I'm Moving!!

One year ago today I was in Palermo, Sicily drinking tiny coffee,

and having amazing adventures with my family.

 

Ahhh.

Since returning from our 8 weeks in Europe last August, I have blogged maybe 10 times.

Woops.

It's not that I don't think of you often...my sweet reader friends, but this past year has found me doing more projects than ever and as much as I want to share them, there just hasn't been time.

To blog that is.

Cause there's this whole thing with blogging where you have to, you know, write stuff, and resize pics and all those things that take some minutes.

So what I am going to aim for instead, is to share little bits with you on Instagram.

Cause when I see a cool light at Home Sense, I want to show you!

And when I'm thinking on paint colours I want to tell you about it.

Or when I'm so mad about already killing a 2 day old plant, 

I want to have a little rant with you.

(Not to mention the rant I need to have about why my photos won't size properly and appear all blurry!!!  My move is gonna save me some sanity and you some sore eyes.)

So please come join me on Instagram 

@prettyorganizedhome

so we can keep talking decorating together!

Coffee Bar

Recently the Forbes' needed a new fridge and the one we chose was taller than their old one.  

This meant that they had to remove the cupboard that was above the fridge.  And I figured, since they were mudding and painting anyway, it might be fun to take out the cupboard between the fridge and pantry as well so that we could create a new coffee bar in that space.

Here we are minus cupboards.

And here is what we installed instead.

And by "we" I mean my husband Dino...who is always very patient and gracious when I say, hey, would you mind...

If you are wondering what happened to the stuff that was in the cupboards, it went partly to the spot where mugs were stored, and partly to the pantry.

We collected all the mugs and coffee and tea paraphernalia and ta da!

Coffee Bar.

I kept the upper shelves light on accessories...

to balance the bottom shelf which is loaded with mugs.

The kettle and coffee maker are both on a tray that can slide in and out for easy access to water refills.

I also kept two oft-used cookbooks within easy reach.

The top two drawers which were mainly used for random miscellaneous stuff got emptied and now house many bags of tea.

What a fun new space!

The Pastor's New Office

It's not every day that you get a dream project dropped into your lap, but working on our new pastor's office at Grant Memorial has been that for me.

Dreamy for two reasons:

A - Pastor John and I share the same taste in cozy, lodge-like rooms

and

B - he deferred to my opinion every step of the way.

YAY!!!

So my job was to take this

and create a warm, welcoming space with a ski lodge/hunting cabin/tourist camp feel.

Okay!  

Yes please!!  

How much fun is that?

Let's have a look at the results.

In planning the new look, I started with some of the larger pieces of furniture;

the sofa and chairs,

 

the recliner,

and the shelving.

The desk turned out to be a challenge but it was easily solved by Dale Sahaidak Woodworking.  He built the coffee table and end table and when my original desk fell through, 

he whipped this baby up within a week.

Gorgeous!

The key to a cozy and inviting space is to create a look that appears to have been curated over time.  Accessories that have personality, lots of plants and 

groups of books all work together to add warmth.

Curtains go a long way in creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

Pieces of old, unique furniture like this little cupboard,

and this stool-turned-side-table,

not only help keep costs down, but also add to the homey feel.

Art is extremely important in creating the right atmosphere in a room.

These guys are calendar pages framed with IKEA frames.

And then there are the pieces that were just too much fun to resist.

 The pheasant was donated by one staff member and another staffer made this gorgeous throw.

My only regret is that the project is finished!  

I will miss hanging out in here.

I want to give a huge shout out to the Grant Memorial Property Department for their amazing help.  They were so quick to paint and move furniture out and carry stuff back in...I am so grateful.

Also many thanks to the Finance Department for running to make payments for me and helping me whenever I needed.  

And finally to Melody for dealing with deliveries, and helping me sew and all sorts of weird requests...and for making the beautiful throw!

If you don't currently have a church family I highly recommend a visit to Grant Memorial.  Pastor John and his family are just lovely and such a blessing for our congregation...

and, hey, he's got really great taste!!

Books You Might Like

I've really enjoyed every book I read over the holidays so I thought I'd share them with you.

(Plus I have done nothing around the house to be able to show you.)

1.  I'm Thinking of Ending Things - Iain Reid

2.  The Folly of Prayer - Matt Woodley 

3.  The Break - Katherena Vermette

4.  The Couple Next Door - Shari Lapena

5.  Skeletons at the Feast - Chris Bohjalian (This one I listened to.)

6.  What Alice Forgot - Liane Moriarty (Not shown.)

I'm still reading The Folly of Prayer but I need to zip because my book club at Grant Memorial is skyping with the author tonight!

Starting the New Year Right

Sometimes we do the craziest things without even thinking.  We get into the habit of...well whatever, and even things that make no sense soon become routine.

That's not usually the most efficient way to live.

Take this mirror.

I had this poor thing perched on my window sill for months.  

The light in my bathroom is not great for doing makeup so every morning I'd grab the 6 or more items of makeup I use daily and walk from the bathroom to the window, put it all on, then carry it all back and put it away in my drawer.

One day it finally dawned on me that this was not:

A - Pretty

or

B - Organized

So I found a pretty mirror, grabbed some cute containers, and set it all up right there in the window.

Much more practical, and much more attractive.

Now, you may be thinking that what I actually need is better bathroom light and that is true, but that's not a project that I can do on my own and sometimes you have to wait on those bigger fixes.

In the meantime, pause for a few minutes in this New Year and take note of your daily routine.  Is there some habit you have that isn't practical?  Not efficient?  Something you could make prettier?

Change it!