It’s been a busy week at the house, tackling the last two projects that have been lingering for too long: back porch closet organization and back entrance revamp.
The closet is a classic old-house small space that is the landing pad for all things to be shoved in, hidden, put in a box and forgotten about. Even the cats didn’t want to play hide and seek for fear they’d be sucked into the dark void forever. While emptying this small space, I was surprised at how much came out (think clown car scenario), particularly in the shoe and coat area, as I didn’t recognize a good lot of it. I painted the closet from a late 70s dark beige-meets-peach color to bright white, bought two shoe organizers and reused an old one, organized the shelves for tall boots only (if I see one brown box up there, it’s going to get tossed) and cleared the floor space for two bins to hold winter gear. I think it’s a pretty huge improvement and isn’t the eyesore it was before. As the “before” picture too horrid to actually insert, here is the “after”:
As for the back entrance, the green floral print with accented brown baseboard wasn’t working for me, and while I originally gravitated to a light sky blue, white felt best in the end. It’s a space now that I wish had enough room for a sitting chair. Bummer – it’s an entryway.
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
For most of the art, I took fabric squares from the quilt I made my mom (I guess as my own memento of sorts), and postcards I’ve collected over the years that had a nice abstract quality. And the light globe – who can’t love a paper globe from Ikea for $6? Most of my inspiration comes from the posts at Apartment Therapy, seeing what people are using in their spaces, and how they arrange them.
(Chairs and chair pad from Ikea, outdoor collection)
