Less is More???

Lately, I seem to be having the issue of excess...you see when I first moved into an apartment I had...

1) crappy bed

2) crappy futon

3) crappy dresser

and that was it!

So I put out a call to everyone I knew for furniture.  I bought every supercheap piece I could find in every dark corner of every resale shop in town.  I asked for furniture for every birthday/Christmas since.

Which leads me to today. I (we) have *deep breath*...

1) new (awsome!) bed

2) desk with hutch

3) work desk

4) expedit

5) dresser

6) vanity

7) old crappy dresser (still from orginal list)

8) couch

9) couch

10) loveseat

11) big heavy coffee table

12) flimsy little coffee table

13) old full size crappy bed (from original list)

14) desk #3

15) two mismatched endtables

16) bookshelf

17) bookshelf

19) cheap (broken) rolling desk

10) not to mention: two TVs with two entertainment centers, treadmill, assorted lamps, and washer/dryer

OMG.

(long pause)

.......

Just writing that out makes me seem like a serious furniture hoarder.  I swear my house is not that cluttered (is it????) Where did I get all these things?! What do I do with them now?? Most of them are functioning but I mean really?

The main issue is, I think, is that I am terribly horribly painfully indecisive TO. A. FAULT.  It's like I think every decision is final and forever and definitly-no way-certainly will never, ever, ever, (singing!) work out.

There's no way I could paint a table twice if I don't like the original shade. Or God forbid I move a piece of furniture from room to room if it's not working. 

Has anyone else had these issues like me, or am I just out here by myself on  indecisivie island?

clean up, clean up...

hope this is stuck in your head now, like it is mine!! :)

ANYWHO...

Today's post will be all about my cleaning schedule and routine! It's actually more of a reminder for me than anything--I have been totally SLACKING on my cleaning lately! Case in point... 

EW!! I can't believe I let our bathtub get so bad!  I am trying to be real with you on this blog.  That picture is nasty, and embarrassing, but that's life! But (excuses, excuses) the drain was clogged and I haven't been home much and with everything that's been going on, cleaning has just gotten pushed to the back burner-NO MORE! 

This is our cleaning schedule, the most recent draft at least...It has changed several times.  But needs change, routines change, it's part of life :) This is probably the fifth or sixth version by now and I am still updating it for our current house!

It was just made on Microsoft Excel, printed, and laminated so we can check things off with dry erase markers.  Let me know if you want one and I can email it to you!!  I can even customize it if you'd like! :) 

  We hung it up in the kitchen, right over the coffee so we both see it everyday :)

We also L-O-V-E Google Calendar to keep us up to date with cleaning as well....

 If you don't use it yet...CHECK IT OUT! I just made a special calendar titled "cleaning" and entered in our schedule.  This is especially useful for the Monthly or more rare items! Google Calendar is so easy to use-you can just set up reoccurring events and share with anyone! You can also color code items-who doesn't LOVE that?!

Oh, and by the way...

SO much better!!! :)

So even though I've been slacking lately, I promise NO MORE! I feel so much better when my house is clean, don't you? Let me know how you keep up with it all!! Any tips and tricks? I'd love to hear them! :)

**OH and let me know if you want a customized cleaning schedule for your own home!! Just comment below and we'll be in touch :)

a sweet little reminder...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

CHEESE BALL ALERT! 

Back in the day, the fiance and I used to leave each other notes (I know right??).  We had a desk with little cubbies and that was the perfect place to stash them.  We haven't had another system like that since...until now!

There's one wall in our upstairs hallway that has been bothering me.  It's right between our bedroom and study so we see it ALL the time & it is SO boring.  I decided this would be the perfect spot for a little daily reminder of  ♥ [awww]

So I whipped up these little bad boys...

[PRINT IT HERE!]

 [PRINT IT HERE!]

We also each do three weekly goals, so I made a goal list as well...

[PRINT IT HERE!]

I had three dollar store frames on hand, so now we can just use a dry erase marker and fill in the blanks!   It's such a fun daily reminder of how much we love each other!! And our goals of course...

They look kinda like diplomas...ew...so I plan on fixing up the frames soon! stay tuned!

I used an old ribbon bracelet to tie a dry erase marker right to the frame...

Then we can just fill in the blanks but the writing still comes right off...

It's been working great so far...makes me smile everyday :)

Do you have a fun way to remind each other of how much you love each other?? I hope you enjoy these free printables! :)

xo,

court

NO! STOP! Don't turn your computer upside down! This is a new trick I've discovered to store my lotion!  I hate it when the last little drops wont come out, so I usually store it upside down.  I recently bought a few pipe straps at Menards for only 37 cents!  Can't beat that!

I just used two thumb tacks I had to secure the strap to my dresser, and it works like a charm! 

The neck of the bottle fits right in!

Here's what the pipe straps look like...  

They are so cheap, I couldn't resist seeing what else I could use them for! They come in all shapes and sizes-so let's get creative :)

I also attached one to my vanity (which I really need to paint!!) to hold my brush!

Again, it fit perfectly! Keeps my brush right at hand and I love it!! Even better that it only cost me 37 cents!!!:)

You can also use these pipe straps in the kitchen for utensils, the shower for shampoos, under the sink to hold spray bottles-the possibilities are endless! And since they are so cheap-there's no worry! :)

Let me know how you decide to use them-I'd love to see pictures and hear your stories! :) 

xo,

courtney

Free Headband Storage

HELLO!

I've been noticing since we moved that I have been wearing the same super-boring hairstyle almost everyday.  I tried to switch it up (which is why I started even planning my hairstyles in advance) but I just always resorted to the same down-and-straight go to.  

I started thinking and realized that, even though I do have a lot of hair accessories (headbands, bows, ribbons) they never get used because, HELLO!, they were being stored like this...

NO WONDER! that is NOT a very good system for organizing my hair stuff!

I started scouring the interwebs and Pinterest for different ideas for headband storage.  I found this one that I really loved...

[source]

...so I made it! It looked cute and I had a great space for it, but in reality, it didn't fit my own personal needs.  My headbands were too wide or were getting stuck.  It just wasn't perfect.  Plus, I had a lot of OTHER hair accessories I wanted to store as well.

Then I found this one...

[source]

...which I thought was SO clever and loved because it was free! 

It's just an old oatmeal container, covered in pretty paper.  

But as I said, I have a lot of other hair things and when I looked at this I thought, "The inside looks like wasted space...could I use the inside???"

So I did! I cut my oatmeal container into smaller sections for all my other "do-dads."  I still wanted to stack so I cut out cardboard "bottoms"...

and covered them in scrapbook paper...

Then I just hot glued the cut oatmeal jar to the newly made "bottom"...

added some more scrapbook paper to the outside...

filled them with my different do-dad (bows in one, ribbons, flowers etc) and then stacked them back up!

The headbands fit perfectly around the container...

...and my stuff fits perfectly inside! It's the best of both worlds, I LOVE it!

How do you store your pretty little things? See ya soon!

xo, 

court

Friday Five

You wouldn't expect it with only two people, but paperwork is a BIG problem in our house.  Or, should I say, it used to be. I have a few ways that I personally like to deal with it.

My mom couponed this little guy [it's pink...girl?] from Target a while back.  It's $10 but I believe she got it for around $4.

It's not beautiful but I don't display it and I l-o-v-e it.  It's sturdy and portable but I especially like the top....

Here I can keep all my tools-labels, pens, stickers, scissors, paper clips etc.  It's nice to have everything I need all in one place :)

This file box is actually designed for hanging folders.  I had some already but I think those are just kind of ugly and it seems like papers always fall out...

[lame!]

I found these adorable folders from Walmart for just .$95 and my wheels got to turning...

I simply pulled the hanging part out of the ugly folder and slid it in the crease of my new pocket folder.  This turned my cute [& cheap] folder into a hanging folder with pockets. 

You could also just glue the hanging-stick-thingy (WHAT is that called??) to the outside top of the folder.

These double pocket hanging folders make sorting paperwork much easier for me.  For example--since we're not married we still have separate insurance.  His insurance information goes on the left (he's left handed) and mine goes on the right (I'm right handed).  It's one insurance folder but it stays separate AND nothing falls out  :)

Another example is the utilities folder...water bills go on the left and electricity bills go on the right.  

I also made labels [shocking!] for each folder.  Like with my freezer labels, I just printed and laminated them, then taped them to the back of the folder :)

If I wanted to spend a little extra on this project, I might have gone with these-dry erase hanging folder labels, but for now, I love my system! 

So how do I keep up with it? 

Every Friday after work I do what I call the "Friday Five" [I'm big into alliteration as you will learn!].  I take all the paperwork from the week, sort it and file it.  It literally takes less than five minutes and then I can start my weekend carefree!  

So how do you sort your paperwork? Have you gone electronic? It's something we're really thinking about but I'm just too chicken!  

Most importantly, do you think those hanging folders are as UGLY as I do?

Thanks for stopping by!

xo,

courtney