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.

Here are the links to my last projects if you want to see even more fun!

| Dough Bowl | Mid-Century Modern Side Table | Beverage Station |

This round I was thrilled to receive swap items from Trisha at Black and White Obsession, so if you are stopping by from her, welcome!

She sent me several things, this post is going to show just one, but later this week you will see the others so stay tuned:)

That little faux book box with angels on the front was the first thing I pulled out!  Sorry little angels, you had your day to shine, but don’t quite work with my decor.

First some white spray paint around the sides.  I didn’t bother to cover the top completely and will show you why in a minute…

After that I found my faux marble contact paper (purchased here and used on these side tables) and got to work!  I simply cut out the sizes I needed and made the top large enough to wrap around the edges for a clean look.

After it was wrapped, I glued on a fun leopard print handle I grabbed at Hobby Lobby in the clearance bin for $0.99!  I mean you just never know when you will need a single leopard print handle… obviously.  And I glued instead of drilling it on because I wanted the option of removing it should I want to stack something on the top of the box later.

But for now I love this pretty little box on the shelves in my family room that conveniently holds some extra charging cords that I need handy but love them being out of site!

Pin Below for tutorial later!

On Thursday I will be back to show you some of our outdoor Halloween and Fall decor and show you how I repurposed these little wall hangings!

I think you will be surprised!

NEXT STOP! –> Alice at Thoughts from Alice Run over to see what she did with the treasures I sent to her! Which included a small woodland creature…

And as for the 40 other bloggers!! Well here are all the links as it progresses through this whole week!

Search the hashtag #swapitlikeitshot on social media to follow along with all the fun or check out our Pinterest Board.

MONDAY

| That’s My Letter | DIY On the Cheap | Run To Radiance | The Gathered Home |

| Two Thirty Five Designs | Chaotically Creative | Decor Adventures |

| Homemade By Carmona |

TUESDAY

| Thoughts From Alice | Reinvented | Confessions Of A Serial Do-It-Yourselfer |

| Restoration Redoux | Always Never Done | I Am a Homemaker |

| Black and White Obsession | Windgate Lane |

WEDNESDAY

| Town and Country Living | brepurposed | The Charming Farmer |

| 58 Water Street | Designer Trapped In A Lawyer’s Body |

| Year of Serendipity | White House Black Shutters |Desert Domicile |

THURSDAY

| Two Purple Couches | Like A Saturday | Finding Silver Pennies |

| Artsy Chicks Rule | Something to Be Found | Shades of Blue Interiors |

| Simple Designing | Our Southern Home |

FRIDAY

| Evey’s Creations | Dragonfly and Lilypads | Weekend Craft |

| Ciburbanity | A Designer At Home | Polished Habitat |

| Blue I Style | Addicted 2 DIY |

Hope y’all have a fun time following along! so much inspiration!

xoxo

B

The post Faux Marble Thrift Store Box: #swapitlikeitshot 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.

I really liked them but for some reason the gold was a bit much for me.  I grabbed my silver leaf pen (doesn’t everyone have one on standby?) and quickly went over the gold on the handle and rim to give it a bit of contrast.

I had picked up two of these unfinished branch slices at Hobby Lobby and drilled two little holes in them to attach to the baskets.

I then used PicMonkey to make little monograms for each boy and simply modpodged them right on!

Add some cute camo shredded fill and TaDa! Ready for the Easter Bunny to fill with goodies!

Pin and Share here!

I hope y’all have a wonderful weekend and Easter!

xoxo

B

The post Neutral Easter Baskets appeared first on Windgate Lane.

I used to dread hanging a new picture on the wall.  First because I knew I would probably have to patch a hole in the wall and second because I was afraid of hanging it incorrectly.  A drill? Anchors? What? Nevermind!

But now I got this down and I wanted to share my very simple tutorial with you all- and I even made a little video that you can watch to see every single step!

I have had these very sad hooks in my laundry room for waaaay to long- and they were prior to my knowing how to hang something correctly so they had basically broken or pulled out of the wall… so not too functional.

I spotted these hooks at Target one day and decided they would be perfect for the space!  How long did they sit on the floor in my laundry room before I actually hung them? Don’t ask.

The following video will show you step by step how I patched the wall and then hung the new hooks! I will include some sources and steps below- now get to hanging your stuff without fear!

So- now that you have watched the video tutorial- here’s a list of what you need to gather before you start!

1.  An Anchor Pack with Bits- similar to this one

2.  Spackling

3.  Hammer

4.  Drill

5.  Level

6.  Screwdriver Driver

TUTORIAL:

1.  Spackle

2.  Paint

3.  Mark new holes

4.  Drill starter holes with new drill bit

5.  Lightly hammer in wall anchor

6.  Screw your screws into place

7.  Step back in awe of your amazingness!

Pin Here to find this tutorial later!

Hope you are having a wonderful week!

xoxo

B

The post Patching a Wall and Tutorial for Hanging with Anchors appeared first on Windgate Lane.

If you have matchbox cars around your house, then you are probably aware that keeping those little buggers put away is like chasing your tail.  One gets put up… another rolls away to that one spot on the rug that it blends into so that you can step on it and get severely injured.

When ours are actually put away, they are in this storage box from Ikea…

It’s worked well- but there are usually strays up in the boy’s rooms that are their favorites… because we have A LOT.

So I wanted something fun for them to be able to keep in their rooms and move around the house with if need be.  Ya know, if there is a matchbox car emergency downstairs.

I also wanted a way to display them… because they may not be played with as much as they used to be… don’t make me cry!

Enter our friend, Ikea, again! I was there on unrelated business but of course had to peruse through all the things I didn’t need and justify needing them ALL.  So after I picked out a new blanket (if you follow me on Instagram you got to see a sneak peak of it @windgatelane), new kitchen towels, and a cute candle holder, I meandered through the garden section.

I came across these acrylic green houses (Vindruva) for $10 and was immediately pondering what I could use them for since I had already put them in my basket (hee).

I’m assuming you know where this is going…. and tada! Matchbox car storage!

The boys love them because you can see through to find what you are looking for easily- and Momma likes because they are kind of cool to look at it.  I also couldn’t stop myself from putting some washi tape on there for a fun little accent.

And they have so many possibilities besides the match box cars… I know, hard to believe since that’s not what they are for in the first place… slaps forehead.

It is a set of three- one big, that I used for the cars- and then two small.  So I had a bit of fun with the small ones!  A quick and easy Easter centerpiece… The Hubs said… what do you need a gold cake plate for? Duh! I need it for everything… clearly (it was from Ballard Designs but is now unavailable, sorry).

I’m also thinking that I should get another set and they could make a stunning Christmas display filled with lights up on the mantle… it’s too early though… right? I kid.

Pin here so you can find sources later!

Hope you are all having a wonderful day!!

xoxo

B

The post Matchbox Car Storage appeared first on Windgate Lane.

This year I was mildly obsessed with my random disco ball in the entry way for my holiday decor.

I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to it! I mean, every home in the burbs should have a disco ball, am I right?!  So the only logical thing to do was to incorporate it into some winter decor.  Now I don’t typically decorate for winter, but this year I decided to leave a few traces of holiday decor up that weren’t overtly Christmas.

I left my book trees up that I did flanking my entertainment center… cause why not?  You can see how I used several Ikea pieces to create our custom Entertainment Center here!

And while I confess that I have a hard time editing out ‘things’ in my house- I did pair down the schtuff on the shelves and made it look a bit cleaner.

I basically used what I had with the addition to a new wood bowl from HomeGoods that was simply too gorgeous for me to pass up!

And I shopped the house and used my beach wood branch.

The mantle is always my arch decorating nemesis… Always.  It sucks the decorating spirit right out of me!!  For whatever reason I always stand back and think… it’s missing something.  My headstone will say:  Amazing Daughter, Wife, Mother, and Mediocre Mantle Decorator.

I wanted it to be simple- but also bring some of the colors from my beloved rug up- so the navy clock and oil painting helped combine my love of an eclectic mix!

And some of my favorite details in the room…. A picture of my Mom and Dad…

My favorite HomeGoods tray with the Nate Berkus for Target Angel tray and fun Target pillows in the background!

and our growing collection of seashells… I am desperately ready to add to them!

So let us all take one long last look at our clean family room… it might only last this way another 2 seconds…  but at least the pretty things I have in here make me smile even through the clutter:)

Here’s an easy picture you can PIN to come back for sources later!

Hope you are having a wonderful day!

xoxo

B

The post Winter Decor appeared first on Windgate Lane.

My husband and boys, bless their hearts, look at a pillow or blanket on the couch as an invitation to throw said pillow or blanket on the floor.  Surely I am not alone in my battle to keep a pretty throw pillow on the couch! But I am outnumbered… so I decided that at least I could try to enforce a place to throw them off too… I know… but maybe it will work once or twice.

I decided a rolling basket would be great for a multitude of things like toys, etc, even if the pillow plan doesn’t pan out.  But wasn’t finding what I wanted.  And decided to make my own.

I found this plant stand at Ikea that has wheels that attach easily to it- and then found this basket at Walmart that has a board in the bottom so I knew I could easily attach them together.

Plant Stand: $10

Basket: $11

I simply attached the wheels (easiest Ikea assembly ever) and then screwed 4 small screw through the bottom of the basket into the plant stand!

I have to say- I haven’t been in Walmart for awhile and I was pretty impressed with several of the Better Homes and Gardens products I saw- I’m thinking of buying one of their lamps as well- and great prices!

I kind of want to put everything on wheels now, but since my 5yr old already tried to get in the basket and he is not a small child… I’m rethinking having too many things that could be construed as a vehicle of any kind.

Hope you are having a great day!

xoxo

B

Linking to:

Think and Make Thursday Party

The post DIY Rolling Basket 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.

After a failed attempt at making my son a valance out of card board (don’t ask), I wanted to make him something that was sturdier!  I did this project during my Five Days/ Five Rooms Challenge but wanted to give you a better tutorial.

I had purchased this navy and white buffalo check at Ikea awhile back, knowing I would use it somewhere… and because I am obsessed with all checked things.

And after a quick search of my scrap wood in the garage- I found this old board that had the perfect aged look that I was hoping for!  I laid out my fabric and cut it down to the size I wanted with about an inch extra on each side.

I then used my trusty staple gun and stapled it along the back of the board.

After that- I folded the sides in that were hanging past the wood on each side and ironed them to the correct width.

I then used my Liquid Stitch to keep it all in place! It’s the sewing challenged person’s best friend! Just put some on and then iron over.  Easy Peasy!

The board already had two holes in it- so I held it against the wall- made sure it was level- and then colored in where the holes were with a pencil.  I did use anchors before the screws just to ensure that this one would not fall down like the old one.

I am the first to say that I hate blown out pictures- but unfortunately this room is the absolute worst for picture taking! So ya get what ya get!

The post DIY Valance appeared first on Windgate Lane.