4 Just Three Things - 10 | 31 | 16

Boo! I hope you had a spooky and happy Halloween! We were lucky here in the Midwest with some decent temps and no snow, which is always something to celebrate. And an abundance of sweets which should easily last until this time next year... #yikes

I have been setting some goals to try and finish up a few spaces in our home that were in the process of being updated due to our renovation (cough, kitchen-dining-living rooms), the office/den switch, and our two younger boys getting their own bedrooms. After taking a little home break last year, I had a clearer vision of how I saw our home working for us, and now we are trying to get there by plucking away at each space as time allows. Yes, we may be crazy for working on so many spaces at once, but I love that our home offers us the opportunity to change things as our family grows and changes with it. And I am also grateful that I have this place to share those projects. I want to thank you all for your kind and uplifting comments on our recent kitchen update, I really appreciate your encouragement and that you are all just as excited as we are to see the space come together.

That said, once in awhile it is nice to take a break from the bigger projects and just chat. That's why iHeart these Just Three Things posts. And I have been banking up talking points, so I think I am going to try and put them into regular rotation. Chatting is what made blogging so fabulous in the first place.

- ONE -

Last week I was working on a little organizing project in my office, and dug through our recycling bin again. I will be using a couple of decorative storage boxes in lieu of drawers, and was looking to create some dividers. Not wanting to run to the store with specific measurements only to spend too much money on something that wouldn't fit exactly the way I envisioned, I decided that I was better off sticking to my favorite drawer organizing method... Cereal boxes! I get ridiculously excited that I had instant access to what I needed, that they were basically free, and that I could get the organizing project done without leaving the house. I also love that with the help of a little gift wrap, the organizers also turned out as darling as can be.

It's just a reminder that sometimes the best organizing solutions are quite literally right under our noses. I am going to love opening this box each and every time I need a new book of checks or a craft brush, and love even more that the contents won't be a jumbled mess!

Have you been finding ways to reuse items around the house as helpful storage and organization lately?

- TWO - 

Gift wrap works great for the method above, but in kitchens and baths, shelf liner would be better suited for lasting durability and clean-ability. And after Megan's recent post paired with my need to line a few more cabinets and drawers in our laundry room, I decided to source some of my favorite shelf liners below.

These Macbeth Collection patterns are always changing, a great price and can often be found at discount stores such as HomeGoods, Marshalls and TJMaxx. I also think this copper metallic option would be great for all sorts of projects around the house, beyond lining drawers. And these lined fabric sheets are a great option if you are looking for something a little special for clothing and accessory drawers. Finally, lining drawers and shelves with black chalkboard contact paper is neater than neat because you can line and label all at once!

via

- THREE -

I have been wanting to pull all of my favorite organizing projects together in the form of a portfolio for quite some time. I recently decided to give the SmugMug platform a try, and it feels so wonderful to click through and see all of my favorite work grouped all together in one happy place. It is still a work in progress and I am planning on adding quite a few searchable keywords to each photo, but for now here are a few tips using the platform:


1 | All of the project images will appear as you continue to scroll through the Project Gallery page.

2 | If you hover over an image, you will see a caption appear.

3 | Clicking into the image will allow you to view it at full screen size (and arrow through the remainder of the gallery). It will also provide you with a clickable link to the specific project details on my blog.

4 | There is a "Search" button at the top of the gallery, which will allow you to search for a particular project. I will be continuously adding additional keywords and projects to the gallery, but if you can't find one in particular, feel free to shoot me an email.

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Thanks for getting cozy and chatting with me! I hope your week is off to one heck of a start!