Keeping Our Entry Clutter Free

Hi Everyone!

Are you like me and HATE a messy entryway? 

Especially when your entryway is completely open to the living room?

Yeah, it's a known fact around here that I don't like clutter and piles and I have been know to get really cranky at times (especially late at night when I'm really tired and should be in bed) about piles and chaos. hehe

This past January I made a goal to work on organizing our home throughout the whole year and try try try to make it function better with the way we live and use spaces.

I can happily say we've made really good progress with that goal. It will be a never ending goal since as our children grow and we change we will need to tweak things but getting inital systems in place hopefully will help with future tweaking.

So onto our entryway....

 In order to help define an entry, we used a dresser to help keep us organized.

 Each  drawer has a purpose and is labeled. 

Yep, I love my label maker and have found that labels really help keep us all on the same page about what belongs and what doesn't belong. I can guarantee without things labeled, every drawer would become a typical junk drawer.

Our dailies drawer has little plastic bins (from Container Store) to further keep things such as sunglasses, glasses, store discount cards, and change sorted. We use this drawer the most when we are coming and going.

Another drawer holds camera gear such a battery chargers, cords, manuals, etc. It makes it so much easier to grab the battery charger or a specific cord when we know exactly where to find it.

Next comes a drawer for my Silhouette. It holds all of my e-cutter media and the machine itself. I use my Silhouette at our new laptop desk that sits in a cozy corner of the living room so having this stuff nearby works best for me! It's not at all an entryway type of item but again, this is a system that works for us and how we live and use our spaces. :)

And the last drawer wears two hats. 

One half holds my knitting and/or crocheting projects....

...and the other half is where items that need returning go. It's nice to see that side empty!
Right now both sides are open to each other but I have big plans to add a divider in the near future.

And if we jump back up to the top of the dresser I added a basket for out-going mail. It makes it easy to grab bills and cards on the way out the door and make sure they make it to the mailbox on time!

And as I said in my last post I actually perfer in-coming mail to come straight to the kitchen island to quickly sort out the junk which goes into a shred bin in the pantry/laundry room right off the kitchen and then bills get taken to an armiore also in the kitchen/dining area and get put away where they belong until bill paying day. At the most you will find on the island after that are the flyers with coupons and I'm pretty good at going through those within a day or two and filing them away.

Do you have any rock star tips that keep your entry or landing zone organized? 

I'd love to hear!

Around our Home: Fall Addition

Hi Guys!

It's been a while since I posted last so I decided to stop by today and make time to share some Fall touches around our home. 

I kept things very simple this year and really like it. I see simple becoming a new trend for me. 

Simple is easy and less cluttered and I love it.

So on to the pictures!

 Our shoe cabinet from Ikea is the perfect place for seasonal decorations.

And as for the picture frames....hopefully soon I will get pictures in them!

I love how everything turned out basically neutral with a pop of orange.

I didn't plan it that way!

 I used my Silhouette to cut scalloped circles out of thin packing paper and vintage sewing patterns to make these flowers.

 Our rusty metal pumpkin makes my heart happy :)

 And anyone who knows me knows I love chalkboards. I still have a few of these left in my shop the medium and large size.

I filled a metal lantern with mini pumpkins for a fun pop of orange.

 Our entryway all decked out. 

The dresser was my great grandmothers and was a some what recent addition to our entry. Each drawer has a specific purpose all neatly divided up and labeled. Everything has a place and that keeps us organized when we are coming and going!

 Our plate display is still going strong. I switched out summery stuff with a rooster and pumpkin and leaf shaped placemats layered up to create a runner. I bought the placemats at Walmart several year years ago. As of last year they still sold them but I haven't checked this year. They are the Better Homes and Gardens brand.

 The little tray holds out-going mail. I find it easier to quickly sort in-coming mail if it is dropped on on the kitchen island. A big no-no, I know, but it works for us. I hate piles of papers so that way I am more likely to sort through it faster.

 We picked up the fat green rooster at a flea market. He's not old or vintage or anything like that but I have a soft spot for fat roosters so he came home with us!

 My one and only vintage fan. I love it so much!

 Our armoire got a little love, too. I made the "blessed bunting" out of shipping tags and clipped some paper leaf cutouts to more twine. It's hung with a little washie tape. I might just leave it up for Christmas and just take the leaves down. Time will tell!

 The glass blown pumpkins are from MIT's glass pumpkin patch. We went one year while living in the Boston area and it was crazy but fun.

 This little vignette sits above our new laptop desk. I'll have to share pictures of that sometime. My husband built it and I did the staining and painting. Picture a stained cedar top with cedar legs painted and distressed with aqua chalk paint. It makes my heart sing!

 My little red hutch got dressed up for Fall, too.

 To make a burlap bunting, just cut some squares of burlap, make some letters out of fabric and sew or glue to burlap. String it up with twine and that's it!

That's it!

Simple....just the way I like it!

Happy Fall, Y'all!