Customized Ikea Cart

Yesterday my oldest daughter turned 14.  (I'm still trying to figure out how that happened!)  Making her Mom super proud, she asked to take a trip down to our local Ikea store to do some shopping ;)  I stumbled across this cute idea from Polka Dot Chair on Pinterest a couple weeks ago and told her I thought it would be super cute for her room.  Click the image to check out the link to the original post!

We picked up this Raskog cart in the teal color to match her purple, gray and teal room.  When we got home I used my Cricut to create labels for each shelf.

We also grabbed this same utensil holder from the kitchen section that Melissa used and wire tied it to the side to store her flat iron and curling wand.

I love how this turned out! It looks so cute in her room and is extremely functional at the same time-perfect combination! 

I have this same cart in gray in my craft room...I think it is time to dress it up with some labels too ;)  Any other great Ikea hacks that you have done?!  I would love to hear about them!  Feel free to link them up in the comments of this post! (Please limit to ONLY Ikea hack posts on this thread.  I would love for you to link up any of your other posts each week here on Inspire Me Monday!!  Any non-Ikea posts on this thread will be deleted.)

Command Center Fix

I have showed you the Command Center we have in our house.  (If you have not seen it you can check it out here)  We have made several changes to it since then, but the most drastic change came just recently.  We started to get stains on the sheet metal we have hanging up.  It looked horrible!  It just made the whole room look dirty! We had some chalk board paint laying around so decided that we would use that to cover the stains, even though I have no intention of really using it as a chalk board.

Here's what it looked like...BAD I know!!

We primed the metal with a latex primer just as the chalk paint recommended.  

Then we put 2 coats of the chalk paint on.

I love how it turned out!! Makes the room feel so much nicer :)

Homework Supply Drawer

After school can seem to get a little crazy around our house.  I have tried to put some routines in to place to help make things run a little smoother, but definitely the most helpful thing for us is to have everything needed to get homework done in one location.  In our old house I actually had a homework station set up in our basement, but found that having it down stairs away from the rest of the house was not very functional for us.  So now we have the space to let the kids do their work on the main floor of the house so I have a drawer in our kitchen buffet that is dedicated to homework supplies. 

No one ever has to ask where a pencil is or go searching for a ruler.  Everything they need is right here.  I still have young kiddos going through school so crayons are still a part of our homework routine, and I also keep extra erasers, glue sticks, tape, and scissors.  In the back of the drawer I also stash some flash cards and a set of pretend money to help kiddos as they are learning about that.  

It certainly is not a fancy set up, but it sure does make things run a little easier at time to study!  Now, speaking of homework, I am off to make sure these kiddos are getting theirs done! 

Linking up at:

http://organized31.com/

http://www.lambertslately.com/

http://craftdictator.com/

http://www.nancherrow.com/

http://www.frenchcountrycottage.net/

http://cityofcreativedreams.blogspot.com/

http://saving4six.com/

http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/

2014 Top 5!

Wow, can you believe that we are already at the end of 2014?!  Seems impossible!  I want to take a minute to just thank you so very much for all of your support, likes, shares, comments, etc through out the past year!  I truly appreciate each and every one of you taking time to visit my little space on the internet.  Your presence here means the world to me.

I thought to wrap up the end of the year I would share the top 5 posts from 2014.  If you missed one of these be sure to check them out just by clicking on the pictures!  Here they are in order, starting with your most favorite:

Pantry Organization

Cookware Storage

Controlling Paper Clutter...an Update

House Number Post

Spicy Chicken Enchiladas

So there you have it!  I am looking forward to the new year and sharing some fun new things with you!  Hope you will join me in 2015!!

Hiding TV Cords

Happy Thursday everybody!  I wanted to pop in real quick and share an idea with you on hiding all those TV cords in your living room.  I recently replaced a shelving unit in our living room.  The shelf before did a great job of hiding all the cords coming down from our TV above the fireplace to our cable box, etc. but this new shelf had them displayed quite unattractively!  So I got a little creative and came up with this solution!  I love it!  But here's a little disclaimer: my firefighting husband is not endorsing this idea-he is not as happy with this solution as I am, but until I find something else, this is going to have to work for us ;)

See that pretty little turquoise box on the bottom shelf?  That's my new favorite thing :)  That's where the magic is taking place!  

I found this cardboard photo box and just cut a little hole in the back.  I didn't make it too big because I didn't want the hole to be visible at all from the sides.  But it perfectly fits our power strip of cords!  Now, my husband is less than thrilled that this is a cardboard box, so I told him I would continue to search for something a little less flammable, but for $2.99 I think it's a great fix!!

Pop the lid on, and no one knows my little secret :)

Linking up at:
http://saving4six.com/
http://www.frommyfrontporchtoyours.com/
http://www.lambertslately.com/
http://organized31.com/
http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/
http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/
http://kitchendreaming.com/
http://www.nancherrow.com/
http://www.frenchcountrycottage.net/
http://craftdictator.com/
http://bacontimewiththehungryhypo.blogspot.com/
http://cityofcreativedreams.blogspot.com/
http://loulougirls.blogspot.com/
http://www.allthingsheartandhome.com/
http://www.astrollthrulife.net/
http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/

Ditch the Plastic Utensil Tray!

Happy Friday!  Today I am going to try to make you give in to a little peer pressure-the good kind though ;)  See, as much as I love things to be nice and organized, I also want them to look pretty.  That is why I am going to give you these five words of advice: DITCH THE PLASTIC UTENSIL TRAY!!  

As much as none of us want to admit it, we have all experienced the nasty and grimy plastic utensil trays.  And even for the cleanest person, those darn things somehow always seem to collect crumbs in the bottom (which I don't at all understand since you are putting clean utensils in them...If anyone can explain to me how this happens, please do!)

A couple years ago I finally had had enough and went on the search for a better option and found these metal mesh trays from The Container Store.  And while my drawer certainly does not look like it belongs in a magazine, it feels so much cleaner than my old plastic organizer.  I will say that my only complaint with these is that my continental sized knives do not fit in the typical knife section, so I had to put them in the longer slots.  But, I can live with that :) 

Since I have additional pieces in my set (appetizer forks, dessert forks, long tea spoons) I used two trays and just flipped them the opposite way and put them back to back.  Works great!

And my knife sharpener just hangs out at the back ;)

A quick and cheap change that makes a BIG difference.  I wish I had a picture of the before to show you what a change it really is, but just take my word for it ;)  And if you take the plunge and toss the plastic tray, I would love to see your before and after pics!

Linking up at:
http://cityofcreativedreams.blogspot.com/
http://bacontimewiththehungryhypo.blogspot.com/
http://www.nancherrow.com/
http://craftdictator.com/
http://kitchendreaming.com/
http://organized31.com/
http://www.lambertslately.com/
http://www.frommyfrontporchtoyours.com/
http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/
http://saving4six.com/
http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com/
http://www.allthingsheartandhome.com/
http://goldenreflectionsblog.com/
http://www.astrollthrulife.net/
http://loulougirls.blogspot.com/
http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/
http://www.frenchcountrycottage.net/
http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/

Storing Toys in the Living Room

With four kids, we certainly have had our share of toys in our house!  Now that my three oldest are able to play on their own, it is easy to keep their toys out of the main living areas. But my youngest still needs to stick around where ever we are so having toys, books and puzzles on our main floor is a must. I also want to maintain an inviting spot for guests though (and honestly, I don't want to be staring at toys all day every day...I have this little cleanliness OCD things that kicks in ;) )  so I keep her toys on the main floor discretely tucked into this little basket.

I found something that would blend into our decor so it wouldn't stick out and scream "toys live here!"  I also love this solution because it keeps control of how much is in the space-if it doesn't fit in the basket it stays in the play room or her bedroom. Over the years I have used different baskets and storage items that have fit in with our room at the time, but I especially love this one for the size.  It can store a lot but not to the point that it feels like you are going into a black hole when looking for something in it!

My favorite part is that when she is done playing, we are having people over, or when all the kids are in bed for the night, we can quickly toss it all back in there and still feel like we are in an adult space and not in the middle of a toy store ;)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Linking up at:
http://bacontimewiththehungryhypo.blogspot.com/
http://cityofcreativedreams.blogspot.com/
http://www.nancherrow.com/
http://craftdictator.com/
http://kitchendreaming.com/
http://organized31.com/
http://www.lambertslately.com/
http://www.frommyfrontporchtoyours.com/
http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/
http://saving4six.com/
http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com/
http://www.allthingsheartandhome.com/
http://goldenreflectionsblog.com/
http://www.astrollthrulife.net/
http://loulougirls.blogspot.com/
http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/
http://www.frenchcountrycottage.net/
http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/

Organizing Mail Supplies

Hello!  Sorry for my absence around here lately!  With summer ending and school beginning, we have been in go-go-go mode!!  I'm so happy to be back here sharing with you today though!

Something that seems to get spread all over the place in houses are mailing supplies.  So today I am going to give you a quick peek at how I keep everything organized around here.

I have a drawer in my office that is devoted to mailing supplies.  It is so nice when I need to mail something that I know exactly where to go and don't have to dig through multiple drawers trying to find an envelope, card or stamp!

At the front of the drawer I have two orange file folders.  The front one keeps our return address labels and stamps.  The second one holds my address book-not that it needs a folder, but it just keeps it from flopping open in the drawer and keeps it right up front for easy access.

I used a cheap little basket that I have had for years to put bulk cards in.

And I absolutely love my card organizer that I got from The Container Store several years ago!

On the right I have a box of regular business envelopes and some bigger mailing envelopes as well.

Simple enough, right?  But such a time saver (and headache saver) when I need to get something in the mail quickly! 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Linking up at:
http://saving4six.com/
http://www.frommyfrontporchtoyours.com/
http://www.lambertslately.com/
http://organized31.com/
http://www.nancherrow.com/
http://craftdictator.com/
http://bacontimewiththehungryhypo.blogspot.com/
http://www.frenchcountrycottage.net/
http://cityofcreativedreams.blogspot.com/
http://kitchendreaming.com/
http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com/
http://www.allthingsheartandhome.com/
http://loulougirls.blogspot.com/
http://www.astrollthrulife.net/
http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/
http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/

Nail Care Organization

I'm definitely a girly girl at heart.  I love makeup, jewelry, shoes, purses etc.  And although there are many days that my nails are not looking fantastic, I sure do feel put together when I look down and see nicely painted fingers and toes!  I keep all of my nail care items together so when I am ready to pretty them up, I just pull one basket out from under the bathroom cabinet and am ready to go!

I got this blue basket at the dollar store and it works great to store everything!  I bought some other cheap plastic organizers to put inside (I already had a couple of them actually...don't look too closely or you will see that they don't all match 100%...).  A quick little tag cutout from my Cricut and tied on a little label (because really, what good is a basket without a label?!)

I use a toothbrush holder to hold taller items like nail files and a cuticle pusher.  I have my "egg" callus removers in the front because I am a barefoot girl and the bottoms of my feet take quite a beating!

I actually use a lipstick holder for my polishes.  I limit myself to what will fit in this.  I'm pretty boring when it comes to nail colors so I don't need a whole rainbow anyway (but if I really were feeling bold I could raid my 12 year old daughter's stash-she's got some interesting colors ;) )

All my 'tools' are together in these little bins...these are the two that don't match...don't judge ;)

And that's it!  I can easily take the whole basket out and put it on my bathroom counter then tuck it back in the cabinet when I am done!  I've been using this system for years now and it has been a winner for sure!

Linking up at:
http://loulougirls.blogspot.com/
http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/
http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/
http://www.frommyfrontporchtoyours.com/
http://organized31.com/
http://www.lambertslately.com/
http://saving4six.com/
http://www.cleanandscentsible.com/
http://craftdictator.com/
http://www.nancherrow.com/
http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/
http://bacontimewiththehungryhypo.blogspot.com/
http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/
http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com/
http://www.allthingsheartandhome.com/
http://goldenreflectionsblog.com/
http://www.astrollthrulife.net/

Chore Charts

I've searched long and hard for a chore chart that functioned how I wanted it to.  I love all the cute ideas on Pinterest with chore cards and magnetic boards, but with 4 kids to make them for and the space it would take to put them up for each kid, it just isn't the best option for us. And I have never found just the perfect basic chart, so I finally decided to make some myself!

I wanted something simple to use and not cluttered up with a bunch of things I didn't need.  The left side is for daily chores that need to be done (make bed, read, feed dog, etc.)  The right side is for things that just need to be done once a week.

I am laminating them so we can use dry erase markers to change the chores as needed (like during the summer when homework is not an issue and as they get older and can do different things.)  I also printed them out as a 4x6 size so that I can easily have them all displayed without taking up a ton of space.   At some point they could even keep them in their rooms (although I prefer to have them all in one spot so I can keep a close eye on what is getting done or not ;) ).

Hoping this is finally the system that works for us!

Linking up at:
http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com/
http://goldenreflectionsblog.com/
http://www.allthingsheartandhome.com/
http://www.astrollthrulife.net/
http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/
http://saving4six.com/
http://www.frommyfrontporchtoyours.com/
http://www.lambertslately.com/
http://organized31.com/
http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/
http://houseofroseblog.com/
http://craftdictator.com/
http://www.nancherrow.com/
http://bacontimewiththehungryhypo.blogspot.com/
http://kitchendreaming.com/
http://www.cleanandscentsible.com/
http://cityofcreativedreams.blogspot.com/
http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/