Monthly Archives: August 2009

Scrapbook Center

August 31, 2009

So I can be in the same room as my husband when I scrapbook (while I watch him play video games or while he does his own thing on his computer), I have my scrapbook stuff in the living room. Until it got organized on a shelving unit, it always got in the way. It still wasn’t visually appealing until recently when I used some boxes I was using and re-purposed them. The scrapbook area looks so much better. I still want to get rid of the big canvas bins on top but I need to either get more boxes or something. For now though, this works beautifully.

Before & After

IMG 1740 1 225x300 Scrapbook CenterIMG 1960 225x300 Scrapbook Center

Posted in: Organization – No Comments

Tip-out Tray

August 24, 2009

One of the nicest “drawers” in the kitchen is the tip-out tray. They are those little trays that fit in that small space right in front of the sink.

I searched to see what I could find but wasn’t sure what to call them at first. After being told what they were called and that they would cost $150 by Home Depot, I thought I would never be able to have these neat little trays in my kitchen. I finally found them at Lowes and when I did, I bought enough for all of the sinks in the house. I installed two in the kitchen and plan to install the others in the 2 1/2 bathrooms that we have. I’m not sure what I will put in them in the bathrooms, but the kitchen ones were planned out before purchase. I am very happy with them and they are exactly what I wanted. It took a little bit of time to install but it wasn’t difficult.

They come in two sizes. The trays come in white plastic or stainless steel. Either click the links in this post or search for “tip out” on Lowes or Amazon’s website. You will see many options. I went for the plastic ones since I could get 2 for the price of one and since I was purchasing 4 sets of 2, it was a lot cheaper. Plus, all of the ones I had ever seen were the white plastic type.

IMG 1783 225x300 Tip out TrayIMG 1792 300x225 Tip out TrayIMG 1785 300x225 Tip out TrayIMG 1786 300x225 Tip out TrayIMG 1789 300x225 Tip out TrayIMG 1798 300x225 Tip out Tray

Posted in: Organization – No Comments

Living Room Lighting

August 20, 2009

It was time for some new lighting in the living room. The lights we had were really nice still, but I wanted to use them in one of the bedroom upstairs, so I researched to see what I liked and then see if I could find it locally. I did find the lights at 2 different stores and decided to get them at Target. They were pretty easy to put together. The harder part of getting the right wattage of CFL for the room. I didn’t want to be blinded, but I wanted the lights to light up the room. We have a ceiling fan with a light if we want garish bright overhead lighting. We have task lighting on our desks, so just a nice natural light would be good. After starting with the 150W equivalent, we ended up with the simple 40W equivalent CFL. We will be saving so much too with these new lights. Also, a neat added feature is these lights have 3 shelves for our speakers, a candle, and a few little items that usually go on an end table but now I can free up that space. The lamps turned out great!

IMG 1771 225x300 Living Room LightingIMG 1772 225x300 Living Room LightingIMG 1768 225x300 Living Room LightingIMG 1773 225x300 Living Room LightingIMG 1770 300x225 Living Room Lighting

Posted in: Interior decoration – No Comments

Lamp Install

August 13, 2009

I have been wanting to do something with the pot lights over our kitchen peninsula, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with them. While looking at the Lowe’s circular for this week, I saw conversion kits that fit in the light socket of a pot light and create a pendant light fixture. I thought I would try them out, so while I was errand running today, I picked up two kits and shades. I was so excited about them that after dinner, I decided to install them. I only made one mistake – I forgot to get CFLs bright enough for the counter when we are cutting up veggies and such – I will get those tomorrow when I go out.

img 1727 1 225x300 Lamp Installimg 1725 1 300x225 Lamp Installimg 1729 1 225x300 Lamp Installimg 1730 1 225x300 Lamp Installimg 1731 1 225x300 Lamp Installimg 1763 1 300x225 Lamp Installimg 1764 1 300x225 Lamp Install

Posted in: Interior decoration – No Comments