Sprucing Things Up

I have always liked this antique secretary.  I bought it about five years ago at an outdoor antique show.  It was in our family room at our previous house and when we moved into our new house, it took up residence in the kitchen.  It sits right next to the mudroom so it's a great spot to dump mail, school papers and any other paperwork that needs attention.  

It normally looks something like this. I may have picked up a tiny bit before I took this photo, but generally I'm not one for clutter.  I go through the mail immediately, throw away the junk, set aside the bills and sort the magazines.  

The magazine organizers behind the doors hold things like school directories, baseball, gymnastics and swim team schedules and information, mailing labels, etc.  There is a ton of other junk hiding behind those doors too.  I have been wanting to organize this area for months.  Turns out today was the day!

Not only did I organize it, but I painted the back of the hutch with some 

leftover paint I had from another project.   

I moved the magazine organizers to the office and brought it a few family photos

 and some of my favorite decorating books.  

The tin pails hold business cards that I reference often and a few small office supplies.  

The clutter is gone and I can now easily access what I need. 

The basket holds notecards, extra envelopes and the receipts for the month.  

When the month is over, I transfer the receipts to an expandable file divided by months.  

The tin container with flowers holds all of our gift tags.  I'm a sucker for these things.  Most of them I ordered from Vista Print and a few of them I made myself.  My kids also have personalized gift tags. 

 I normally use them in lieu of cards when giving gifts.  

Wow, I think that's the first thing I have accomplished this summer!  Oh well, again, I'm thankful to be able to spend the summer with the kids so if that's the only project I tackle all summer, that's okay with me. Might make for a boring blog, but hopefully you'll stick with me.  I really do appreciate you all and I'll do my best to keep it interesting.

How about you guys, you working on any projects this summer?

I am sharing with:
Miss Mustard Seed
Savvy Southern Style
Primitive and Proper