House of Hydrangeas

Well hello, friends!  Sorry it's been so long.  Between my new job and getting ready for my trip to New York City, I've had little time to sit down and write.  But on the upside, my new job has given me some major inspiration...and inspiration=blog posts! I've been overwhelmed by the amount of beautiful things at my fingertips lately--from product samples to furniture catalogs to stacks and stacks of fabrics.  The options are endless.  And with abundance should come organization.  Organization is key to creating an efficient and creative work environment as well as a pleasing "show" room for clients.  Success is achieved where style and function meet.  Here are a few successes in my book. Ahh catalog organization with style.  The pops of accessories bring life to the rows and rows of books. For artwork, frame a client thank you note or a preliminary room sketch.  Make it personal, not just a library. Why yes, I'd love to pin beau...

Luckily, not all of the ideas I pin on Pinterest  fall into the "I'll never actually do this" file.  It can be a little difficult to conquer every idea/tip when you have nearly 2,500 of them.  Yet, I keep pinning away.  I'm sure you all understand. But today I am pleased to announce that I just successfully completed one idea I saw on the site--drawer organization, more specifically, my workout clothes drawer. Jon and I have yet to move down the extra dresser that's been sitting in my mom's garage so we're currently functioning off of one dresser and one closet between the two of us.  As a result, half of what once was my own old dresser is now full of half of Jon's clothes.  Two drawers for myself=crowded and completely unorganized mayhem. Thankfully, something I saw on Pinterest came to my rescue.  The other day, I saw a pin that featured a lady's drawer with all of her shirts folded tightly and stacked vertically instead of horizontally....

Not to be confused with Olivia Newton-John's phrase "Let's get physical," these tips are sure to help you get things in order.  If you're anything like me, you're avoiding this crazy heat like the plague and that leaves lots of time inside.  Why not make the most of it, and do a little streamlining in your house?  If you enjoy organizing, you'll love these helpful hints that will make your life easier. Old toilet paper rolls help you keep wires and extension cords in order. via So cute and so simple!  I need to get some of these containers!  They sell them here for $12.99.  Get some for all of your baking ingredients and say so long to lopsided bags that don't ever stay in place!  via Flickr Because I'm always looking for a place for the Chi.  via It's less expensive and gives you a place to store your sprinkler. via Cereal container turned car garbage can.  Genius.  Especially for those of you with kiddos... via Label cord...

"Getting Organized" is one of the top 10 New Year's resolutions every year.  Which I think is great.  Getting organized is a very achievable goal and will have a positive impact on your day-to-day living.  If you're one of the many who hope to achieve this this year, here is a tip to help you do it.  Pegboard.  One of my newest favorite ways to achieve organization is by using pegboard.  Here are a few of my favorite ways to incorporate it into your home. I used to think of pegboard as bland and boring, but look how a little paint can completely transform it.  I foresee this cheerful design in my future garage. You don't have to outfit a whole wall to be able to use it.  Even a small framed piece of pegboard will help bring organization to a desk space.  I especially love the twine strung across the bottom to hold pieces of paper. Big drawers are a wonderful thing.  But they can be even better when they're used to their full capaci...

I got a lot of my organizational "to do's" marked off of my list today.  I think I'm a pretty organized person in the general sense, but when I got a glimpse into Martha Stewart's orderly kitchen drawers, I started thinking about all of the little drawers of chaos in my home.  And I knew I had some work to do. Naturally, I started in the kitchen. I'm somewhat of a sucker for dish towels.  Not the tacky seasonal kind but the nice waffle weave kind.  Up until today, they were haphazardly placed in two different drawers in the kitchen, because they wouldn't fit into just one...or so I thought.  Now, they are all neatly folded along the back of ONE drawer.  This, in turn, freed up some new space to put my oven mits and allowed for much easier access to my cutting boards and strainer, which I use all of the time. I forgot to take a before picture, but just imagine a little insanity and things shoved tightly into the drawer to get it to close.  I organ...

I had this clothing fix-it kit idea sent to me a couple of weeks ago in my daily Martha Stewart newsletter (sorry, I know I've been harping on Martha a lot lately), and I thought it was such a great idea!  All you need is a pack of business card organizers (I found mine at Staples), a binder and your buttons.   As you can see in the picture, Martha kept her extra threads as well.  However, my inability to sew or knit means I don't ever attempt to patch up any holes in my sweaters and thus have no need for the extra thread often supplied with them.  I always toss that part out and just keep the buttons.  You gotta have the buttons.   Clothing Fix-It Kit I took my fix-it kit a step further by organizing the buttons by type and color so I could easily locate them, but if you're not as OCD as me, just sticking them in a sleeve is good too.   When you're done, you'll have a neatly organized kit and a designated place for all of your extra buttons. ...

Martha Stewart is my organization guru.  I am a subscriber to her "Organizing Tip of the Day" Newsletter and am constantly amazed by the ideas generated by her and her team.  It always made me wonder just how organized her house must be. In one of the latest issues of Martha Stewart Living, I got my answer.  Martha opened up her kitchen (in her Bedford, NY home) and all of its glory to her readers.  I consider myself to be a pretty organized person, but let me tell you, when I saw her kitchen drawers, I immediately knew I had some work to do.  Lucky for me, I'll be heading to Dallas, the birthplace of The Container Store, this weekend.  When you see just how well organized a space can be, you don't ever want to go back to that sloppy mess you had before.  Organization is almost a design within itself.  Perhaps that why I like it so. And now I give you Martha's kitchen... Don't you love this pot rack?  I would love to have one in my next...