she did.

And although I didn't have any cash money to pay her, I DO still (kind of) have this blog, so I told her I'd at least write a blog post about it so I could share her talents with you. She didn't sponsor the post, but I did want you to know that I didn't pay for the organizational wizardry she worked in my master bath vanity.

Here's the inside of my vanity Before:

Not the worst you've maybe ever seen, but plenty of room for improvement.

And here's the After:

I'm not sure if -- SINCE YOU'RE NOT INTIMATELY FAMILIAR WITH MY TOILETRIES -- you can tell what she did here. But she added another level of storage for my contacts and contact-related items in the center section, moved most of my haircare stuff to the top-left bin, and used Steri-Lite containers (which she provided) to corral things by category in the right cabinet. And she labeled everything.

Was I proud and did I note out loud to her that I own the same exact labelmaker?

YES I WAS AND YES I DID.

Here's the left cabinet After:

Honestly. Who else on the Internet is showing you their panti-liners and cotton rounds in full living color? THIS IS WHY YOU COME TO GRASS STAINS.

In the right cabinet, she used some containers that I already had, and I was completely fine with that. This is storage behind closed doors, and the things I reach for most often (flossers, plastic cups) are easily accessible.

Unopened makeup and toothbrushes, our thermometer and other things I only need to access occasionally are stored in the labeled Steri-Lites.

Finally, my daily makeup items remained in my easy-to-grab lucite tray, but she neatly stacked my Clinique-bonus bags that hold my fingernail polishes behind it.

What she did in the vanity drawers is pretty self-explanatory ... mostly cleaning up all my hair tools on the right (which I don't use but which I refuse to throw away), and using 4x8-inch containers to organize things that often just float around.

Right drawer After:

Left drawer After:

I asked Tara if she does "virtual consultations" for non-locals, and they do! Since most of you aren't here, I invite you to reach out to her if you have a need and are interested in seeing what she can do for you.

To learn more about any of their plans and pricing, click here and then click "Our Process" at the top.

Thanks for indulging me in sharing Tara and her business with you today!

Messing with a perfectly good, brand-new piece of furniture

When it's finished, I think our guest bedroom is going to be one of my favorite rooms in our entire house. (It's far from finished at the moment, though.)

Since it's used the LEAST, however, it's kind of last on the priority list in terms of funds being tossed its way.

When I ended up with some moo-lah after Christmas, I was THRILLED to be able to order a couple of Oxford Writing Desks from HDC that I'd had on my Guest Room Pinterest Board for what seemed like forever. I wanted to flank the bed with them, and although they took A SWEET FOREVER to assemble, once I got them together, I loved the look.

Kate's master bedroom was the inspiration for this part, which might make some of you squirm. See the detail on the drawer? She painted hers white. And I wanted to do that, too -- both to mimic the trim in the rest of the room and to give the piece a little more personality.

Not long after I started painting, I began to question my sanity.

But I've learned -- after probably 100 projects -- you can't panic after the first coat. THAT OUGHT TO BE A BUMPER STICKER.

Even though the first coat was, um, QUESTIONABLE.

But. After I did three coats on each drawer and cleaned up the lines, I was thrilled with the result!

You'll be able to see more clearly how it ties into the whole room once it's all put together -- because believe me, it's ANYTHING but put together at the moment -- but I love how it elongates the look of the drawers and makes the piece look more tailored.

I know it may make some of you cringe (my mother included), but I'm in love. More on this room to come!

Chairish said 'hi' to me

*This is not a sponsored post. I received nothing in exchange for it except heartburn.*

A couple of months ago, the team at Chairish invited me to choose a chair from their current inventory and create a room around it. Did I mention it was a couple of months ago? And that I was totally honored to be asked and said I'd write a post about it asap?

You guys know me well enough to know that THAT was a pipedream. I STILL HAVEN'T WRITTEN ABOUT THE 4TH OF JULY BEACH TRIP.

Anyway.

Are you familiar with Chairish? It's sort of like an online consignment shop for furniture, decor, fashion accessories and jewelry. 

In their own words -- because they sum it up better than I can -- "Chairish is stocked with what our design-oriented buyers want to purchase: exceptional and unique decor and accessories from all eras and styles. Our primary criteria are that pieces are stylish, in good condition and offered at a great value.

"Many pieces listed on Chairish are designer, custom, antique, or high-end modern and vintage pieces from the likes of Knoll, Herman-Miller, Christian Liaigre, Ligne Roset, B&B Italia, Chanel, Hermes, YSL, Miriam Haskell, etc. We also love non-branded items with great character."

In other words, they're too polite to say it on their website, but they don't take crap.

So, BACK TO ME. Because you guys have been looking at the same colors in the same rooms in the same style from me for so long, I decided to do something a little different with this opportunity. I decided to take a chair that features colors that many people still have in their homes and still love -- the warmer tones of browns and reds -- and work with those.

Here's the chair that's available on Chairish for $150, a Pier 1 beauty that has a solid red fabric back:

I love the old-world look, the nailhead trim and the turned-wood legs.

I put together two very similar rooms on two budgets ... a "high" room and a "low" room. Mind you, the "low" room still requires you to open your wallet, but it proves that it's possible to redecorate on a budget, even if you need to do it in stages over a period of months.

The "High" Room

Pier 1 Chair from Chairish ($150) 

Pottery Barn Cameron Roll Arm Upholstered Sofa ($1,229) 

West Elm Emmerson Reclaimed Wood Console ($549) 

Restoration Hardware Salvaged Wood Glass Media Console  ($3,295) 

West Elm dbO Home Table Lamps in Paprika ($169ea) 

Tom Mangelsen’s Time of Falling Leaves 16x47 ($2,595) 

Rugs USA Moroccan Trellis Rug 8x11 ($1,519) 

Etsy Chain Link Coral Pillow Cover 18x18 ($19ea) 

Etsy Chain Link Saffron Pillow Cover 18x18 ($18ea) 

SFGate Orange Ikat Fabric ($24/yard) 

West Elm Linework Honeycomb Vases ($19-$49) – I put in $125 to cover a small collection

TOTAL:  $9,898

The "Low" Room

Pier 1 Chair from Chairish ($150) 

IKEA Ektorp Sofa ($399) 

World Market Everett Foyer Table ($259.99) 

Wal-Mart Better Homes & Gardens TV Stand ($289) 

Euro Style Lighting Tomato Red Gourd Lamps ($49.99ea) 

Target Framed Canvas, Wandering 42x24 ($69.99) 

Overstock Safavieh Handmade Moroccan Cambridge Rust/ IvoryGeometric Wool Rug ($332) 

Target Threshold 2-pack Trellis Toss Pillows ($30) 

Wal-Mart Better Homes & Gardens Coral Reef Toss Pillow ($13.97) 

At Home High Gloss Filigree Vase 20-inch in Orange and White ($19.99ea)  

At Home Dimpled Ceramic Bottle Vase 14-inch in Yellow (14.99ea)

TOTAL:  $1,698.90

Which room do you prefer? The Everett Foyer Table from the "Low" room is actually one of the pieces in our den, and I love it. We use it as a sofa table.

Would you consider buying a chair or other home furnishing second-hand? I've never purchased anything from Chairish but I'd certainly give it a whirl.

Gallery wall in the kids' loft

The kids' loft area is nowhere NEAR any kind of shape for me to be photographing it for "After" pictures for you guys, Internet.

But there is one little project that we just finished that I thought I'd share with you: the gallery wall that includes our Clear Eyes pallet art and a bunch of the boys' own artwork.

It's all hanging right above Big Brown (see why we bought a new sofa a couple of years ago?), and if you look closely, you'll see a special little addition on the far left, right above the air-conditioning thingie.

It's a piece of Minecraft "art" I bought off of etsy, and the boys LOVE it. I put it above the AC thingie so that it kind of looked like a Portal to the Minecraft world.

I love having the boys' canvases on display where they can see them all the time (they did all of this art at Y camp over the past four summers), and of course my Friday Night Lights piece will always hold a special place in my heart.

This room has a loooooonnnnng way to go, but we'll get there. One day.

Trivia question: How many different types of baskets is it possible to have on one set of shelves? Answer: INFINITY.

Before & After: The last corner of our yard

After we had all the original work done in our backyard, there was one little part that was left untouched. It's the sideyard on the side of our house that no one really sees. Well, except for the neighbors who share that property line. Oops.

You can't see it from the street, and it was just a low priority at the time. But now that the weather is much more cooperative (read: everything we planted wasn't going to die immediately), it was time to get in there and do something about it.

Just like the backyard, there was a lot of junk buried over there. And by "junk," I mean pea gravel, concrete blocks, paving stones, stumps and random trash. Then there were your regular garden-variety weeds, overgrowth and dead trees.  #classy
 

BEFORE

(That's the view out of our master-bedroom window, by the way.) Once Alex (the guy who mows our lawn) went to work on it, this is what we were left with:

AFTER

He cleared it all out, taking down the dead tree and bushes, planted two new trees, laid pinestraw and moved the pea gravel that had been so unceremoniously dumped back there over to one side to make a path from the end of the driveway to the backyard.

BEFORE

AFTER

Alex also trimmed the limbs of the tree at the front edge of the driveway so that the kids can use the basketball goal. Which you probably didn't even notice in the first picture.

BEFORE

AFTER

Before Alex even LEFT that afternoon -- because he's amazing and he did all of this in one day -- our neighbor came over to thank us. He said that he had asked the previous owners several times about taking that dead tree down, even offering to pay for half of it, and they'd never done anything about it. (He said it was right on the property line, which is why he never just took it down himself -- but to me and Alex, it looked like it was on our side, which is why I had it taken down without consulting him first.)

At any rate, I'm happy to have this done, and happy that our neighbors are pleased with the results.

Now, back to unpacking boxes.

YES, THERE ARE STILL MORE.

My favorite closet accessory

Quite frankly, I'm embarrassed to even show you the inside of my closet.

That's why it wasn't part of my Master Bedroom Before & After post.

It's big by most standards, but it's not custom-outfitted or anything, I squeezed my chest of drawers in there so it would be out of our bedroom, and I don't have my clothes organized in rainbow order.

Still, it's a giant closet by most standards -- including mine -- and I'm thrilled to have the space.

I've never had space for more than about 10 pairs of shoes, and now I have space for that many AND MORE. That's probably a bad thing.

These are my workout clothes. Bahahaha. This fall, I really AM going to start jogging again. This optimism is why I still have two full shelves of workout clothes.

But this picture here is why I've gathered you all here today:

Do you see how my boots are all standing at attention up there? They used to lean to the side all the time. As a matter of fact, my tall brown ones used to bend over in the middle and touch the floor. Which DROVE ME NUTS.

When we moved, though, I found Boot Shapers! I know I'm probably late to the boot-shaper party, but just in case I'm ON THE CUTTING EDGE, I wanted to let you know about them.

They're very reasonably priced (under $7), and they come four to a package (two pair). You insert them in your boots, and they keep them upright and sure to keep their shape while you're not wearing them. Brilliant, right?

I mean, I am one smitten kitten. I bought several sets so I'd be covered. Have you heard of Boot Shapers? Do you have any? FALL IS COMING, INTERNET. Gotta keep those boots looking GOOD.

This is not a sponsored post and I wasn't asked to write about this at all, but I did use Amazon Affiliate links to the product.

Before & After: Master Bedroom and Bath

I should note: This is the first -- and likely only -- room that at this point you're going to see furnished and partially decorated in this series. That's because I had to reshoot the pictures after we moved in.

I know you guys want to see the whole house with our furniture in it and stuff on the walls, but you're gonna have to take my word for it when I say that WE ARE NOT READY FOR THAT. Boxes, they are everywhere. And seem to be multiplying instead of the opposite.

Anyway, I spent a day in the master getting it ready to take pictures for this post, and it's STILL not finished. Also, none of our touch-up painting has been done yet, so all the little pieces of blue tape you see all over the place? That's what those are.

So. Onward.

When we bought this house, the master bedroom was a pretty dingy place. I could tell it could be something special, but the carpet reeked of pet smells, and the walls were painted sort of a "dirty-fingerprint" color.

THEY SHOULD HIRE ME TO NAME PAINT COLORS.

BEFORE

AFTER

We had a fireplace in our previous home and used it exactly twice in 15 years, so the inclusion of one in the master wasn't a selling point for us. As a matter of fact, it was one of the things I really wanted to change, because if it was going to STAY in the room, I wanted to go in a more rustic direction with it -- it was very early-'90s traditional.

BEFORE

AFTER

I'm pleased with the way it came out ... the rough-cut cedar beam coordinates with the tongue-and-groove cedar I asked our contractor to install on the tray ceiling, as well as with the floating shelves in the bathroom hallway.

Now that we've moved in, I've hung a photo up there and have a couple of picture frames up there to see how they look. The art propped up against the hearth is just waiting for me to hang it up in other rooms. Somehow it all ended up in a box marked "Master." And I haven't managed to move it yet. Oops.

Here's a picture of the bay-window area with Grayson's dresser in it ... I'd like to get a chair or two to go over here, eventually, as well.

It's funny ... that dresser took up a whole wall of our master bedroom at the old house, and it looks so small here. Strange.

I don't have a good Before picture of the wall of new board-and-batten on which our bed sits now. Mainly because when we looked at the house, I was afraid to walk that far across the room to get pictures from that vantage point. Literally.

AFTER

I'm including the source information for those pillow covers at the bottom of this post. I love them ... I've had them for several months but never used them at the old house. I wanted to wait and pull them out here. I also ordered this one from the same shop ... anyone who knows me know that this one speaks to my heart:

While I was photographing it, someone popped in and wanted to be included.  :-)

Just off the master bedroom, a hallway leads to the master bath. There used to be some really ugly laminate cabinets in this nook right behind the door to our bedroom, but our contractor took them out and installed floating cedar shelves there.

BEFORE 

AFTER

We store our bath and bed linens on them, which gives us more room in our closets and vanities.

BEFORE

AFTER

Continuing down the hall, you look into our bathroom. (My closet is on the left, and Grayson's is on the right.)

BEFORE

AFTER

We gained a little floor space by taking out the giant cultured-marble tub, replacing it with a standard-size drop-in tub and trimming it out with a shaker-style front and a backsplash made of halved floor tiles. (There's supposed to be a trim piece around the backsplash. Not sure when that's gonna happen.)

BEFORE

AFTER

(I'm sitting here silently laughing at all the blue tape I see on the walls.)
 

The vanity areas underwent a lot of changes. We took out L-shaped vanities and installed furniture-style versions, took out large panel mirrors and soffits, and moved the plumbing to different walls.

BEFORE

AFTER

Another long-term wishlist item is to purchase white bath linens for the whole house -- but those dollars were spent elsewhere for now! Meanwhile, you're seeing our old khaki ones and my turquoise Turbie Twist hair towel. Sorry.

I ordered the mirrors (I used the same one in the guest bathroom) from Overstock, sight unseen -- which can be a little scary. But the reviews were good, and I'm very happy with them. They have a beautiful aged finish and they're very substantial looking.

They're rubbed with a little gold, which I wasn't sure I would like but that I was willing to take a risk on, and I'm glad I did.

While it's not exactly the same tone as the aged-bronze finish of our faucets, it does tie in with them. They're about 18 inches apart, so just a similarity is enough.

Moving over to Grayson's side:

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

And not that anyone wants to see the water closet, but just in case:

I think that's about it ... any questions?

Sources:

Ceiling fan: 52-inch Casa Vieja Rustic Indoor/Outdoor Ceiling Fan

"Sconces" over fireplace: Portfolio Ellicott 13-inch Galvanized Dark Sky Outdoor Wall Light

Accent pillows on bed: pillow covers from JolieMarche on etsy

Canvas art above bed: set of four from Hands of Miriam on etsy

Fireplace tile: similar to this Skyros gray glazed porcelain subway tile, but not an exact match ... I had to order pretty much everything they had left of mine, and they shipped it to me from three different stores

Overhead lights: 12-inch Schoolhouse Bronze Ceiling Light

Bath vanities: Wyndenhall Windham Soft-white Vanity with White Quartz Top

Floor tile: 12x24-inch honed carrara marble tile

Shower wall tile: 3x6-inch beveled subway tile

Shower floor tile: 12x12 sheets of 1-inch hexagonal carrara marble tile

Paint Colors: Bedroom walls are Benjamin Moore Cos Cob Stonewall (drywall) and White Dove (board and batten). Doors and trim are the same two colors. Bathroom walls are Ben Moore Sleigh Bells, trim is White Dove and ceiling is Palladian Blue.