That lovely little corner of the room - organizing it all

In my home, I have several office areas.  One that is a built in from the builder and it's upstairs.  One, we call "The Cave" which serves as office, guestroom, craftroom, and man room (this is more like a mom room because I use it a lot more than my husband).  It's the place that I feel like things get done!  The problem is that we have a corner in our kitchen, as I'm sure you do too, that just accumulates a ton of crap!  It collects bills that need to be paid, papers that need to be filed, invitations to weddings, baby showers, and Christmas cards.  It collects cameras, books, keys, wallet, phone and my "To Do" lists.  It collects things that my kids take from other places of our home and end up here with hopes that someday they'll make it back to their beloved homes somewhere in the house!  I hate this corner.  Just looking at it gives me an ulcer. But for some reason I think it gets used because it's just that little place in our home that we need to rely on.  You get me!  I know you do! 

A few weeks ago, I cleaned up the office space upstairs!  Whew! Not as hard as I thought it'd be because I have lots of cabinets and drawers, so I could just chuck stuff in them.  No, really, I did throw things away, which I needed to do, but it's a place where I could just put things away because there is a place for them, but this corner of my kitchen, doesn't have that.  So, in my attempt to clean it up and get organized I needed some items that would assist me because I finally came to terms with the reality that the office space upstairs isn't going to suddenly get the use it so deserves and the cave isn't going to be that "drop all" place either.

I had been eyeing up this wall organizer from Potterybarn FOREVER! In my dreams it was just the thing that was going to magically clean up this messy corner and make my ulcer go away! 

So, this January, when all my "things to do this year" starting getting done, I said, "That's it, I'm getting this wall organizer, I don't care what it costs!"  So, I went onto PB.com and priced it out!  $250!!!!!  Yes, $250!  You heard me, $250!  Okay, let's be honest, I wasn't EVER going to spend $250 on this.  I don't care how much money I had!  Nope, nada, hell to the no!  I wasn't doing it.  For a wall organizer?  I'd rather buy a new pair of boots, bedding, or make a car payment for that matter. But a wall organizer?  I don't think so! 

So, the most logical thing to do was to make my own.  Of course, that made sense!  So, here's my tutorial and the break down of the cost! 

First I took a good look at the Potterybarn wall organizer to see what I actually needed.  I didn't need everything, but a few of the essentials.  A corkboard, a hanging wall file, key hangers, a dry erase calendar, and a memory board. 

I found this specific hanging wall file at Home Goods for $9.99, which by the way, was extremely hard to find.  It didn't have hangers on it, so I added my own. I drilled four holes in the hanging wall file.

Here is the label of the hooks or what would be key hangers, that I found at  IKEA.  They came (4) in a pack, and if you read my curtain post, you know that they don't sell things that have holes for screws with the screws.  And they didn't for these hooks either.  Luckily I have an arsinal of screws in my tool box and I had just the right size. 

For the memory board, take an old frame no longer being used.  You know you have one of those laying around somewhere!  Look deep in the closet.  You can use any size that suits your wall space.

Now cut a piece of cardboard to fit inside of the frame.  You will need to cut it just slightly smaller than an exact fit because once you wrap material around it, the material will take up some space.  I used some canvas material I had.  Then staple the canvas to the bach of cardboard like this.

I had some elastic left from other projects and I used this to lay across my memory board, but you can use ribbon too.  I made one of these for my daughter's nursery a few years ago and used shabby chic fabric and a soft pink velvet ribbon.  But for this, I decided on elastic because the elastic will give it good hold if you pull it tight enough before stapling to the back, like in the photo.

Now you need to add your fasteners.  These I had left over from the one I did for my daughter.  But you can find these in an office supply store. 

You might want to pre-measure where your holes will go and put a hole in the cardboard before hand, but I just added my elastic and stapled it and then took a scissor and at the points that met, I just took a scissor and pushed it through just enough. 

The elastic, the material, and the cardboard were all easy to cut through.  I didn't make a large hole but just enough to put the fastener in and then pushed through and close in the back like so.   

Now put your cardboard in the frame and add your hanging device too.  Then staple the carboard to the back of the frame.  You see from the photo here. 

Here is the completed memory board.  It's not perfect, as you can see, but I made it with things I already had, so essentially, it didn't cost me anything.  I had spent the money on all of the supplies, so to decide how much it cost to make could be a challenge.  Let's just say it was my time that cost money! 

Here's the dry erase calendar that I purchased at Office Depot.  Any size you need to fill your space. 

Cost - $15

Here are the corkboards that I purchased.  $14.99 for (4) 12x12 squares.  These you just used sticky pads that come in the package.  They supply them unlike IKEA with screws!  For my space I only used two, leaving 2 for another room - maybe the cave perhaps???

To hang everything I used this method that my friend told me about.  She found it on Pinterest, and I found it too. Here's the link Roost-home.blogspot.com, but I'll also explain how I did it.  It's the best way to hang things nice and straight. 

First I laid everything out on the carpet to get it to look the way I wanted it to.

Take wax paper and lay it on the floor, overlapping in order to get the right width of your items to be hung.  Then tape it together to hold.  Now lay your items on the wax paper in the order and place you want them.  Trace around the items.  If there is a nail, trace a place for where that would be on the wall. 

Here I hung the wax paper on the wall and taped it in the place I wanted it. 

 Then I placed the items in their places.  For the cork tiles, and the calendar I actually went underneath the wax paper and lined them up with the traced lines and pressed in place.  

Both the cork tiles and the calendar both had adhesive stickies on the back so I just pressed them to the wall. Then you need to figure out where your nail will go for the items that need hanging and mark it on the wax paper and hammer the nail in the wall right through the wax paper.  Then just pull down your wax paper and with the nails still in the wall, hang your hanging items. 

And wa la, you're done!!!!




Now all I need to do is sort through that crap in the corner of the kitchen and start relying on this new space!!!  The kitchen is just around the corner, so it shoudn't be too hard, but I just need to find a moment to commit to it!  Now here's the challenge! : ) 

Total cost:  $45 not including the materials I already had!  I'd say I saved about $200!  Now that's a deal!

Curtains make a difference

I give credit to anyone who hangs curtains. It's a challenging job, which is why I think most people don't do it. But what I've found is curtains can really finish a room.  I love this look.  Long curtains that puddle at the floor is so dramatic to me. Wouldn't you agree that finding the right ones and spending the money on them is

always the challenge?  

In my experience so far, I've found that IKEA has a good selection at a great price.  Usually you can buy two panels for the price of one.  And who doesn't love that deal, right?  And the the best thing about it, is you can usually always get the look you're trying to achieve in that store, even if it takes you a day to understand the photo instructions and two days to put it together. UGH!

In my master bedroom, I have 5 windows.  One wall is mostly all windows.  Sure, I have blinds on them to keep out the peepers, but the curtains give the room an extra special touch that blinds don't.  And they keep out a little extra sun when you're trying desperately to sleep in on a Saturday or Sunday - even when that 18 month old won't let you.

We've lived in our house 2 years now, and just a couple of weeks ago I finally just hemmed the curtains in my room.  I had originally used that iron on tape to hem them, but don't let them fool you and think you don't need to sew them. YOU DO!  Everytime I closed the curtains at night, the tape began to peel.  So, I had to take them down, and hem those suckers.  But honestly, I actually like them better and feel my room is a little more complete than before because I don't have to look at the tape peeling anymore.

Here's my bedroom before

And here's the after!

  

By hemming my bedroom curtains, I was inspired to get some for my living room.  Again, at IKEA. I was feeling really blah about that room and was even considering putting slipcovers on my furniture to change the room up, but instead, I opted to put up some curtains.  My furniture is chenille fabric, therefore, I chose to go with a velvet curtain.  Here's a closer look at the material. 

  Here's my living room before

And the after!

 Look at this difference.  I love the look! 

I'm still on the fence about removing the blinds on the french doors because they are taking a beating from my kids, and I don't love the look of them, but the curtains are really to add an accent, not for privacy, so I will probably keep them.

Cost for the living room - 2 velvet panels for $49.

And an extra long curtain rod - $9.99

Two round ends because I wanted a different look for my living room - under $5

The rings for hanging - these I got at Bed Bath and Beyond, because I didn't get them at IKEA, but you can.  2 packs @ $7.99/pack + (2) 20% off coupons. (you can get a pack of 10 at IKEA for $2.99)

Black screws from the hardware store, because either IKEA is a little on the cheap side and doesn't want to include them with the rods, or because they think you don't need them.  $2.00

Total cost for my living room - $80.00 (this is a lot less than slipcovers - either making them or buying them!)

Total cost for my bedroom - not sure, it was 2 years ago.  I am known for keeping a lot of crap, but I definitely didn't keep the receipt for that.

Either way, if you love the look of the good stuff like at Potterybarn or Ballard Designs - go to IKEA first and see how you can get the look on a dime, not a dollar!

Now get out that ladder and hang some curtains!