A few days ago, I discovered an organizer's {insert singing voice} dream on the style. network.
Have you watched it?
Amanda and her team organize clients' homes
with a little bit of drama thrown in for reality TV sake, of course.
I love it.
with a little bit of drama thrown in for reality TV sake, of course.
I love it.
Amanda and I are sort of obsessive-compulsive birds of a feather.
As in making sure our hangers are equally spaced.
As in color coordinating the clothes in our closets.
As in labeling E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.
Are you an Amanda?
Lately, I find myself searching around within {with a flashlight!} for some serious OCD though.
Lately, I find myself searching around within {with a flashlight!} for some serious OCD though.
Pre-twins and blog, I was 100% OCD (okay, 125%) and now I'm running at about 50%.
Laundry now sits in folded piles for days, my kitchen sink doesn't always glisten,
and there are some days that when the door bell rings,
I say a prayer that it's just the FedEx guy needing a quick signature!
{gulp.}
But...
I sort of look at it like I'm a mad DIY scientist and my home is my laboratory.
Proceed with caution.
{gulp.}
But...
I sort of look at it like I'm a mad DIY scientist and my home is my laboratory.
Proceed with caution.
And, let me just say that my experiments don't always go well!
I had a yard sale explosion of biblical proportions in my office that I still need to take care of.
(Just waiting for my hazmat suit to arrive in the mail.)
Last year, I sort of embraced my disorganization
in exchange for productivity as mom and blogger.
in exchange for productivity as mom and blogger.
I think I chilled out a little too much though.
;)
Note:
I love a house that looks lived in.
I'm not talking about perfection and being able to eat off of my floors;
I'm talking generally organized behind-the-scenes at the end of the day.
I'm reorganizing room by room, purging, sorting, FINISHING, and labeling.
ALL OF THAT just to say that you'll find some cute organization ideas on The Amandas.
Forgive me. We don't chat as much lately!
As you {may} know, I'm focused on my kitchen right now.
As you {may} know, I'm focused on my kitchen right now.
On the last episode, they kept cutting to this scene with Amanda discussing a project.
I fell in love with the storage system behind her and snapped a quick pic with my iphone.
(Oh yeah...and we both talk with our hands!)
I'm thinking this might work on the wall behind my dining area table.
(It's a small-ish eat-in kitchen.)
Originally, I wanted to do something like this...
At the moment, the wall is just a blank canvas of white planked panelling
because I realized that the built-in storage with hinged doors would make it nearly impossible to
a) lift up the hinged doors without banging into the table and chairs that sit directly in front of it,
b) nor would you be able to comfortably scoot back a dining chair.
Whatever I put there, can't shouldn't have a depth of more than 8 inches.
I {love} the idea of the open shelving with baskets, clear containers and such.
Try to imagine Amanda's wall with vintage chic style though.
(Zinc lidded mason jars and apothecary jars vs. plastic containers,
an antique mirror to the left {yours} of Amanda's head and in the center,
wire locker baskets vs. rattan, perhaps barn wood vs. metal shelves, etc.)
I'm just trying to decide if looking at my food {in that capacity}
would be pretty and quaint or eventually drive me insane.
would be pretty and quaint or eventually drive me insane.
(Not that I couldn't swap out the food storage for something else if it did.)
Also, my home is more monochromatic than colorful so the little things will matter.
For instance, Apple Jacks and yellow pasta wouldn't look right on display in my kitchen (to me).
I'd need to stick with things like dried oats, dried lavender buds, basil leaves, etc. in jars.
What do you think?
Love it?
Too much like being in a Whole Foods store?
Impractical with toddlers?
Not cool for the dining area?
I need the additional storage so badly but be honest with me here.
I'm sort of stuck on this one.
I'd really love and appreciate your thoughts!
Impractical with toddlers?
Not cool for the dining area?
I need the additional storage so badly but be honest with me here.
I'm sort of stuck on this one.
I'd really love and appreciate your thoughts!
(If you've done something similarly massive in your kitchen or dining area, I'd love to see it.)
Thank you.
Thank you.
Have a lovely week!
I havent seen that show yet..I would love to see it! Hope you had a wonderful weekend my friend! xo Rachel
I havent seen this show yet, but noooowww.... hmmmm. I have been following your blog for a while now, but for some reason I just realized you have twins! So do I!!! I know that is not a big originality these days but I love finding other moms of twins. Also read your "about me" page finally and I LOVE the picture of your aunt. She looks like an awesome lady.
Oh gosh Jami, I'm the same way! It would drive me crazy having Apple Jack boxes out in the kitchen, it would clash too much with my decor! :)
And I have storage systems in my boy's room and it drives me nut's when they put their lego's in the "car" boxes. Sometimes I sit in there and go through all of th boxes to make sure everything is in the right one. I know, I'm a nut.
I haven't seen that show, but it sounds good!
Hope you and the little ones are doing well and have a lovely week.
Sincerely,
Melinda
Sounds very interesting to me as well! I was once very ocd myself and after 3 kids a grandson, son-in-law and getting older it has slowed way down.I hear you about the door bell ringing Lol to funny! There is only one of me and sooo many of them to mess things up.
I will have to check the show out.I am sure there are some great ideas.I think the wall unit sounds great.I buy in bulk and store my foods in glass jars and I would love a unit like that one.
I remember Martha Stewart had a wall unit with all glass jars years ago in her home and I so loved it, add a few baskets and perfect!
Best of Luck! ~Cheers Kim
I sure love your idea. Sounds super cool. Have you seen this one on Pinterest?
http://www.countryliving.com/homes/how-to-get-the-look/kitchen-storage-organization-ideas?click=img_sr#slide-1
Sounds like yours would be more refined, but you could consider some galvanized bins for closed storage. I can't wait to see what you do!
Hi Jami,
I haven't been watching much tv lately, but "Amanda" sounds like me! Hey, I color coordinate my closets too and have to have all of my hangers facing a certain way! lol OCD much?!?! Probably! lol You know how much I lovey your home bc it's a similar layout to mine, plus yours is just awesome. period! Hmmm, I like the idea of having built ins on that wall w/storage containers and such! There's nothing wrong with having some stuff stand out either!!! Pops of color here and there is ok in my book - I'm sure it will look perfect in your home!!! Let us know what you decide to do!!!
XO's,
Jessie
Love your blog and the idea is great...just thinking you could put sliding doors at the bottom of the design. This way it is more child friendly and you can store the stuff you don't want to see behind closed doors that don't take up any space when you open them!
I like your original idea best. And, I like you was OCD -- about 90%; now I'm like 40% with spikes of 80% thrown in!
I'd say if you like it go for it! You can always store other stuff there if you get tired of it being your food:)
I love, love, love your idea! I've studied, researched, and studied and researched some more on the whole "open cupboard" thing, and finally bit the bullet last year. I'm so glad I did. In fact, your question inspired me to write a post on it all. (I'll let you know when it's done.)Happy organizing!
Go for it! I think it would look wonderful and boy what ideas you've given me LOL
J- at least you FOLD your laundry...I have to hang up everything so I can see it... if it ends up in a drawer, well, let's just say all my drawers are an abyss of no-return. Love me my closet, though! andrea@townandprairie
I watch the show every week. I too am OCD with cleaning an organizing so this show is like a little bit of heaven once a week. I have managed to take my OCD down from over 100% to about 75% recently which is a bit of a relief. I still have the big plans, but manage to control myself.
I love her wall every time I see it. I worry though that if it wasn't perfectly balanced, it would bring out my OCD stress big time. I don't think I could handle having food items on the shelves. I could do baskets and books and candles, maybe plants - food just would drive me crazy.
Glad to hear someone else is an Amanda as I am.
First -love your blog...
love the open concept and immediately some container ideas came to mind.
I have the milk glass cylinder jars but you can purchase all styles now, it's just that mine are vintage so they will hide whatever you put inside. There are milk white canning... a bit rare!
Then I have the white washed picnic basket staring at me... you could hide boxes inside and slip them out and in... along with tbe locker baskets that could be lined with your white fabric and again hide items inside. These could be lower in case the kiddos grab hold and they would hold the 'soft' items not the glass.
Hat boxes, boxes made of tin ceiling tiles, ( I love mine!).
...apothecary or any other clear jars wrapped with rectangles of fabric, doilies, labels and your eye will be drawn to that instead of the contents.
Thanks for sharing your place and ideas! and look forward to seeing what you do with it!
PS anxious to see your ladderbacks, just got my grandmothers this weekend.
Ti
Hummmmm I like the open shelf idea, I like to be able to see everything. I would hate to have to dust all of that stuff though, kinda looks like more work.
Just a little piece of my mind :)
Sounds like a great idea especially if you need the additional storage. I had a similar idea and then wimped out and bought a used oak buffet and hutch for a great deal but I may go back to this idea one day. I love the idea of more open storage and a narrow depth than the cabinet we have. For inspiration I have always liked Jennifer Grey's (Old Painted Cottage I think) but I thought mine would work better going to the floor.
I think that shelving would look fabulous there, Jami! You could organize it to your heart's content! lol!
xoxo laurie
I haven't seen it, but it sounds like fun! Lovely blog ~ I'm a new follower!
Best,
Anne
My comment was so long (and I wanted to add pictures!)...So I wrote you a post!:) You can find it here:
http://www.harbourbreezehome.com/2012/03/open-shelving-inspirations-for-dining-rooms/
Thanks for your beautiful, inspiring blog.
Rita