Tag: making my house pretty

Posted on

Contain Indy

If you live in Indy, you may have heard- the Container Store is finally here! If you’ve never been to one, you might not know why this is a big deal. If you’re familiar, well, then, you aren’t reading right now, you’re shopping.

Last week I had the opportunity to have lunch with some of my favorite people and tour the Container Store, all 25,000 sq ft. That evening, I attended the Preview Party, complete with live band, dance floor and 2000 of the Container Stores biggest fans.  It was a lot of fun, really overwhelming, and really left me wanting to reorganize my entire house. October 6, 2011 will forever be known as “Container Store Day” in my book.

The Container Store generously sent me home with a bag swag and I thought it would be fun to take some before and after pictures to demonstrate how useful their products really can be.

Exhibit A: The kids’ bathroom caddy. Ack.

Before: The basket actually held everything from toothpaste to a measuring tape, to hair ties.

Before
After: This Turbo Organizer has a spot for exactly everything that actually needs to live in that space nothing more, nothing less. I want one for our other two bathrooms now!
After
Exhibit B: Organizing the family calendar
Before: The back of my kitchen door is magnetic, so I use a couple of magnetic clips to hold papers I’ll need for the week. I only have two clips.
Every time I need a paper, everything else held by the clip falls to the floor!
After: The Container Store sent me home with four mega-magnets with hooks. Now there’s a magnet for coupons, tickets, school and etc. I’m still using the clips as well, and I’m not sure that it looks better, but things are a LOT easier to find!
Sorting the papers I need each each week by topic make things easier.

There are more goodies to put to work- I think the FlipFold  might have to be it’s own post. I find it oddly relaxing to fold my shirts like they do at the Gap.

What do you need help Containing? Whatever it is, I’m pretty sure the Container Store Indy will have an answer for you!

(Top photo courtesy of Angie Six, local blogger and Container Store enthusiast!)

Posted on

Staged

I started this post TWO MONTHS AGO, but it’s only going live now because I am lazy. I was waiting on this post because I wanted new photos to show you the handiwork that’s been done. But then we got busy, and we didn’t get anymore showings and we put the punch list aside…and it never happened. Then Tuesday we got the text message that we had a showing Wednesday. We kicked into the high gear, and then documented it.

Here’s the part I wrote as the summer was just starting:

Happy June, Everyone! (how is that even possible?)

We are into hour 4 of summer vacation, and so far, so good. Actually, if I’m really, really, quiet, I think maybe both kids could fall asleep at any moment. Shhh…

This week, I called in a professional for something.

Thankfully, it wasn’t a repair, it was an enhancement.

It turns out, a friend  of a friend (whom I met through blogging four years ago) does house staging, and she graciously offered to help me out.

After looking at my house for nine years, I’ve stopped seeing it. After having the whole thing painted last winter, we didn’t put any wall hangings back up. I couldn’t picture our furniture being positioned in anyway that would change the visuals of the room.

I stole the before pictures from our MLS listing, and while it was clean in the pictures, in hindsight it was stark.

Living room, empty mantel
Kitchen, with one big table and one little table.
Dining room, with a side table and a large, black, trash can.

 

With a vision, talent and some furniture moving, my home was warmed up and rearranged, all with things I had either stashed in a closet or out somewhere already. The only thing I need to go find are two pairs of table lamps and matching nightstands.

July 28, 2011: The showing went well, but they’ve opted for another property (we think). Want to see what they saw? Here you go:

The kitchen, minus an odd table.
New living room set up, little visuals on the mantel, console table behind the couch with a new lamp....
Dining room has the side table at an angle, with a new lamp, and a print on the wall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I still need to get night stands, and I ended up only getting one set of matching lamps. But it’s an improvement, right? Anyone interested in a townhouse in a nice neighborhood? You know where to find me.