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Christmas Tablescape

December 1, 2014 · by Maria · 2 Comments

Every year I say that I am not decorating as much as I did the year before. Before I finish the dissertation on how I am taking it easy, and enjoying the ride, I find myself already covered in glitter and looking through Pinterest. This year was no different. I didn’t go crazy with Pinterest ideas but I did use glitter and bits of it will be in my hair until next Labor Day, at least. I decided to do a “simple” (I always feel I have to put that in quotations) silver and gold Christmas tablescape.

Most of the items I used were not Christmas items but when united with certain touches, the overall look was definitely a winter inspired table. I bought these silver embossed placemats from Target and I know that I can re-use them throughout the year. I also like the contrast of the silver and gold so I added gold napkin rings to the dark gray napkins.

I spray painted these pine cones silver and added clear glitter while the paint was still wet. Glitter is something you always regret after-the-fact but in the meantime it looks great! 🙂

I purchased the plates at Crate & Barrel in a Christmas clearance sale. I love the fact that they are “holiday” but can also work year-round. Especially the dinner plate which only has a gold rim and no other design. After Christmas sales are the best for stocking up on items that you can use the following holiday season.

(The lighting on some of these pictures is horrible because I took them with my camera phone, since I didn’t have my favorite camera that day.)

The centerpiece is a conglomerate of items, mostly items that I display year-round in our home. A deer that I found at Target, a gold-croco tray, a silver vase with 2 stems of evergreen and candles. The votives are also from Target and the large candle is from Erin Condren.

The rest of the table has glittered trees and candelabra. Our dinner table seats eight, and I was able to fit quite a bit on the table without it looking overly-crowded.

So that’s one Christmas Tablescape, I will share another look soon. If you follow me on Pinterest, you may notice me pinning tutorials on “how to get glitter out of your hair” but don’t fret, tomorrow I am back to researching new years party ideas. Hang tight.

Maria

Client Project – The Makeup Drawer

November 28, 2014 · by Maria · 2 Comments

A few days ago I shared pictures of a laundry room before-and-after, in my client’s home. Today I am sharing another spot in her home, her makeup drawer.

Here is the before picture. The biggest problem in the drawer was the amount of things it contained, the items simply didn’t fit in the space. Some items like the nail polish, we placed in another station along with files and like items. Then we tackled what was left.

The first step in organizing any space is clearing it out.

Clear out and clean the drawer. Makeup drawers get really dirty and should be cleaned out periodically.

Secondly, go through all the makeup and decide what can get tossed.

Sometimes we keep makeup that we don’t even like because it is from a good brand. Toss it. Nothing is as valuable as clearing your space and making room for products you truly like. Also, get rid of items that may have expired.

Find organizers that fit your drawer.

Purchase an acrylic organizer or simply use cardboard jewelry boxes that will fit the space. Jewelry boxes are great because bracelet boxes are perfect for lip and eye liners and square jewelry boxes are perfect for corralling lipsticks and blushes. If you want to give them a uniform look, cover them in a pretty gift wrap.

Create categories for your makeup

Place the items back in the drawer and create categories. Try to place all your blushes in one spot, same for lipsticks, eyeshadows, liners and lip glosses. Having these categories will help you stay organized.

And finally, here is the after!

Last year I organized another client’s makeup drawer, you can check out the before-and-after pictures HERE.

Happy Organizing!

Maria

Another related Graceful Order post:

Makeup Organization

Organizing Chunky Necklaces

November 24, 2014 · by Maria · Leave a Comment

Storing or Organizing chunky necklaces is challenging, at least it was for me. I don’t wear too much jewelry but I do like statement pieces. I own large rings and I love how a chunky necklace can elevate any outfit. I have had a standup jewelry case for years and although it works for some of my jewelry, my necklaces were becoming a tangled mess.

Since I had some empty wall space in my closet, I decided to dedicate that area to my necklaces. The first thing I did was purchase this tie rack on Amazon and that took care of most of my necklaces. A tie rack is perfect because it has so many spots to place necklaces individually.

I then added some mix-matched hooks from the Young House Love line at Target. I don’t think Target stores carry them anymore but they still have a few here online.

One of the hooks was perfect for small chains.

And of course, like with any project, I brought in some “pretty” in the form of a little plant.

You can read more about the rest of my closet HERE.

Now that I can see my necklaces displayed, I will wear them more often. Maybe I will wear one today. Or maybe I will stay in my pj’s until noon. Or maybe I will wear one over my reindeer pajama shirt. Yup, that’s what I will do.

Happy organizing!

Maria

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Client Project – Laundry Room Organization

November 21, 2014 · by Maria · 8 Comments

It has been a while since I have done a good ol’ before-and-after post. They are my favorite posts on other blogs and if they are about laundry rooms, all the better. Last year I shared with you my laundry room, to which I have made some changes and I will be sharing soon. Today I am sharing a client project and I hope you like it!

I started to work on this home a few months ago, one room at a time. The home was not disorganized but my client wanted the organization to go to another level. She was pretty sure where things were located, but systems had to be created and labeled and lots of purging had to happen.

When we started with the laundry room, it looked like this.

Here is another view – nothing horrible but it had a lot of potential.

Start with a clean slate.

The first thing we did was remove everything from the shelves.

Keep a donate basket and a trash bin nearby.

Immediately we spotted items that were either expired or my client knew she would never use. If the items were in good condition they went into a bin for donations. Many items went into the trash. You will immediately feel you are making progress by removing these items and you will start to feel “lighter”.

Purchase bins or baskets to contain the items that are staying or find unused bins around the house.

If you can find containers that are the same color, it will help the overall look to be more organized and cohesive. I purchased some plastic baskets to contain the items that were going to stay. I found these at Target. I like baskets with no lids for the laundry area because you are less likely to put back items inside a lidded bin, especially frequently used items.

We knew the luggage had to stay. It is a great idea to store smaller luggage inside the larger one and reduce the amount of space that they take up. One basket was designated for batteries and lightbulbs, the other for laundry products, the other for travel toiletries and the last one was miscellaneous. I will be honest, my least favorite label is “Miscellaneous” because it can turn into a catchall, but sometimes it is necessary if you have a few items that cannot take up a whole basket.

There was enough room to add the laundry basket to the top rack so it wouldn’t have to be on the floor. My client was going to add the labels after I took the pictures so you will notice they are missing.

Add decorative touches to your laundry room.

Yes, laundry rooms are there to serve a purpose, but adding a few decorations will make doing laundry so much fun! Just kidding, that won’t happen. But it will make it a happier spot if you add a cute little plant, or a clock or a laundry printable to your laundry area.

I hope you enjoyed this post and I will share more about this home next week.

Happy Organizing!

Maria

Organize Under Your Kitchen Sink

November 17, 2014 · by Maria · 8 Comments

Organizing under the kitchen sink and under the bathroom sink is always a challenge due to the plumbing and hoses that you have to work around. I have shared with you my old system for organizing under the kitchen sink but I now have a new and improved system that I am excited to share with you.

There was nothing essentially “wrong” with my old system but recently I changed some things around in my closet and I was left with an extra shoe rack. It was a small, narrow rack and I thought, “wouldn’t it be cool if it fit under the kitchen sink?”. I tried it and it was a perfect fit! There was even enough room to place my cutting boards right beside the rack. I keep my cutting boards inside a file sorter.

I purchased two small plastic bins at Target. One bin holds napkins and the other kitchen towels. I now store all my glass food containers on the second and third shelf of the shoe organizer. They are so easy to access!

On the cabinet door, I placed a large over the cabinet basket that holds garbage bags and storage bags. All the additional storage bags and sponges are on the other side of the shoe rack.

On the opposite cabinet door, a grocery bag container holds all my bags – that happen to be all from Target! 🙂 There is a similar one here but most home stores have a version of it available.

What else do you keep under your kitchen sink? Do you also find it a challenging spot to organize?

xo,

Maria