It’s a phenomenon spreading through homes across the world! It starts out with that one pile on the kitchen counter top.  It’s just one pile… it will stop there.  But then company is coming and you quickly move part of the pile to the office and the other part up to your bedroom.  Night falls.  The pile in the office is out of sight out of mind.  The pile on the bed needs to get out of your way so that you can sleep so it moves either to the bench at the foot of your bed or on the bathroom counter.

There’s no ill intent with this pile.  There is a positivity that it will get taken care of any minute now.  But the truth is harsh.  That pile is added to day after day and before you know it, the counters, the benches, the office, the secret two drawers in your kitchen, even the cabinets under your sinks… yeah.  And at some point it’s just easier to ignore, until that one day.  That one day when you realize that you have no idea what is even in the pile and you start looking and the horror and discovery sends you down a rabbit hole.

After I got out of the fetal position, I decided to formulate a realistic plan.  Because let’s face it, this happened because there are 8 million other things going on around me, so it wasn’t going to get better if I spent all day fixing it all because then it would result in chaos in every other part of the house.  Funny how that happens so quickly.  Actually it’s really not funny.

So let’s just start with 5 Degrees of the Clutter.  Last week I picked 5 frightening spots in my home to organize and declutter.  None of which are huge and would only maybe take an hour each to do.

1.  Kitchen counters and junk drawers
2.  Chair in the Master Bedroom
3.  Under the bathroom sinks
4.  The pile of bills in the office
5.  My dresser.  This may not sound like much but as a whole it is a task.

I know you all are just chomping at the bit to see the before pictures.  Wondering if I am the fraud who says my house is a mess but there is one single cup on the counter… no my friends… I am no fraud.  In fact my honesty usually gets me in trouble… just ask my school and the PTA! I show lots of pretty pictures here because let’s face it, that’s really what you want to see the majority of the time, but this is going to give you the satisfaction of some nice before and after shots.

Before:  Kitchen counters and Junk Drawer(s)

Kitchen Make-Over Here

Basic instructions:  Take everything out of them and place on the floor.  Look at it all in disgust.  Throw out all obvious trash.  Throw out everything you didn’t even know was in there anymore, like the 4 cute planners that you never used, the 45 chapsticks you were looking for, the hair clips because you know you have 400 others, and the copies of recipes you saved which you can now google in two seconds.  Now divide and conquer.  What goes where and before you go buy all the cute little organizers that would make this project fun, actually see what you need.  (That was hard for me because I reeaaalllly love buying organizing stuff.)

Ummm… here’s a back scratcher…

And After: (the boys insisted we keep the back scratcher)

That is a glorious cleaned off counter!

Before: Master Bedroom Chair

Let’s all just fess up.  Everyone has that chair or bench in their room that is not used for it’s intended purpose.  It would probably be extremely helpful to just not have it so you wouldn’t put things on them! But they are cute and we have them so let’s just get on with it.  All of my kid’s laundry?  Put away.  All of my husband’s laundry?  Hung up neatly.  My laundry? Dirty and clean ends up here.  Also paperwork that I intend to go through after I hide it (read first paragraph) and other odds and ends that are in my hands and I set down when I get distracted by said kids and husband.  All here.

This is pretty simple, but it actually has to be done.  Put clean clothes away, wash dirty clothes and actually put those away, file or trash paperwork, put toys in appropriate places, and put caution tape across the chair to try and avoid this same scenario the next day.

And After:

Restored! You can find the DIY fabric and painted chair tutorial here.

Before Bathroom Cabinets

I’m not proud of this one.   It’s been awhile for all of them.  Old product, old cleaner, old hair tools (have to keep the crimper though because people need to borrow for 80’s parties all the time).

And because under your bathroom sink is the only place to keep space ice cream…

It’s time to get real.  If you haven’t looked for it in at least a year, it’s out.  Now I can actually see what I have and what I need when it’s running out.  Amazing concept but when you run a household these are the places that come last.

After Cabinets:

Before: Bills in the Office

I hate mail clutter.  Why don’t you just pay them all online and go paperless you ask? Because I tried that and for whatever reason I didn’t see the emails or my brain doesn’t work so then I paid bills late.  You want money from me? I need notice in my hand.  So my plan is usually keep the last 6 months and shred the rest.  Sounds good and attainable but as noted about every other situation in my house, life happens.  This is a dirty job and an annoying one and just has to get done.  Separate by bills and then file or shred.

Side note: The best part about making these little tasks each day is that they kind of naturally lead to a general tidying around the areas.  Did I need to have spray paint in my office… ummm no.

After:  Bills

To see the office make-over head here (yes this 70’s file cabinet is going to get a make-over soon)

Before: My Dresser

Ugh.  A dumping ground.  I appreciate all of you that don’t let these things happen but in my world, it just happens.  The kid’s masterpieces need to be displayed, I leave my jewelry out, 5 legos that I found and could possibly be needed, the bandaids that were brought up in an emergency play room situation, bug bite cream, and the glass of water I meant to drink.   And the cords that still need to be hidden from getting a new TV.

After: Dresser

Master Bedroom Make-Over

It’s not all about picture perfect on my dresser and I like it that way.  I love seeing my pictures and trinkets that may seem like clutter to some, but are actually momentos from very special people in my life that have gone before me.

So 5 days and 5 areas.  Is my house now clean and amazing?  No.  But at least a new beginning in some places.  Kind of how I look at a new year.  Making a huge resolution seems like a big way to disappoint yourself.  Maybe set your bar a little lower and just focus on being better at what you can one day at a time.  Who knows?  Maybe I will not put things on my chair in my bedroom! I mean that is definitely not going to happen, but maybe I will make myself put my laundry away when I make the boy’s do there’s.  Sometimes the little things add up to a bigger thing.

Organization and life don’t actually go hand in hand.  Be easy on yourselves and know that all the pretty pictures in the magazines and the ones you even see here are just that… pretty pictures.

But organizing a post like this did help me motivate.  So maybe shorter lists is the key to greater accomplishments!

Want to see how some of my amazing friends are organizing there way into this new year?! I do! Secretly I also love some messy before and glorious after shots!  Check out these awesome ladies below!

| Domestic Charm | 11 Magnolia Lane | Evolution of Style | Just a Girl and Her Blog |

| Southern State of Mind | Redhead Can Decorate | Chaotically Creative |

| Robb Restyle | Ciburbanity | Windgate Lane | Suburban B’s |

| My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia | This is our Bliss |

xoxo,

B

The post Five Degrees of Clutter appeared first on Windgate Lane.

We have established that if something holds still long enough, I am going to paint it or change it in some way, yes?  So I had stared at my pretty little duck egg blue dresser for several years and decided that it was long overdue for a change!  It was a bit lost over in a corner and I decided that a two tone look could help tie it in with the end tables I did here.

Before:

It was cute and had lasted a long time in comparison to many furniture pieces in our home… so up first was stripping the drawers.  Not my favorite thing by a long shot but I was motivated by it only being the four drawers.  I used Citri-Strip and it worked great! I think the last time I used it I was out in the garage and while the temperature outside was cooler, I just don’t think it was cool enough.  But seemed to work like a charm this time!

It was like pretty magic!  Several layers of paint and poly- took a couple of layers of the strip but came off easily with a plastic scraper (make sure it’s plastic not metal so it won’t gauge the wood).

After they were done, I grabbed my gorgeous black Velvet Finishes paint called Luxurious and with out any prep work, just started painting it on the dresser.  I can’t tell you how easily this paint goes on and how it self levels.  I didn’t have any rollers so I had to brush it on and there is not one brush stroke to be seen!  And with that I will stop yapping and show you the finished project

I have to say… the new knobs… they make me swoon! I am keeping the old ones because usually original hardware is my fave, but when I saw these at Hobby Lobby, they had to go somewhere and fast!

And can you see how amazingly smooth that paint looks?! Don’t forget- I brushed it on! I did also do a quick protective coat with the Velvet Finishes top coat and it also went on very smooth.

And how about a bit of a peak at how it flows in the room… the mantel is in transition to fall decor but I don’t hate it.  And yes, maybe you are wondering why I have a crystal ball on display but for $2 at the antique store it needed to be mine and is going to be fun with fall and Halloween decor!

The room is coming together… I say that a lot though… and then I change something else… but let’s just appreciate it for now, shall we?

 **Product was provided for this post by Velvet Finishes but all rave reviews are my own**

*Affiliates are present*

I hope y’all have a wonderful day!

xoxo

B

The post Two Tone Dresser appeared first on Windgate Lane.

That might actually be a short novel, and with it being summer, productivity is at an all time low with my two loves around all day.  But let’s start with a little tongue and cheek letter that I wrote to my husband the other day…

**Dear Husband,

I want you to know that early on in the day I was dressed and had make-up on (not gonna lie, the hair was mostly dry shampoo) but during the course of the day things took a turn.

Running one errand in 102 degree heat caused extensive damage to my make-up and I’m not sure, but I think dry shampoo does not do well when combined with sweat.

After I dried my arm pits out and had some lunch, the boys got me all packed up and ready to go to the pool! Which really consisted of me (still sweating) wriggling into my bathing suit which resulted in two pulled muscles, and then hog tying them both to apply lotion all while searching for the one minions flip flop that of course was found on the kitchen counter.

It was at the point that we arrived at the pool that I realized none of us had gone to the bathroom prior.

After 15 minutes of taking assorted swimsuits on and off that were all stuck to us like glue (102 degrees), we found some chairs, dumped our stuff and go in the luke warm pool.

My lifeguard duties ended about 2hrs later. I took 2 balls to the head (thank God my dry shampoo/ sweat mixture had created some sort of barrier) and then dragged two children (possibly my own) out of the pool along with about 8 bags of assorted pool toys and floats (also possibly my own).

The car ride home was pleasant. The hot air blowing on our faces… hungry, hot, and tired 6 and 8 year old boys in the back seat…

On arrival we all took showers and really relaxed! Getting wet suits off of water logged elephants comes to mind. Then trying to bath myself (don’t forget my pulled muscles) while fielding questions about dinner and shielding myself from being watched while trying to shower, I really used that time to get my head in the game!

You will be home soon dear husband and if you don’t find me downstairs with a hot meal on the table, I may be upstairs… in bed… with no make-up… and wet hair… and in the fetal position… **

Ahhhh yes… the fetal position.  I have some methods for getting a project done or even just getting the kitchen clean.   And I would be a huge liar if I didn’t tell you that putting on a movie is one of them!

My boys are rarely still.  Like never.  But if I know I need to have some uninterrupted time, (kinda) I will save a movie that might captivate them for awhile.  Not a ground breaking tip I realize! But let’s say I have to paint some furniture- I’m gonna need their little hands away from the action.

My other go to is having them help in some way!  I learned that tip from both my Mom and Dad.  They always included us in their projects and I loved it!

It is dependent though on if I am painting my own furniture or a client’s (they may not care for the globby look) but if they can do one side that I know will be against a wall- then have at it!

Especially if it’s a project for them- for instance the drawer fronts on these nightstands (details here) were pretty straightforward for my oldest son’s room and both boys helped to stain them and then wipe the stain off (yes they were wearing gloves).

And then this dresser (details here)… well the back of it might have a lot of uneven paint on it… but hey- it got done!

When you have a family, priorities change.  We have all been there- red faced and frustrated that every single thing we hoped to accomplished in a day was not even touched because of a million reasons, none of which we can really recall, but all of which helped to sustain the lives of our children!

Those days happen… but I still make a real effort to squeeze in some ME things- no matter what that means (fetal position).

Hang in there Momma’s- it’s a heck of a thing we do everyday and if we can accomplish a few things of our own, I think it just shows our kids that we value ourselves and work hard too!

Thanks again Meagan! And Don’t forget to check out the rest of the fun posts in this series!

Day 1 Mamas:

Jillian @ I Am a Homemaker

Bee @ Windgate Lane

Alice @ Thoughts from Alice

Charlotte @ Ciburbanity

Amy @ Her Tool Belt

Day 2 Mamas:

Danielle @ 2 Little Superheroes

Amanda @ Dwelling in Happiness

Rachel @ Shades of Blue Interiors

Jen @ Migonis Home

And just for fun we are also throwing in a giveaway! Enter to win a $15 giveaway to Lowes and Target for a little fun summer shopping
#DIYmama Giveaway

xoxo

B

The post Motherhood: Playing to Win appeared first on Windgate Lane.

I can’t even tell you how long my master bedroom has been ‘on the list’.  So when Minted contacted me about checking out their artwork, I was pretty excited to find something to help spruce it up!

I like to find artwork that can be used in multiple rooms because I love to move things around (shocker) and when I started glancing through their works by independent artists, I realized pretty quickly that this decision was going to be hard!

I finally picked three different prints and knew that 2 would be amazing in our bedroom (the 3rd you will see soon in our family room summer spruce up!).  I chose to have one framed and the larger print I would frame myself.

I am in love with the ocean but don’t really want a nautical feel in my decor- so this large graphic waves print was the perfect solution! I love love love it! and then I can’t live without color so this landscape was just a beautiful compliment to the simplicity of the other.

All of Minted’s prices seemed reasonable to me and I love that you have the option of framing or not.  The smaller print that I had framed was done very nicely and included the hanging hardware on the back.  I purchased the Waves print on it’s own because I knew I wanted a very simple look for it.

I will be showing you how to make your own plexiglass frame soon!  It was fairly simple and I’ll give you tips on what to do and not to do I love how it turned out though!

This whole space makes me so happy now! Thanks to Minted for helping me jump start my Master Bedroom make-over – I can’t wait to show you the rest!

| Console Table | Vase, Green Box (bought on a recent trip to KS) |

| Black Tassel Necklace | Cross Benches | Wall Color |

I hope y’all are having a wonderful week!

xoxo

B

**Sponsored by Minted- all thoughts and opinions are my own**

The post Artwork for Any Room appeared first on Windgate Lane.

We haven’t had a coffee table for about 6 years- mostly due to the fact that once my oldest started walking, we just needed the space for playing and running.  But lately I have wanted to get at least a small table in front of our couch and chair.  I didn’t want anything dark though because we have dark leather and a new navy rug in there, so I just kept watching for a nice coffee table without anything specific in mind, except cheap.

Enter being at Target one night, buying only lunchables…. I accidentally ended up in the home accessories and furniture section… and saw these clearance side tables.  They came two in a box and were $30! Powder coated white steal as the base and legs and an ash particle board as the shelves.

Enter Marble Contact Paper! That’s right- contact paper! It’s so pretty, that I just want to put it on everything now!

You can find similar products around the internet- but I chose this one because when I bought it, it was on sale and because of the reviews I read that said it was a bit thicker than most- and it really was easy to lay and looks beautiful.

I first applied it to the top pieces- I made sure and measured my piece to have overlap on each side.  The width only covered the top though so I had to cut two small pieces for the sides that wouldn’t overlap.  I pulled the backing off of the front edge and positioned it (don’t panic if it isn’t right, you can reposition again) and then slowly pulled the rest of the backing a little at a time, while smoothing it down as I went.

For the bottom two pieces, I actually spray painted the two sides that wouldn’t be covered with some white primer I had, because I knew they wouldn’t show as much.

I then assembled them all and sat back and wept at the beauty!

Ok, I didn’t weep but I was seriously happy, and so far they have tricked every single person I have dragged in to see my ‘marble’ tables! And that is good enough for me!

I also can’t wait to show them to you set up in our family room once my new rug arrives! And one more detail shot because I can’t stand it!

Hope you are having an awesome day!

xoxo

B

The post Faux Marble Tables appeared first on Windgate Lane.

It is a great resource for anyone!

Not a big surprise that my topic was Ikea Hacks!:) Gotta love ’em- take that ordinary and make it extraordinary… Ikea… hit me up for my mad marketing skills.

I love all of these projects because they are for different areas of your home- from the outdoors in!  There isn’t a room that can’t be covered by Ikea- but the fun is in how you make it your own…

To click through these awesome projects- jump over to my Hometalk Board and follow along!

xoxo

B

The post Hometalk Curated Ikea Hack Board appeared first on Windgate Lane.

I was all set except for an empty spot above the tv.

It needed to be something simple but I couldn’t find anything around the house- so next best thing? Make it! I considered word art/ an arrow but nothing was looking right to me.

Then it struck me that I have a couple little horse details in the room and a sketch of one might just be what I was looking for!

I had a blank canvas (go buy one at Hobby Lobby/ Micheals/ JoAnne) and started out by painting a black frame around the outside.

I didn’t want it to look perfect so I just quickly brushed on some black craft paint that I had on hand.

After that I used an old horse I had on a wooden compass and traced around it.  If you don’t happen to have a random horse sitting around for this- you can always find an image from google images and print it out- which opens the possibility up to really anything!

Once it was traced- I simply took a pencil and quickly colored it in! I didn’t want it to cover the space- so I just quickly did sweeps with the pencil so that it would just abstractly form the image.

This was one of the easiest projects I’ve done to date and also one of my faves! I love it up there and it only cost me probably $3 for that matt because I snatch up a few when I see them on sale.

Hope you are having an amazing day!
xoxo
B

The post DIY Artwork appeared first on Windgate Lane.

I had just completed my 5 Days/ 5 Rooms Challenge and was ready to sleep for the next 10 Days in One Room!

And then this past weekend I attended an amazing conference in Atlanta, called Haven, which I will give all the details about soon:) Awesome time- awesome peeps, awesome tools, learned a ton that I can’t wait to share with y’all!

But today I want to recap the projects and let you in on some more details.

Day 1 was the Gallery Wall in my Playroom.

This looks simple enough- but involved painting the wall (Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter) and then hanging these blasted Ikea frames.  Such a love/ hate relationship with them- LOVE the price and look, HATE hanging them with their wires across the back.

Yes, I have seen different tutorials on making it easier, but I just decided to wing it and then tighten or loosen the wires to make sure they were all even.

Day 2 was the Gallery Wall around my tv in my master bedroom.

Keep in mind that most of these projects involved hanging things… if you are a psychologist you might read into that and think that I put off things that have to be hung on walls… you would be right!

I will have a DIY horse graphic up for you later this week~

Due to the walls in our house being made from cottage cheese and also as level as well… something really not level, it is a drive you to drink job!

But I always remind myself that worst case scenario is having to fill a little hole in the wall- and to bring down my stress a bit- I had my 3M filler and paint ready to go incase that happened.  and it may have happened… twice.

Day 3 was my oldest son’s new shelves over his dresser.

By utilizing more of the vertical space- we were able to remove his bookshelves on the other wall and now he has so much more space in there! Which, let’s face it- boy’s just want space to run!

Day 4 moved into my little boy’s room and was a closet clean up and organization and then a new DIY valance.

This shoe holder turned daily clothes planner is really more useful for me during school- but he loves it already and is getting us in a good habit.

This valance- which I will be sharing a tutorial on later this week- was so simple and replaced one that was thrown together too quickly and just kept falling down all the time!

Day 5 was making our family room look a bit more summery! I have been collecting these vases sporadically and finally got enough to have two pretty groupings on top of our entertainment center.

I love all of the blue and green tones in them- makes me long for the ocean!

And then a summer wreath for our front door completed the 5 Days of Chaos!

I already had this drift wood wreath from Hobby Lobby and when I saw this ribbon there- I knew the two together would be awesome, yet simple.

I hope you enjoyed and stay tuned for another organizational challenge coming up soon!
xoxo
B

The post 5 Days/ 5 Rooms Challenge Recap! appeared first on Windgate Lane.

My boy has been through several room make-overs- you can see the sports gallery I did for him by clicking here.

I had put up some bookshelves in there awhile ago but they just seemed over bearing and made the room dark.  It isn’t a huge room so I wanted to maximize space, so it seemed wise to put shelves above his dresser and remove the bookshelves.  I also gave him a lot more storage when I redid these Ikea nightstands for him- now he can put all of his books and treasures in them!

Awhile ago I redid some bookshelves in my office and had the old shelves from that left over- paired with some white Ikea brackets, they were the perfect compliment to his dark wood bed frame and the pop of white from the painted dresser that I did for him.  See?! boring nothing above!

But not boring anymore! and now so much more space in his room!

And the empty wall where the bookshelves were now has his fave Broncos flag and we can’t forget to represent MineCraft as all little boys have to;) The clock is from Ikea.

The best part about today is that he is so thrilled with it all! And both boys got to help in attaching the brackets to the wood shelves and then double and triple check to make sure they were level… meaning they just wanted to keep climbing up the ladder;)

Hope you are having a fabulous day!
xoxo
B

The post Big Boy Room appeared first on Windgate Lane.

Because I didn’t want everything to be matchy in his room- I really just tried some things out on these and finally settled on a warm stain on the drawer fronts and Annie Sloan Pure White on the sides and base.  The top is where I had a little fun! I am going to shock you all and let you in on a little secret… I don’t really like chevron… are you done gasping? I said it.  It’s just not my fave pattern- but I wanted something simple and fun for the top of these and decided an arrow pattern might work.  Now this time I did actually do a little measuring- I started by placing a line at the center and then taping back from there.

Once again, I painted over the tape lines with the white paint so that the blue would then not bleed through.  I still had some Annie Sloan Napolianic Blue left, so I used that.  After two coats, I pulled off the tape and then gave them all a good coat of Minwax Poly.

And if you are confused- yes- I did two of these for each side of his bed- You can see the whole room reveal Here and Here!
Some of you caught a sneak peak of me working on this on Instagram- if you want more sneak peaks of up coming projects- follow along here @WindgateLane .
Hope you are having a great day!!
xoxo
B

Linking to:
Twirl and Take a Bow
The Dedicated House

The post Ikea Rast Hack appeared first on Windgate Lane.