Clutter- BE GONE! Decluttered, re-organized, diy renos! *New Pics: WALL QUOTES MANIA*

[$avvy$hopper]

Spring is in the air... and also in my entrance hallway! Thanks to more Dollar store finds, I spent about $8 plus tax on this bring-on-spring makeover:


I'm soooo happy with all the cute products at Dollarama...still can't believe the peel and stick wall art deals they have! The wall quote isn't new...had that previously and just moved it up the wall to make room for the birdies ($2 I believe). Paired with the lovely blooms (4 stems @ $1 ea, $2 for the vase) it's a nice new look and puts me in the mood to tackle the real flowers in the garden. All in due time! Happy Spring!

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Since last post we've picked up a few more items to spruce up our spaces...little by little!


The main floor bathroom got a new toilet (new dual flush system...we sent in a rebate for it!), new window and fresh flowers. I'll keep up with the fresh flowers in there...a nice touch! Another SCer mentioned using orchids...will look out for it next time. Thankful for nice weather, will paint the window frame soon.


More dollar store finds! The new canisters and dispensers and a new "chic" to the kitchen and pantry. Will grab more of the canisters for dry goods and will pick up one more oil bottle...plan to use my scrapbooking stickers so it'll be labelled for olive oil.


I saw this piece at Homesense and just could not leave it at the store. Since I hung it up, I'm now inspired for a new, more modern look in our family room/den so I hope to find a new area rug and pillow shams for the couch.

In other news...I'm still decluttering!!!! Ack! Will it EVER END???! I swear I cleaned out the guest room closet and admired my work for a few weeks. Somehow it's back to being a total mess. One of these days that whole room will be a retreat of sorts...for now, it's still the "everything" room! LOL!
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For 2012 we've welcomed new wall quotes into spaces that were spiffed up last summer and fall. Got them at the Buck or Two store and I am in love with them. Three are up right now and i have 3 more to use but may hold off til other spaces are diy'd/reno'd.

Here's the quotes:


This one is under the library window...beautiful to read when you go up/down the stairs!


This one is above the entrance to the living room...it's my new fave!


This quote is in the newly painted main floor washroom. The white wall across from the accent blue needed something. Hubby laughed and said "you're putting up stuff to read while on the can?" Well, why not?! Get inspired!
Thanks for reading and happy new year!

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It's been a busy but fun summer! I've been busy de-cluttering several spaces in our home and trying my hand at a few renos/re-organizing of stuff just to freshen things up. It's all in the before and after pics and I'm super proud of our efforts. Here's what we've done so far:

"Library Window Before"


"Library Window AFTER!"

Super easy refresh of this space. Clearly the stuff I had there before was not proportionate to this space at all! The flowers are from my sis' wedding, found a vase in my basement, took some long gold twigs from another arrangement I had in the guest bathroom, fixed it all up and VOILA instant stardom! Much better fit for this size of window.

"Info Centre/Pantry before"


"Info Centre/now A real pantry AFTER!"


Just a bit of time to find a new spot for the dvds, knick knacks and other stuff we did need...some got decluttered for good! Nothing else needed but a wipe down and now my pantry items aren't in the basement storage anymore! Plus, I gained an extra cupboard of space now that those items sit here. It just needs a door and guess what...I'm going to MAKE IT! One of the sliding closet doors in dd's room is busted so I took it down, nice particle board that can be easily cut to size, I'll add some trim, paint it up nice, add hinges and door knob, good to go! Will post pics when that's done. Pantry is a little light right now...time to fill up!

More stuff to come...

It's almost embarrassing to show this one...the linen closet:
but the after pic rocks!


Again, just time and using up some old baskets that were all over the house not being used! This space has lots of vertical space to be used up so there's gonna be another "AFTER" pic soon...will visit Solutions for shelving or cubes.


Okay, the story behind this next one is this: I was watching the Nate Berkus Show one afternoon and he said something so simple I acted on it right away. He said something along the lines of redecorating not needing to be a chore or a challenge, start with moving your couch to another spot in the room and work from there. Well, that was just the push I needed cuz it's not in our budget this year to update the living room but working with what you've got works just as well in the interim. So I did exactly that, moved the loveseat probably three-four feet to the left and worked from there...a simple change but it created a more cozy feel in the living room and created a better focal point for the larger picture and side table which is visible from the entrance hallway. Again $0 (this year anyway!)

Before:


After:


Funniest thing was hubby caught on to the change about an hour after being in the living room. Ha Ha Ha! Gotta love him!

Simple, simple updates and it's making my life much happier! Great to get things freshened up and clearing out the "mess"! Still got a few more things on the go..will post more pics soon.

So for anyone holding off on those changes, I say...get on it and use what you've got! You'll surprise yourself!


Front entrance and hallway: bad wallpaper story! couldn't wait to get it down...this reno cost a bit but it was well worth it.
Rented a paint stripper for two days and hubby got to it! There was a larger mirror on the wall but we had already taken it down and put the new one up as inspiration to get this reno done.

Bonus deal on the paint! Dulux just opened in my area and they had a BOGO sale - Saved $51 and I got a 4pc paint kit for FREE! love that.

Entrance before: me and my dd in front of said wallpaper...be gone!


Entrance AFTER!


I'm so so so happy with the transformation! I bought the small side table at Homesense for $80. Might have gotten it cheaper somewhere else but I'd searched so many stores and didn't find the one that was just right. When I saw this one I practically dragged it and the saleslady to the cash register! LOL. The glass pumpkin was free thanks to a great Bombay sale at the CNE and a gifted GC from a friend. Was $30 but that day there was 40% off plus not tax! I also picked up two lamps for when we reno the master bedroom...each was $49 reg but I snagged 'em for $19 each and no tax!!!!!!

I feel the hallway needs one more thing and I have a previous wall quote I can use but will wait to see if anything else comes up. Anywho, white trim and "Shakespeare" Green paint throughout really livened things up! Now when I walk in, I smile!
UPDATE: Added the wall quote and love it! Found it at an "Everything for a Dollar" store a couple of years back and kept it knowing I'd put it up someplace special someday. Guests love it too. What a day brightener!

Drawers!

Sorry I don't have a before picture...had already cleaned this one up before I thought to post our decluttering pics. Needless to say, it was none too pretty and I was fighting other clothes just to get what a wanted. Well that fight is over! Thanks to this clever storage unit from Solutions (paid $14 I think) I have all my delicates stored neatly and more visually attractive. I've put just a few items in the pic to show how it can be used. I have everything I need in that drawer now and I can still see drawer space! How lovely!



Solutions has 3 different sizes of these trays/boxes and the position of the slots are different...also based on your drawer's size you can fit two in there if you have the space! Slide in...fill it...smile!

One tip: it doesn't come with gripper strips at the bottom so I'd suggest you place a gripper liner underneath or cut and paste some grip liner to strategic places on the bottom to avoid it from moving.
I'm getting another on for the dreaded sock drawer...now there's wrestling match that rivals the WWE!


We're working on the main floor washroom and the hall closet. A first phase makeover's been done in both but I'm hoping to get a bit more done before the "reveal"! LOL

Back to re-organizing! Hope you're doing well!

Main floor washroom: Yay, it's done!
So this room also had a ton of wallpaper so we stripped that out when doing the hallway and lived in "tween" stage until we found the perfect paint colour. The pics speak for themselves!


I'm sooooo in love with the new colour...it's called "Yacht Club" and makes me feel like getting on a yacht and sailing away! We've paired it with simple white for a fresh, clean look and love how bright yet inviting it is. The lighting is from Rona...on sale for $12! Love it! And now that I can see more design potential we'll probably add a few more things on the walls and maybe a window treatment. For now, it's a pleasant oasis!

Okay, now here's another part of the update, because we're holding off major renos til next year we put of doing anything about the vanity this year (we may keep it...who knows). Anywho, with the new accent wall colour and lots of light bouncing off the white walls, we couldn't have so much "cream" in the vanity cabinets...needed a deeper colour to balance it out...so I went from cream to this:


Guess what I used?!!!!! No seriously, guess?!!! Okay, I'll tell ya...behold my $3 cabinet upcycle...I used SHELF LINING from the Dollar Store! Never underestimate the design potential of items for $1!!! I saw it while grabbing some other stuff and thought..well why not give it a try...I can always take it off if I don't like it, nothing permanent. Oh my goodness...I love it! A little brown paint to cover the remaining uncovered cabinetry and it's good to go! How's that for using what you've got!

Thanks for reading!

[amandamck]

Looks great, I was bored when my kids went to school on the first day so I rearranged our front room. My DD is 5 she came from school and asked "Does the world change when I'm at school" I just decorated my front hall for Fall, I love little changes.

[$power]

This is the kind of stuff that totally excites me. I have done many makeovers for friends and it's such a thrill to refresh things without major money involved.

Good for you SS, I agree the flowers are in proportion to the window and the love seat looks much better directly underneath the window.
I can feel the mental clarity you are benefiting from now that your closets and pantry are done. Way to go friend !!

[MillieH]

A W e S o M e

[$avvy$hopper]

Looks great, I was bored when my kids went to school on the first day so I rearranged our front room. My DD is 5 she came from school and asked "Does the world change when I'm at school" I just decorated my front hall for Fall, I love little changes.

Thanks amandamck! Ha ha, love what your dd said! Amazing what a little change here and there can make! I think now that things feel more like "us", I'll redecorate more for each season. I'm inspired now!

This is the kind of stuff that totally excites me. I have done many makeovers for friends and it's such a thrill to refresh things without major money involved.

Good for you SS, I agree the flowers are in proportion to the window and the love seat looks much better directly underneath the window.
I can feel the mental clarity you are benefiting from now that your closets and pantry are done. Way to go friend !!

thanks $power and you've got it right on "mental clarity". Being able to get what you need when you need it at that precise moment is huge...the linen closet was a riot but now I open and close that door just to see it again. thanks for the thumbs up! I feel great! I don't plan to do much clothes shopping this fall so this is my new wardrobe of sorts!

and since you're an expert, if you see something in my pics that can take it from awesome to awesomer, let me know!

A W e S o M e

Thanks MillieH!

[$avvy$hopper]

thanks for looking all. your comments are keeping my energy up for the rest of the "refresh". but I must log off...dinner pots are calling!

[MrsSunshine]

wow your are GORGOUS. seriously. ya im a woman commenting on another womans good looks... . anyway.. i do this every once in a while too.. get tired of the same old. and move stuff around.. love the kids comments when they walk in the door from school.... 'again' *insert roll eye here*..

its amazing how one simple thing. an old vase with some new flowers from the $store or moving pics to a darker frame etc can really change the look of a room. even shopping at garage /rummage sales cheap cheap deals.

nice job btw. can't wait to see more pics.

[cath007]

WTG!!!Need your inspiration to refresh and organized my stuff
Stunning before and after
Your window look so shinny after the change...I almost taught was a new one

[cath007]

You are and handy women wtg!!!

[coupon girl]

nice changes -well we are painting our living room too and dining room-it used to be an forest green-for 13 years have had that -now it is a nice brown

[cath007]

nice changes -well we are painting our living room too and dining room-it used to be an forest green-for 13 years have had that -now it is a nice brown

That comment just make me thinking of my sold house 4 years ago...first It was white after it was blue and the last one was an orange that was beautiful ...and now back to clear paint with the new owner...amazing what change and painting could do)

[jamcoupies]

good job on diy.....me & my dd got a lot of projects too....halfway done i like your window

[mindymouse]

great job.....my ultimate dream is to have someone come into my home and declutter everything, I've tried to so many times, but get bogged down with 3 kids, cooking, cleaning etc.....

[ancarett]

Fabulous job: sometimes all we need is elbow grease and vision to make big changes in our world.

[$avvy$hopper]

wow your are GORGOUS. seriously. ya im a woman commenting on another womans good looks... . anyway.. i do this every once in a while too.. get tired of the same old. and move stuff around.. love the kids comments when they walk in the door from school.... 'again' *insert roll eye here*.. its amazing how one simple thing. an old vase with some new flowers from the $store or moving pics to a darker frame etc can really change the look of a room. even shopping at garage /rummage sales cheap cheap deals.nice job btw. can't wait to see more pics.

Awww, (blush)! Thanks for the kind compliment. Now that I've started, I look at every corner and space differently...I'm in the zone. Won't be long before my fam starts rolling the eyes too!

WTG!!!Need your inspiration to refresh and organized my stuff
Stunning before and after
Your window look so shinny after the change...I almost taught was a new one

thanks! I really like how this one turned out...I've wanted to update it for a while but with so much on the go it just stayed on the list for a year. i love walking up the stairs.

You are and handy women wtg!!!

Thanks! I'll admit I get that bug from Debbie Travis. I've been watching her shows since she was small time on The Painted House and she remains an inspiration for me..especially with the "I can do that" type of projects. After the door for the pantry, the next project is the use the second closet door to create a headboard for my dd's bed. Her room is getting an ultimate diy makeover but it'll take more time.

nice changes -well we are painting our living room too and dining room-it used to be an forest green-for 13 years have had that -now it is a nice brown

good on you for using the earth tones. i'd love to see which shade of brown you used.

good job on diy.....me & my dd got a lot of projects too....halfway done i like your window

excellent update on your end jamcoupies. all the best with the rest of the projects...post pics! Thanks re comps on the window. The stained glass effect is a window film- not sure what the real name for it is - previous owner did it and I love it.

great job.....my ultimate dream is to have someone come into my home and declutter everything, I've tried to so many times, but get bogged down with 3 kids, cooking, cleaning etc.....

thanks mindymouse! i hear ya, life is busy...hope your dream comes true!

Fabulous job: sometimes all we need is elbow grease and vision to make big changes in our world.

Thanks so much. Elbow grease and a good massage!