"It Looks Like a Used Clothing Store"

That's what The Boy said when I showed him how I re-arranged my dressing room last night while he was out snowmobiling. That'll teach him to leave me alone for an entire day! ;)

Warning! This is a picture heavy post!

Honestly, I've been dreaming about re-configuring my dressing room for a while now, almost since we bought our house. Frankly I'd love 3 PAX wardrobes all kitted out from IKEA, but I just can't afford them right now. That $1500 is better spent in other places.

So I've been scouring Pintrest for inspiration. I thought I liked the idea of my clothes behind doors (and it would be better to keep the vintage out of the light), but I was continually drawn to rooms with the clothes out in the open on display. I was inspired to get my clothes out of the closet and create a wardrobe on a budget.

These are some of the images that inspired me:

Check out my Pintrest board Dressing Room Ideas for more inspiring images!


For those of you who may have forgotten, here's what my room looked like before:

And the dirty little secret I kept from you is that I have my treadmill in my dressing room (see it peeking into the pic below on the right?!). It used to live beside my vanity in the corner of the room in plain sight. Not pretty. My goal was to eventually move my clothes into a wardrobe on the wall you see below and put this treadmill in the closet behind a curtain or a screen when not in use.

And that's exactly what I did last night when The Boy was out hehehe... (he hates it when I upset the house like this, so it's better for him to see the "after", even if I know he won't like it) I went to work assembling my new clothing rack and moving the furniture around.
Here are a few shots of the chaos:

Almost there!

Normal people might empty the room completely, vacuum then start bringing things back in. But I'm far from normal and really, what's the fun in that?

Here's what it looks like now:

This is the view of the room when you walk in now! 

I am in love with the results. Instead of looking at the treadmill when you walk by you see this. I don't care if The Boy thinks it looks like a used clothing store - I took it as a compliment! ;)

And here's the other side of the room.

And the closet. Less pretty - the treadmill does a great job of looking terrible in here wherever it is, but I need it, so here it sits.

This summer I've got plans to paint this room white - I'm still deciding on a tone. I want to room to be a neutral backdrop for my clothes, not compete with them. I've also got some window treatments from one of my old apartments in storage I want to put up in here, find an effective way to hide the treadmill, hang a full length mirror on the back of the door and put in a rug. Eventually we'll get the carpet changed in here too.

I've got this rug picked out from IKEA. That's my next purchase for this space. I've got to try and mask the brown shag carpet.

This major upgrade only cost me $140! I bought a second clothing rack, an expandable hanging clothing rod and some more 3M hooks to hang more hats on the wall. Oh ya, and some sweat equity. I think in the end I'll be able to renovate the entire room (including new carpet) for less than $1500! Take that IKEA!

What do you think? I spent an hour laying on the floor enjoying my handiwork this morning! haha! 

Lisa.xo

Break's Over Honey...

Well, I did it again. I abandoned you for too many days while I returned to work.

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No matter how many years I've been doing this, starting a new job somehow makes my personal life all scrambled. I just haven't been able to manage my long work days with life at home (more on what my work days look like here and here). We eat dinner too late, I ignore my friends and family (not intentionally!!), I forget to do laundry, the kitchen becomes a mess (not to mention the rest of the house), I abandon the blog and the list goes on...

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This time around I've been slowly working at remedying this situation. Let's face it. No one likes being un-organized  (at least I don't...anyone here like being un-organized?!). I can't fix it all at once, but I'm trying to attack the problems in bite sized pieces.

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This week I'm working on staying organized in the mornings right before work and dinner right after work. It's quite amazing how connected they are. The whole thing really revolves around making dinner. If I don't know what I'm making for dinner when I get home I get so behind. I hum and haw over what to make, then I have to actually make whatever it is I dream up, we eat and clean up. When I'm done I'm usually too tired to spend any more time in the kitchen or do anything else for that matter, therefore not making lunch for the next day, or laying out my clothes or anything else I need to do. Leaving it all until the next morning. And I never wake up in time to get it all done and I spend my mornings rushing around my house like a chicken with my head cut off...I'm exhausted just writing it all out...

To my rescue comes: The Meal Plan and my Crock Pot!

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Seriously people. Knowing what I am making every day of the week (I'm working up to a monthly Meal Plan) and cooking it in the Crock Pot is saving me. I come home to a cooked meal, clean up is simple and I have leftovers for lunch the next day. I also have enough energy to plan out my outfit for the next day and hang out with The Boy.

Not only am I only buying food which will be cooked and consumed (saving money on groceries), but I'm enabling The Boy and I to eat dinner almost immediately after I walk in the door from work! Keeping me from being in the kitchen all night.

Dinner isn't the only thing in my house undergoing improvements. I've been examining all of our routines and systems in the house lately and trying to devise some better ways to do things so we're (I'm?) less stressed and overwhelmed when life gets hectic (ie: when I'm working). My goal is to organize and simplify some of our (my?) day to day routines so we can spend more time enjoying life. It might sound a bit lofty, but I think it's achievable with a little work.

These blogs are really helping me stay focused on achieving this goal:

Six Sisters' Stuff - Amazing slow cooker recipes on this site!! I made 3 this week!

Nesting Place - This amazing blogger/mother/wife's motto is: It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful. This is advice I really need on the days where I feel like I have to do and be everything to everyone.

Organizing Made Fun - I specifically like this bloggers How to have a (fake) immaculate clean house posts! I'm working towards integrating these methods with my new weekly meal plan routines now that I've saved myself some time in the evenings.

The Minimalists - Strange, yes, I know. A hoarder collector like me reading a blog on minimalist living. Like The Nester, it reminds me that all of this stuff doesn't matter and that sometimes it in fact gets in my way. This blog motivates me to buy less, get rid of more and streamline my life as much as I can. Simple is good. :)

Modern Parents Messy Kids - Yes, I know, I don't have kids, but I have a messy life and this bloggers Organize Your ENTIRE Life posts are very inspiring.


I know, not much of a vintage-centric post, but this is what's on my mind lately.



Lisa.xo


Want more organizing tips? Check out my Pintrest Board on Organizing Tips for more!