Problem Solved?

To be perfectly honest, I have a problem.

I try to blame my lack of organization on just having too much on my plate or other people messing up my system but the real ugly truth is that I'm an organizational MESS!

I am just not a very oganized person.
I don't want to be disorganized.

I'd LOVE for everything to have a perfectly designated home, rather than searching high & low all the time for things.

I'd LOVE to know what's on the calendar each day rather than relying on my BFF to keep up with my hair appointments.

I'd LOVE not to be sending belated birthday cards but rather pro-actively sending them out before the actual birthday.

I'd LOVE to know the answer to "what's for dinner?" before it's actually dinner time.

I'd LOVE to know when my dogs are due for shots, not get an ugly answer from the boarding facility when I go to drop them off (happens to me EVERY time!).

So I'm going to do something about it! I painted this desk...

Not a big deal right?

Well I'm claiming it to be an extremely big deal. It will function as my command center and launch me into being my most organized self : )

At least that's what I'm imagining. It will have a family calendar, stash of cards, stamps & envelops. Maybe coupons & mail? It will be the hub where I pay bills from and so much more! It's a craft/mess free zone designated to ME being organized. Wish me luck.

<3Katie

PS:The technical side of this post is that I took a slick surface desk I found on craigslist and primed it and painted it slightly neon acid yellow (it's not for everyone). Then we added a quatrefoil top detail and refinished the hardware and did some distressing to make it something I love to look at. It's full of character & a little spunky. Hopefully it's so inviting I want to sit down and organize something: )

Master Bedroom Series (Inspiration & Progress Update)

As part of the master bedroom make over series I wanted to share some of the bits of inspiration for the room. I have collected many of them on my Pinterest boards but wanted to share a few of my favorite things and how they relate to our bedroom. We are going for a Grey, Yellow & pops of Teal color scheme like this one from Design Seeds. I think it will be warm but modern still too.

This bedding is by Urban Outfitters and it's ruffle LOVE. A great blend of masculine color and feminine ruffles. My bedding is being made in a similar way with a variety of Joel Dewberry fabrics by an amazing seamstress who I'm lucky to have as a friend. Can't wait to see the final product.

We have a large window seat in the room begging for some curtains and I selected a fabric from Decorate 23's Etsy shoppe. It's this over sized Chevron patterned which are also being made for the room. It was more economical for me to buy 9 yards of fabric and get LONG drapes made than to go out and order/find them in what I wanted for the room so keep that in mind when doing drapes for your own home because window treatments can get spendy.

Since the walls and bedroom will be largely grey in color I need to find ways to bring in those pops of color that make it fun and unique. So I have already started making over our furniture and purchased an over sized old door for the headboard. Here are a few peaks and pieces so far.

 

The Mr. didn't want a yellow or grey dresser so he got distressed white with a little funk on the numbers.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/walljunque Our Whimsical Wall {jUnQuE} frames in Grey & Yellow.

We took our exsisting night stand and painted them Yellow and sanded then distressed with glaze for a worn look.

Here is a thrift store lamp find I made over to fit the room and add some of those turquoise pops I want.

Stay tuned for MORE from our bedroom series makeover as it starts to come together!

 

Katie

The Greate Create!

It really is great to be creating! I get all in a funk if I go a few days without getting my fingers singed by a glue gun or having paint stuck under my nails so I have to tell you how excited I am about The Greate Create. The "gist" of it is a monthly craft round robin swap set up and it's created to get YOU creating more. It's a great motivation for me thus far and I am just excited to see what these crafty ladies are making each month. Come create with us if you need to get your mojo back!




Here is the info provided by our fearless leader, Melissa, at My House is Vanilla. This gal is a great supporter of 2 Katie Designs and just a cool chick, I wanna ring her like a sponge so I can have a drop of her creativity.

What is The Great Create?


Basically, just a small group of crafty girls who have committed themselves to crafting each month with the purpose of marking things off their "to-do" list and, at the same time, swapping items with each other.

Can I participate?


Fo shizzle. Email (myhouseisvanilla@yahoo.com) and you're in.
What are the guidelines?


Pretty simple. Choose 12 items that you want to create this year. Each month, you'll mark one of your items off the list by making TWO of whatever it is (two bags, two stuffed cats, two balloon paintings... um, whatever). You'll keep one - and the other will be shipped off to your monthly swap partner.




Who's my swap partner?


Each month, you'll get a new partner - the goal is for everyone to receive something from each person participating! I'll send out an email each month with the name of your partners... which won't be a secret because, well, that's just too many emails for me to commit myself to sending. I'm lazy.


JANUARY GREATE CREATE RECAP


So for the first month I had my BFF to give my creations too...spoiled her a bit with a Frame, a Super Glitter Cup and a glittery XO for her Valentine mantle motif. I recieved from Jessisa at Our House on the Hill an awesome Valentine garland which made a great addition to my own mantle when I added my personal photo booth pics. Sa-weet! Also she can SEW and I am SO jelous!

Did a mention children are involved here? They can join too! Great huh? We have a JV sqaud and I'm not sure if it was coordinated or not but it worked that Kaia had to send her Greate Create project to Kensey (Jessica's daughter) which was neat. Kaia was thrilled to see a pic of Kensey wearing her creation and thought it was cool that Kensey's daddy is in the military too. Kiddy connection.

Kaia made a headband (after spending an hour shopping for a fabric she liked, we ended up with 5 super cute Amy Butler patterns BTW) which she is seriously better than me at doing. Guess she doesn't over think it. She made a necklace as well from a rock she had been tumbling...and tumbling...and tumbling. Literally since Christmas I have had a low hummmmm huuuummmm happening in my garage waiting for these polished gems to emerge! They finally did and she fitted it into a necklace shown below on Kensey!

Kaia also received her crafty item for the month which was this one of a kind clipboard. The perfect motivation for homework in my eyes - anything to get this kid excited about writing or reading! yippee from both Kaia and mama.

Thx - Crafty Katie : )

Sharing the LOVE

Just thought I would share a bit of the LOVE fest that is going on at my house right now...Valentine's decor has gone up and it's always a bit different from the year before. I have decided to focus seasonally on the mantel and entrayway table area to transform them with each holiday or season. So next up is Valentine's day!

The pics aren't the best because they are with the iphone and I'm too busy/lazy/whatever to actually upload from the "real" camera today so this will suffice...

although I will have to get the real camera pics because my husband ROCKED it, making me this 18" tall X and O to go on the mantle so it's already changed a little. I even glitter-fied them so they are over the top sparkle fab. So wait to see that soon!...sorry : (

Some of the details on the pics;
...Kaia my ever so helpful kiddo staple together doilies to make the heart banners in a jiffy!
...all the Zebra is crepe birthday streamers which make my heart so happy. Kaia also added various hearts to a few of those to hang the jumbo entry hearts.
...I have 5 pink feather boas laying around the house in various places to use for this...which was a bit disturbing. They are stuffed in the hurricanes on the mantle along with pink Christmas bulbs as well as the garland on the tree of love.

I love transforming the house from season to season, for me it's part of making each holiday special for my family. Hope this goes a little way in letting them know how much I love 'em! XOXOXO

ADDED - 1/14/11 Here is the XO I promised to add!

Mother’s Day

Do you here the angels doing an AAAAWWWWWW from heaven? They are at my house. A day just for me!!! And all the other Mama’s out there too I suppose. One of the things I wanted most for Mother’s Day was help cleaning the house – not the “picking up” kind of clean but the scrubbing, organizing, nitty gritty cleaning kind of help. Since I have gone to working more full time it is hard to manage this task. So Jon and Kaia chipped in. Kaia made my little heart flutter by organizing my shoes for me. This is the perfect task for her Obsessive Compulsiveness. All my shoes are perfectly stacked, matched and clipped together with clothespins. It is fun for her to tackle the task and I get to reap the benefits…I promise to try to keep up with it Kai!

I love this girl, and being her mommy is the joy of my life. She is growing up before my eyes, changing everyday. I love who she is – a creative, direct, unconventional, animal loving, sweet child.