When one wall comes down, another one better come right back up!

Happy Friday everyone! How was your week? Well, I've been keeping myself pretty occupied as of late, frantically trying to work on different projects at once here in the fixer upper home front! So I do apologize if I haven't been able to respond or comment back on all of your blogs just yet {I've had issues with commenting on certain sites lately, have you?}. With that being said, you are all probably wondering the status of my kitchen cabinets, right? Well, as of last weekend I'm officially done with painting them all white!!! Woohoo! :)

BUT...there are still some major tweaking to do in the kitchen. Namely, repainting the entire kitchen a new color, and I'm pretty sure I've found the perfect color that works for the open living space, so stay tuned! In addition to that, I'm going to be installing some beadboard & trim around the sides of the breakfast bar countertops, as well as installing a backsplash {still flip-flopping between white subway tiles or beadboard}.

I've been researching on how to do all of this because as some of you already know, this is our first house {and a fixer at that} - so all of the DIY stuff that I'm doing is being approached as "learn as you go!" :) Then of course, there's the accessories, pendant lighting & window treatment issues, so needless to say, this kitchen redo is going to be a continued work progress that I'm giving myself until sometime next month to complete!

Now you're probably also wondering why I'm showing you pretty little images of closet spaces with lovely hanging chandeliers? Well, that leads me to another project that I've been tirelessly trying to work on, for what seems like ages now! Remember a few months back when I told you about that flimsy wall that had to come down between the two bedrooms/closets because it was literally made out of plywood and falling apart? Well, that wall went down...and THANKFULLY another one FINALLY came right back up! Here's a recap in case some of you are joining me here for the first time {"hello" to my new readers!}:

Closet wall between the two bedrooms went down.
NOTE: Sorry for the blurriness of some of these pics, but this room doesn't have the best lighting with that tiny window, coupled with my cheap point & shoot cam, and also the fact that I'm posting all of my "before pics" in black in white.

Pulled up the flooring down to the concrete slab & framed out the wall.

The frame went up, and due to the imperfections on the crooked wall {older home with plaster walls}, we had to fill any gaps with foam insulation and removed the excess once it dried.

Added sheetrock on one side of the wall & bought some insulation off of craig's list for a fraction of the price, since someone was selling their leftovers for only $15.00!

And then started "insulating away!"

Then put the sheetrock on this side of the wall, then used paper tape and joint compound to cover up the seams on both sides...

And voila! We finally have an INSULATED & sturdy wall up between the two bedrooms, ready to be painted!
So what's next, you wonder? Well, I have to figure out how to get this mess that's in our master bedroom....into some kind of organization because our home is in dire need of some efficient storage space!

So for the past week or so I've been sorting, selling, donating, & throwing out some of the stuff that's in the crazy pile you see above! I'm now pared down to our most needed essentials, and I realize that I'm in desperate need of some storage organization!

We don't have a walk-in closet, it's more of a reach-in closet. And realistically, it's something like the size above. Except that the "closet" is basically a "carved out" section in the bedroom {on the bedrooms on either side of the wall}. A custom closet from one of those large companies would probably be ideal...but of course I don't have 3-5K to drop per closet...

But no worries, I do have some plans on creative ways to maximize the entire space without spending much. But it's going to take tons of patience and a little work... So that's where I'm at with that project {so once again, stay tuned}. But I unfortunately still have tons of books, pictures, scrapbooking stuff, and important documents that still need to be kept somewhere.

And considering the small closet spaces throughout our home, I've come to the conclusion that some things may "leak" into the living and dining rooms... But I'll have to figure out a "tasteful" and neat way to display/cover up all of our stuff, like in the images below.

Disclaimer: By the way, all of these images are from my inspirational files that were compiled when we first closed escrow months ago, and downloaded from sources on the internet, including by not limited to: Google, Country Living & BHG.com. Since I didn't keep track of each source at the time, I'm not able to properly credit these images to the right source. So if these photos belong to you or someone you know, please let me know and I will properly credit the source or remove the images off this site.

In our townhome, we had open shelving similar to above. But I was hoping not to have to go this route in this home.

But I do like the idea of putting items in enclosed cabinets to hide the "neat" clutter. :)

Even linen and pantry closets / cabinets could use some efficient storage organization!

So what say you? How do you go about keeping your own home clutter free and organized? Especially in a modest, 1600 square ft home like mine with very little storage space {and with the garage out of the question, as it is still in it's unfinished state}? I'd like to know what you do in your own home?

Well my friends, that is all for now. I'll be busy multi-tasking for the rest of the month or so! I'll try to keep you all posted. Incidentally, I suffered a little relapse on my illness, and now I'm sick...YET AGAIN! :( Hopefully I'll recuperate soon because I just have way too much stuff to do! Oh and just a quick little message to let you know that I truly appreciate your comments and thoughts - it really means a lot! :) And although at times it may take some time to respond, I always do! :) So I thank you all for your continued support and inspiration!!!

Until next time, enjoy your weekend!!!


XOXO's,
Jessie







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