I decided to start a new blog for a variety of reasons. I wanted to change some things up and document our new house going up. It is the first place that we will really settle into as a familyand have enough space to grow. It is the only place we have/will live in that we have the intention of staying in long term. I want to learn to blog better and write better. I wanted a new look and pat. I will still blog about our life as a family on it, I just wanted a fresh start! So please come follow me over at the new spot if you wanna keep up with us!
ourdesertcottage.com
Thanks!!
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
House Goals
Now that I am home now, I wanna take a minute and set some house goals for myself. I know that if I write something down,I am about 10x more likely to achieve it. We bought a fixer-upper of sorts, though it doesn't need anything structural per se, there is lots of little lipstick makeovers that can be done so to make our house more cozy and polished.
I have thought about doing little weekly mini challenges and make over a small space or area on a teeny tiny budget (like $0-$50) and challenging myself to make over areas on a dime budget. Just something fun I have been thinking about. I am striving for a clutter and junk free house. Sometimes I feel like my house is clean until you open a drawer or a cupboard. I want to go through the house top to bottom and maximize our small space with what we need and use and get rid of what we don't.I seriously LOVE throwing/donating/purging stuff...... Neil doesn't. Therein lies the rub :)
My Linsay Do List:
1. Organize the laundry room and come up with a better "pantry" solution. Perhaps the biggest knock on this house is the lack of a pantry. We have been using a bookshelf in the laundry room but it gets too dusty and doesn't fit well in the room. I am thinking the Habitat for Humanity ReStore or something of the like for a solution. I need organization and clean out the "junk" that collects there.
2. Do something with our half bath. It is seriously small, just a little sink, toilet and mirror off our kitchen. I would LOVE to paint it a bold color, maybe get a cheapie new mirror and fun towel hanger.
3. Organize and clean every closet in this house. Less is more. I wanna get rid of the junk and little stuff. I want to donate a significant amount of our master closet that we don't use and get it off the floor. In our line closet, I wanna line the shelves and get some baskets for organization.
4. Go through every single cabinet and reorganize/clean out. We actually have enough cabinets for our food, kitchen items and dishes. But our cupboards are packed full of items we don't use very often and duplicate sets of dishes, glasses and kitchen utensils. While I don't wanna donate everything, I would like to make it more efficient and have space for what we do use and store what is only done every once and awhile.
5. Thrift and decorate the guest room aka Grandma Helen's room. I haven't done a thing with this room since we moved it. It has cheap furniture, no paint or decoration. I wanna do a fun color scheme and maybe utilize my favorite local blog store The Backyard Boutique to score some inexpensive and fun furniture or accent piece.
6. Spray paint outside metal benches and get backyard BBQ and swim ready. I am thinking about stringing these lights from World Market under our covered patio for a fun eclectic look as well as some torches, potted plants and replace our plants that have died. If I can find the funds, I would love new cushions, a potting bench and outdoor narrow sofa style table to put food and drinks on for our buffet style BBQ's. We spend a lot of time outside so a tip top outdoor space would be great.
7. This is the big one..... clean and uber organize the garage. I mean everything into tubs from boxes, shelving, tool hooks, sweep it out etc. It is a jungle in there. This may be my budget exception but I will stalk Craigslist and ReStores for things that would work. This will take a long time, probably require help from the hubs and a big St Vincent de Paul donation.
I am giving myself till May when we leave for South Carolina/Spain. I'll take pictures and update. If anyone has tips or tricks or suggestions I would love to hear them!
I have thought about doing little weekly mini challenges and make over a small space or area on a teeny tiny budget (like $0-$50) and challenging myself to make over areas on a dime budget. Just something fun I have been thinking about. I am striving for a clutter and junk free house. Sometimes I feel like my house is clean until you open a drawer or a cupboard. I want to go through the house top to bottom and maximize our small space with what we need and use and get rid of what we don't.I seriously LOVE throwing/donating/purging stuff...... Neil doesn't. Therein lies the rub :)
My Linsay Do List:
1. Organize the laundry room and come up with a better "pantry" solution. Perhaps the biggest knock on this house is the lack of a pantry. We have been using a bookshelf in the laundry room but it gets too dusty and doesn't fit well in the room. I am thinking the Habitat for Humanity ReStore or something of the like for a solution. I need organization and clean out the "junk" that collects there.
2. Do something with our half bath. It is seriously small, just a little sink, toilet and mirror off our kitchen. I would LOVE to paint it a bold color, maybe get a cheapie new mirror and fun towel hanger.
3. Organize and clean every closet in this house. Less is more. I wanna get rid of the junk and little stuff. I want to donate a significant amount of our master closet that we don't use and get it off the floor. In our line closet, I wanna line the shelves and get some baskets for organization.
4. Go through every single cabinet and reorganize/clean out. We actually have enough cabinets for our food, kitchen items and dishes. But our cupboards are packed full of items we don't use very often and duplicate sets of dishes, glasses and kitchen utensils. While I don't wanna donate everything, I would like to make it more efficient and have space for what we do use and store what is only done every once and awhile.
5. Thrift and decorate the guest room aka Grandma Helen's room. I haven't done a thing with this room since we moved it. It has cheap furniture, no paint or decoration. I wanna do a fun color scheme and maybe utilize my favorite local blog store The Backyard Boutique to score some inexpensive and fun furniture or accent piece.
6. Spray paint outside metal benches and get backyard BBQ and swim ready. I am thinking about stringing these lights from World Market under our covered patio for a fun eclectic look as well as some torches, potted plants and replace our plants that have died. If I can find the funds, I would love new cushions, a potting bench and outdoor narrow sofa style table to put food and drinks on for our buffet style BBQ's. We spend a lot of time outside so a tip top outdoor space would be great.
7. This is the big one..... clean and uber organize the garage. I mean everything into tubs from boxes, shelving, tool hooks, sweep it out etc. It is a jungle in there. This may be my budget exception but I will stalk Craigslist and ReStores for things that would work. This will take a long time, probably require help from the hubs and a big St Vincent de Paul donation.
I am giving myself till May when we leave for South Carolina/Spain. I'll take pictures and update. If anyone has tips or tricks or suggestions I would love to hear them!
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
My Little Model
I am having a lot of fun with my new DSLR camera. I desperately need some lessons, I am by no means even a decent photgrapher. But I am trying nonetheless. Scarlett was wearing a white onesie the other night and I think white onesies on babies are just the cutest. So, I got a couple shots. Such a cutie baby girl.
 |
| Scarlett Sinclaire. Just over 4 months. My lil Buggy Lou. |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
