Hall Closet Before and After

It is with great joy that I present to you all my Pinterest inspired front closet redo.

Before:

After:

We took off the doors as well as the ugly scalloped covering and painted the inside to match the hallway.  We removed the clothes hanging pole (that's the official term) but kept the shelf.  For some reason my upstairs hallway looks lime green.  It isn't.  It's the same color as this hallway.



After much contemplation as to whether I should buy a new bench, an old bench, or make one myself, I up and bought this one at Home Depot and threw it in there.  I made the pillows out of leftover curtain material from the kitchen and the dining room (I promise that dining room before and after is coming soon...ish).

The main reason I liked this bench was for the storage.  PS. I bought four of these baskets in college, and I have used them for everything from bedside tables to bathroom organizers.  Baskets are always a good purchase.



The closet already had some great hooks that I moved around to more useful locations.

I kept the existing shelf and had Johnny paint it white.  I absolutely love this painting on the left.  It's another 20x200 purchase.  My brother and sister got me the vase for Christmas from Anthropologie; love it.

 

 Lila is pleased with the new seating area.

The thing I like the most about this closet redo is that it has turned our front hallway into another living space.  We I pretend that the gate to the upstairs is the zoo, and I put all of Lila's animals behind it and see how long it takes for her to get them out.  I suppose she just finds it annoying.

 

Can't Think of a Creative Title for "Reorganized the Pantry"

Dusting got boring after awhile yesterday (and by awhile I mean one chandelier), so I decided to take on the task of reorganizing our pantry. 

Before:

Various packages were shoved every which way, and my baking stuff was all unorganized.

I also had a lot of wasted space up at the top.

After:

All clean and pretty.

Why yes I do have an entire shelf devoted to sprinkles, food coloring, and cookie cutters.  Go see Sarah Rose's cookie cutter collection if you think I'm crazy.

Moving the appliances to other unoccupied shelves in the kitchen freed up some space for tall items like cereal and oil.

I am no longer afraid of food falling on me when I open the pantry.  First world problems.

Kitchen Window Before and After

One of the big things on my list of organizing for January was to rid ourselves of the AWFUL Chili's style light above our kitchen sink.  As of yesterday, we are Blue Light Special free!

Before:



After:

Yeah, yeah, don't take a picture into the light. Whatever.  I also added a shade above our kitchen sink.  I purchased the curtains on the right a little while ago from Target, so I went back and bought only one panel, cut it to fit the window and attached it using three tension rods.  That being said, it is obviously not a usable shade, so please don't come over to my house and try to pull on it.



Lila is pleased with the new addition to our kitchen.

I only have a little bit more time to finish up the rest of my cleaning and organizing list.  Tomorrow is going to be devoted to dusting things I don't usually dust like chandeliers, more baseboards, lights, etc.  We are also very close to being finished with our coat closet redo, so hopefully we can show that off in a few days.

Dinner: Done

I didn't post last night because I was sitting at Chili's, drinking a margarita with my friend Lauren, sans babies.  We had been trying to get our kids together for the last few weeks but sickness had been getting in the way. When our last rendezvous was foiled by the flu, Lauren suggested that just she and I go out some night.  I started laughing because that thought hadn't even crossed my mind.  It was so nice to be able to talk without being worried that someone was going to fall over.

But we can't have margaritas for dinner every night, so one thing that I have done during my 31 Days of Cleaning is organize all the meals that I typically make.  I got a bunch of index cards, and on the front of each card I wrote out a typical meal (ie. Chicken Sausage, Baked Potatoes, Asparagus, and Cooked Apples).  Then on the back of each card I wrote out a grocery list for that meal (chicken sausage, russet potatoes, butter, cheese, asparagus, olive oil, apples, cinnamon, brown sugar).  On Sunday I go through my stack of cards and pick five meals that I want to make that week.  Then on Monday I take the cards to the grocery store and have a ready made grocery list.  So far, I have been really pleased with this system.



I was really pleased with a new meal that I made last night: Pioneer Woman's Sausage, Potato and Kale Soup.  My picture makes it look not amazingly appetizing, so go look at her yummy pictures.  It was easy, fairly healthy (I used nonfat half and half), and goes a long way.  Lila loved eating the potatoes...along with her graham crackers and goat cheese.



We're getting closer and closer with our dining room, coat closet, and Lila's room.  I still have a bench in the middle of my living room, but it's a nice new obstacle for Lila.  Tomorrow I'm planning to buy fabric for the dining room curtains, and I'm hoping to actually make them.  We'll see how long Lila is willing to jump in her Jumperoo.

Peekaboo

I finally did it! I ordered a mini chandelier for above my kitchen sink.  That's not really very interesting to write about, though...and I didn't take a picture of myself ordering it.  So here's a video of Lila playing Peekaboo. 

Where Are You Christmas?

Santa has gone back to the North Pole in the Hutson household.



My goal today was to put away all of my Christmas decorations.  I think I got everything, but it's kind of like when you find an Easter egg two weeks after the hunt...who knows what will still be up come March.



I'm dreading marching the tree to the door and the needly green trail that will be left behind.

Meh...I'm not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow.  Johnny has National Guard so that really limits my abilities.  I want to deep clean my bathrooms, but Lila likes to lick all the shampoo bottles when she's in there, so an extended amount of bathroom time doesn't seem like a good idea.  I think my goal will be to find a new light for above our kitchen sink.  That Chili's light has GOT to go. 

Lila's Secret Stash

I realized this morning that I lost my phone and that it was dead, so there was no hope of finding it by calling it.  Lila was the last person to have it, so I started looking around at her level in all of her favorite places.  I lifted up the bottom of the couch and found my phone...



...plus four books, two hangers, one shoe, one Christmas card, one church bulletin, four linky things, one monkey, one Dumbo toy, two coasters, one hat, and Lila's one legged bunny man. Oh and one sock.

I decided that this counts as cleaning today. This weekend's goal is to finish painting Lila's new room (not including trim) and to start putting away all of our Christmas stuff.

Didn't Realize It's Already January 10

After two trips to the Sherwin Williams store in the rain, we chose the perfect color for Lila's room: Antiguan Sky by Benjamin Moore.  But since we're a family with a professional painter, I had to make Sherwin Williams match it with their paint.

Lila first helped me out by reading books to herself.



And then when books got old, she ate her lunch in the hallway while I painted.  I thought that it was a good idea at the time, but now I have cornbread muffin crumbs all over the upstairs.

I successfully got the room rolled, we have fabric for curtains picked out, and I only got a little bit of paint on the carpet and ceiling.

After all the work in her new room, Lila needed a little treat this afternoon, so I took her to Land of Paws to look at the puppies that are for sale.  She flipped out.  She absolutely loves puppies and couldn't stop laughing and drooling and jumping.  Jooooohnny....we want a puuuuuuuuppy!!! (As long as it doesn't poop, pee, drool, shred, or ever have to go to the vet.)

I didn't get anywhere near cleaning bathrooms today, so that's supposedly going to be the plan for tomorrow.

Photo Round-Up

Unfortunately for some of you, I am working on organizing my digital photos.  Here are some of my favorites that I've found so far starting with the most recent.

Now that they've all graduated, I can post this picture.  I had my CCA seniors over to watch Hamlet at my tiny apartment in 2011.  We made cookies, watched a movie, looked at the glass etchings of naked women on my shower door, all things that good teachers do.

                           

For Halloween our Junior year, while Johnny and I went as a mob couple.  Our friends Lars and Andrew went as us.

                           

I love this picture of Johnny and me with our friend Stephen.  Stephen, I was cleaning out my desk today and found your copy of Boondock Saints.  I'm making it sound like I had no idea that it was there, but I knew all along and just never gave it back to you.  Sorry.  To make it up to you: Hey everyone, go check out Stephen's men's denim line!  We're super excited for him. 

Big family crew photo circa 2006?

Part of the Vogliardo clan came out to support me at a regatta my sophomore year of college.  So glad that they get to be part of Lila's life!

Look how cute and tiny Mitchell and Tess were!

I know this picture has resurfaced a few times, but one summer we decided to have a potluck.  We couldn't just have a regular potluck; we had to have a pirate themed one.  A pirate themed one where we had to cook hot dogs on a grill.  I believe Laura Ponath ended up having to go get lighter fuel from her dad...and I still think we were not able to start a fire.

I really like Jessie's hair in this picture...and her jacket. 

We always knew that Mitchell had problems from the very beginning.  The chain is a nice touch, though.

 Halloween senior year of high school.

Senior year Sweetheart after party.  I miss Nao.

 Even better than Richard's expression are the three pieces of crepe paper hanging on the wall behind him.  Jonas always went all out on decorations.

Easter egg hunting with cousins.  Lila can't wait for Melody's little one to arrive so they can do Easter egg hunts together.  Ben will probably still take all the money-filled eggs.

And finally, our church hiking trip in Moab, Utah.  An extremely fun trip.  I think my heels just recently healed.

I thought this was a fun little compilation of the last 10 years of my life.  If you have any photos of your own to share, please do.

Photo organizing is going well.  Tomorrow I am planning to start painting Lila's room, finish organizing my desk, and begin the hardcore bathroom cleaning.

I Don't Remember What Day We're On Anymore

Work began on Lila's big girl room today.  She is pretty excited.




And by work I mean that I dusted the baseboards.

We also got started on Lila's new quilt for her big girl bed by shopping at JoAnn's.  Forty-five minutes, forty-five cheerios, and one clementine later, we had all this cute fabric.  I don't know when I'm going to make said quilt because Lila tends to eat things like fabric, batting, and wrapping paper when I take her into the basement with me, but hopefully it will get done before we officially move her in when our first baby arrives.

Tomorrow, besides working on various sewing projects that aren't included in the 31 Days of Cleaning, I am going to focus on organizing photos on my computer and making sure that they are all backed up in various locations.  I am anticipating this taking a very long time.  Suggestions for how to organize?