{Readers Space} Organized Laundry Room

After last weeks post on my two reader's spaces, I received lots of great feedback. It seems that you all like to see real life, not just pretty magazine pictures! I totally agree!

Today one of my reader's, Karen, is totally keeping it real with all of us. Wait till you see the transformation of her basement laundry room. 

Hi Amy,

Saw your before and after laundry room pics and thought I'd send mine along to you. The decluttering and organizing was long overdue! I got rid of tons of unnecessary products and donated them to a local shelter. The fabric bins are from HomeGoods, the wire shelving was a freebie from a friend that was getting rid of them, and the bright canary yellow paint was used to pick up on the colors from a print given to me from a friend who visited Belize. The flea market duck holds my stain removal products. The glass jar is quickly filling up from all the coins found in the bottom of the washer! Hmmm someone didn't check their pockets!

-Karen

Are you ready? Here are a couple before pics:

Seriously...how many of us throw whatever in the laundry room and shut the door before guests arrive!? Well I did too until I organized my laundry closet. 

Now wait until you see the after pics:

Um...hello! Or should I say Yellow!! Doesn't the color really brighten up the space and make it feel like a wonderful place to do laundry? I really love how you can freshen up a space with paint. The wire shelves are pretty great too!

I keep telling you all that baskets and bins are a girls best friend! These are so functional and Karen even followed my lead and created labels so she doesn't have to pull each bin down to find out what is inside! Love it!

Her adorable little window ledge holds her necessities and also the painting from where she grabbed some paint inspiration! Artwork is always a great jumping off point for any space. 

Well I am impressed...aren't you? She did all of this on a small budget with only small expenses like bins and paint! What are you all going to organize this weekend?

And of course....a BEFORE & AFTER!

Thanks Karen for sharing your progress! I am sure you have just inspired someone else to run to HomeGoods!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! It is suppose to be 70 degrees here Sunday...time to play outside!

Out with the Old...

....In with the NEW!!

I am very excited to share my new design with you on the blog today. If you are reading this from your reader or mobile device, you might want to come on over and view the full web version for fun!

I needed a little "bling" in my life, so that is where the gold glitz banner comes in! My wonderful Web designer, House 09, also added a honeycomb background for some visual interest while you scroll through the page.

We also added some fun widgets for you to following along with. This twitter widget shows my latest tweets and retweets and changes throughout the day.

My favorite widget has to be the Pinterest one. I can't really show you on here, but if you hover over each picture on my side screen, the whole picture will appear. You can then click on it and it will take you right to pinterest where you can pin it for your own board. These also change on a regular basis as I pin new items to my boards!

I am hoping to make just a couple more changes in the near future. One being an updated picture of myself. That should be interesting!!

Hope you all are having a wonderful Thursday! Thanks for following along!!

P.S. If you are a blogger looking to update your site in anyway, I highly recommend House 09 unless you already have someone you like. She is great to work with and gets back with you quickly!

Adding Character to your home {Molding}

Today starts a new series here at Eat.Sleep.Decorate! One day every week I am going to talk about how you can add character to your home. We bought a builder grade home 5 years ago and I am still trying to make it feel homey. Do you know what I mean by homey?

{Can you believe this is the only pic of the outside of my house that I have!? Before Painted Door}

Track builders build homes fast just to get them on the market and get them sold for their company. They will do minor upgrades here and there, but they don't take the effort to make a home stand out from the rest. That is where a little DIY or help from a local contractor can help add some character to blah and lifeless homes. I am very lucky to have a brother that is a contractor. I throw out an idea and he rolls with it.

When we moved into our home 5 years ago, I thought it was such an amazing blank canvas from which I could start making it "my home". We have added a little character here and there without breaking the bank or losing our minds. Because it was a brand new home, I didn't HAVE to make any changes, but who wants to live in a blank canvas forever? Not me!

Today we are talking about Molding or Moulding (however you want to spell and say it)...Yep! Crown, wainscoting, chair rail, planked, coffered, board & batten, boxed...whatever! Molding is what gives a home so much life by adding some texture and architectural charm!

One place where you can make a statement is on your ceilings. Adding Crown Molding can make the room look taller and more grand. I think the bigger the better when it comes to adding crown molding. It will then make the room stand out!

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Before & After  via              

Another great type of molding that could be added to an office space or dining room is a coffered ceiling. Coffered ceilings are usually boxed and give the ceiling a 3-D effect. We installed a coffered ceiling in our dining room so we could add a chandelier without going through the mess of tearing into the walls to run the electrical wires.  It has become one of my favorite rooms in the house because of its charm!                                     

A great way to make a statement with guests is to make a show stopper with boxed, board & batten or wainscoting in your entryway. 

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We also added some wainscoting to our entryway and what a difference it has made.

Before:

After:

Stairways are always the place that gets the most wear and tear and damage. How about adding some molding up the stairway that is pleasing to the eye and easy on the scrubbing!?

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Have short baseboards that really don't make an impact? Stack some molding on top to add some height and class without breaking your budget.

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My friend Brenda made her baseboards pop by adding casing to the top and shoe molding to the bottom of her existing molding.

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House of Smiths had a similar idea, but extended a new piece of molding above the existing molding then painted in between to make it look a lot chunkier than it was. Genius!

There are so many fabulous molding and trim ideas that you can add to your home to really give it that character that it deserves. During this series we will be talking about a few other places in your home where molding can be added. 

Are you inspired? What areas of your home could use a little molding to add that extra charm?

Linked up: Liz Marie Blog

A Place to hang my bags...

Happy Monday all! I sure hope that you got a little relaxation mixed into the crazy schedules that most of you have. I enjoyed a weekend at home by myself while the Hubs was traveling. I did get a few DIY projects done around the home, but also spent time relaxing.

In January I gave you a list of my New Years Goals for our home. There is a lot on my list and if I continuously look at it, I get a little overwhelmed. But, if I take it a room at a time or small project at a time, it seems doable.

My first project was a little DIY in the master bedroom closet. As you have seen before, our closet is very small with barely any room for our clothes let alone my collection of purses and bags. There is however a blank wall behind the door that needed to be used.

That is where these nifty flush mount hangers come in....

I saw these on another DIY project on pinterest and couldn't get over how great these would be for hanging heavy items on the wall. Just gliding them into each other to make a perfect fit. I found them at Lowe's in the picture hanging area of hardware. They come in different sizes depending on how heavy your object is. 

My sister-in-law made me one of her reclaimed wood hook boards which I mounted two of the flush mounts on to the back of the board 20" apart. 

I then measured how far apart these mounts were on the board, then took my measurements to the wall and drilled 4 holes for each mount. I also added the plastic reinforcements just so theses puppies were not going anywhere!!

Then came the easy part....screwing the mounts in place.

Once both mounts were screwed on the wall, I slid the other mounts on the back of the wood hooks board into the mounts on the wall and....

Pretty great huh?

The last step was to collect all of my bags from the floor of the closet....literally! And give them a new home!

I am very happy with how it turned out. I have another little DIY to place above these hooks coming very soon! You might have saw a sneak peek on my Instagram (@eatsleepdecor) 

Hooks, bins & baskets are truly a girls best friend when it comes to organizing! If you are interested in the above reclaimed wood hooks, I am sure my sister-in law would love to make you one! Go to her Etsy Site here. This reclaimed wood is torn out of an old pub right here in Raleigh, NC! Love the texture it would bring to any entryway or room!

Have a fabulous day my friends!

Linked up to: Thrifty Decor Chick & Liz Marie Blog

{Readers Spaces} Organized Homes

It is so wonderful to get emails and comments on how my spaces have inspired someone else. As the new year has started, many of you are getting organized in your homes. Two readers have recently sent me some before and after photos of their organized space. Take a look at their transformations!

Elisabeth was inspired by a redo of My Pantry a few months ago:

Her before.....

Her After: 

What I love: I love that she used baskets and bins to corral loose items. The aluminum foil and plastic wrap organizer is amazing! (I need to get one..pronto) She also used a small lazy susan for her oils. Her canned goods are organized using the same step shelves as these. I also have some and love that I can see all the canned items on my shelves without moving a million cans before you find the olives! hehe

Thanks Elisabeth for sharing your before and afters! You might have just inspired someone else!

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My next Reader was inspired by my Laundry Closet Space. Janet lives in a rental, so she couldn't paint her laundry space, but boy did she do some damage at making it a workable space for her. 

Janet's Before:

Janet's After: 

Not done but here is where I stopped on Saturday night. Guess what?  My plastic containers were $1 a piece at the dollar tree!  I wanted some cuter/better ones like yours but I will have to add piece by piece over time.  Same with finding decor. Thanks for the inspiration! ~Janet

What I love: Once again I can't stress any more about how important it is to designate baskets and bins for a purpose. Creating a cleaning basket, a basket for light bulbs, extra detergent or rags makes the space more enjoyable to look at. Janet said that her bins were only $1 at the dollar store! I love the green pop! I might need to make my way to dollar tree in the near future. Janet also used a drink dispenser for her detergent. That is genius! I also love how she said she would add pieces over time and find some decor that would work for her. Sometimes when we jump into purchases, we regret them later on. Adding spice and character to your home little by little is what makes it reflect your personality and creates a place that you will love and enjoy!

Thanks Janet for your inspiration!

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How great are these spaces? They aren't fancy but they have function and really that is more important when you are living in your home and using each space daily. I think we sometimes forget that our homes need to function for us. Even though magazines and sometimes blogs portray having tidy, glamorous spaces...they are really not realistic in everyday life. I really enjoyed seeing these real spaces! Have these ladies inspired you to get organized in your pantry or laundry space?

If you would like to send in your before and afters....email them to eatsleepdecorate@gmail.com!

Have a fabulous day!

Home Decor Inspired by the {Oscars}

Lets be honest....we all pretty much watch the Oscars to see the gowns don't we? It is just like buying a magazine to look at the pictures of all the gorgeous rooms. We don't buy them to read the articles or the advertisements, we just drool over all the fabulous inspiration.

Well last night I was sure inspired by those amazing gowns made by Valentino, Gucci and Couture! I honestly couldn't even tell you who won what award! HA! I decided to give you all a little eye candy this Monday morning to start the week off right! Fashion and Home Decor sure inspire each other with color, glitz and glam.....

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Can Jennifer Aniston ever disappoint? I am a fan of red and her strapless gown was gorgeous!

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I am seeing black, gold and white everywhere lately. In Fashion and Home Decorating! Nicole Kidman is Classy and Glamorous for sure in this color combo!

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Anne Hathaway give us a little glimpse back in time to the Audrey Hepburn era. She is just lovely in this pale pink gown!

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Oh Reese! She looks amazing in everything..even her sweats! Love this royal blue with a touch of black.

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Don't see celebrities wearing banana yellow often, but Jane Fonda pulled out all the stops and looks fabulous!

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Love this white chic gown with touches of black and gray around the train. Beautiful!

Source here and here

I seriously think that Helen Hunt stays the same age. Has she changed at all? She is stunning in this Navy Blue Gown with her golden hair and diamond bling.

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Last but certainly not least is this black lace gown worn by Sandra Bullock. Loving the classy pattern and sheen against her pale skin. Fabulous!

Okay my friends...your turn! Did you watch the Oscars? Which Fashion/Decor combo inspired you the most?

Happy Monday!!