At long last...

I have my home and life under control!  Well, my home at least.  Tax season was rather eventful this year - both in a good way and a not so good way, but I survived.  I discovered that happiness is indeed a choice and that prayer works wonders in the face of adversity.  God helps us help ourselves and that is a lesson that I am very grateful to have learned earlier this year.

Peter has been assisting Aggie in supervising the spring cleaning and the little home projects that have been completed over the past couple of weeks.

I've been wanting to do something with the foyer wall that is part of my client area since just after the first tax season I worked at home.  The wall has a serious fingerprint problem - cheap, flat paint being the culprit.  I bartered with one of my clients this year and he installed this beautiful beadboard paneling for me and a chair rail.  When I have the paneling painted, I am also going to repaint the walls with washable, semi-gloss latex to make maintenance a little easier.  Isn't it cute?

The green table was an L.L. Bean bargain.

Unfortunately, this photo shows the dirty carpet - another client area problem - but that will soon be solved when my bartering client enlarges the laminate floor from the door up to my desk.  No more mess!

The paneling also surrounds the outside of the kitchen bar area.

That's the spot where Aggie likes to rub her face for some unknown reason.

Another mess taken care of!

My "dining room" is actually part of the living room, but it's not like I ever use the space.  I just love my oak table and oddball red chairs.  The paneling really brightened up that corner.  I am contemplating painting the narrow wall closest to the kitchen with the same green paint as the living room wall.

I just haven't decided yet...

I know that I suffer from too much stuff in a small space, but it feels homey to me and that's all that really matters, isn't it?

A few weeks ago, Richard put up my wall words for me - I love it!

That Jane Austen was one smart cookie.

Spring cleaning was long overdue this year - I tidied up my craft area and tried to get my stash of books to read under control.  The antique desk chair was a craigslist find; Tom & Al graciously picked it up for me on one of their forays into the wilds of Sarasota.  As you can see, I haven't quite decided what to do with it yet.  I counted the other day; I have eleven chairs in the house.

This is why my dining room is a corner of the living room - my home office takes up the space intended for dining.  It's just the right size and a convenient spot to see clients and block off access to the rest of the place with Aggie's doggie gate.

My craft area is also part of my home office, and I am always looking for ways to consolidate stuff and minimize the amount of desk space it occupies.  I found this great stamp pad storage system on eBay and finished that project up the other day.  See - more space for vintage McCoy flower pots!

They are pretty and functional.  Who could ask for anything more?

Long post, I know, but I love the feeling of having accomplished something that I wanted to share.  More regular updates this summer!

I guess hoarding is more widespread...

than one would think.  Yes, I admit to hoarding a few cookbooks, but they are all stored neatly in the cupboard over my range hood.  My friend (who shall not be named) is a self-confessed hoarder who has vowed to get her life in order this year.  I've been promising some inspiration photos for my friend's own kitchen for some time now - and having completed my annual spring cupboard purge, I have decided to post them here for her on our little blog.

I am fortunate to have a fairly large pantry in the kitchen and I was merciless when I sorted it out - if I hadn't used it in a year, away it went.  Crockpot, toaster, you name it - gone to new homes.  I'm still sort of a hoarder when it comes to provisions - but I prefer to think of it as having a well-stocked pantry.

Baking pans, mixing bowls, mixer.  I try to make use of plastic bins to organize like items and keep the clutter to a minimum.  Lord, I'm sounding like Martha Stewart...

Silverware drawer just above the baking cupboard.  Yes, I got rid of the ugly white plastic trays and went with the pretty bamboo.  I think it just makes putting things away more fun.  Really.

As you can see, I hid the ugly-after-I-really-looked-at-it Keurig cup carousel.  It was a good idea in theory, but not so visually pleasing to have on the kitchen counter.  I also pared down my glassware to six glasses and four teacups.  No - five!  I moved one to the top shelf with my antique coffee pot.

I've discovered that the drawer under the oven makes a great spot to store canned goods, rice and soup mixes.  My panini grill is also tucked in there out of sight - along with my little frying pan.

Some of these cupboards are so small and oddly shaped that it's a challenge to make good use of them.  Two plastic bins fit nicely in this one: I use the top for foil, waxed paper and zip-loc bags; the bottom is for baking mixes and oil.  Also a great place to stash the peanut butter!

This small drawer has turned out to be perfect for spices and other cooking necessities.  The can opener, pizza cutter, and measuring cups have finally found a permanent home here as well.

Under the sink is pretty ugly, but the storage bins help corral bags, water filters and cleaning supplies.  Unfortunately, it's the only space where the pizza stone and a couple of platters will fit.

Finally, I've pared down a multitude of dishes to one set of Mary Engelbreit stoneware and one tea cup and saucer of each ME design.  The top shelf is a great space for my colorful colander and a couple of rarely-used snack baskets.  I like opening a cabinet and seeing color and organization!  I hope my little kitchen tour encourages you to purge, organize and beautify an everyday space!

Checking items off the list...

really makes me happy!  Aggie wasn't sure what was going on this past Saturday, but after her morning crunch, she stayed out of the way while my friend, Richard, helped me with some long-awaited home improvement projects.

Our walls are a boring, lifeless taupe - painted with not-so-great flat paint.  I can live with it since I've added color to the place with all of my stuff, but the living room wall was calling out for something more.

So now we have a lovely green accent wall.  Richard is taking a phone break between coats, talking with his Army son, Todd, who has just returned safely from Afghanistan - a real answer to many prayers.

While the first coat dried thoroughly, Richard took on another project of adding a second shelf to my laundry closet.  This is the before photo - the shelf I ordered was too long and he took it to Home Depot to be cut to size while he was out to run a couple of personal errands.

Richard mounted the second shelf underneath the existing shelf - it was so snug we ended up not needing the center bracket.  I have been so looking forward to corralling the laundry area mess!

As soon as the second coat of paint was dry, I helped Richard rehang my artwork and I vacuumed behind the furniture - it's only been nearly two years!  Then he moved the furniture right back where it was - doesn't the new color look great?

I spent some time yesterday tidying up the laundry closet and filling the baskets on my new shelf.  What's in them?  Clothes!  When I got rid of the bedroom nightstands with drawers, I lost my everyday, around-the-house clothes drawers - so this was the perfect solution.  Wash, dry, fold, store - and wear!  I'm happy to say the laundry is completely caught up - for once - and I even washed my tennis shoes.  Now all I need to do is rummage around the house for an empty basket for my socks...

Of course, Aggie is completely exhausted from all of the commotion and has been lazing about on the sofa all day yesterday and today.  We should all be so lucky.

Peter still doesn't know what all the fuss is about, having slept through all the excitement under the bed.  All he needs to know is that when Mom is happy, everybody is happy!

A little organizing project...

is finally almost finished - my jewelry drawer!  I used to keep all this stuff in clear plastic storage boxes, you know the kind - with a dozen little compartments?  I had crammed them all into the drawer of the old bedside table.  When I got rid of the table with the drawers, I had no convenient place to keep the boxes.  It's not like anything is valuable - more sentimental value than anything else, but I do like to wear my funky earrings from time to time.  After trying a variety of places throughout the house that just didn't work, I realized I had a really big, flat drawer in the antique desk I'm using for the sewing table in the bedroom.  And then I found these adorable ceramic egg crates and well, an idea was hatched.

I couldn't resist that one - sorry!

I did some purging of stuff I never wear and organized the earrings by season and it's much easier to find what I'm looking for now.  Sometimes it makes me happy just to look at the stuff - is that weird? 

My friend, Erin...

who is in the middle of a get organized project at her house, thinks I have no mess at my house.  Think again, honey!  Here's proof: the disaster area on my craft/card-making desk.

And the other side of my creative space...

And on the floor next to the desk - and there's more in the knee hole that the picture didn't get!

Wait - come with me into the sewing corner of the bedroom.  See those unfinished projects?

And more fabric piled up in the corner on rolling carts two deep - the carts I repurposed from the ruthless rubber stamp purge of 2011.  And there, right on the top, is the fabric for the bedroom valance - which all the good intentions in the world have failed to stitch up!  I will admit that I have spent most of this week getting everything in order for the carpet cleaners to come on Friday - but I still don't have everything put away in my office area.  I mean, I do still have until early Friday morning to vacuum the carpet...

A little blog housecleaning...

It's a new year and I needed to do a little tidying up around here.  Dawn & Aggie had become just a little too busy to suit me.  We got rid of some of the graphics, the thought for the week and decided to nix the music.  It made the page load slower and face it, not everyone enjoys my eclectic taste in music.  But honestly, where could you find Johnny Cash on the same playlist as Barenaked Ladies and the Fine Young Cannibals?  And don't forget YoYo Ma.  We've also been doing some tidying up at home and this just seemed like a good idea while I was taking a break.  Hope your new year is off to as busy a start as mine!

Since I'm not in the holiday mood today...

I've been making my tax season preparation list - and checking it twice.  Last year I happened upon these recycled folders that cost only marginally more than the folders I was buying at Target or WalMart during the after school sales.  I like that these are made from recycled materials and are more substantial than the generic school folders.  And yes, I found them on Amazon, and with free shipping they're only about twenty cents each.  I add a pretty sunflower business card sticker to the front and voila! - personalized client tax folders.  And the colors are cheerful - always a plus!  It doesn't take much to amuse me - or my clients, apparently.  Next project: client information forms and processing checklists.  And no, I don't have a list of lists.  But I've thought about making one.  Once or twice.

Oh, modem, where route thou?

This spot on my desk - this valuable real estate, considering my penchant for stuff - is finally empty.  For the past year and a half, it's been home to the cable modem and VOIP box for my phone and internet, much to my chagrin.  When I first moved my office home, Tom & Al did a great job of arranging the desks into a workable work station and hooked up my computer and all the peripherals.  A couple of days later, the cable phone guy came and messed it all up - leaving both big boxes on the desk and a mass of cable everywhere.  Well, today my client Dean (who just became the father of triplets, by the way) came to my rescue, tidied up the wire mess and installed my wireless modem so I could put my netbook to use.

Now everything is under the desk, on a wire shelf over the UPS, out of the way but close enough for me to reach if I have to reset anything.  I am beyond thrilled - you can see it doesn't take much to make me happy!  Of course, now I have to dust the desk and tidy my workspace up - but I am so pleased with the results.  Thank you, Dean, for getting rid of the cable eyesore that greeted clients when they sat down in front of my desk.  I really appreciate your help!