Closet: Storing off season items {part 1}
Labels:
challenge,
clean,
Organization,
Sarah,
Sarah's house
·
Ok, so, I have to admit that I clean out my entire closet every spring and every fall...so, the before {seen here} is not too bad. If your needs a little more help than mine, just stick with it, and, come fall, it will be much easier to tidy up!
Before I actually got started on the closet, I decided to make a tentative plan and purchase some storage containers. I have been storing my off season clothes in flat bins under my guest bedroom bed for many years {this started because I lived in apartments and it was the only option}, but ideally I would like to get rid of these bins.
After researching several sites, I found The Container Store had a spring cleaning sale going on and decided to buy these grey storage bags to store my off season clothes in the top of my closet. I took measurements and decided on 3 of the extra-large bags.
**Make sure to measure the area where the bags will go and try to fill that area!**
The Container Store
$7.99-9.99
I love that these bags have labels and are open on 3 sides so you can easily add to or remove things you may need throughout the year.
In addition to my main closet, in my bathroom, I have a smaller closet in my bedroom, that I have not been utilizing completely. I decided to transfer some items that were jammed into the larger closet, to the smaller closet. One of which was a hanging shelf organizer that I purchased from Wal-mart last year. It really saves a lot of money if you try to utilize the items you have as much as possible. Click here to find one that is similar to mine.
Get Organized
$12.98
{Check for coupon codes online-I found %15 off with: GETORGNZ)
Last year, as a wedding gift, Carey had a closet built for me! When we did this, we had the builder add molding on one wall to hold shoes. This was an idea that I found on Pinterest, and it is a relatively easy DIY project. It is very important to have a place to store shoes in a visible place because everything stays a lot more tidy if we keep items off of horizontal services {the floor}.
My inspiration:
Mine{before tidying}:
I would love add more molding and "store" off season shoes up high in the future {the ceiling in my closet is 10 feet high!}, but, for now, I am going to pack the off season shoes away.
***TIPS to get STARTED***
1. Measure your areas
2. Take note of items that are often out of place or do not have a place
3. Make a plan that works for your budget and items
4. Keep horizontal service clear {floor of the closet, tabletops}
5. Store seasonal items out of sight, in areas that cannot be accessed as easily {reserve highly accessible areas for items that are needed more often}
Stay tuned for PART 2, the finished product! Happy organizing :)
Enjoy,
Sarah
Eight Weeks to Organized: The List
Labels:
Cleaning,
Nicole's Apartment,
Organization,
Sarah's house
·
{THE LIST}
Sarah:
1. Closet(s)a. Clean out/store off season clothes
b. Find a new place for make-up, scarves, and "folded clothes" {notice the hanging shelf jammed behind/between two hanging bars in my closet}
c. Organize/utilize small closet in bedroom
d. Use available storage wisely {under bench in bathroom, top of closet}
Closet(s) before
2. Laundry room
a. Remove everything from washer/dryer closet; paint, and reorganize with cabinets, bins, or shelves
b. Stack washer/dryer
c. Organize broom closet
d. Designate area for ironing and dry cleaning
Laundry room before
Nicole:
1. Closet(s)
a. Clean out/store off season clothes in Master Bedroom closet
b. Organize desk/vanity in Master Bedroom closet
c. Organize behind door of Guest Bedroom closet to make it usable storage
2. Bathrooma. Clean out/store off season clothes in Master Bedroom closet
b. Organize desk/vanity in Master Bedroom closet
c. Organize behind door of Guest Bedroom closet to make it usable storage
Master Bedroom Closet before
Desk/Vanity before
Guest Bedroom (behind door) before
a. Organize master bath drawers with containers to provide more storage and define a place for things
b. Throw away expired medications and organize under bathroom sink
Bathroom before
If you have some similar situations going on in your house or apartment, follow along with us as we organize, refresh, and streamline all of our STUFF.
Good luck and Enjoy,
Sarah & Nicole
go BIG or go home...
Labels:
Beauty,
Fashion,
Get.the.look,
Hair,
Nicole,
Southern,
Summer Style
·
Use large hot rollers to roll all of your hair
Spray your hair with hair spray while the rollers are still in your hair
Once the rollers have cooled, take them out leaving the curls in tact as much as possible
Flip your head over, brush your hair, and spray with hairspray
Flip your head back over and VOILA!?
Well maybe your hair is perfect at this point... but my hair is naturally curly so the front pieces around my face still usually need to be touched up.
Use a large curling iron and curl pieces away from your face to smooth any frizziness
Brush those pieces just a little to maintain the loose, natural look
Then, more hair spray!
Here is the beautiful blonde that flaunted the look on the cover of W Magazine.
Flip all of your hair to one side to get a totally different look than the traditional off center part shown in the first two shots. I think it portrays more romance and is an easy transition to night by simply changing your part.
Let me know what you think about this style and how your look turns out. Also, we would love to see pictures of your "Farrah" hair {email them to leveesandlace@gmail.com}.
Enjoy!
Nicole
Vanity {Inspiration}
Labels:
Beauty,
inspiration,
Interiors,
Sarah,
Sarah's house
·
{via Pinterest}
With these lovlies as my inspiration, I am on a mission to create a functional make up station while maintaining a glamorous, vintage feel. And...
In celebration of our first anniversary, my parents gave me and Carey a piece of furniture that has been in my mother's family for over 100 years. Her grandfather originally made the piece as a sewing table and over the years it has been handed down, adapted into a desk, and restored as necessary. I grew up with it in my bedroom, and now it is back in my life!
Mom picked up the mirror with drawers {on top} at an estate sale. I do not have much wall space in my bedroom, so I decided to stick it in a corner. The next step is to decide whether to use the mirror {which would have to be replaced since the current one is antiqued and not clear} or to use a smaller lighted mirror {for functionality}.
More to come...
Enjoy,
Sarah
Stitch FIX
After signing up, you are asked complete a detailed style profile that includes obvious measures such as height, weight, and clothes sizes, but also items to help the stylist pick the correct clothes for you... such as how you prefer your clothes to fit and how you would describe your personal style {bohemian chic, classic, glamorous, romantic, casual chic, edgy, preppy}. THEN, it goes on to show you a number of "groupings" of clothes and you are able to reveal if you...Love it!, Like Most, Like Some, Don't like much at all. The amount of information that you provide goes on {and on}, and I particularly liked that I was able to share a Pinterest board with them so they could understand my style even more!!
Although, I thought all of the style profile questions were great, I still wondered, What if I don't like any of the items they send? How much money will I lose? and...What price range clothes are they shopping for?
Well, to me, this is the part that convinced me to go through with it...It only costs $20/month. Then, if you buy something, that $20 goes toward the cost of the item!! So, all you are really committed to is buying one item {or losing the $20 styling fee}. Also, you are able to fill in your preferred price ranges when submitting your style profile.
It took about 2 weeks for membership to be accepted {there is a wait list},and I received my first box on March 17th!!
The packages is super cute, and it is so exciting to find out what was picked just for you! {No two fixes are alike}
The first thing I saw was Lace! and orange {which I happen to really like for spring-however, I already bought a few orange spring items}
I looked through the clothes that night, but was not able to try them on until later....There are five items in every fix. Mine included: Two blouses, a pair of jeans, a dress, and a necklace. Here are the jeans and the blouse I decided not to keep....
I loved the jeans, however, they did not fit. I expected this since I usually have a very hard time finding jeans that I like. I decided not to keep the blouse, just because I was underwhelmed and cost $78.
They also add tags that describe the piece and give you a couple of ideas about how it can be worn. I think this is a really nice touch!
There was a really pretty orange/pink dress.....
I probably would have kept this item if I did not already have a dress in a similar color. It was comfortable and very reasonably priced {I think it was $58}
After all of the fun, I decided to only keep one item: Chevron lace back shirt. At first I did not think I liked this very much, but then I realized it is a very easy shirt to wear. Sometimes, I get caught up in buying the cutest clothes I can find and never have just an easy, comfortable shirt to throw on with jeans.
Another great touch, is that they included a white undershirt with this one {which I happened to need anyway!}
The last step is to go online, and let Stitch Fix know which item(s) you are going to keep...details are outlined very clearly on a label in the box you receive...
When you log on, you are able to leave them notes about each items and tell them why you are or are not keeping the item.
The rest of the pieces are then shipped back the next day in the USPS mail bag with prepaid shipping label {all shipping is free}. This makes it super easy to just drop off the package at the post office.
This is a super fun and easy thing to do!! and...Who doesn't enjoy trying on clothes at home rather than in a dressing room at a store!
If you decided to check them out, please use one of the links that is attached to this page or click HERE , so I will get credit for your referral! {$25/person!!!!}
Let me know what you think
Enjoy!!
Sarah
Let's get organized...
Labels:
Interiors,
Nicole,
Nicole's Apartment
·
Since being organized in my personal life does not come
naturally to me like it does Sarah, I decided to make this my new year’s
resolution… GET ORGANIZED. Yes, I know that is very vague, but I do want to get
organized in as many ways as possible. I began cleaning things out in January
when the rest of the world was also still working strongly toward their
resolutions and just like most of those people with new gym memberships, I
started to lose focus on my goal. Well now I am finally getting back on track and
excited to share it with you {please don’t judge the before pics that you may see on some posts}.
When we moved in several months ago, there were boxes
stacked everywhere. We quickly realized that we needed to pick up a few things before we would be able to completely unpack. One of our first purchases{after living room curtains- more about those later} was a bookshelf to store
lots of books and also personal/sentimental items that would help warm the
place up since we had to deal with lovely “apartment beige” walls. We were not wanting to spend a lot of money on this- we just wanted something functional for now. Well, I would say that is exactly what we got. The BF came back from Ikea with what might be the best bargain EVER and it is the perfect size for an apartment {also I told him I wanted a back to the book case so he thought this was a good compromise}. He did good!
A couple of months ago, I managed to find a new home for the bobble heads that once lived on the top shelf :-/ I really hate that I didn't get a picture of the shelf back then. Needless to say, this has been a work in progress. If you are trying to decorate your own bookshelves, just remember to aim for a good balance between pretty pieces and personal items{and in our case, we also chose some funny things as well}.
Let me know what you think and if you have tried something similar in your home.
~Nicole
Ikea LAIVA Bookcase $25
We already owned most of the items on the bookshelf: the beautiful Fearless Entertaining books on the third shelf were gifts from my mom over the years, as well as many of the pretty cook books on the top shelf that used to be hidden inside cabinets, the white owl book ends were a Christmas present to ourselves from Z Gallerie, the pottery bowl on the third shelf-that happened to match the living room colors perfectly-came from my grandmother's house, the painting on the top shelf was a Christmas gift several years back from two of the cutest little girls-Addy and Aubrey, and if you look closely at the books on the selves, most of them are a funny assortment- everything from Psychology for Dummies to Mathematics for the Nonmathematician. The book case really helped bring some personality to our new apartment while avoiding taking up much space.
Lucky for me, I did not take pics of all of the boxes before unpacking, but here is what the bookcase looks like today.
A couple of months ago, I managed to find a new home for the bobble heads that once lived on the top shelf :-/ I really hate that I didn't get a picture of the shelf back then. Needless to say, this has been a work in progress. If you are trying to decorate your own bookshelves, just remember to aim for a good balance between pretty pieces and personal items{and in our case, we also chose some funny things as well}.
Let me know what you think and if you have tried something similar in your home.
~Nicole
Designer discovery
Labels:
Fashion,
Sarah,
Spring,
Summer Style
·
Matt Bernson
$255
The black is lovely, but I got the neutral "sand". The heel height is perfect, and they have comfortable and easy to walk in rubber treads. I hope that I can wear them all spring and summer!
Check out this amazing designer {based out of Tribeca} at Arco Avenue!! {The Township // 1107 Highland Colony Parkway, Suite 107, Ridgeland, MS 39157} or online at mattbernson.com
You won't be disappointed....Enjoy!
Sarah
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