Things n Stuff

So just as life is an ever evolving process, so is decorating our apartment on a budget.  I recently came into some cash and anytime that happens, I prefer to spend some of it on the apartment to make it homier.  A lot of the things I own(ed) come with the energy of past relationships and so I am trying to replace those things so as to have all new (or new to us) things surrounding us, instead of looking around at the same things I've looked at for 10 plus years.  Several months back I held a garage sale in order to get rid of some of these things.  I figured I'd use the "found" cash to replace things such as decorations and dinnerware and glasses as well as cutlery, etc.

Over the weekend a girlfriend and I headed out to Ikea for some retail therapy.  I went in armed with a shopping list because I knew that if I didn't have some sort of a plan, I would lose track of what I originally intended on going there for and spending WAAAAY more than I wanted and walking out with none of the things I went in for.  Hello A.D.D. brain....does not mix well with the madness and over-stimulation that is Ikea!  Which reminds me, before I left for the day BF said to me in a serious tone "If you do not come back with a new loveseat, IKEA!"  he's too funny and I love his sense of humor!

Thanks to this blog post by Jen over at iheartorganizing, i was inspired to use one of her organizing ideas for our office/desk area.

 Just as Jen did, I used the Bygel Rail, along with the Bygel s-hooks, and the 3 of the Asker containers.  Grand total for this unique and adorable way of keeping things organized and easily accessible?  $21.68

And then it turned into an idea for the kitchen.....I needed SOMETHING above the stove and I wanted it to serve dual purpose of function and fashion....
TahDah!

I used 2 more of the Bygel Rails, along with some more of the Bygel s-hooks, 4 of the Fargrik Coffee Mugs, and the Bygel Wire Basket with a 4-pack of Rajtan Spice Jars that I filled with my own spices and herbs.  I love the look and functionality!  Oh and this project's grand total was $12.75! plus the cost of the spices which I already had on hand.

My apologies for the picture quality being all 2004.  These are from my ancient hand-me-down cell phone camera.  If I remember to do it, I'll take better pictures with my digital camera and update this post, as these pictures do this no justice and you can't really see how those mugs pop against the boring neutral paint color.

From the shopping trip with a girlfriend on a Saturday afternoon in Hotlanta, to the hanging of these new and exciting (to me) organizers, this was an overall fun way to spend money, update, organize and decorate our apartment!  Not to mention it took me all of 15 minutes to measure and install all three of these bad boys!

Next organizing project (I hope) will be the storage closet.....it looks like a bomb went off in there!  I'll take a before shot...only if you promise not to judge.



Hope all is well in your world, and if it's not...keep your chin up!  Things will get better if you keep a positive mind frame.


Love n hugs n kisses!