LoveLifestyle: September 2011

My Two Loves

I just had to share this picture I grab one morning while we were being lazy on the couch. As you can tell the Uncluttered Pooch (aka Mya) was cold. I can't remember what we were watching, but since Mr. Uncluttered seems really into it, it was probably Star Trek.

Till next time... Have a great weekend.

Unclutter It Thursday #4

I know this post is late, but it feels like I haven't been home to get anything done this week. So I figured better late than never, right?

Every spring and fall I try to make time to clean out my closets, pantry and refrigerator. Today I decided to tackle my spice cabinet. It not just a spice cabinet though, its also a baking supplies and coffee cabinet. Not in too bad space, but certainly room of improvement.

Lots of spices. I started with looking at each spice bottle checking the date and for duplicates.

There are a couple of problems with having a lot of spices. The first problem is... duplicates

The second problem is... expired spices.That says, "best by Sept. 14, 09." Not that spices go bad, but they do loose their potency after a while. What a waste!

Then I moved on to the vinegar, baking supplies and Keurig pods. As I tackled each shelf I made sure to give them a good wipe down. I also had to do some relabeling, I guess the Keurig Coffee basket gets used a lot.

I got rid of 1 bottle of vinegar, 1 box of brown sugar, 18 bottles of spices and a spice rub I made sometime last year. I feel bad because its such a waste.

Three of the bottles were never opened.

After all was said and done, I can't believe the amount of space I gained. I condensed the baking and brown sugar basket into one larger basket and moved all of the Keurig baskets to one shelf.

I can actually fit all my spices on the tiers with space left over. Amazing!

Of course, empty space can not remain empty for very long in a small kitchen lacking cabinet space. I decided to store my empty canisters up there.

Cooling racks hang on the inside of each door. Very convenient.

There you have it folks, my spice cabinet. Thanks for visiting... till next time. Happy Blogging.

I Was Featured... Twice!

Being featured once is an honor, but twice is surreal. My new mudroom door color was featured at two lovely sites. You got check these ladies out.

Thanks for stopping by... till next time.

Fall Hasn't Fallen On Us Yet

I just had to share this "wonderful" weather with you guys. Yesterday afternoon after I leaving a friend's house I got into my sweltering car and this what I saw.

I still had to wait to meet up with Mr. Unclttered, so I decided to park in the shade hoping to find some relief from the awful heat. I guess you can say I did. I mean it was one degree cooler.

But as I sat there, in the shade mind you, this happened. Someone tell me how does it gets hotter in the shade?!

Living the Central Valley California has it pluses, but it definitely has its minuses. All those with cooler weather please send some our way.

Oh, and for the first day of fall the forecast reads.... 100 degrees. Good time people, good times!

Till next time, have a good one.

Bold Is Waaay Better!

When we moved in to our 1920's farmhouse to say that there were a few projects would be the absolute understatement of the year. There were and still are many projects in each room. For the past few weeks I have been bouncing between the kitchen and the mudroom working on projects that catch my interest at the time. Do you every do that?

Anywho, last week I left you with this sneak peek of an overdue project in the mudroom.

But before we go forward let's go back, back into time. Here we have a very "well used" mudroom. Or we could say shabby without the chic. The walls and floor were painted the saddest gray-blue I've ever seen. Oh, and the door was a wonderfully chipped white.

There is still a lot to be done in this room, but I'm here to tell you I love walking in and seeing this door now. Its just the best bold turquoise you ever did see.

This painting closely resembles the property that we rent. I just adore it.

Since taking the pictures above I've changed the curtain on the door to a sheer I sewed.

So what do yo think? Is the bold door way better?

Thanks so much for visiting... till next time.

I'm linking up to these parties.

Savvy Southern Style

My Cool Geekie Husband

This post has nothing to do with decor or organization. I just wanted to give you a peek into what's it like being married to a cool geek.

This evening while watching TV Mr. Uncluttered came out of his office and asked if I had a wire hanger. "For what?" I said. "For my invention." was his response. Well, I guess he found one because about an hour later this is what I saw when I walked into his office.

In tears from laughter, I inquired what was the contraption on his head. In case you were wondering too, its a way for him to watch TV on his phone at the perfect height hands-free. Oh that man of mine! And checkout the cool baseball cap the contraption is attached to. Geek-chic for sure!

And what is he watching on his phone. Let's look... of course its Star Trek. So predictable.

Never a dull moment around here with a cool geek in the house. Thanks so much for visiting... till next time.

Central Command Featured and A Giveaway.

The awesome ladies over at At The Picket Fence featured my Central Command. I'm so honored. If you have never paid them a visit you certainly must, they have wonderful tips and a fun linky party every Friday.

Also, I'm at 92 followers! When we hit 100 I'm hosting a giveaway of Amazon Gift Card and a piece of transferware. Tell your friends!

Thanks for visiting... till next time.

Un-Clutter It Thursday #3

Remember this sad, sad, so sad kitchen I've shown you a few times. This what the kitchen in our rental looked like before we moved in. The two pictures below show you the extent of the cabinetry. Well, except for the "pantry" (only 14" wide) and the dish cabinet (15" wide). But we'll take a peek in those next week.

This is the wall where the stove goes, right in front of the big black box and gas line on the floor. When you think about everything that goes into any kitchen... pots, pans, baking pans, etc..., you can see we are seriously lacking storage. Initially, all the pots and pans went in the floor cabinet on the left. But eventually I tired of having to pull everything out to get to the pot I needed, that always seemed to be in the back of the cabinet. Go figure.

Because this is a rental there is no ripping out the kitchen and starting over. Nope, there is only working with what you got and maybe adding a shelf or two. Which is what I did, over the stove to be exact.

Coming to terms with the lack of storage made me purge duplicate items when we moved in. Then once the shelf was put up I selected the pans and utensils I reach for most often. And iseems Mr. Uncluttered wanted to have some input also. He had major concerns regarding the weight of my beloved cast iron skillet I wanted to put up. After much discussion this is the end result.

I love it because all the essentials are within arms reach. The itty bitty grater is handy for ginger, nutmeg or garlic. And its amazing how much I reach for my sifter. I used it last night in fact. (Side-point: During this process I realized I need a colander... copper or maybe red... ooooo maybe yellow. Anyone have one they want to sell? )

My Trutemp oven thermometer is essential for the Monarch. She not the most accurate anymore. But oh how I love her. Of course measuring spoons and cups.

Thanks for visiting... till next time.

Update Sneak Peek

It so comforting when I read on other blogs that I am not alone in my decorating ADD. I say that because right now I have so many project going on around the house I feel like I'm spinning in circles. Which is funny because I'm loving every minute of it.

One project I'm working on is the mudroom/laundry room. This is what it looked like on the day we moved in... rough! The silver door is our back door and the white door is the door leading into the kitchen.

Since moving in we haven't given much attention to this room, other than painting every surface white. By every surface I mean E-V-E-R-Y surface, even the floor. For the record, it takes special people to live with white floors... and we're not that special nor high maintenance.

But today I got itch to paint. And I painted the door leading into the kitchen. It's not quite dry so I can't close it to get a full picture, but here's a sneak peek at the color.

I'm loving the vibrant color!

Thanks for visiting... till next time.

Unclutter It Thursday #2... Central Command

This organizing project is partly inspired by Mr. Uncluttered himself, hence the title Central Command, but more on that later. We needed a place to keep track of upcoming events, notes and calendar items that were related to the family. The two criteria were that it be centrally located and close to the main entry door (We have three entry doors.) Since this is a country house and we always use the back door the most obvious place was in the kitchen right off of the mudroom.

We need a chalkboard for daily menus and miscellaneous note and a memo board for our family calendar and invitations and cards received in the mail. Come to think of it, there was one more piece of criteria, for it not to cost a lot to complete. Check! Combined with what I had on hand, I spent $15 for all the materials needed.

For the chalkboard I used an antique frame I had and a piece of foam board bought for $3 that I spray painted with chalkboard paint.

Before I spray painted it I cut to size for the frame. With foam board if you score one side with a blade you can simply snap it off.

For the memo boards I used two matching frames that I had and cork tiles I purchased for $7. Both the foam board and the cork tiles were found at Target. I covered the tiles with some material I had leftover from a valance I made years ago.

"Central Command" is paying homage to Mr. Uncluttered. Sometimes I feel bad that the majority of our house is my taste. Since the Central Command is something that I hope he uses everyday as well, i incorporated a tidbit of him it. At this point you may be wondering how its paying homage to him. Let's take a peek into his office to find out.

Zoom into the computer screen and you'll see what I'm referring to on his background. Mr. Uncluttered is the hottest geek I know. He loves Star Trek and up until now I've banished all Star Trek related items to his office only. But in an effort to make this "our" house I'm letting a little tidbit leak into the new central command.