New Ideas and How I Keep Them Organized

It has been said that creative minds are rarely tidy. I usually find this true for me. I can speculate over furniture placements for a single room for hours, ideas toppling one after another through my mind, weighing pros and cons, mentally measuring and visualizing. And if I open my mouth to give voice to them, the words come out messy in unfinished sentences. My Hubby is a big fan of this obsessive state(NOT!).

My computer has almost that many tabs open whenever I am "working." Poor thing. 

And how does one keep track of all those browser tabs? The answer is one that Steve and Blue would be proud of: a handy dandy notebook.

I use a notebook and a daily planner to help me keep track of ideas and a time frame for their accomplishment. Along with what housework I should work on that day and what I want to make for supper. Because I really will forget to fold the laundry, what with all that thinking of rearranging bookshelves. And keeping children alive.

If you take a peek inside of either one, you will see many notes in the margins, scribbled sketches, room layouts(that are definitely NOT to scale), questions to ponder, snippets of blog posts, and marked out self-imposed deadlines. You may notice that my method of organization is completely UN-organized, with many half-finished ideas and sentences in no particular order.

You will also see a lot of lists that I haven't looked at twice. I love to make lists. Usually I can write things down, never look at it again, and still vaguely remember it. Something about that act of writing it down helps to solidify an idea or plan in my mind. Lists help me keep my ideas straight and organized.

It's definitely not a foolproof method. I am notorious for ignoring my schedule and seeing merely guidelines to be changed at whim, but it helps. I'm still working on it.

Coffee helps too.

What are your favorite tried and true methods of idea organization? 

DIY Floor Pillows for Kids

Back almost a year ago when I started planning the new nursery, I knew I wanted some child-size floor pillows. Kids are always playing on the floor and it just seemed right to give them some big comfy pillows to lounge on.

Since navy and green was the decided upon color scheme, I kept my eyes out for some cool solid or patterned material that I could make into pillow covers. I found a great green tablecloth at the thrift store that was perfect! I used some of the material for a Christmas pillow and, after the floor pillow, I still have enough for one more for around the house. For a second floor pillow, I chose a cadet blue chevron stripe that I found at Hancock Fabric.

Because children will be laying on them and making them flat, I decided to buy feather inserts for my covers so I could fluff them. And if I decide that I'm finding way too many little feathers that little hands have pulled out, I can just switch out the inserts. Because I bought them cheap at Ikea. I think both 26"x 26" feather euro pillows were about $15 each.

To make my little kiddie floor pillows, I followed this great tutorial from Vintage Revivals. I only cut my material an inch bigger than my inserts to allow for a seam. I didn't want my covers too roomy.

Just ignore my not matched up pattern at the seams. I'm pretty sure that's a feat of magic, lining up prints when you sew. I doubt I will master it anytime soon. But, if I'm not analyzing other people's pillows at their houses, they must not be analyzing mine when they're at my house. There is beauty in imperfection and they are made with love.

At least that's my rationale.

In reality, I struggle to sew a straight seam. I'm hoping I'll get better with practice but I think I'm a hopeless case of impatience. 

Little Man approved.

I can't wait until this nursery is completely finished and I can show it to you! We're working on purchasing a storage system for toy organization, hanging a gallery wall, and finishing up the curtains. Once those are checked off the list, just you wait! It's gonna be awesome!

That Time I Decided to Paint the Kitchen...{Part 2}

Last week I started telling our kitchen story. Today, it's time for part 2. If you would like to catch up, I suggest starting with The Kitchen, then reading The Leak, and finishing up with Part 1.

I left off with the kitchen painted and I wrote about The Leak and how we would need to replace the floor. Well, two weeks before my due date, they came to measure the floor and order it. We were all hoping that it could be done the following week, but an ice storm in Georgia prevented the flooring from getting here. So much for having it done before I was due.

Our newest little decided to come a few days early and they were all set to start ripping out the old floor the day after I came home from the hospital. Yippee. But at least I was getting a new floor! That was a happy thought. At least until they pulled it up and found Asbestos.

It was a small amount, and it wasn't disintegrating into dust, but we decided to leave the house anyway since we had little ones.

So after spending one night in my own bed with a new baby, we had to pack everything up and head to my parents' for a few days. And they had just moved 6 people, 3 dogs, and 1 cat, into a new house the day before the kid was born.

It was craziness.

I'm a little hazy on the details now but somehow along the way, in the middle of all this, it happened that we needed to replace the old yellowy toilet in the downstairs bathroom. And we all agreed that a yellowy sink did NOT go with a new white toilet. I'm really not sure what it ever went with...anyway, we got a new white sink!

Finally, the floor and the bathroom were finished and we were able to come home. And this is where we are now with the kitchen...

I'm not completely done with the kitchen(obviously, right?). The window above the sink and a door still need paint, the painters tape needs to come down in spots, and, because of baby, I still haven't had a chance to find a home for all the stuff that was moved around. Eh. That's life.

But it's progress.

And a new floor!

I'd love to paint the cabinets and change out the hardware and hang some open shelving above the counter on the left as well. And there's no way I could forget rugs and window treatments! Maybe some nice bamboo roman shades? Ah, yes!

The bathroom changes will be coming in another post so watch out for it!

What are you thinking of the changes so far? Have you ever started a simple project that opened a whole 'nother can of worms?

March Review 2014

A new month! April is here and, hopefully, so is the spring weather. It's been beboppin' around from 70 degrees one day to 40 the next. Today has been nice. Virginia is confused.

There's not a whole lot of posts from March. I'm still working on getting a good schedule down and fighting the tired. But it was a good month. Sure went fast! Here's the March Review!

New Blog Design!

I got my read on.

My lamps have issues.

I got creative with my lack of entry space.

If you have a blog with a March review type post, leave me a link! I'd love to come by and visit you.

That Time I Decided to Paint the Kitchen...{Part 1}

It's the kitchen story! Or at least the first part. This story is so epic, it needs a few posts to tell it all. It kinda turned into a nightmare.

I posted about my kitchen and the outdated-ness of it a while back. The old, stained linoleum, knotty cabinets, layers of wallpaper, and metallic gold trim...it was hideous. And just way too busy and dark. I love my kitchens full of light! The only thing going for this room was the windows.

And so, I set about to stripping the layers of wallpaper, using only a spray bottle filled with vinegar/water and a wallpaper scraper. Seriously, don't even think about using that wallpaper removal gel. Useless junk. Vinegar is the way to go!

In several months time I had only finished one half of the room and had to bring in family and friends to help me to get the room de-wallpapered and painted before baby came. We started painting the month before I was due. We were cutting it super close. Because I procrastinate. And because of mommy brain.

It took a couple days to get it finished but it was so totally worth it! Now we are light and bright! I just have to find the time to get those cabinets painted too.

After we got this lovely coat of white paint up, we discovered that we had a leak under the floor in the bathroom off the kitchen. I wrote more about that experience and getting it fixed here. Fixing the leak created a big hole in our floor and a need to replace the linoleum. The part of the story that hasn't been told yet, is what happened when they started pulling up the old flooring...which I will tell in part 2!