For Sale

In cleaning out our garage...we found some great things. Unfortunately, we are not able to use any of this in our new house. Any one interested?!

 Gorgeous planters/window boxes.

They can be sold as a set $50 or $30 for just one.

 This is a vintage Golf poster. Beautifully and custom framed in gold trim.

 $20

 Another vintage golf poster. 

 $18

Custom framed, Georgia Tech Victory T-Shirt $15 

Unique photography, framed.

 $15

Penny Round - 13 Sheets (1x1)

$30

 This is the Penny Round in our Kitchen

Please leave a note or e-mail me snpyles@gmail.com if you're interested in any of this...and we have lots more in our garage!

Clean Sweep

Saturday was overcast, but we still got outside to do some work. Jack tackled his shed...

 I tackled the garage (aka my storage facility:).

 We made it a family activity. Maggie helped unload the hurricanes' rocks into a ziplock bag. 

 She also found an old teddy bear. She said it was "night, night" time for teddy bear; we found him in her basketball goal.

 Back to work. This is what we call PHASE I: Clean everything out of the space. PHASE II: Clean the space.

 Go through everything you pulled out of your space. What do you need? What can you get rid of/sale?

 Jack lent a hand in the garage. I spilt a huge bottle of laundry detergent! Our garage does smell good now:)

 My empty garage. 

 PHASE III. Reload your space, with less than was in there before; ORGANIZE as you put things back.

 This is my finished product. I sell things at Smiley's Flea Market and we are hoping to have an Estate Sale...then, maybe, in a few months our garage will be completely empty!

*If you haven't used something in over a year (two years if you want to be generous:), get rid of it!
**If you are not using something to decorate the current house you live in, get rid of it! I know somethings are sentimental or you hope to use somethings, but really try to limit yourself on what you keep!
***Have fun organizing...make it a family event! We did!

Oral History

Oral History is a lost art. Our generation is caught up in the fast pace way of the internet and quick access we gain by googling anything. We rarely take the time to sit down with our parents, grandparents, and others who lived the history we quickly take in through history books and online articles.

I spent this past fall researching Ed Norwood's life. After a 2 hour interview, I spent time in the Special Collections searching for pictures, driving around 2nd Street, and e-mailing Ed with more questions. In the end, I compiled a little book of Ed's life.

Take time to sit down and listen to the stories, memories, and life of those around you. It's much more interesting than just reading from the internet.

Master Bathroom

Our 1950's house has two bathrooms, and this is the one we turned into our Master Bathroom. Believe it or not, it's bigger than our last Master Bath. Having two mirrors opens up the small bath. 

 We turned the bath tub into a shower basin and added these glass doors. This greatly opened up the bathroom.

 We took out the vanity and replaced it with this Pottery Barn sink. It brings an openness to the bathroom but still gives room for storage. We also replaced the mirror with this frameless mirror that goes, almost, to the ceiling. 

 We keep the sink area clear to make it less cluttered.

 These wire baskets keep the "open" feel yet prove much needed storage.

 Another Pottery Barn splurge (but great storage). The more storage you give yourself, the more likely you are to keep things put away. 

More Kitchen Stuff

Some kitchen ideas...Keep it Simple!

These are our everyday dishes...

 ...the 3 main pots we use, plus our steamer.

We don't keep our toaster on the counter (to keep clutter down), so it has it's own drawer:)

 When we bought the house this area was a built in desk. We turned it into cabinets for storage. *we made these cabinets with sliding drawers to make things easier*

Utensil separation is a must to keep things organized.

Even in the drawers, keep things separated to make easy access.

*kid friendly drawer on the bottom: makes it easy for Maggie to play in the kitchen while I cook and clean

Because of our old home, the dishwasher had to be added. This made the drawer space almost useless... 

 ...so we keep the tops to our pots and pans in there.

I separate these utensils with clear organizers from Bed Bath & Beyond.

 Again, the same thing here.

Keep it simple...one thing per shelf. 

 Beside the sink: dishwashing detergent, soap, and cleaner.

Other Tips: every kitchen is set up differently, use this link for more ideas http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/organizing/kitchen/well-organized-kitchen-10000001534510/index.html.

Also, eliminate things you don't need/use!

Some Kitchen Storage

My mother-in-law, Nancy, has taught me to be wise with all of your space.

She suggested these great OXO containers to put in my glass cabinets.

They are both functional and decorative. You can find them at Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Walmart -ranging in price and size ($12-$20).

In one pantry I keep all of the canned goods, ziplock bags, trash bags, and at the bottom Jack has his grilling stuff.  (This pantry is in our laundry room)

Categorize things to keep it simple when you are quickly needing to grab a can. 

Since this pantry is by the back door, Jack gets to have his grill tools hang at the bottom:)

I just screwed these hooks into the bottom of the shelf and hang the tools.

Again, decorative storage...thanks to Nancy's idea!

A Little Storage

We have a small cabinet space in our living room. I am using that to store miscellaneous items...

 ...our external hard drive, camera chargers, phone chargers, iPod cords...

 ...just trying to make good use of small spaces. 

All of these storage tubs where $2 at Wal-Mart. They are a great investment. I also use these cd holders (far right) to store blank cds, miscellaneous dics, and recently recorded discs I haven't filed yet. Far left (top) is checkbook storage for our three different checking accounts.