Organization Archives | Page 3 of 3 |

Old Doorknobs to Jewelry Holder | DIY

May 9, 2011 By Laura 29 Comments

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My youngest daughter {O}, age 8, is all about her accessories. She loves fashion design, and gets great joy out of planning her outfits, head to toe, every day. Her hair accessories have been taking over my side of the bathroom cabinet, and she has been keeping a lot of her jewelry in a box, which as you can imagine, tends to get things a little tangled. Something had to be done, and I had a great idea for an accessory holder!

old-doorknobs-jewelry-organizer-holder There’s an antique place in E. Wareham nearby, called Clam Shack Antiques, that we’ve frequented often in the past couple of years. I knew it was just the place to hit first, for some of the supplies I needed for my project, as I recalled there was a load of old antique door knobs there. I rummaged through them all, chose some I really liked, and bought them for a deal.
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At home, I already had the perfect piece of wood. My father comes down to visit us a lot, and when he comes, he usually brings a load of stuff we may, or may not, want. He knows how we love to make something, out of nothing. Or take a piece of junk, and turn it into something nice or useful. This nice solid piece of wood, was among the last load he showed up with. It’s not truly perfect actually. Someone had routered it, but the piece was not cut exactly even, to begin with. But that’s alright. We embrace imperfections. (Starting with ourselves. Do we have a choice? ; ).

I had all I needed, to get to work on my vision.
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old-doorknobs-jewelry-organizer-holder-2 This is what I made. I painted the wood, and then distressed it a little. Then I had Michael install 3 of the door knobs I chose for this project, in my particular specified order. (So important, you know.) I did not want any two knobs alike for this project, so we are saving the rest for another upcoming house project.

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old-doorknobs-jewelry-organizer-holder-3 Here, is {O}’s accessory holder in use, just as I had envisioned it. Well, it’s not actually quite done, as you see. I’ll tell you more about that in a minute. But the knobs are just perfect, to hang her accessories on. She has some nice pieces, too!

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old-doorknobs-jewelry-organizer-holder-4 {O} is such a fun kid to have around. She has such a feminine style, and gets so excited about anything I want to do with her, or her room. She appreciates my creative side, has one of her own, and is as enthusiastic as I am, about any project I brainstorm about, or work on. She loves to work with me, too.

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old-doorknobs-jewelry-organizer-holder-5 Hunting for door knobs, has been so fun. I have discovered how unique door knobs can really be.
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The glass ones can be especially fascinating, and beautiful.

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old-doorknobs-jewelry-organizer-holder-7 But even this dinged up one has such character. I think it’s brass, underneath that paint. This one, and it’s match, were pretty yellowed, when I brought them home. We just washed them with hot water and soap, and they whitened quite a bit. They still look old and discolored of course, which is why I love them. But…not yellow.

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old-doorknobs-jewelry-organizer-holder-8 I really still cannot believe, that I grew up in a house that is close to 100 years old, and I never appreciated it’s history, while I lived there.

I want a second chance!

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old-doorknobs-jewelry-organizer-holder-9 Which reminds me. Were you wondering what the 4th hole was for? I’m going to get a door knob from my parent’s house, that I just mentioned, and add it to this piece of art, that I created for {O}’s room. It is like art – don’t you think? My father will be selling the house soon, now that my mother has been gone for 6 years. It’s just taken him a long time, to be ready to let go. I think he’s still working on that, actually. (So am I. ) Anyway, that house is loaded with all of the details that a house of that age does, including more doors and doorways than you can shake a stick at. And thus, door knobs.

That 4th hole will be filled, very soon. I could easily find another door knob in my antique hunting, and I will be getting lots more, anyway. But it’s important to me, that the last one be from my old home, and {O}’s grandparents, for this.
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old-doorknobs-jewelry-organizer-holder-10 {O} confiscated the ceramic bunny, that was put aside to go back up in the attic, from our Easter house decorating pile. It looks quite fitting and perfect, in her room. And she found it’s ears, are just the right size for her bracelets.
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old-doorknobs-jewelry-organizer-holder-11 And in these photos, have been peeks for you, of another project I have already mentioned I’ll be sharing. That post will be up by Thursday, in The Homestead (Home & Gardens) section of this blog.

So, what did you think of this project? Did you like my idea? Please share your thoughts, in the comments. : ) I love it so much, I get giddy.

Like this project? Than ‘Like’ our Facebook Page! There’s some more clever ideas coming up!!

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Ladder to Bookshelf | Re-Purposing

March 15, 2011 By Laura 25 Comments

In addition to our continual progress of finishing the inside of our home since our major house reconstruction, we’ve had a continually growing list of ideas for smaller projects around our home.

One of them has involved this ladder inside our home.

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It has been right here where you see it, every since we bought our home in 1995. What has changed a lot, is almost everything around the ladder. For one thing, at the foot of this ladder, where you now see French doors to our sun room, was a brick hearth, to a black iron coal stove, that was built into a brick wall as a fireplace of sorts.

You may wonder just what the purpose of the ladder was.

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Well, at the top of the ladder, was a carpeted crawl loft, that was open to and overlooked the living space. We had a few large floor plants up there, that looked lovely in the sunlight, that streamed in from the skylights.

But when we added a second story to our home, the crawl loft, and all of the new construction to the backside of the house, became the boy’s room. So, a wall replaced our beloved crawl loft.

As you’ve probably figured out along the way here, the ladder was the way to get up into the loft.

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It’s a beautiful, solid, solid (read: HEAVY!!) wood. It’s the same natural wood the beams were made of, that also used to be a part of the house.

As a humorous tidbit of knowledge for you, (if you’ve never been through our home reconstruction posts), the crawl loft became our (mine and Michael’s) bedroom, when we gave our own to our triplets following their birth. The house only had 2 bedrooms at the time, and ours was by far the biggest. So…we took our bed down, put the mattresses up in the crawl loft, and we climbed the ladder to bed every night.

We really didn’t mind it, much. You couldn’t really see our bedding that much, and it was….cozy. : ) I’d say it was even kind of fun. Except for when one of the kids woke up, and needed us. Or, when we had to go potty. I feared in the dead of night many times, that I would fall trying to descend the ladder in my sleepy state, and splat on the brick hearth below. But it never happened. Maybe because Michael said “Be care-ful” every.single. time. I had to go down. Even when he was sleeping.

Oh…..{A} just found a photo that will give you an idea of how much the house has changed:

See the loft at the top? With big boxy openings, roped off with 2 ropes. You can also see the natural beams I spoke of. They were great for wrapping Christmas lights on, and using for outdoor toddler swings, in the house! The beams were so strong, and with the cathedral ceiling, there was plenty of room! Of course they had outdoor swings too. Boy did they love swinging. You can also see what was the back door. That wall came down, and there is a school room there now, on the other side of the stairwell that descends into the floor. Yes…things have changed. Drastically. Inside and out. Do you love seeing houses transformations? I’ll post the links on our HOJN Facebook Page sometime soon, if you’d like. But be sure to ‘Like’ the HOJN Facebook Page, so you don’t miss them in your feed! I put lots of fun extras there, for you all.

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Anyway….ever since the loft was ripped out and the wall went up, the ladder-to-nowhere, has remained there. We couldn’t get rid of it! It was a sentimental piece. We always loved that ladder, and it’s one of those things people always mention when they first visit our home. It’s unique, and unusual, in a home. But really…. it’s needed purpose! And it’s looked dark and ….. well, heavy, in our light and airy living space.

So I had an idea to make the ladder more useful, and we started by doing something possibly, crazy.

We painted it white. After adding a few little pieces you may notice, which you’ll understand why in a moment.

Now, if you know me, I’m really not down with perfectly painted stuff. I like things old. Beat up. Worn.

So I took a sandpaper covered block, and ‘had-at’ the newly painted ladder.

And wore a hole in it. : ) (The sandpaper of course. Not the ladder.)

I did my best to make it look……well, not ‘just painted’.

But I’m not any kind of expert at distressing pieces yet. I’m sure it needs something more. A glaze of some kind, to crack the paint some, or something. I don’t want to yellow it, as a lot of the ‘new paint’ around is white as snow. But, I plan to ask a friend what more I can do, to push it a little more.

But the purpose of painting the ladder, and adding the little crossbars to the back, was to use it for….

Books!!

With the exception of when we were actually using the ladder every day to access the loft, we’ve always had photo frames and little things displayed on the ladder. I just took them off before photographing it before. But, we are swimming in books around here. So I thought it would be a creative and useful transformation.

Mostly it’s the kid’s books on the ladder for now, with the bottom step left open for stepping up and reaching higher. There are lots more books, that will be relocated to the ladder, soon. And we have more book shelving that Michael just installed as well, that will be for another post.

Because not only do the kids have more reading books, but then there are my own, and some of my mother’s too. Books of all kinds. For leisure, for education, for how-to, for you-name-it. As I said, we’re swimming in them.

I actually filled a couple of boxes recently, with books to get rid of. We have cabinets filled, and boxes downstairs, of more books – still needing sorting.

So this ladder transformation I think was a wise one. The ladder now has purpose. I’m sure it feels more worth, in it’s day to day life. We all need purpose. Don’t you think?

I have to admit: I’m feeling a little pang inside, about painting over this beautiful wood.

Do you think that was a mistake?

But I do think the corner as a whole, looks a little cheerier, and more in keeping with what the rest of the house has going on. Because we’ll probably be doing something with those wooden breakfast bar chairs too. Not painting them white. But they need stripping of the shellac , or something.

Anyway….

BEFORE AFTER

What do you think? A good idea? And are you cringing, because I painted that wood? Go ahead and tell me the truth. I think I can take it.

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Let’s Talk Trash | A Solution to Hide Your Kitchen Trash

March 25, 2010 By Laura 12 Comments

In this post I’m going to do a little personal venting, and then I’m going to show you the solution to our kitchen trash problem!

Ask anyone who lives with me. I’m a sheer-compulsive-pet-peeved- maniac about certain aspects of our home. The sudden sight of clutter is one. It sends me over the edge. Like a sunny 30 mph Sunday drive, to a buck-60 in a clap of thunder.

I’ve analyzed my seemingly over-reactions enough, to figure some of myself out. The sight of clutter, instantly clutters my mind. An organized mind of thoughts and agendas is something I work very hard at. So I don’t need some tall and disheveled pile of paper to come along, and mess with me. See what I’m sayin’?

Another personal demon I’ve been determined to beat, is the trash. I know where this issue started for me too. I was living at someone else’s house at the time. I was in the kitchen one day, went to throw something away, and the sight of that cover of that plastic rectangle trash can stopped me in my tracks, and grossed me right out. Nasty as all get out. Thank goodness it had one of those levers you could step on to open it, but I found myself holding my breathe even as I did that. Yuckity-doo-da.

I never forgot that. The haunting of it has followed me right into my own home. You may understand the thought process for example, that your own bathroom, for instance, as in need of a cleaning as it may be, never seems quite as dirty as say, a public bathroom. Right? One might apply the same perspective to their trash can covers. In your own home, it may be like, “Oh, that should be wiped down.” In someone else’s home, or worse on the sidewalk in front of the storefronts, it’s more like, “OH. GROSS. I am NOT touching that if I can help it!” Am I right? (O.K….if it’s just me, don’t tell me. Sometimes I like to make believe I am one with the world.)

At any rate (….my mother used to say that phrase ALL Of the time. I don’t get it. But I still say it now.) At any rate, I see the clutter in my home, and the yuckity-doo-da on the trash covers, through the eyes of make-believe unexpected visitors. I really do not want someone to come into my home, and be repulsed. Know what I’m saying? Yes…I COULD go the therapy route. But why not just fix the problem instead, so we ALL can be comfortable?

So…that brings us to our own kitchen trash container. I’m going about my happy day. I go to throw something away, and I see that cover. So here we have already gone from sunny, leisure Sunday drive, to a buck-60 in a clap of thunder. Then I try to put something IN, and the trash-a-plenty keeps it from opening properly. Ggrrrr. Once I do finally get said-trash in, then the cover is stuck open, on some trash. Now I have to touch it a SECOND time.
I’m ready to throw the whole thing off a cliff at this point.
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As IF I’m not self-conscious enough, this inevitably also becomes part of that ‘fun and relaxing experience’ I try to give my clients, that I photograph in my studio. We come up from a good time, after an exciting and fun photo shoot in my studio, and we begin to climb the stairs when we are done, with me leading…..and the sun sneaks behind a cloud….

……there it ISSSSSS. The trash. Practically in our faces as we come up the stairs. I notice the sticky spot. I think I might smell something. I keep the conversation going with a little more enthusiasm, as my distraction tactic.

But really. WHO is going to miss that thing?
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Oh. And then there is my ‘participating ingredients’ shots I do when I am planning a recipe post for the blog . . . .

I get it all set up. I set my camera. I look through the lens. And it’s not the ingredients I see first. All I see is the FREAKIN’ TRASH IN THE BACKGROUND! Oh my gosh! Somebody move that thing!! The light seems to have disappeared, and I up my ISO.

So I was heck-bent on a solution, for this trash-matter. (Yes, there is such word as heck-bent.) I have spent many a moment, just standing in this room or the other, brainstorming on a solution. And I’ve had a successful brainstorm or two, as a result of my desperation.

As you enter our kitchen from the front of the house, we have these corner shelves. When we first saw this house and bought it, I thought these shelves were as cute as the dickens. Another little unique feature to our first home, to display cute little things. Most recently, I have had these storage baskets on the shelves, because I really needed somewhere to put ‘stuff’. Like extra phone books we might need sometime. I did get past that one, and just throw them out. But then….the cover would get stuck open. : ( Or, the umpteen photo lab invoices I get. Those piles of paper I mentioned before, or questionalbe mail. Etc. It was a great idea for awhile for another place to stick things, until I saw the clutter in the baskets! So I got creative and bought matching table place mats to throw on top. ; ) I was feeling super-clever until one day, my Dad was here, and as he walked by for the 100th time that day he said, “What are these things anyway”. I told him-storage baskets. He said, “OK, but why are those things on top?” So I told him; to cover the clutter of course. But by his, “Oh. O.k.”, and the moment he took to take that in, I got the feeling he thought that was tacky.

Now, I am quite sure my father doesn’t really know ‘tacky‘ when he sees it. So I was concerned. About my basket covers. Not him. Hmmm. We have a problem, Houston.

Once upon a time, I kept a few cook books on these triangle shelves. They were awkward items to keep there. I had a few decorative kitchen items too. All of it could have been cute. If no one (like me) looked closely enough at the dust that collected on the shelves and the things I kept there.

I had better use for that space. I told Michael I had a good idea for the kitchen. He’s all ears now-a-days. He’s come to realize the genius that I am with my ideas. I knew he’d see the light, in time. ; )

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1. So Michael ripped out those shelves and supporters, and took some measurements.

2. Then he built a custom-fitting container. That was, of course, after he accepted the fact that he would have to buy larger trash bags from now on, and that would mean fewer in a box also. That took a bit for him to live with in his mind, but he came around again.

3. To finish it, he built a nice door for the cubby. (And now, what I see is that counter-cabinet above it, that I despise. It’s next on my hit-list. But we won’t go there today.)

It’s really nice though. I could look at it all day.You know how you do that, with new things in your home? I might tomorrow, too.

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It opens perfectly quietly. And when you throw trash in, you can’t miss, or not be able to close the door again.

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The container itself, pulls right out, for easy trash bag changing. There is felt buttons on the bottom, so it just slides in and out softly. The door closes completely silently. There is a spring hinge on it.
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The door is built with a wainscot paneling face, framed out, and a brushed nickle knob. The wainscot bead-boarding flows the lower walls of our home in the sun room, flowing right into the main living space under the breakfast bar, and wraps around right into the wall of the kitchen.

YOU can do this too, in any floor level kitchen cabinet, to hide your own trash container! You can build a custom fit trash bin, to maximize your trash cabinet size! Just be sure a trash bag will fit your new container. Or, just stick your current trash container in a cleared out cabinet.

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The trash door now also now matches out school room cabinets Michael did. They still need kick-board faces on the bottom.

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In time, we’ll be replacing these kitchen cabinet faces with the same doors. They aren’t TOO bad looking. And thank goodness, because who knows if it could be years before they get done. But, they don’t really say ‘farm house’ to me. And remember…I’m pretending I am living on a farm. Minus anything gross.
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The best part? No UNSIGHTLY trash can to look at anymore! I can’t tell you how happy this makes me. I ride these joys for weeks on end. And some days, when I need a little pick-me-up to think about how far we have come, I say out loud to no one in particular……”Remember when we had that ugly, nasty-covered trash can in the kitchen, right by the stairs? Man, WHAT were we thinking all of those years. HOW did we even let people come over?“

There is no longer panic coming up those stairs with my clients. My kitchen floor plan is wide-open, and the eye does not stop in some black sticky-topped container. It’s a sunny, leisure Sunday drive. Not a cloud in the sky looking east-ish.

See? I am my own therapist. And all it costs me is a little fluttering of the eye-lashes, and asking Honey, nicely, if he”ll make my new little dream come-true.

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

Who wants to come over and throw somethin’ out with me?!

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A Kitchen Improvement | Custom Built Mega-Storage Shelving

February 10, 2010 By Laura 15 Comments

Here is the kitchen project I have been SO excited to share with you all! Again, this was one of my brainstorms, and I’ll be darned if I should’ve thought of it sooner!

So….take a good look at the photo below. This is a stairwell down into the middle level where our laundry room is, to our finishes basement (with 1/3 of a side unfinished.) You see that ledge along the stairs and half-wall? We are always putting stuff there that needs to go down and put away, that we don’t have room for to keep in the kitchen. Extra platters, our slow cooker, etc. Plus, we have plenty around the kitchen that could use a better residing place.

So one day it hit me……we could make this area into some really awesome, USEFUL, shelves. And I knew just how it could be done, more or less. So, I told Michael about it, he drew what he thought, I said “No, no no, like this….”….and drew out what I thought, and we debated some. In the end, he understood my ‘vision’…and I got BEYOND excited.

That half wall is about 4.5- 5 inches thick. Pretty useless, as is the ledge. The half wall is a nice way to keep the kitchen open to the school room (which was one of the rooms added on to the house), but when this hum-dinger of an idea hit me, it all suddenly seemed like long-time-wasted space.

So, here, is the beginning rough framing of these shelves…..

Michael was just testing the fit of it, if it was going to work alright, etc. We talked about how to finish it off. Which is always a good thing, to bounce each other’s ideas off of each other. Because in the end, we come up with the best overall solutions. We just love working together on new ideas. Especially when it comes to improving the appearance and functionality of our home.

And here it is finished . . . . . .

I am SOOOOO in love with it. I can’t BELIEVE I didn’t think of this sooner! Notice how we incorporated the 1/2 inch wall, and added the actual shelving space for a new 19.25 inch top surface?! Ohhhh, the things I could display there. For now, I just took what I really wanted MOVED…a few photos frames, and a candle.
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I even love the little nubby things, that cover the screws. It adds character!

The shelves I have now, will serve in holding things that have just been in the way around the kitchen, and just ‘stuck somewhere’ as there was nowhere else to put it, as well as many of my favorite things.

Look at the fine trim work. Underneath………

….as well as on top. This was purchased trim, primed and painted, and mitered, to fit.
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One of the sentimental things our new shelves displays, is our family plate.
Our names are actually under each hand, but I edited them out because…..right, I’m still thinking on that.
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Our growing collection of cookbooks. Below that on the right is the plates the kids made, for the triplets 6th birthday at a ceramic place.
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I SO love this bowl. I love roosters. Love the royal colors. Had to have it. There was a few other pieces that matched, when I found them at Marshall’s. But I resisted buying every piece. I just got the bowl.

Here’s our big guy, who has resided at the far end of the half wall, for some time. He’s made of tin.
He looks better and more secure, in a wider platform such as this. De Colores! ; )
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I can’t tell you the JOY I will get, going up and down these stairs, from now on. Or, on second thought, I may think, “Ugh. I need to dust again.” lol.
But generally, it makes me happy.

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This has been over our stairs for some time. It’s a large framed piece, from a family friend’s upscale boutique, Grandma Daisy’s, in Dennisport, MA. It was a gift, and I love it too.

It is nice, to have a husband, who can whip up nearly anything you dream. His gets such skills and ambition, from his father, who was/is very much the same exact way. “Why buy it….when we can make it?” Or sometimes….”We can’t afford to buy that, but we can make it!” Always cheaper. And again….you just love your home even more, when you’ve invested such thought and hard-work into it.

So, here is the BEFORE and AFTER, together:

I hope you enjoyed reading about this project, as much I enjoyed sharing it. Wouldn’t you know, no sooner was this one done, did I have another GRAND idea for our kitchen. The little things that bug me, inspire me, more than you know. I’m a picky one, but who ever said that was a bad thing?
Thanks for coming by!

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