Feng Shui Friday—Do you decant?

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via Design Sponge

I recently posted this image of the beautiful pantry of the Emerson, the founder of Emerson Fry (formerly emersonmade). It makes my heart go pitter patter with it's uniformity. However, I knew full well when I posted it that my own pantry would never look like this. The only way to have a pantry like this is to decant everything into beautiful (and probably expensive) containers. It's a case where practicality must outweigh beauty. I need a pantry with closed doors.

However, it brings up a good point. Is decanting practical?

I believe it is, at least in some cases. I'm giving it a try in my new kitchen:

I eliminated a lot of upper cabinets in favor of a more open feel and to accommodate a range hood and open shelves. That means this remaining upper cabinet must perform double duty. It is right above my baking/prep space, and also above my coffee maker/drink station. 

I chose to decant most of my baking ingredients. I also have my oils and vinegar in tall narrow cruets (the oils are kept on a shelf above the stove). So far this system seems to be working really well for me. 

So why decant?

Space, for one. Maximizing vertical area is key to efficiently utilizing cupboard space. See how my containers stack high and fill the space between the shelves? This is most easily achieve with uniform container sizes. Think of how difficult it would be to stack backing soda, baking powder, salt, etc. otherwise. 

Aesthetics, for another. Although my containers aren't nearly as pretty as Emerson's jars, I still open my cupboard to a nice and neat appearance. Everything is labeled so I can find things easily. I admired the OXO pop top containers for their square shape and easy open lids (plastic so they won't break as easily in my butter fingers), but at an average of $15 per container it would be a huge investment. I opted instead to buy this Rubbermaid set, 25 containers for $19! Plus, I can find individual containers almost anywhere to add to my set if needed. Much more cost-effective.

A tight seal ensures fresh ingredients. Some store packages simply don't seal well. (By the way, for easy measuring, I simply use the edge of the lid to level off the spoon. My mom takes this a step further and keeps a measuring spoon in the container with her most-frequently-used items.)

Some people decant for environmental reasons, although so far this doesn't fly with me. I still by the same packages of food and empty them into my own containers, tossing the store packaging. I have noticed the grocery store I usually shop at has a nice bulk food section, however. I can bring home many of these items in a simple plastic bag, or better yet, bring my own containers to the store to fill. 

A disadvantage to consider—I still have to keep the larger original containers for some of these things in another place (oils, flour, and sugar for instance). For the most success, choose a container that fits the size of the package you usually buy. Try to empty your containers completely before refilling to ensure your ingredients are as fresh as possible. Wash your containers occasionally before refilling—and dry them completely!

I still have pantry items, such as rice, pasta, and cereal to consider buying containers for. So I'm curious. How do you feel about decanting? Have you tried it, and is it worth it? 

sewing project

I have two large and lovely rolls of fabric at home, just begging for me to get my sewing machine out and dust it off. Both are Robert Allen prints that I scored at 50% off, but their coordination is an accident and I wasn't intending to use them together. Any guesses what I'm making?

Mother's Day

I spent the day working outside yesterday, so just now getting around to downloading my photos from the weekend. I hope you all had a happy Mother's Day weekend! Mine was rich with blessings.

On Friday, I got to join all the moms from Kindergarten through 2nd grade for a "Muffins for Moms" celebration. Sarah, dressed as a little Shirley Temple, performed Good Ship Lollipop with her class and I must say she was the most darling. :) I just love our small school and it brings back so many memories . . .

Saturday morning we headed out early to join Tom's family at a horse show, and the girls got an opportunity to get a little experience in the show arena. This isn't really my thing, but the smiles on the girls faces make it all worth while. Sarah was led in a Lead Line class by her cousin Tristin.

Abby hasn't been on a horse for months but did awesome in her Walk class with not so much as a warm up. 

On Sunday we enjoyed the Mother's Day brunch at the beautiful Gallatin Gateway Inn. It was a treat.

Me and my beautiful girls—I am the luckiest Mom!

This is Tom's sister and her gorgeous family. Tom's Dad is known for being thoughtful and bought us lilies to wear. 

My nephew is never serious for the camera—I have a million pictures like this of him, some at this very hotel! These kids were so grown up and well behaved. It is rather nice when your kids get to the age where they can tend to themselves at a buffet. Know what I'm sayin', moms?

Eva still needs help with her plate, of course, but Tom took over that chore so I could relax and enjoy my meal. Eva kept herself busy by loading every single finger with yogurt, then licking it off.

Abby loves to borrow my camera, and I think she does a great job. It means I actually end up on the other side of the lens once in awhile.

My dapper nephews—not having any boys of my own I really enjoy spending time with these sweet guys.

Thanks to my sweetie for a great weekend. It was perfect! Well, there is one thing that would have topped it off—spending time with my own mother. But unfortunately I can't be two places at once, and I'm glad I get to see my Mom almost every day. Love you, Mom!

Back at home I get to spend lots of time with my own kiddos and enjoy mornings hanging out with Eva instead of trotting off to work. I do consider myself very blessed having had worked full time while the other two were little.

Eva plays me a tune on the ukelele. . . and then carries it off to her next gig.

Much to be thankful for. Happy Mother's Day to you all!

Feng Shui Friday—What it takes to be an organized person

I knew once we started demolition for our kitchen remodel that staying organized would go out the window right along with the old carpet, and I said then that I would be discontuing my Feng Shui Friday for ahwile.

Well, a number of you have commented about following along with my Feng Shui series, and now that spring cleaning season is here, I'm happy to say that I am feeling motivated to pick it back up as well!

So to kick off a new season of organization and Feng Shui projects, I thought I would share a few of my thoughts on the matter.

via design sponge 

I often hear things like "You are so organized! I wish I had that gene!" This should be considered a compliment, I suppose, but it bothers me somewhat—and here's why. Organization doesn't come naturally or happen automatically. An organized person WORKS at being that way. 

I am by no means organized in every aspect of my life. Some areas I'm failing in right now include filing and paperwork (you don't even want to know), my garage, and my bathroom drawer to name a few. Don't get me wrong—I definitely aspire to get those areas under control and you'd better believe they are on my to do list. But it means I have lots of work to do.

So, how do you become an "organized person", since you aren't born that way? 

1. It takes motivation. You have to want to be that way. I want to be organized for two reasons—for form and for function. I love how an organized space looks, and I love how an organized space fuctions. Clutter grates on my nerves and makes everyday tasks take extra time. I do my best to pass this motivation on to my family and get them involved. Hopefully the tendancy to be organized will rub off on my kids. My husband is already a lost cause—ha.

2. It takes practice and experience. Most people don't automatically know how to get and stay organized. You have to learn strategies and techniques. For example: You've heard the adage "A place for everything and everything in its place". Everything must be given a home or it will float around as clutter. You have probably heard of employing a one in/one out strategy where you must get rid of something old as you add something new (to your closet, for example). Grouping like items together. Placing items at point of use. The importance of labeling. Maximizing space/height of shelves. These are all strategies that can be learned and improved with practice. We form good habits over time. I have picked these things up over time and I'm still working on the habit part. I've subscribed to Real Simple magazine since their very first issue. My eyes were opened! I read organizing blogs and have even taken an online class. I pin organization ideas on Pinterest, a few of which I've included in this post. I'm crazy like that. At my previous job I took a year-long intensive course on having lean processes and maximum efficiency, a big component of which was having an organized space. My point is, I wasn't born this way. I've developed this tendancy.

via the style files

3. It takes time. It has been almost 2 years since we moved to the farm and I am still figuring out the best place to put things. Getting organized definitely doesn't happen overnight. The thing is, staying organized takes time too. Many systems must be maintained on a regular schedule. We have to constantly take the time to purge what we don't need. It is good to employ systems that manage themselves as much as possible (automatic bill paying, for instance).

via apartment therapy

4. It takes discipline. I think all of us fall into the trap of thinking we need more than we do. It takes constant discipline to purge and to follow the systems we set up.

Martha Stewart Living

5. It takes space to be, and to stay organized. This means we need to either create more space or have less stuff. Simple as that. We need to be able to see everything. It is the stuff in the back recesses of our closets and cupboards that cause the most trouble. 

So lest you think it is hopeless because you weren't born with that "organization gene", I'm here to say no more excuses! Let's get organized together this summer! I'll share my projects if you'll share yours.  (Sorry to be so bossy. I get it from my 9-year-old.)

spring yard work

While indoor house projects have stalled, the outside to-do list is growing and demanding attention. I really enjoy working in the yard, and it is always a welcome change after a winter spent indoors. I don't know yet if we are going to tackle any of our BIG project plans this summer (rebuilding the deck, making a patio and pergola, landscaping the side/back yards, building grow boxes, etc.), but at least for now I can chip away at the things I can manage alone. I've been trying to document a few of the things I've worked on with my phone camera.

For starters, I am doing a lot more planting. My aunt Joann has a beuatiful rock garden and gererously offered to give me some starts. 

Then, when I was walking up on the hill behind our house and enjoying the spectacular views I noticed some little bitty ground cover flowers between the tracks in the road.

I figured if they could survive in the wild they stood a good chance of surviving in my yard, so I dug up a few to transplant (the little white blossoms in the left photo—not the yellow.) 

All the above along with a few store-bought varieties have been planted now along our rock staircase. It will take several years for it all to fill in, of course. Gardening is definitely an exercise in patience. (Abby is doing a cartwheel onto the top slab, in case you are wondering. 

To the left of the staircase, the neighboring planters received a layer of mulch. The tulips I planted are doing nicely, but a couple of perinnials didn't make it through the winter and need to be replaced. And I ended up buying WAY to much mulch, so now I am adding some new projects to my list to use it all up.

Still on my to-do list:

Mowing (A lot of our yard projects are geared towards making the mowing job easier. We have a large riding mower, and I'm trying to eliminate any tight spaces.)

Watering (We had an irrigation system in Utah, so this routine is taking some adjustment!)

Dig several new beds, edge, lay weed fabric, and mulch. I have a few places that are growing more weeds than grass, and a few others that the mower can't reach.

Dig out the grass around the bush and tree in the back yard and mulch them so I can mow around them more easily.

Plant more plants in the planters—probably some annuals.

Fill pots with annuals and tomatoes (yum!)  I've purchased a few that I'm still having to bring inside at night.

Dig up some wild yucca plants to transplant throughout our gravel areas.

Weeding and more weeding!

From there, we'll see. Summers are busy around here!

basement playroom

Hello there! I'm back on this beautiful Monday to share another basement project. There may be a million things I could add to the kids playroom under the stairs before I call it finished. It will probably change as fast as the kids grow and their interests evolve. The latest addition was a fun and inexpensive improvement.

I used to store the kids' dress-ups in an expandable bucket of sorts. The trouble was, when they wanted to wear something, they dumped the entire bucket out to find what they were looking for. 

We have quite a lot of dress-ups because Sarah especially was into dressing up for a long time. I've saved most of their Halloween costumes and dance outfits for dress-ups also. Now the older two have mostly outgrown it, but Eva is just getting started. 

I found some cute velvet child-size hangers on sale for cheap recently, so I snatched up a bunch and bought a tension rod to hang in this shallow space under the stairs. It looks so much more organized, and it is much easier for the girls to find what they are looking for. Best of all, it is removable/movable.

 

Eva adores her playroom (another tight space and difficult room to take pictures of)!

That means my old strategy of storing Legos up here to keep them out of her reach is no longer effective. Oh well! :)

basement bathroom

Continuing in sharing some of basement progress and rooms we are checking off as finally finished...

Next up is our basement bathroom.

Lest you forget how far we've come:

The pictures really don't do it justice. But don't you especially love the mirror that is hanging way to the right of the sink? And the laminate counter that just wraps itself right up the wall?

I've shown you various iterations of this bathroom as we've chipped away at the details—most recently the cupboards and the artwork. The last thing to be finished was the tile backsplash. We finally wrapped that job up when we were installing the kitchen tile and already had all the supplies out. We were finally able to hang the mirrors also, since they are mounted right above the tile. It's a miracle we didn't end up with broken mirrors while having them propped on the counter for a year!

The backsplash mimics the trim in the shower. I have had these baskets for quite awhile, but I found these cute chalkboard signs to mark them as "clean" or "dirty".

The yellow/green accents were kind of an accident, and not a color I would have been inclined to pick for this room, but I think I like it! (By the way, this room is was really difficult to photograph with no natural light or wide angle lens. I should have spent more time correcting the white balance. I did the best I could, but the photos have a distinct warm cast.)

I've mentioned them before, but these funny little vases are from CB2. I just love them, but we did have a casualty a short while ago. I was just happy they were still available so I could replace him (this time with a more secure nail). 

The old shower had a cracked plastic tile surround, brick barriers, and rough concrete floor. The new shower with it's marble bench and dual heads is by far the nicest in the house, so we all use it more than our own upstairs. One more thing we'd like to add to this room eventually—a Euro frameless glass shower door. Right now we have an extra long clear curtain liner (on the inside so it can slip out of sight when not in use). It works smashingly until we are willing to fork out the $700-900 it will cost to put in a glass door (choke). Maybe never?

basement guest room

We've been chipping away at a few projects in the basement, and I am finally getting to the point where I can call some rooms "finished". I thought I would show you some of our progress this week.

One room that received some attention was our guest room:

Remember the before?

Ha. :) I know some would say the before had more retro character, but the after makes for a very comfortable guest room. This room was all about using what he had so the design is a bit more traditional than the rest of the house, but I like how it came together.

We had closet doors sitting in this room for a long time waiting to be painted, so while we were painting the kitchen we finished them off and finally got them installed. Then I sold a big armoire that was taking up space in the corner, and replaced it with a chair that would be much more useful for our guests. (This chair used to have a home in our kitchen/dining area, but our new layout doesn't allow for a large chair like that.)

I hung a few photos on the wall—a watercolor I painted quite a few years ago and a collage of old family photos. I'd love to add more photos to this collage over time with some small vintage frames, so I plan to watch garage sales and Goodwill for unique ones.

The rest of the room was mostly old Master Bedroom furniture—all of it purchased at different times over the past decade or more. So as I said, very pieced together! I'm not into overdoing things, so hopefully this room is just the right amount of complete without feeling sparse. Does it make you want to come visit?