Ready For Guests

Jon and I are hosting one my roommates from college and her fiancé this weekend. Obviously I was excited at the prospect of having them stay with us and immediately said yes to the proposed stay. After I told Jon about it I thought "dude, I gotta clean out that room!" Because it looked like this....

I let that get way too out of control.

It all started when I found this awesome cabinet on Craigslist (thanks for your help dad!) I thought it would be perfect in that closet to hold all our books. We had an old bookshelf of Jon's in there but I felt like it took up too much space.The Craigslist one fit perfectly on one side of the closet so the other side could remain open for guests to utilize. One Friday morning (I don't work Fridays in summer) I moved and organized all the books in the new cabinet. I don't have a before photo but trust me its a big improvement.

The only problem was that I took everything out of the closet to do it. Hence the explosion of the stuff. I can't even blame Jon. I'm the one who removed all the contents and honestly the messier stuff was my craft stuff. In case you can't tell, I have a lot. I told Jon I'm not allowed to buy more stuff for awhile. Sorry Michael's!

I ended up organizing all my craft stuff into the rolling plastic compartment thing. I figure its low enough where guests can hang clothing without it getting in the way. Plus it has wheels so I can wheel it out when I'm working on project. But this is only a temporary solution. That thing is too old (I've had it since college!) and I'd like something that's sturdier since my craft stuff is heavy.

On the shelf is the gift wrapping stuff and some boxes of our personal mementos. Jon and I both have saved ticket stubs from our travels, cards from our families and random stuff thats too special to throw away but we don't really have a place to display it.

Once all the organizing was done (it took two days) I could finally clean and do all the things you do to get your house ready for guests. This part wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't accidentally spilled glitter while organizing my craft stuff. Glitter is so hard to clean up. Even Poseidon had some glitter on him!

By the time you'll be reading this I'll be enjoying the weekend and the company of good friends. Probably with some type of adult beverage in hand.

Where Are My Keys?

I love that our house has a designated entryway. You need a place to toss your keys when you walk in the door. However, nobody walks in front door anymore. Jon & I don't. Only your guests do and while that's nice for them, its not practical for the people that live there. That's why mudrooms were invented but (like most people) our home did not come with one.

So what ends up happening? When Jon and I come home we toss our stuff on the nearest surface. Jon's stuff ends up on the corner of the couch. My keys end up on the mantle. And my purse lands on the coffee table.

Not the best system. It makes for crazy mornings where you can't find anything and it always looks messy. Sigh.

Since we enter the house throughout the garage and our sliding glass door I wanted to get some kind of console table to go on the other side of the fireplace. That way we'd have a place to put our stuff. I was searching all over for one that was the right dimensions and price. Until I spotted on on a Wayfair Daily Sale for $70.

The only problem was that I was at a work event without my wallet. I really wanted that table and didn't want it to sell out. I immediately texted Jon the link and asked him to buy it. Being the amazing husband he is, he did.

Check it out.

The baskets on the bottom hold my purse and Jon's briefcase. They $6 each from Ross. And they fit perfectly.

On the second shelf are some books and a few of our old yearbooks. Feel free to flip through them and laugh if you come over. On top is a wedding gift from a friend. It's a jar where we are supposed to write down moments from our first year of marriage. Such a thoughtful gift. Next to it is a book I made for Jon of our dating years.

On the other side is a white Chinese dragon statue. Jon bought me a mini blue one in China a few years ago. Its an old Chinese legend that there are two dragons that guard a city and always together. If you buy a pair and give your loved one and keep the other you will always be together as long each person keeps it. Then he told me he wanted to marry me one day. I cried. This statue reminded me of the mini ones we have.

On top of the table is a lamp which was a clearance find from Home Goods for $35.

The other photo book is of all of our engagements photos. In middle is a bowl where we toss our keys.

The candlesticks are from Target (on sale naturally). I have another of each one because I hope to use (all four) them on the dining table at fancy meals. They are open so you can put decorative stuff inside. So far all I've thought of is fake leaves or popcorn kernels for fall. The little box in front is from Kirklands for $2! I should have bought the one that said "coins" on it but right now it has our extra car keys and pool key in it.

The bowl is for us to toss our stuff into.

Since I already owned some of the stuff I didn't spend too much on it. I think the accessories were about $75 total. Which means the whole thing was under $150. I didn't buy it all at once so it doesn't really feel like I spent that much. But I love having a place for all of our stuff.

We need something to hang above it. I was thinking this subway art but I would have to buy a frame and I'm not really looking for one right now. I also think a photo would like but not of us. Too big. Maybe a canvas art piece? Obviously I'm still thinking about.

Anyway, I love our new little baskets. I've been placing my purse in there. Jon still has his briefcase and backpack on the couch. Husbands.

I've Got The Power!

Saturday Jonathan and I decided to rearrange some shelves and finally organize our garage. Homeownership can be so glamorous.

At least this entire project was free since we reused all the shelves. 

Our garage is big enough to accomodate two cars but its smaller than the average two car garage. The previous owner lived alone and only had one car so the size wasn't an issue for her. She installed shelves around the garage at a height easily accesible for her. Sounds like a good idea right? WRONG. The shelves were so low that our car doors would always hit them as we were opening the doors. Trying to squeeze in between the car door and trash cans or a shelf with random stuff on it is not cool. Especially when you're wearing a cute outfit and don't want to get dirty.

I had always wanted to reposition the height of the shelves but its one of those projects that sat on the back burner. Especially in the Wedding- Birthday- Holidays craze that made up our first few months in the house. And then it was too cold to be out there. I don't do cold.

When autumn rolled around last year I put away all of our fans. I washed and covered them with trash bags and placed them in the garage on the shelves, leaving us plenty of space to get into and around our cars. Then the holidays came. All of our new Christmas stuff got thrown in the garage in a haphazard way but it was still maneuverable. Then we bought a new bed frame we didn't have a mattress for yet. Super tight squeeze but still manageable.

Eventually our garage was full of stuff everywhere. On our washer and dryer. On the floor between the cars. You name it, we had stuff on it.

Now that the temperatures have been rising I knew that it would soon be time for us to bust out our fans. Only I couldn't get to them. Even after three trips to the Salvation Army (you're welcome by the way). The time to move the shelves and organize the garage was upon us.

So Saturday rolls around and we get started. First Jon swept the entire garage and we took everything off the shelves.

Then Jon removed the shelves. One side of the garage only had one shelf and we wanted to move it to other side. We left this wall blank (we might add another shelf one day but it would depend on our new car, which we'll buy one day, and its dimensions). We left the brackets attached to the shelves. We figured it had already been adjusted to match the width of the studs. How wrong we were....

We used me as a tool of measurement. We compared me against the cars and used that to set the new height for our shelf. Told you that's how we roll!

Then the real fun began. Jon was trying to hold up the first shelf while drilling it into the wall. That didn't work so well. So I decided to help by trying to hold it up while Jon drilled. And it still didn't work! The shelf kept shifting and we couldn't get it level.

After two failed attempts I said "I'll drill. You hold it up." Jon looked at me in disbelief and said "Are you sure? Do you even know how to use a drill?" "No, but I can do it." And I DID IT. Such a big moment for me.

Yes, you read that right. I used a power drill. I did it (mostly) right and I liked it! You know I don't do manual labor. I must be growing up.

Check me out drilling! That's right- I included proof!

We figured the next two shelves would be easier to install since we now knew what we were doing. We couldn't have been more wrong. Jon's stud finder was totally failing us. I don't know why it was throwing a temper tantrum. It kept giving off inconsistent readings and so not all of our screws were hitting studs. It was super important that we hit studs since garage shelves need to be heavy duty.

It took several tries but we FINALLY got there.

Sadly that was only half the battle. We still had to go through and organize all of our stuff. All of the Christmas stuff went on our newly repositioned shelves. The rest of it is on the higher shelf pictured above. We have a lot of Christmas stuff. The (under used) sports equipment joined it. Our trash cans went underneath now that they fit.

Jon's tools went on the shelf that used to be blocked by a mountain of stuff. All of our paint cans are on the shelf above it. My craft stuff is on the floor so I don't have to ask Jon to get it down for me.

We parked the cars back inside and we were finally done! After 7 hours. 7 long, sweaty hours.

In the end we had another car load of stuff for the Salvation Army and about 5 boxes of stuff that need to find a place inside our house. But we ignored that new pile. We earned a fatty dinner and ice cold beer(s). Seriously.