A Breath of Fresh Erin: May 2012

A CLUTTERLESS CLOSET.

I think I am addicted to decorating. I daydream about decorating, I make decorating to-do lists, and I brake for estate sales.

All that to say, I really love decorating & I'm quickly running out of new spaces to decorate in our house. EEK!

We were on vacation in January and as I was browsing through the pages of the all-inspiring

Design Sponge at Home book, I came across the picture below and LOVED the idea of putting wallpaper inside a closet!

photo from Design Sponge at Home

The wheels started turning in my head and right away I knew what our next home project would entail.

The closet in our study!

It took a couple of months to bring this closet to life but it's finally finished and well worth the wait.

I am super excited to share the clutter-be-gone transformation!

As I look back on these terrible BEFORE pictures, I wish I had cleaned things up a bit before snapping my photos.

What a messy looking closet! Don't judge. Nevertheless you can see the closet in its original state,

housing winter clothes and all sorts of other goods.

First step of the transformation, cleaned everything out of the cluttered closet and made my way to Lowe's to choose paint colors. As you can see, I tend to go overboard on paint swatches. I mean how can you not when it's so fun to pick out color samples? After staring at my paint options, I decided to go with the golden yellow.

Here I am, painting in action.

Next step, recruited Tom.

Then we removed the closet doors and I headed to Lowe's (again) with my dad to purchase boards for the closet shelves. After measuring the shelves to accommodate the closet decor, Tom got busy cutting the boards to size in our backyard!

After each shelf went up I was right behind him, ready to decorate each cubbyhole.

At last, the AFTER pictures of our study closet!

the top half.

the bottom half.

I couldn't resist including all of the closet close-ups.
Let's take it from the top.

This 3-D tic-tac-toe was on clearance at Marshalls.

West Texas mason jars (to-be-filled).

If any lights go out in our house,

I know where all of our light bulbs are now!

I stumbled across these numbered metal cans in TJ Maxx (for $2.99 each)!

The fake succulents are from Michaels.

The tin cans/wire caddie was a freebie at a charity garage sale

(when I purchased this desk chair last May).

Two of my favorite items are the

rusty over-sized metal tape dispenser (it actually works!) & the large wooden spool.

This sign made me laugh :)

Knew it was a must-have for the closet decor.

Red toolbox and turquoise tackle box

were both found in Clyde,Texas for FREE!

Wire crate and wooden boxes were purchased at Canton's First Monday.

The vintage cameras were purchased at various antique stores.

Books bought from thrift stores and estate sales.

Bayley wondering why I am on the floor taking pictures

and not playing with her instead!

Lastly, the

BEFORE & AFTER

comparison.

My ultimate goal with this project was to re-do our cluttered closet
and transform it into a functional, organizational and decorative space.

When working on various projects, I can never seem to find the items I am in need of.
I'm always asking my husband questions like: Have you seen my hot glue gun? Where did I put the measuring tape?
I need to find my scalloped scissors, do you remember the last time I used them?

This transformation has been a lifesaver because not only did our closet become much prettier, but I have neatly tucked away all of my tools, sewing gear and crafty items inside of the boxes, crates and tins inside our closet.
Hallelujah, organization!!

Now, the key will be to put all the tools and such back where they came from so I can

quit pestering Clay with my dis-organizational questions, ha :0)

Hoping this project will inspire you to look at your closets in a different light!

OH HAPPY DAY!

My parents surprised Clay & me with the most amazing gift last month while we were celebrating my brother Reed's birthday. The surprise took place in my parent's living room, watching Reed open his birthday presents.

One gift stood out to me as it was in a bright pink sack with purple tissue paper....which of course I thought was an interesting choice of colors for Reed. Pink for me, obvi. Pink for my brother, odd. Other than the girlish wrapping, I didn't give the present a second thought.

We were down to the last gift (the PINK one) when my mom announced that it was for me. I was immediately confused. A gift for ME on my BROTHER'S birthday? Hmm, this was not the birthday norm. Knowing my family, my initial thought was - gag gift. I felt certain it would be something funny. Boy, was I wrong!

My mom plopped the present in my lap...much heavier than I expected! When I opened the gift sack, to my surprise, beneath the purple tissue paper was our beautiful wedding album!!! At first I was in shock, quickly followed by tears of joy. BEST.GIFT.EVER.

To fill some of you in, Clay & I were married March 1, 2008 and have been without our wedding album AND wedding images for FOUR years! It's been a long time coming, but I cannot emphasize how much I love our wedding album. I love the story it tells and most of all, I love my parents for giving us this beautiful book of wedding images we will treasure forever and ever!

Here we are afterwards with our wedding album in hand. Beyond thankful :)