Tag Archives: bathroom

DIY Art: Black Dress Painting

I’ve been wanting to try my own hand at painting lately, i.e. without the instruction and guidance of local paint-your-own establishments.

<gulp>

I finally got up the courage a couple of weeks ago.

My intent was to create a series (if two can really constitute a series) of paintings to hang in our first floor half-bath. I already had the first completed from a Cheers to Art trip earlier this year.

Here’s how my solo attempt turned out:

black dress painting

Not too bad! It looks like a dress, so I’d call it a win! The only thing I’m not super-pleased with is the background. It doesn’t match the background of the shoe painting:

dress and shoes paintings

But I have no idea how I could have gotten them to match, seeing as they were painted months apart with different brands and shades of paint. So, I guess I’ll just go with it, right? My Laziness overcomes my OCD-like desire to re-do it until a perfect match is met. Plus, how crazy would I look if I had a bunch of discarded dress paintings hanging around my house? Answer: pretty crazy.

Does your Lazy battle your OCD? Which one usually wins?

House Tour – Part 3

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Saturday. It’s very hot here in southwestern Ohio, so it seemed like a good day to stay inside and finish our home tour! We’ve covered the first floor, now it’s on to the second!

At the top of the stairs, we have a “bonus” room, or a game room, as it was called on the floorplan brochure. We have yet to play games in it, though. Right now, it’s largely empty, with the exception of an elliptical, some free weights, a balance ball, and a bookshelf. So I guess you could say it’s a workout room. We’re planning on moving all of our workout equipment to the basement eventually, but for now, it does a nice job of filling up one corner of this room!

Across from the bonus room is Tom’s office. I would bet that this room will never get decorated unless I decide it needs to be done, haha! Although, Tom did hang his diploma on the wall already!

Then we have two completely empty bedrooms. I didn’t bother taking pictures of those, since there’s nothing to see! There’s a hall bathroom for the bedrooms to share, and then our laundry room (yes! on the second floor! it’s amazing!)

And at the end of the hallway is the master bedroom.

We have a walk-in closet that I’m pretty sure we could fit a bed into if we needed to! There’s a lot that we could do with this space someday. Custom closet system, anyone?

We each have our own vanity in the bathroom. Initially, I thought it was strange that the soaking tub bisected the sink area. But now that we’re moved in, I really like this layout – we don’t clutter up each other’s space with hair, toothpaste, etc.

We also have a full basement. It looks like a typical basement right now, full of concrete, bad lighting, boxes and dead bugs. Maybe someday, in 10 years, we’ll finish it off!

Just to round it all out, or to give you a better sense of the layout, here’s a snapshot of our floorplan. It’s not 100% accurate – the game room dimensions are the same as the family room beneath it, but this should give you a sense of the flow of our home!

First Floor

Second Floor

And that does it for our Home Tour! We have so many cool ideas, we barely know where to start. I think I’m going to start a tradition of doing a virtual home tour every year to see how each room will change and evolve as we settle in and start a family – and as our decorating tastes change, too!

An orderly linen closet

One of the things I love about moving is the opportunity to get organized. It’s like having a completely blank slate to start from!

But before I could tackle our post-move-in clutter, I needed some good ole fashioned inspiration. A co-worker of mine turned me on to Jen’s amazing tips over at IHeartOrganizing — her kitchen cabinet organization, in particular. And I was smitten! I went on a bin binge at Target and Bed Bath & Beyond, returning home with stacks of glorious totes, trays, bins, and baskets. I immediately got to work in our master bathroom, emptying the linen closet and cabinet drawers of all their contents. I created piles of like items and tossed/recycled the stuff that needed to go.

Once I had things sorted the way I wanted, I designated containers for them. I can’t stand countertop clutter, but I also have products I need every morning (styling products and tools, face wash, etc). So I grouped these into baskets that I can easily grab each morning, set on the counter while I get ready, and place back in the closet when I’m finished. The items we don’t use every day were separated into stackable drawers. Tom and I each have our own drawer, which contains extra deodorant, shampoo, body wash, etc. There’s a drawer for things like cotton swabs and cotton balls, and a drawer for non-prescription medicine and first-aid items.

Here’s how it turned out!

now it’s neat and tidy!

The small drawers sitting on the floor contain all of our travel-sized items. I love that there’s still plenty of room for our towels, extra rolls of toilet paper, etc!

Then, I moved onto the cabinet drawers that hold my makeup, nail polish, nail file, tweezers, etc. Again, I grouped similar items together: nail polish, small items like bobby pins and tweezers, makeup brushes, you get the picture! I found drawer organizers at Bed Bath and Beyond. They’re meant for the kitchen, but are perfect for small makeup containers and nail polish bottles!

makeup drawer

small compartments for nail polish, combs, and more

Have you had any major organizational successes (or failures?). Any tips to pass along?