Pure Organization Project #8: Tupperware Storage

I have to be honest with you:  I'm fading fast on the organization.  I'm sorry I never got Mr.Linky up last week & especially sorry that I haven't been able to check out everyone's projects. 

Last week was a crazy week for sure, but I'm having trouble seeing how it's going go get any less crazy now that I'm back at work with 2 little ones at home.  SO, in the interest of sanity (my own of course ;)  I'm taking a teensy chill pill about the Pure Organization.  They won't be every week.  (There I said it!)  I just can't make it all happen right now.  There may be 2 in a row and they may be every other week or I may have a good month and get them all in, but I just need to take some pressure off right now.  I hope you can understand & since you're all usually extremely sweet, I'm pretty sure you will ;)

But, I do have one for you this week!  Organize & purge the tupperware.  This one came out of pure necessity.  When all of our tupperware was clean & unused, it got to this:

Eeeeeek!   No joke.  We'd made a bunch of meals & frozen them for when the baby would be born, but when we ate the meals, we had way too much tupperware!  (Add that to the inherited tupperware from family who'd dropped off meals.)  Anyway, here was our drawer before:  lots of the lids and bottoms had no mates...

And here it is now:

Ahhhhh so much better.  I ditched all the mateless pieces (recycled them) and put the inherited stuff in a bag to return, and now it's feeling so much better.  The key is this:

I kept one of the mateless containers and filled it with all of the lids for easy matching up.  Makes it so much easier! Good luck on this one if you join in!!

xoxo,
lauren

Days 3, 4 & 5 of the Better Homes & Gardens Shoot

I thought I'd give you a play-by-play of the last 3 days of the BHG Christmas photo shoot at our house...

The photographer, Helen Norman (above), and her assisant Fj Hughes (below) shot the house on Wednesday and Thursday.  They arrived both mornings around 8 AM or so.  (Just having had a baby, it's really hard to get going in the mornings:  getting a shower & getting dressed sometimes feel near-impossible.    Justin was really spit-uppy and I made sure not to carry him over the camera equipment...  eeek )

I had so much fun working with them!  Helen has a great sense of humor (hysterical) and always made sure that we knew what the next meal would be.  (A woman after my own heart!  But she made a really good point that when you're on a job like this it's easy to forget about meals and then people get cranky & sloppy from being hungry.)  Fj has a 3 yr-old daughter and a 3 month old baby girl, so we had a lot in common.   

Below, Fj is holding the coco bead chandelier OUT of the shot.  (how sad for my chandy!  a bit too wild for BHG I think ;)

Jessica Thomas-the stylist- (below) was amazing.  The detail that's put into each & every shot is incredible.  Most shots took an hour plus to shoot (some less, some more.)  You'd be so surprised at how much thought is put into each shot.  And I'm talking about a photo of something as small as a Christmas ornament or a plate of cookies.  They made sure everything was perfect.  No unsightly tree lights or wires showing, etc.  It was awesome to watch.  A very precarious cookie kept falling over in one shot and we all had to stand perfectly still so as not to move the floor at all.  The sunlight kept going in and out of the clouds and Helen had to shoot at just the right time as Fj watched the clouds and let her know what the sky was about to be doing.  Craziness.  Jessica (below) has such an eye.  She made sure that each and every shot had a "story."  It was different than it would have been had we been shooting for a 100% design magazine vs a lifestyle magazine.  The shots weren't about the furniture or the room, they were more about what's going on in the room:  the people, the activities, and Christmas of course.  The room is more the backdrop for the story vs. the focus of the story.  (But of course the rooms had to look perfect in order to help "tell" the story.)

Joanna Linberg (below) is writing the story.   She also assisted Jessica in getting all of the props ready for the shoot and was AMAZING with Christian.  (He will be SO sad when he learns that "Miss Joanna" and "Miss Jessica" / The "Homes & Gardens Ladies" are not coming back tomorrow.  I've been using them to get Christian to do things:  i.e. "Miss Joanna wants you to brush your teeth."  hee hee hee) You know when you meet someone and they just exude goodness?  That's Joanna.  She's so young and has worked so hard to get to where she is. 

We were in a few of the photos and Christian did such a great job.  He was such a good little kid throughout the whole process & really followed directions well.  ("Ok, now go on your knees and giggle." etc..  He had so much fun!) 

Below is a picture of my kitchen shelves being emptied so Jessica could style them.  I LOVE what she did and am sad to see the things go!  She used a combination of my own things, some props from the Meredith prop room and some thigns we found at On a Whim and Lucketts. 

On the last day, at the end, we started running out of daylight.  Daylight is so important, because if you lose it, the photographers have to light the space and the look is totally different.  (not as pretty at all either!)  That crazy cookie kept falling over and then it was time for our family portrait.  Justin was crying and we had to get the shot as quickly as possible before the sun went down.  Definitely felt the pressure but it was so exciting!  Ps-  I think I TOTALLY scared Jessica before we met.  We'd been doing a lot of the prep over the phone/ emails and I told her multiple times how excited I was about the shoot.  (She does this ALL the time and so was not nearly there with me ;)  When some extra Christmas ornaments arrived for the tree, I got teary (give me a break- I just had a baby!) because they were so perfect.  I called Jessica and told her how much I loved them & how excited I was she was like, "Ok,"  (probably like "what is wrong with this girl?????!"  hahah)   Jessica is awesome at what she does& just so much fun and I'm honestly surprised everyone's not this nutty around her. 

On Day 5 (Today) Jessica & Joanna packed up everything from the shoot & put our house back in order.  (FedEx will pick all of the boxes up later this week to send them back to the Meredith Studio and back to the companies they came from.)  Jessica & Joanna also (as they did all week long) helped take care of Christian & Justin, and Jessica even made Christian a peanut butter & jelly sandwich for lunch.  Finally, we said our goodbyes and Christian waved at our new friends from the window. 

Below, here we all are at the end of the shoot.  Everyone was so good to Christian & Justin.  (Helen below, with my little guy.  He loved them all so much. )

I'm really going to miss them all.  It was such a fun crazy week.  ...Such an awesome experience and I just feel so lucky to have gotten the chance to work with such talented, sweet people.  I wish we all lived closer. 

And I can't wait to see the spread next November!!!  (Feels like forever away!!!)

Have a great weekend!!

xoxo,

lauren

**update**  I should clarify that they used a lot of our own things:  my urns, cakestands, plates, stemware, silverware, pillows, blankets, ornaments, accessories, etc...  but supplemented them all with some extras & of course more Christmas things  (Our trees & garlands were long dead) and food. Jessica worked really hard to make sure that the items they brought in worked with my style & blended seamlessly with what we already had.   :)  so much fun!!

Modern interior

Modern Art Decoration Designs

Modern Living room

Living room furnishings include finer details in the form of carpets and furniture and accessories such as artwork and paintings, glass, ceramics and much more. It's the lighting, direct and indirect uses, to various places in the living room to highlight. A tastefully done light work of heat and light can donate a room to your advantage. Also decorative mirrors can give a room with distinctive character. For light rooms, it can also help in improving the feel of visual space. Bare walls or blind spots can be aptly used to turn into corners with functional art, photography and unique crafts.




Modern Dining room set

Dining room set includes mainly pictures, rugs, carpets, chandeliers and hanging lamps, rugs, buffets, china and cutlery. Elements such as appetizing paintings, ornate skylight, runners, rug complements and reinforces the visual stimulus, and also with contemporary and modern dining room work. It is a balance between art and function that are most important. Every room with a creative eye done left behind one of individuality and the satisfaction to pursue. You can play with colors, images, buffets and light to create the atmosphere for families at different times and moods social and personal





Modern Interior furniture

An interior would look naked without proper equipment. It is true, complete Modern interior furniture gives a room Home furnishings with the value, function and features spatial depth and meaning to a space. is a segment that tinkering many good aspects, such as art and sculpture, painting, home textiles, glassware, decorative pillows, towels, metal and wood, lights, storage covers, vases, rugs, ceramics, ornaments and other works, these to personalize a space and can function according to your individual taste and preference.





Modern Kids furniture

Kids furniture is another segment of the invention with its own demands. Kids Rooms have lively, active and safe. To embellish on these fine lines, you have kids rugs, pillows, carpets, curtains, bedding, artwork and a games room for storage. Clocks, paintings and art are as popular as baby murals and themed rooms. The idea is based on function, color and energy, in line with slightly every day. It can help to awaken the concept of personal space for young people. A simple but tasteful furnishings with open space for activities tend sounds ideal for children. Fun for a child-friendly theme murals are a great idea for the modern baby bedroom.





Elegant
Kitchen facilities

Kitchen facilities include many details such as wine racks, high-style cutlery, cups ware, cooking, serving dishes, tablecloths, buffets, cutting boards, kitchen basket, radiators, vases and bowls, coffee decanter, floating shelves, special knives, ergonomic storage units to merge form and function at all well planned. Often small accessories in a kitchen together with careful arrangement gives a room with a great atmosphere. It can include anything from modern lighting, bowls ancestors valuable crockery, paintings, art, vases and glass.

Luxury Kitchen accessories

Kitchen accessories can fulfill both decorative and functional tasks in the definition and organization of a kitchen. Kitchen accessories and make great home interior warming and wedding gifts, in fact, for almost any occasion one can think of, from birthdays, Christmas and for all time around the year.




Modern and systematic  kitchen

It pays to have a systematic and airy kitchen, it was a nice little kitchenette or a full-size modular version with up-to-date amenities. Kitchen is central to virtually every household and it is important to adapt a space for the individual lifestyle and preferences are. It should get some kind of place you for a drink, dinner with friends and gossip over a cup of coffee with friends or bake cakes and cookies to allow yourself a relaxing afternoon.

Check also:
Modern Kitchen
Luxury Lighting Design Ideas and remodeling
INTERIOR OF THE KIDS ROOMSofa Design and Furniture
Interior and Exterior Shutters
Home Decorating in Minimalism
Modern Lighting designs for your home
Contemporary and Luxury Dining rooms


 

Bathroom decoration

Bathroom decoration and Design tips and Ideas

Bathroom tile design

      One of the most popular tools for Bathroom improvement is an improvement by adding tile. Replacing the old linoleum with tile is easy to maintain and is more durable, as well as enabling you to create a unique look. Bathroom tile design is essential when remodeling a small bathroom and can make the most of the final result.




Bathroom design

       When you want to add to the value of your Bathroom , upgrading or remodeling a bathroom is ideal. Bathroom Makeovers are important when it comes to home improvement projects to add value to your home. In addition to the attractiveness of the tiles in bathroom design that you have the mix of triumph.




Small Bathroom design

      Small bathrooms seem uninviting and overcrowded. Many families struggle while trying to make a small bathroom and invited guest looks attractive. You can make a small bathroom seem much larger and not so small when using proper design techniques and Decorations.



Bathroom design

       It is important to consider two key elements in the tile bathroom design small bathroom design Makeover. First select the tiles for the bathroom should be light colored. Dark colors used for walls, floors or fixtures make the room seem small and narrow. Select tile colors that are close to white as you can. Small hints of color are acceptable when they are tan, pink or pale colors. However, the main background color must be white.




Black and white Bathroom design

      It may seem tempting to use the bathroom tile design of old-fashioned black and white. But this is the wrong choice. Rather should be considered for use in medium and large sizes of tiles in a small bathroom. You want to keep the tile design simple and easy.


Bathroom remodeling design

      In doing so with a common bathroom Makeover this should be your goal. Hold a few simple bathroom and light in color and type design.This interior will add to the feeling of spaciousness in a small bathroom. Consider adding lighting fixtures that are smaller, but produce much light. This will be reflected off the white tiles and improve the appearance of the area. You can add a feeling of outdoor lighting small bathroom without windows by replacing old light bulbs with new energy efficient natural light bulbs.



Bathroom design

      Although many owners do a bathroom Makeover may think that they can use only one inches smaller tiles in the bathroom, this is not always true. When you use the bathroom tile design, which focuses on one inches tiles makes the room appear smaller, especially when using dark colored tile design.



Modern Bathroom tile design

      Bathroom tile design that you choose for your bathroom will have a greater impact on the room than you can imagine. Take your time while considering space, walls, lighting, and cabinet options you choose to use and you can compliment it all with a well chosen floor tiles.

Check also:
Modern Kitchen
Luxury Lighting Design Ideas and remodeling
INTERIOR OF THE KIDS ROOMSofa Design and Furniture
Interior and Exterior Shutters
Home Decorating in Minimalism
Modern Lighting designs for your home
Contemporary and Luxury Dining rooms

Modern Kitchen

Contemporary Kitchens and renovations ideas

New kitchen or renovation design

There is no disagreement about the fact that building a new kitchen or renovation is a good way to increase the value of your house. An old, outdated kitchen is one of the most common reasons for why else would decide excited buyer, a move instead to following through with an offer to purchase. Why it is so highly prized cuisine of the place? The answer is simple: In the kitchen, the source of activity in most families.


Modern Kitchen Ideas

At the end of good food is often eaten when informal family meals, and where all food is stored and prepared. To have lead, kitchen design parties now share with guests coming into the kitchen and not directly assemblies in other areas of the house. So to attract interested buyers for your house, building and maintaining a smart, modern kitchen is not required. However, there are some problems that often arise when owners about how to achieve real smart kitchen renovation begin to think.



Modern Kitchen Renovation and remodeling

First, write exactly what you want to update, along with the cost of materials for your kitchen. You need to decide at this stage whether to make the repairs yourself or hire a professional. If the budget of the project is small, there is everything there is definitely an option. But this time a little louder than the setting of a professional license to work for you. The compromise is a licensed professional guidance to employ more than someone who does the hard work available. You can do most of their work for your kitchen, and then save more difficulties for a professional, from which they are often faster and more secure than you can.



Kitchen Renovation Design

The next step is the budget of any plan, the kitchen should come with a fixed budget update. If you are on paper calls things you dont want to be expensive, you need to decide what you are doing really. Sometimes omitting means things that are very well made, but be more expensive than what your budget can handle. Check your finances and ensure that you finish it with a kitchen upgrade many people their savings at this time. If savings is not an option, repair loan is something that many banks have started to offer their customers, repair, thanks to the popularity of projects, especially the repair-oriented cuisine.



Kitchen remodeling

Finally, remember to allow sufficient time to complete all aspects of the Kitchen renovation. Repair project will take several weeks, even several months, while some believe that the other side of the budget because of their importance. A part of the planning time for the repair, waiting for the materials purchased or delivered.



Kitchen remodeling

Many of the kitchen remodeling project was unexpected, not that delayed all materials. It goes without saying that a new kitchen renovation requires much time and effort. However, if a few important tips are given, it will go a long way to lose too much time and effort and stress. After all, you deserve to be proud of the Kitchen inside and out!

Chech also:
Sofa Design and Furniture
Interior and Exterior Shutters
Home Decorating in Minimalism
Modern Lighting designs for your home
Contemporary and Luxury Dining rooms

Better Homes & Gardens Christmas Shoot Days 1 & 2

Well, "Christmas" is finally here again!  (Below, the boxes that have been arriving at our house for the BHG shoot)

 Better Homes & Gardens Assistant Editor Joanna Linberg and stylist Jessica Thomas arrived at our house yesterday!! Joanna is writing the article & assisting Jessica in the set up, and Jessica is running the show.   The first thing we did was walk through the house & answer all the questions Jessica had.  She's incredibly detailed  (She even made sure we had enough chalk to write on the fridge!)  and I am floored by how well she nailed down my style.  (She's insanely talented & I'll be doing a post on her & her work soon!!)

Jessica checked out our wardrobe options and we didn't have what she was looking for :)  Since it's a Christmas shoot, of course we should look super-cozy & wintry but I'm not really fitting into any of my chunky winter sweaters right now and Dave's sweaters aren't so wintry.  So our task was to go shopping last night for winter sweaters. 

But before we did our family clothes shopping, Jessica needed some extra pieces for styling.  So I took Jessica & Joanna to some of my favorite shops:  On a Whim & the Old Lucketts Store.    (When they said they were going shopping I totally invited myself along!! I was way too excited to stay home ;)  Our first stop was On a Whim (below) owned by Donna Troxler who was so kind to let us borrow the items for the shoot free of charge.  We found the most beautiful ironstone pieces to use on the tabletops & to supplement the whiteware in my kitchen.  Donna's store is full of one-of-a-kind treasures & I never leave empty-handed.  Here's a pic of Joanna & Jessica choosing some pretty pieces:

Next up was Old Lucketts Store.  We were greeted by a smiling Lisa (below right) who always makes me feel so welcome.  They told us that during the snowstorms some of the women who worked at Lucketts had a  few-day-long slumber party in the Design House to ride out the storm & get the place shovelled out for customers!  (They had good food & wine & watched movies- how fun is that?!!)  Jessica found more goodies at Lucketts (how could you not?) and it was time to say goodbye.  Heather & Lisa helped check us out & were sweet as can be to let me take a pic with my phone:

     

When we got home, Joanna & Jessica headed out to run errands:  meeting with the bakery & a trip to Target among other things.  Dave & I headed to the mall on a search for winter sweaters.  It was bleak.  The stores have moved onto Spring clothes.  But we did it!  We found some good winter clothes. 

This morning after getting some of the custom things I'd had made by my workroom, I headed to my mommy work-out class with Christian & Justin.  When we got home at around 10:30, this is what we found: 

Joanna & Jessica had been hard at work & had turned our family room into a prop room!  And my laundry room (below) is now a flower shop!

 

Oh my goodness!!  Check out all these paperwhites:

And the cabbages:

The cut flowers were delivered locally and the Christmas tree & wreaths and greenery came from North Carolina.  They flew into the airport! ha!

My friend Amy (below) who works as a landscape designer at Merrifield Garden Center has been hard at work...

...  growing these:

Aren't they amazing???

WOW.   So today we pretty much just started setting everything up.  (I saw "we" but I was pretty worthless-  the baby does not want to be put down.)  They've also been incredibly sweet with Christian as he follows them - the "Homes and Gardens Ladies" as he says- around. Jessica let him eat some of the props today (clementines) and I think he's got a new favorite fruit.  (Joanna & Christian below): 

So, for now, the tree is up & decorated and the food is here.  (mm mm mm!) The rest of the things will be set up tomorrow when the photographer arrives.  And I'm ready for bed!!!  I'll keep you posted on the rest of the shoot, and Michele from My Knotting Hill's Guest Blogger Before & After post will be up later on this week!

xoxo,

lauren

Pure Organization Project #7: Declutter the Kitchen

Somehow things just accumulate in my kitchen.  We have a little tray that's supposed to be for wallets & cell phones & sunglasses, but it ends up overflowing with coupons and batteries & lightbulbs & screws &chargers and other random annoyances.  Things just come into our house & if we don't stay on top of them, they build up, particularly in the kitchen...  cards, coupons, new (old) purchases, candles, etc...   Sometimes it's just stuff that needs to be put away in another room but remains in the kitchen for weeks.  argggg...  Now my junk drawer is clean, but the rest of the kitchen is starting to feel like a giant junk drawer.  eeek!  

So,  I put every single item that needs to find a home or leave the kitchen on my kitchen island.  Here it is, my junk:

And today there's no "after" because it's still sitting on my island where I'm typing right now. 

So Project #7 is to Declutter the kitchen of everything that doesn't belong.  Find spots for the things that do need to stay and ditch the rest.  (Preferably to a good home in another room instead of making more clutter in another room as I'm tempted to do!)

Good luck & I'll be back on later today to add Mr.Linky!  (I am so strapped for time right now & didn't get a chance to look at all of last week's links but promise I will!!)

The Better Homes & Gardens crew arrives today and will be here all week-long for our Christmas shoot!!  The tree's up & we're getting ready to go.  I'll be posting to let you know how it's going & how it works.  (I'm so curious!!!)

xoxo,
lauren

Luxury Lighting Design Ideas and remodeling

Modern Lighting Ideas

  

Luxurious  Chandeliers  Design
   Modern Chandeliers are more opulent and luxurious, and may have a weapon from 3 to 12 or more. Given that each hand will perform a bulb, a chandelier arm 12 can light up a huge room palace. Another benefit is that even chandeliers are traditionally looked charming and quaint, nowadays there are some fantastic modern chandeliers, where steel and glass meet to discover a world of possibilities and looks. 

 Luxurious  Chandeliers  Design

Chandeliers are no longer made for Victorian or Georgian properties, they are made for Lofts and modern life. You can find them in every color and shape, any size and material. Grand chandeliers often becomes the focal point of the room, which is dull around back to life. Its effect can be magical.

Modern table lamp Decor

If you want to provide localized strong light for specific tasks such as studying, reading or writing, you will need a table lamp or floor lamp. Again, an array of options is greater than you think. In table lamps will be invalid options: chrome, glass, plastic ... You can choose from a beautiful and modern chrome lamp, a simple and stunning Venetian style table lamp . They are great on a desk or side table. They carry only light where you want, creating different moods in the same room.

Unique Shape and Style Lamps

If you prefer a floor lamp will again have problems choosing, because there are so many different forms and styles on the market. Arco lamp tripod lights and are very popular at the moment but you can choose more traditional floor lamp with a pretty shade.

Unique Shape and Style Lighting

In the way you light your home will reflect who you are, and these lamps and chandeliers will lead to personality and character. So instead of trying to emulate the examples in the interior, simply select a few ideas and make them the world!

Also check out:
Soft linen for sweet dreams
Interior color of chocolate
Lighting in the interior
Glass in the interior
Create your own unique look and in the kitchen

Interior and Outdoor Lighting Design and Ideats

Pendant Lighting Ideas
Modern Lighting Fixtures
Ceiling Lighting Ideas
Modern Bathroom Lighting
Exterior Lighting Ideas
Modern Lighting Ideas
Lighting fixtures with a sense of ease in the luxu...
Wall Lighting Ideas for your Home
Great Outdoor Lighting Ideas
Lighting Fixtures Design Ideas
Modern Home Lighting Ideas
Hinkley Lighting and Murray Feiss Lighting decora...
Modern Interior Lighting
Contemporary Lighting Ideas