THE STORY OF THE ORANGE TABLE

 I was out and about with some friends last week (first week of school celebration) and we wondered into my favorite local consignment shop, Legacies, in Hyde Park. 

The best part about Legacies is this:

All proceeds from Legacies benefit the The Cancer Support Community, 

a non-profit organization dedicated to providing free emotional support, 

education and hope for people with cancer and their loved ones.

Way in the back, practically hiding, was this fabulous orange console.  

Its legs were a little squatty and the paint was chipped in a few places.

Not perfect, not a problem.  That's the way I like it.

My sweet friend helped me haul it up front, where I paid a whopping $25 for it and into my car it went.

I really had no idea where I was going to put it, but it wasn't exactly light.  

 OnceI got it into the mudroom, I decided to take a little break. 

I sat it down and thought, hey, maybe I should keep it right here.

And that's the story of how the orange table came to live in the mudroom.

I love how it brightens up the mudroom and it's such a great spot to drop things as I come in the door. 

It also makes a great spot to corral Willie's things. 

The squatty legs actually work in my favor here. The table fits perfectly underneath the window.

I never did show you this old metal army crate that I picked up at a junk store for $5 a while back.

My son stores his football gear in here during football season. 

A friend of mine stopped by and asked why the table was not centered under the window.

I did eventually move it down to the left some, but just didn't have it in me to retake the pictures. 

She was right, it looks better centered. You'll have to trust me on that one.

Here' a view of the new console from the kitchen. 

The perfect pop of color!

I love how most of the furniture in my home comes with its own story.

Have any furniture stories to share?

THRIFTY ORGANIZING (gift wrapping closet)

Last Monday, I popped into Goodwill and found these gems. 

They were close outs from Target and still had the tags on them.

I snatched them up as fast as I could.  

When I got to the register, the clerk handed me a 40% off coupon.

Major score - $27 for the whole lot!

 I really had no idea what I would use them for, but I just couldn't pass them up.

The bins are rather deep, so they wouldn't fit on any old closet shelf.

Then it hit me, the perfect spot for them - the mudroom closet. 

It previously looked like this......

And then things took a turn for the worse.

I do this often. 

It usually goes something like this....

1)  I am looking for something to complete a task

2) I get distracted by an unorganized mess in the closet, drawer, cabinet, corner

3) I immediately start removing everything

4) I get overwhelmed by the disaster

5) I take a breather

6) I focus and finish

Sound familiar? 

After a little breather and some serious focusing, it now looks like this.....

Everything is easy to find now and clearly visible. 

I even have a place to keep my extra gift stash.

I love buying gifts for people and I normally pick 

something special out that is personal to the recipient.

But sometimes, I pick up extra gifts to keep on hand for birthday parties or last minute hostess gifts.

The ribbon is now untangled and easy to access.

All the wrapping paper is stored at the bottom of the closet in a basket.

I often pick up wallpaper at thrift stores to use as wrapping paper.  

It's quite a bit thicker than wrapping paper and usually only costs about $1.00/roll.

There is even room on the inside of the door to store some of my favorite winter scarves.

I sure needed one today!  It was a blistery 25 degrees here.

I find myself looking for excuses to get something out of this closet now,

just so I can marvel at my hard work.

 I know, I've got issues.

But don't think I didn't sleep soundly that night, 

knowing that my gift wrap supplies were finally organized. 

Spill it, what's your issue?

I am sharing with Our Fifth House and the Thrift It Challenge.

DOUBLE DUTY MIRROR

I bought this mirror at Target a few weeks ago. 

It used to look like this.....

It took the place of a  this small chalk board/cork board/key holder in our mudroom.

I didn't need another chalkboard or cork board in the mudroom 

since we have this massive thing on the opposite wall.

However, I did need a spot to hang my keys.

I added these hooks, which I took off of the old cork board.

Since the mirror hangs right next to the door we come in and out of many times a day,

this is the perfect spot to hang our keys.

Looks like someone needs to go out.... 

(I told you he likes to be in all the pictures)

It's kind of nice to be able to do a quick check in the mirror on my way out the door.

You know, just to make sure there's nothing in my teeth or my hairs not looking all crazy.

MASKING THE MUD

Okay, I'll admit it, the mudroom is my favorite room in the house.  There, I said it!

I spent 90% of my time in the kitchen, but I'm partial to the mudroom.  

We had a mudroom in our previous home and a nice big mudroom 

was at the top of our "must have" list when we were house hunting. 

When we bought our house, there was no mudroom.  So we created one.

The mudroom used to be a sunporch that was added on to the end of our house at some point. 

We took out all the old crank out windows, burnt orange carpet and paneling.

The sunporch was long and narrow 

so we ended up dividing it into two different rooms, the mudroom and the office. 

The mudroom accounts for about 60% of the space and the other 40% is the office. 

This is one hard working room.  

All five of us (plus usually 3-4 extra kids) come in and out of this room many time a day.

Shoes, backpacks, groceries, roller blades, basketballs, baseballs, dirty cleats, light sabers,

 I-pods and cell phones all end up in this room. 

The walls were getting pretty banged up and dirty and I was ready for a change. 

So very slyly, I made a trip to the paint store and came back with a sample.  

I slapped some up on the walls in several different spots and waited. 

I waited until my husband said, "well, it looks like the mudroom is getting painted."

Okay, if you say so, honey!

Introducing, Foggy Day (Sherwin Williams)

Since all of the other paint colors in our home are light, 

I wanted something a little dramatic (and dark to hide the dirt and mud).

I was worried a dark color would make the room too dark, 

but with all the natural light coming in and the contrasting white wood work, it's not dark at all.

The beach towels are ready and waiting for the pool to open this weekend. 

A few reminders for the kids before they walk out the door in the morning.

This is the pantry door. 

And the doorway leading to the kitchen.

I am on the hunt for a rug.  Something durable and able to hide dirt. 

Only four more days and we can retire the backpacks for the summer. 

Before the room was a mudroom, it looked like this....

After it became a mudroom, it looked like this....

Now it looks like this....

A Home Tour

I am so excited to have a lot of new readers, so I thought I would take you all on a little tour of our home.  So far, I have shown you most of the rooms in our house, but I'm holding out on showing you our third floor (playroom and guest room) because I still need to finish up some projects up there.  It won't be long.

Let's get going.  I'll start with the front of the house.  Be sure to check out the before pictures here.

Come on into the foyer.  Before pictures here. 

Off the foyer is the new and improved powder room. Before pictures here.

To the right of the foyer is the casual living room. This room has come a long way. Check out the before pictures here. 

Just off the living room is the office/den.  This room has become one of our favorite hang out spots.  See before pictures here.

These built-ins were already here, we just revamped them a bit.

Through the foyer, in the heart of the home, is the kitchen and dining room.  These two rooms got complete makeovers. See before pictures here.  

More before pictures here. 

Off the kitchen is the mudroom and pantry.  This room was previously a sun porch on the end of the house.

Having this space helps keep our family organized.

The pantry is a huge help with storage.

Just off the kitchen/dining room is the gathering place, our family room.  Before pictures here. 

The fireplace got a facelift as well.

This ceiling is one of my favorite features in our home. 

We spend a lot of time in this room, specifically gathered around this table, playing games, coloring, eating popcorn and building legos.

Now, let's head upstairs.

This is the master bedroom.  Before pictures here.

Down a little hall in the master bedroom is the master bathroom which was previously a small bedroom.  Before pictures here.

My daughter's room is across the hall.  It was formerly the master bedroom.  Before pictures here.

A small, but full bathroom is located off her bedroom. Before pictures here.

My boys' room is just down the hall.  It has quite a story behind it.  You can read all about it here.

Right next to their bedroom is bathroom they share.  Before pictures here. 

Hope you enjoyed the tour.  I am linking up to Poppies at Play Parade of Homes Party today.  Go on over and check out all the lovely homes.

Also, check back Monday night for my very first giveaway! I'll have all the details for you then.