Armoire (getting it organized)

Right now I'm juggling between getting a project completed for a friend and trying to get my Armoire organized.  When you have limited space, like me, it's important that you utilize every inch in your house wisely and that includes my Armoire.  I not only utilize it for storing clothes, it serves as a vanity when applying makeup, holds my TV when retiring in the evenings, store perfume, my jewelry, etc. - so you can imagine how junky it gets is.


Here's my Armoire in all it's clutter-ness!

 I went online just to get some ideas on how to organize/unclutter my Armoire.  I got some interesting ideas from Revamped Armoires for Small Space Storage




 

I figured this would take me a week or two to complete, but here's what I finished so far.  I knew I needed boxes and fabric.  I had some fabric left over from a previous project that I could use for lining the boxes, and I had been holding on to some old curtains that I would use to cover the boxes... 




I found 3 boxes

Spray adhesive was used for sticking fabric to boxes and for the lining.

I used twill to wrap around the top edges (fabric glue was used as adhesive)

I came across veneer edging in the store some time ago.  Never had a chance to use it so I decided to give it a shot.

Here are my three decorative boxes I'll be using to organize my Armoire.

I'm still working on some other stuff; I'll definitely post once completed.



PLAIN BOXES BEFORE

DECORATIVE STORAGE BOXES AFTER

 

 

I'll be sure to pop by and visit everybody and don't forget to LET YOUR CREATIVITY FLOW! 

Gallery Wall completed (almost)

My favorite part of the house is my Study.  Not that it's big or lavishly decorated, it's just comfortable.  The only furniture in there is a 'tired old' sofa (that I find sooo comfortable) a desk, that was given to my son years ago that I have since repainted a TV and my desktop.   It's situated in the middle of my house, with two entrances and no doors for privacy.  So, usually, everybody who comes to visit, either me or my son, find themselves in my study chilling and relaxing.  So it only made sense that when I decided on a gallery wall that I put it in my Study.

About six years ago I started with this

With a busy schedule, I let a few years slip by.  After adding some texture to the wall I decided to approach getting my Gallery Wall completed.

I stopped again, got sidetracked, started working on other projects while trying to figure out what else to do with the wall.  So after another 2-3 year sabbatical I decided to approach it again.  I gave it a theme, selected some pictures of my family, adjusted the color to a faded black & white using photo editor, added a letter big & bold to each picture and printed them.

To get the look I wanted I balled up the pictures and stained them with tea. 

With my first attempt I dunked the pictures in tea, loved the vintage look, but the paper was too soggy and almost ripped away so I resulted to using a brush.  I let them dry overnight.

After cutting out the pictures I burnt the edges and then got some heavy board paper that I had cut and painted black.  I glued the pictures onto the boards and mod podged them I wanted to mod podge them but I didn't have any and I was too lazy to run to the store,  so I had to resort to making my own using fabric medium.

I remembered I had a strip of trim leftover from another project, so I cut it to size, 

I painted it black and used hot glue to stick the pictures onto it

I then hung it on the wall.  Anyone coming into my Study would know this was my Family Gallery Wall.

My son drew this picture in the 2nd or 3rd grade, both his teachers and I were amazed at his talent at that age.  I'm not sure who it's a picture of, but I immediately framed it, because I knew it would always be on my wall.

I had a very dear aunt that passed away some years ago.  I remember visiting her and she always kept this particular fan displayed in her front room, maybe it's a souvenir from a vacation she went on, or maybe someone had given it to her from their vacation...whatever, I decided to give it a spot on my gallery wall.

My son had won several ribbons while in school, unfortunately I could only locate two of them (does that make me a bad mommy???)  I removed the pendants from the ribbons (the colors clashed with my color scheme) and attached them to a neck piece I found in his room.  I think he's going to hate knowing I was rummaging through his stuff in his room. ;-)

While in his room I spotted his hat & tassel from his graduation party, it's been roughly handled, dropped, walked on, etc.  it looked pretty beat up, but hey isn't vintage the new "in thing".  Actually, I was just too lazy to touch it up.

My family gallery wall isn't totally completed, but I'm getting there.  There's enough space for a few pictures, keepsakes, etc.

Who knows in another year or two when I complete my family gallery wall, my humble sofa will have either been painted, upholstered or updated!

So, until then, I'll work on a few other projects until I can decide on how to finish my wall.  LET YOUR CREATIVITY FLOW!

Decorative Fabric Box

I've been looking around to see if I could find a nice basket for my glass table I talked about in my previous blog here. 

This is a table I had painted some time back and occasionally whenever I was out shopping I tried to remember to look for the perfect basket.  I wanted something like this.

Source:  CoffeeTablesGalore.com

Unfortunately, everything I saw was either too short, too long, too wide or too expensive!

Then one day a very dear friend bought me a set of stoneware, something I needed desperately, but most importantly it came in a box!

I know you're wondering why I'm excited about a box, but I figured if I couldn't find the perfect basket, perhaps I could substitute it for a box.  Will I be wrong for saying I appreciated the box more than the gift???

Here's what I did.

First, I tucked the flaps inside and wrapped paper around the box - this was to make sure the black didn't show through.

I then took some fabric and used it for the lining  

If you think you saw this fabric before you did.  I used it for my planter here and my dining room chairs here, and I still have tons left!

I then cut two long strips of burlap to cover the box.  Oops, I forgot to mention I used spray adhesive to adhere the paper, lining & burlap to the box.

Oh, I also realized the spray adhesive stiffens the fabric and prevents raveling so you don't have to worry about raw edges raveling or raveling too much!  Gotta luv that stuff, it makes everything super simple!

I made sure all four of the sides were sprayed to prevent unnecessary raveling, but I left the top unglued for now.

Sometime ago I came across these dried vines at Home Fabric

I'm sure I can find this stuff in my yard, but the bunch was for $9 so I decided to purchase.

I took some of the dried vines twisted a few together and sewed them around the upper portion of the box. When that was done, I hot glued the fabric down; the twigs can add a lot of weight and I wanted to make sure they didn't pull the fabric down.

Once that was done, I  pulled some threads on top to give it that ragged ravel-y look. and then sprayed it with adhesive to stiffen it and to prevent unnecessary raveling.

 I wanted to apply a stencil, but I didn't have any fabric glue, so after some thought I decided to make my own.

Here's the end product

BEFORE

AFTER

I am so happy with the end product - a lovely decorative fabric covered box, super simple, super quick...LET YOUR CREATIVITY FLOW!