This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Comfort and Harmony for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Have you ever wanted a do-over?  Like when you are perusing Pinterest wedding boards?  Sometimes I wish I had a do-over at my introduction to motherhood.  Don’t get me wrong, the actual birth went well, and the baby was fantastic ;)  But sometimes I see all of this fabulous baby gear that makes me think, “that would have made things sooo much easier.”

Nursing was hard for me the first time around.  I remember my husband and I in semi-yoga poses trying to just hold still once we would finally find our son’s latching position.  I had a Boppy.  It was alright for baby lounging, but it left much to be desired in area of nursing support.  In fact, I would have needed two Boppies stacked on top of each other to even get the right height.  I was recently sent a Mombo infant nursing pillow to try out (its just a few years too late) and instantly got that “I want a do-over” feeling.

This pillow has a unique Firm2Soft design–one side is firm and supportive for proper breastfeeding support while the other side soft and cuddly for lounging.  It provides all of the functions of a Boppy—head propping for better digestion, a soft cushion for tummy time and body/back support to help baby when they are learning to sit up. But what really sets this pillow apart from all of the others I’ve seen is the removable vibration button.  It creates a gentle soothing vibration throughout the pillow that is helpful for tummy settling or lullabying baby to sleep.

We sent our test model over for Lindsey’s brand new baby niece, Alice, to test out and she took to it right away :)  Baby tested and definitely mom approved!

The Mombo is only available at Toys R Us and Babies R Us.  They have a great selection of super cute designs to choose from, including a few Disney options.  But one of our lucky readers will get one delivered right to your door for free.

We are giving away one Comfort & Harmony Mombo Nursing Pillow in Pinehurst (the same one Alice tried out).

To enter it is mandatory to leave a comment below telling us why you want a Mombo (is it for you? a friend? a relative?)

For additional entries:

• Like Comfort & Harmony on Facebook
• Follow Comfort & Harmony on Twitter

(Be sure to leave an additional comment for each entry telling us your Twitter and/or FaceBook user name.)

Open to U.S residents 18 years or older.  Entries must be received by 11:59 pm PST on May 29, 2013.  Winner will be chosen at random and announced the next day.  Good luck!

Mombo Nursing Pillow Giveaway

I have been wanting to talk about this for soooooo long. I just kept putting it off. But now it’s time to talk Pallets. Yes, those nasty wooden things that are used to haul heavy shipments around in trucks. But somehow they are magically able to be transformed into gorgeous pieces to make your home feel cool, rustic and interesting. After looking at some of these, I’m ready to scour my city so I can use pallets as home decor around my place. Check out these ideas and my thoughts on them.

Pallet Wall Art from Love of Family and Home

I love this idea and its really so versatile.  You can do what they’ve done here and put words or you could paint something. I love the idea of painting it and then spray painting stencils of … really anything!

Garden Pallet from Our Little Acre with a full photo tutorial!

Bonnie has been all over these Garden pallet ideas right now. She and her family just moved and she really wants to great an herb garden on her new back patio using a pallet. I think I just might copy her especially since I live in an apartment where it’s hard to plant, but I do have a small patio that would hold it perfect. However, I also love the idea of mixing my herbs and my gardening supplies on one pallet {since they currently hide under the outdoor stairs of our complex. Shhhh… don’t tell anyone.}

Hanging Patio Pallet Bar from Today’s Nest

This one might be a little more complicated to create, however it seems like a great idea. Now, I’m not a drinker but I’d love to make something like this as a coffee bar. I’m obsessed with coffee…. Drinking my home made iced coffee now…. yumm….

Pallet Coffee Table from Mango Tomato with tutorial!

I’ve seen this idea all over the internet but I just loved the stain and gloss on this one. Plus, I’m happy to share a tutorial for it.

Pallet Coat Rack from Decor Racks

Now this is a beautiful thing. Such any easy and cheap coat/hat rack. Plus, it’s just half a pallet painted. So simple.

Pallet Walkway from Funky Junk Interiors with tutorial!

Oh My Goodness Gracious! This is a fabulous idea And the tutorial helps so wonderfully.  I might pass this along to Bonnie too :) You can use the pieces of a pallet or just some 2×4′s

Pallet Bookshelves from Sas Interiors with tutorial!

I have wanted to do this for a long time.  Either putting books or picture frames/decor pieces in them. What do you think?

Using Pallets as Home Decor? Whaaa?

Happy Mother’s Day!

This post brought to you by American Osteopathic Association. All opinions are 100% mine.

Running a website is a great job that I love for many reasons. I can set my own hours and write about anything I want, but there is a downside as well. The biggest pitfall of being a blogger is what most other Americans face in their daily jobs as well: too much sitting. 70% of office workers sit for at least five hours each work day and over 100 million Americans experience back pain. And, chronic pain can make it difficult to perform daily activities and even affect your work performance. Sitting too much has led to serious back pain, especially lower back pain due to the fact that my muscles simply are not stretched enough. Regular physical activity is absolutely necessary to stay heatlhy, but usually that lasts only for an hour or so a day. When you sit, like I do for at least five hours a day, you need to stretch not only at the beginning and end of your workout, but throughout the day. Fortunately, you do not need to be able to do Pilates to perfom the simple stretches that relieve the tension in your body that leads to back pain. The American Osteopathic Association made a helpful  to teach everyone how easy it is prevent and avoid pain in the workplace. I tried these two stretches and I love how quick it was do them, and the fact that they are so simple that I can tell the other people I know that experience back pain from sitting to try them as well. Give them a try and see if they work for you! For even more help from the American Osteopathic Association, to go Break Through Your Pain. And, be sure to share this post and the AOA’s tips on your social networks, so your friends can learn to relieve their back pain while they sit!

Ease Your Back Pain with Two Simple Stretches from the AOA

This post brought to you by Private Selection. All opinions are 100% mine.

Have you ever had one of those days as a mom where you would like to have a treat for your family, but you are too busy to make it? Or, have you ever had friends stop by unexpectedly and did not have any food for company? Or, my personal favorite, have you ever found out at the last moment about a potluck dinner you need to bring a dessert to? I usually love to bake desserts for my family and guests, but sometimes I just do not have the time. At Kroger though, they have just introduced Private Selection Upside Down Cakes. With these delicious cakes, you just warm, flip and serve. They are made from real eggs, milk, butter and semi-sweet chocolate, so when you need to substitute a homemade dessert with a gourmet-like dessert, these can be wonderful. Premium Selections is a private brand carried exclusively by Kroger and its affiliatesThey come in three flavors: Amber Honey Apple Spice, Double Chocolate Molten and German Chocolate Fudge – premium flavors without the price. What is your dessert of choice when you are running low on time?

To get the word out about their new cakes, Kroger is hosting a Spread the Love campaign until June 2, 2013. During this time, a special Private Selection Upside Down Cakes coupon will available online here for the cakes: http://www.privateselection.com/cakes/. And, if you share the coupon on your Facebook page, you will received a $2 off coupon. Once you claim your coupon, you will directed to log into your Kroger account, so you may add the coupon to your store card. To find a Kroger store near you, use this handy tool: http://www.privateselection.com/store-locator/

If you like these cakes, follow Private Selection Upside Down Cakes on Facebook and Private Selection Upside Down Cakes on Pinterest!

Coupon ends 6/2/13. Official Rules. In order to load these coupons to your card, you will need to sign into your Kroger account or set up a Kroger account and enter your card number. Limit one per digital coupon. Digital offers are not eligible on Manager’s Specials, cannot be combined with manufacturer paper coupons on the purchase of a single item, and do not double. Not all items are available in all stores. A limit of 150 coupons can be loaded per household at one time.

Try a Private Selection Cake with Kroger’s Coupons!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Flood® Wood Care for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

So we are moved.  How come no one told me how hard moving is?!  I feel like everything we own is gone, lost, misplaced or otherwise forgotten.  Nothing is where it should be and now we have to take all of our belongings (85% of which are toys) and configure them into a (slightly) smaller house.  There is one glistening ray of sunshine in this new situation though.  We now have a playroom!  It is outside and entirely detached from our house.  So I can take that mountain of toys that I was always tripping over at our old house and move them all out there.

But first, although I am sure that its not going to last long, I have to bring some semblance of order to this chaos:

I have learned from living in tiny urban spaces my entire adult life, that vertical storage is a city girl’s best friend.  So when Flood® Wood Care contacted us about doing a staining project, my first thought was Shelving.  Lots of shelving.

This stain is technically made for exterior use, but I figured with three boys constantly going in and out of this little guest house, this wood will see some weathering.  We stained two 8′ x 1′ shelves and hardly made a dent in the gallon bucket that was provided.  I plan to use the rest to stain a few planter boxes and a garden bed that we will be building later on this summer.

The process was foolproof.  I just went to Flood’s Staining Made Simple guide, answered a few questions about my project and it told me exactly what I needed. They even gave me a printable shopping list and instruction sheet. I chose to go with their semi-transparent stain in Natural Cedar.

This stain met all of my needs and expectations. It goes on smoothly and evenly, it provides a beautiful color while letting the character of the wood take center stage.  But best of all, it provides TOTAL weather protection.  That means no mildew, no peeling, no fading–just natural looking wood that hold up year after year.  This is the big seller for me.  We do a lot of projects around here, and they are hard. work.  Hard work that is worth it, if your masterpiece stands the test of time. It is so frustrating to put all of your creative and physical energy into a something that gets dingy and worn after just a few months.

The boys and I stained the planks and my hubby completed the project by drilling them into the wall.  I am thrilled with our results.  And we are now one step closer to settling in to our new home.

If you have plans for your outdoor space this summer, check out the Flood Better Backyard Sweepstakes for a chance to win a $1500 gift card or one of 12 $10 gift cards that are given away daily.  Just like Flood Wood Care on FaceBook and share often for more entries.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Legal residents of the 50United States of America and (D.C.) 18 years and older. Ends 5/17/2013. To enter and for Official Rules, including odds, and prize descriptions visit www.facebook.com/flood.  Void in Puerto Rico and where restricted or prohibited.  This Sweepstakes is in no way sponsored, endorsed, or administered by, or associated with Facebook.  You understand that you are providing your information to Sponsor and not to Facebook.

Get Ready For Summer with Flood’s Better Backyard Sweepstakes and Staining Made Simple Guide

As Mother’s Day is coming closer, I thought I’d share with you what I’ve been up to real quick before the day passes us by.

Firstly, I’m making my Mother’s Day cards.

Not only do I love making things {especially with paper} but while browsing Target for cards to purchase, I realized that the only cards worth giving out ranged from $5-$8. What?! A card? For 8 bucks? My jaw literally dropped when I looked at the prices, standing in the semi-crowded card aisle. Hope no one saw me…. I was appalled. I shuttered at the thought of dropping $6 for a card and so decided to create my own. I took a few ideas from some great cards I’d seem and got to thinking.

This card was all my own but came via inspiration on Pinterest. I’d seen a card with a flower that said ” If you were a flower, I’d pick you!” Too cute, I thought but Moviestar was not keen on the cheesy saying and asked me to leave it blank so we could write our own messages. I’ll throw that saying in my idea bank for later :)

I wanted to do a layered flower and luckily I own a Cricut that has come in handy for more than scrapbooking, like now! All I did was choose my flower and lower each paper color by 1 inch in size. Then I put elevated foam on the back of each to give it a more 3D look.

Then I just added a stem and leaf and some cardboard letter stickers to complete it. So easy, you can do it too! Even without a Cricut.

I’ve also been working on a few DIY Mother’s day gifts.

One of which I’ve given to my Mother-in-law in the past: these Designer Dish Gloves. I had so much fun making these long ago that I thought I’d make a few more just before Mother’s Day.

If you want to make these yourself, just follow my tutorial here. It’s pretty simple if you can maneuver a sewing machine a bit. If you can’t but want to buy a last minute gift for her, head over to our Etsy Shop and I’ll be sure to get them to you in time.

Happy Mother’s Day all! Hope it’s a great one for each of you.

Don’t Buy Expensive Mother’s Day Cards, Make Them!

This post brought to you by CB2. All opinions are 100% mine.

CB2 has just partnered with Robert and Cortney Novogratz, a married duo of designers, to create a new vibrant line of home decor. I personally love this item. It shows the dynamic color that the Novogratz designers are bringing to CB2, which I think it has been missing. Meshing vintage and modern designs with vibrant colors, their line was inspired by their vacation home in Brazil. To celebrate the new line, CB2 is hosting a Brazillian vacation giveaway! Enter for a chance to win the grand prize: you and three guests to win a week long vacation in the very Brazillian vacation home of Robert and Cortney in Ranncoso, Brazil, which inspired their new home decor line. If you have ever wanted to visit the exotic and tropical land of Brazil, do not miss this free opporunity to enter for  a chance of a luxury trip to Brazil. Ten runner up winners will be awarded a $100 CB2 gift card along with a signed copy of the designers’ new book “Home by Novogratz”. With the gift card, you can buy items from the CB2 and Novogratz Collection or any other collection at CB2. So, enter today! You have nothing to lose and an extravagant vacation to win! Click the following link to enter to win the CB2 and Novogratz Brasil Sweepstakes.

Enter to Win a Vacation to Brazil with CB2!

This post brought to you by Scotts Miracle-Gro. All opinions are 100% mine.

Spring is here, which means lawn and garden care has become a priority for many. Bonnie has just moved into a new house and she is in the midst of sprucing it up for the spring and summer. She has a huge backyard with plenty of space for landscaping, so I have been helping find to design her new yard. Because she needs some help with bare patches, we thought something like this would be best:

She’s also interested in a table area to relax in the yard, and we are interested in this type of setup:

Or something without a platform:

We love the checkerboard pattern the last one. It could either work with the bare patches in the backyard or be covered with mulch.

For an undertaking such as this, the gardening supplies we would need are:

• plants
• shrubs
• bushes
• mulch
• stones (for lining)
• a metal frame arch
• shovels
• rakes
• landscape knife (for cutting squares)

This is quite an ambitious project. The most important component for a yard design such as this is the mulch. I’d recommend Scotts Florida Select Natural Eucalyptus Mulch. The Eucalyptus mulch is 100% natural, as a ground cover should be. Even though it’s all natural, it still is effective in preventing weeds and maintaining even temperature and moisture levels. Eucalyptus mulch also promotes sustainable gardening, because Eucalyptus is a renewable resource growing up to four times faster than Cypress in a year. For our Florida readers, this mulch is local for you, so buying this supports the local businesses. For readers is all other states, try another mulch in the Scotts Nature Scapes mulch line. There are three great choices to fit the needs of your lawncare: Classic Black, Sierra Red and Deep Forest Brown.

When using mulch, it’s best to apply three inches deep. At this depth, a two cubic foot bag of mulch will cover twelved square feet. It can be used around trees, shrubs, flowers, vegetables and other objects. Just be sure not to cover any plants that have not yet been germinated or are underdeveloped. Also, be sure to keep mulch several inches from any wood, such as trees, patio furniture or your home.

Backyard Inspiration with Mulching

The day is coming. You know what it is. The day you shower you mother {or mother’s you know} with gifts that show them how much you love them and appreciate all they do. I have a wonderful mother who has done more for me than I could ever make her feel appreciated for. But I’m sure most {if not all} mother’s don’t do what they do for the appreciation, recognition or gifts. However, we children do love to show how much we care by getting her a Mother’s Day gift. I know I find it hard to give my mom something unique every year, but I really try to think of things she is either into this year, doesn’t have but know she wants or something she would never think of but would love. I also love to make something for her because I’m sure it makes her happy to know I spent time on something. So, I thought I’d share with you all some DIY mother’s day gifts that would add beauty and maybe even a little function to her home.

Mason Jar Planter Box

Printed Candles

Shadow Boxes

Decorative Tray

Painted Vases

Starburst Mirror

Picture Frame Jar

Teacup Candles

Well, I hope you can find something here to make for you mom. I think I have! Now let’s see if we can put it all together for her. So, what are you giving your mom this year? I’d love to hear from you!

DIY Mother’s Day Gifts for Her Home

This post brought to you by dio. All opinions are 100% mine.

Have you heard about dio? Dio is a new social site that allows you to create a tour of any subject. You can create a mapped out tour of your wedding day, a trip you’ve taken, a craft you have just made or anything else you can think of. You can also use dio to plan things out imaginary things such as mapping a world you have created in your imagination. I made my own room on dio about one of my favorite places in Santorini, Amoudi Bay. I mapped out a story using places comprising text and photos.

I like the idea of using this to tell stories. Photos and a few do not do enough justice for important events. With dio, you can post your vacation photos and videos in a sequence with as much text as you want, which helps other experience it as well. Creating this room brought back so many memories and made me want to want to plan another trip all the more. I am new to this, so if you want to follow me, check out my spatial creation of Amoudi Bay. If you are also new and need help creating a room, would like to have others add to your vacation, wedding, etc (or would like help from someone who knows more than you about the subject you are talking about) you can co-create rooms with other users. If you’re interested in dio, you should start now, because they will be picking the top three most creative places and the owners will win $500 Visa gift cards.

We are also hosting our own dio $100 Amazon gift card giveaway right here! To enter, sign up for an account at dio.com and create a place. Leave us a comment telling us about it using the email on your dio account. You must be an active user to be eligible to win. For an extra chance to win, tweet about your place and mention @dioplaces and #discoverdio. Contest Rules can be found here.

So, go get creative making places and entering for chances to win! And don’t forget to Like dio on Facebook!

Getting Creative and Win Money with dio!

The other night I had this craving for bread pudding. Bonnie’s made a few in her time that were pretty amazing and with this gnawing in my belly I thought I’d follow in her footsteps. After searching and finding some that looked yummy, Moviestar proceeded to tell me he wanted something chocolaty for dessert. Well, I’ve never had a chocolate bread pudding before but what the hell!? Let’s give it a try.

The coolest thing I saw in one of the recipes was using hawaiian sweet rolls for the bread crumbs instead of regular bread/french bread. It really helped make the pudding sweeter and more moist. Super yummy.

Once the rolls are cut into 1/2 in. cubes, put ‘em on the ol’ cookie sheet and harden them in the oven.

While the bread is toasting, mix your “pudding” ingredients, then once the bread is done, mix it into the pudding. I know it looks a little gross….. but trust me, it’s yummers. Then pop this bowl in the fridge for about an hour or so.

Now, this is where you can get a little creative. Like   we did! I wanted to do single servings in our ramekins and Moviestar was craving some serious chocolate so we filled each ramekin halfway with the pudding and topped with a layer of chocolate chips {a little too much if you ask me. Maybe a little less than this next time}.

Then we filled the rest of the ramekins with the pudding and placed a few more chips on top. Then you’ll want to pop them in the oven.

Mmmmm….. double chocolaty goodness fresh from the oven. They were sooo good.

Single-Serving Double Chocolate Bread Pudding

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups (1/2-inch) cubed Hawaiian sweet bread
• 2/3 cup 2% reduced-fat milk or vanilla almond milk
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 350°. Arrange bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 5 minutes or until toasted. Remove bread from oven; decrease oven temperature to 325°. Combine milk, sugar, cocoa, vanilla and egg in a medium bowl then stir well with a whisk. Add bread, toss to coat. Cover and chill in fridge for 30 minutes or up to 4 hours. Once chilled divide half of pudding/bread mixture evenly between 2 ramekins. Sprinkle evenly with half chocolate chips. Divide remaining bread mixture between ramekins. Top with a few more chocolate chips.  Place ramekins in an 8-inch square baking pan. Add enough hot water to pan to reach 1 inch. Bake at 325° for 35 minutes or until set. Serve each pudding warm.

Double Chocolate Bread Pudding

One of the things my reorganized home needed was a fresh Command Center. Now as my usual, this isn’t a completed job {I’ll share that at a later date} but it’s a huge improvement and well on it’s way.

The first thing I wanted to do was fix up the board I have in our kitchen. It’s not really being used properly as you can see below. Uhhhh …. it’s filled with junk! Including an old prom picture of mine with my old friend Dax that I’d pulled out over a year ago. I have phone numbers scribbled on the chalkboard that I don’t recognize and at least 10 business cards we don’t need to keep. So after clearing out all the junk on here and tossing what we don’t need, I ended up with a clean slate.

Then I looked at the fabric and realized it didn’t go with my green, yellow, red and blue color scheme in the kitchen. So, if I wanted to keep it, it had to be recovered. Though I don’t have a play-by-play for you, I pulled the paper backing off, unplugged the buttons, covered it with my new fabric {attaching with hot blue}, pushed the buttons back in {this was really hard} and put it all back together.

Now it’s fresh and bright and fits my kitchen!

Next was to get some hanging files or compartments to hold the mail, pens and even some writing pads. But, I really try hard to make this kind of stuff myself {if I can} so that it’s FREE.  I had brought some small boxes home from work and after cutting, bending and hot gluing, I had some perfect compartments that only needed to be painted or covered.  I had some simple wrapping paper and spray glue so I just decided to cover them.

Ta Da!

I wanted the small one for the pens to be a different color and I didn’t have any paper, so I just used fabric.  I’m not crazy about how it turned out but it’s still cute anyway! Then I just push-pinned them into the wall {not sure if it will hold for a long period of time but it’s held so far.}

And there you have it! Another Free DIY from stuff in my own home. I know you can do this too if you just think outside the box. What other creative DIY’s have you done that didn’t cost you anything? I’d love to hear about it. It inspires me!

For my latest Free DIY, check out my Jewelry Frame

My Less Cluttered Home: Command Center

Right before Easter, it was my little niece Lily’s 2nd Birthday and I just had to make something for her. Yes, I love shopping as much as the next girl but I also love to create, if you didn’t know by now.

Lily’s Pleated Headband

Over the past 2 weeks I’ve been working pretty diligently on just cutting the clutter instead of re-organizing. If the clutter is gone, it will be easier for me to do my organizing overhaul. But sometimes I can’t help but do a little bit of organization after the decluttering.  This past week, I focused on my hall cabinets.

What a mess!

The issue here is that nothing had “it’s place”.  Because of that, I never knew where to put anything so it ended up wherever there was room. That meant I could never find anything. Also, as you can see all the way up top, I had all my extra linens and blankets shoved into bins and on shelves. It was taking up way too much space and looked awful.  Soooo…. I bought some vacuum seal bags and went to town!  I couldn’t believe how much these things really do save you space. Plus, now each bag houses specific items so it’s also organized. And I can slide them under the bed instead of taking up precious room in this hall cabinet. Yipee!!

{Now, of course, remember that this is not my finished product. I’m just showing you my progress.}

You have noooo idea how much crap I threw out! Half my medicine was expired – by more than 2 years! I still had stuff in there from 2009. That’s bad. Both because I shouldn’t be using it and because I probably hadn’t used it since then.

Keeping in mind this isn’t done, my top two shelves up there still need some work. One has electronics and cables, while the other holds hair styling tools.  Gotta find what to do with these ……

I hope you are taking notice of a few little things I added up there.  The mason jars filled with things I usually need often but have no room for in my bathroom are organized and easily visible {so Moviestar can find them without having to ask me “so where did you put those Q-tips!”}. And I placed them within reach and in front of a bin I don’t reach into often so I won;t have to move the jars more than when I need a new lotion for the bathroom sink.  Also, The sliding shelves {which are actually for your pantry spices} I wanted to use for medicine. I was keeping them in 2 bins just thrown in – this wasn’t working. This idea in theory is excellent! But because it’s made for small spice jars, it wasn’t fitting a lot of my larger medicine bottles.  So, I put a few things I reach for regularly and put the “cold remedy” items back in the bin. Maybe I’ll find a better solution after thinking about it.  Any ideas?

Want a sneak peak of what my next project will be?

What do think I’m doing with this empty frame? Hmmmm????  Hint: Check out My Small Bedroom Makeover Inspiration.

My Less Cluttered Home: Week “5″

Let’s take a break from monotonousness of the decluttering process, shall we?

Yes, Let’s.

I’ve been sorting through all my junk this past week. Trying to follow Stephanie’s plan {a pretty good way right?} and since it’s icky and boring to show you the progress I’m making in that regard, I thought I’d show you what I take a break with: Home Decor Inspiration!

As a reminder, there isn’t a lot of room in this old place of ours {a whopping 700 sq. ft!} so you’d think that I couldn;t do much with it. But all that small space means is that I need a lot of inspirational ideas.  My bedroom has been giving me a lot of trouble for the past 6 1/2 years so I’m tackling that room first.

My biggest problems in this room:

• Moviestar likes to throw his “home clothes” or “today’s out clothes” in a pile on the floor or on top of the dresser. Cluttered and disgusting. We must have an organized solution.
• The room is small and it currently looks small. I need ways to make it appear larger.
• Our bed has a good amount of pillows on it and every night {or during the day if we are lazy} the pillows are all over the small amount of bare floor available.
• I have a lot of jewelry and nowhere to put all my jewelry boxes. Help!

If you are in the same boat as me {welcome aboard, by the way!} the best thing to do is know those problem areas so you can find perfect solutions. That’s what I did and it was so much more helpful that searching: Small bedroom decor.  Now that I’ve identified my whoas, here are a few inspirational solutions. Hope they inspire you!!

This shelf with hooks just might be the perfect solution for my hubby’s clothes problem. Plus, I can put some boxes .  BHG

This is another option I like. Thanks Apartment Therapy!

Using a basket to corale all those pillows would be awesome. Love the look too. BHG.

If I end up realizing I don’t have room for my nightstand anymore, this would be an awesome solution. BHG

I think this is pretty self-explanatory.  Lovely. Decor-4-All

Mirrors placed around rooms can help them look larger and I have a sneaky way I think I can do this without having to spend money….. hmmmm….. yes….. {evil laugh}. BHG

Another way to make my room appear larger is with a lot of curtains and placing those curtains high, high, high! BHG

Well, that was fun! You too? Great!

My Less Cluttered Home: Small Bedroom Makeover Inspiration

So, I’m back on the wagon! Or is it off? Well whatever it is, I’m back to my organizing!!!!!! <— Can you tell I’m just a little excited? And I am. Very excited.  You know what did it? I looked back at my first posts. I re-read them. Then I went back to Stephanie’s 8 Weeks to a Less Cluttered Home and realized something:

I was trying to do too much, too quickly.

Stephanie’s whole idea was to do a little everyday. Spending no more than 30 minutes a day on one area or set of items.  I ended up thinking, “I’ll get my whole bedroom closet done today. Yeah, then I’ll feel good.” Instead I ended up using 2 hours to go through my clothes and sort by purge category {see My Rules to Purge By for more on this} as well as fold my tanks and some pants into cubbies.  That’s it. That in and of itself took me 2 hours. So, I decided to stop.  It’s probably going to take me two more hours to finish the closet and I just couldn’t spend 4 hours in one day doing this. I have a life outside of organizing, people.

{Yeah Right…}

Plus, I want to be able to show you all my progress and when I’m only doing a little bit at a time, it’s hard. Or is it? Maybe you want to see the piles of stuff I’m getting rid of and my slow-mo progress. So, I’ll start with that!  For now, here’s the progress I made on the ol’ Bedroom Closet.

{I’m so embarrassed it got this bad…..}

{Pics are terrible. Forgive…}

Looks better, right? Not done yet but better.  I’m on my way.

I also started work on my Coat Closet which is not finished either but it’s soooo much better and definitely moving forward.

And then I did a few things in my bathroom which is like a 5×5 ft. room with no built in storage.  So we put in a few shelves awhile back and have {what use to be} a nightstand there to help out too.

As you may remember I already went through my “medicine” cabinet so that’s done.  It’s feeling better everyday.

{I didn’t do much and I’m still playing with the basket but it will help with storage. Flower, no flower?}

{Yes, I did get rid of all that other stuff. Not necessary for my pretty life}

So that was it for my 3rd week. Obviously I started a long time ago {not 3 weeks ago}, but since I got off track for so long I’m just going to pretend that time didn’t happen :)

Thanks for sticking with me through this!

My Less Cluttered Home: Week “3″

You’ve probably figured I gave up on my 8 Weeks to a Less Cluttered Home, but I have not! It’s just taken me a lot longer to organize my life than I thought it would.  I think Stephanie’s Plan is awesome and I’m still following it to a degree but the 8 week timeline is probably better for a home that is relatively well organized but just needs a good purge. Now, don’t get me wrong I am big on organization {I can actually be crazy OCD} but in my 700 sq. ft. apartment built in the 1930′s with no storage space, it’s really hard to stay organized. So I started this plan and it was going great in the kitchen, but as soon as I started moving into my hall cabinet/linen closet I hit a major snag.  I had to do some research to get ideas on different ways to organize and realized what I needed were bins. That lead me to DIY bin tutorials.

Okay, so I should be ready to go right? Oh, no. Of course not! What else could I be snagging on, you ask? Why none other than…

The Purging Process….

If you’ve ever tried to seriously get rid of things in your home you know how hard it can be to part with things. But unless you are a hoarder with a serious condition you should be able to part with almost anything. My biggest problem is that I don’t have a lot of stuff, just too much for the space I live in. I keep hanging onto things hoping one day Moviestar and I will be able to buy a house and I’ll need these extra things. But I can’t live that way anymore. I have to live in the life I have now.

Oh the life lessons your learn while organizing….

So, I created this list to help me purge once and for all. I realized I need rules to follow or I’ll never get it done.  Though I created this for my specific needs, feel free to use it for yourself or as inspiration for your own home purge.

Lindsey’s Rules to Purge By

1. When I start a room I need to have 4 boxes: Donate, Sell, Move to Another Place and Throw Away. {Sometimes, when organizing I’ve realized something is not in the best place it can be. The ‘Move to Another Place’ box will be helpful}
2. If I haven’t worn/used it in a year, get rid of it. {This includes everything from bath soap to computer accessories to giftwrap}
3. If I have duplicates of anything {as long as I don’t use more than one} get rid of any extra.
4. Being a crafter, if I am holding onto things I hope to recreate with but have no specific plan for it in the near {one month} future….. out it goes! {This one’s going to be a toughy…}
5. If it doesn’t make my life pretty {a Stephanie Tip!!} get rid of it. We are after all Inspiring Pretty here….
6. If I’m having trouble parting with things, put them in a separate box and have a trusted person help me go through them again. {They’ll be less emotionally connected and be able to show me why I don’t need to keep it}
7. Take any Donate Boxes immediately to my car and out of the house. {If it sits there, I may end up going through it again and things will sneak back into a random terrible place in my home…. cluttering and cluttering….}
8. Lastly, hold a yard sale within 2 weeks of a finished purge. If it sells, great. If it doesn’t, in the car and off to Salvation Army it goes. Right. After. The. Sale. Why? Refer to #7

Well that’s it folks. I’m planning on tackling my closet right this very minute so my handy, dandy rules will be just that. Come back next week to see how I did!

My Less Cluttered Home: Rules to Purge By