Sunday 19 October 2014

kitchen tour

Oh it a good day here in the valley. Its a very nice fall day not sunny but not cold just the way I like them. So after a load of questions being sent my way on how I keep my tiny kitchen organised. I have taken the time to take pictures of the cabinets and share my favourite tips.

I just painted the kitchen, you can read that in my last post. This post is about the practical stuff, the down and dirty stuff., ha-ha well not to dirty. Are you ready for picture over load.
 I love pictures.

 ok I start any organising project with how you use the space. For a space to stay organised  you have to be able to put stuff back fast and easy. In the fast paise of life i don't want to be moving things around to get to the things i need everyday plus i don't like cluttered counters. I do someday live in my kitchen. I love to cook, maybe even more  then i love to eat.

we will start in the far corner. Its my baking central station. Its a family love, My family are professional bakers. I am more of a cake decorator but I do love to play around someday. As you can see, selling Tupperware in the last 2 years has really helped my cabinets get organized. oh its so freaking sexy!!!!!  so this 2 foot area is PACKED with everything for baking.
 
 The drawer under my mixer is also packed, it is so big!!! LOVE  so my scoops and measuring cups are in here. (also they are Tupperware) yes i have a problem

 Under the drawer is baking stuff too, well not all of it .I do have some big pans and cake takers in my pantry downstairs. Post to come on that. I love large Ziploc bags for stuff so i always have a  box there. A cereal sorter keeps a whole 4 kg bag of sugar and keeps bugs out. eeewwww I keep my egg cooker down here oh that thing is a hard worker in this house. I love shoe boxes too.. a lot! so in the far back one the holds my stuff from my tw choppers and the other holds my mandolin accessories. I love doing this way one because i just grab it toss it on the counter use it clean it and put it back. Second  it does not take up any drawer space. If you haven't figured it out yet I LOVE CONTAINERS. The cabinet only had on shelf when we moved in so i bought one tossed it my muffin tins and loaf pans stuff that is thin on that shelf. The other bin has some manuals that I like having close at hand.
 
NEXT I love having a sandwich press but it so big and its so heavy if i was to put it down stairs i would never use it. I got lucky that it fit perfectly between the drain pipe. my Fryer also fit perfectly between the drain. I love the use of this space, It is a waist of space other wise. I got my drawer rack from home hardware i think its the most i have ever spent on a organising thing a whopping $35 yes  i am cheap. All my dish clothes and towels fit in there YES!! ALL of them I have 8 of each i feel even 8 is much. i do towels twice a week (stinky towels eewww) so i really never run out. I also keep my sink cutting board from ikea here. I only use mr clean and Windex all the time in the kitchen that is what is in the purple bucket. On home blessing day I grab it and go clean everywhere.   

 
This is over my sink. Blue basket holds microwaveable tw.  Then food storage. Then medications. i don't like it in the bathroom and really for some reason it always ended up in the kitchen anyways.
 
The dish cabinet the most used cabinet in the house.
It hold every thing "drink". Tea and  hot coco the kettle everything to make a good cup of joe. I like having everything in one spot for 2 reasons 1 is that I know were it all is and 2 I don't buy doubles of things and i can see when  I run out.
 
on to the other side of the room. ahhh look at those wonderful shelves. Cant wait till my chalk board is done. Oh and my rocketfish stereo LOVE (thanks mom and dad and brothers )
 
first cabinet is well just food prep stuff. I have a thing about toasters in counters. Maybe one day when I have more counter space it might not drive me as crazy. But for know i have it here with a tray under it. this cabinet use to be a sink cabinet. cant complain for a $1. The biggest problem it is so wide that I could not get shelving for it. I got a shoe rack that fit perfect. Lunch kits and more TW. I love magazine holders for so much more then just books. They work great for the bowl lids. and my cutting boards hang on a small coat hook on the door.
 

the utensil drawers . pretty basic stuff here. My grater goes in here to but is dirty. Every thing has a home. i love measuring spoons lol i have 3 sets. that is the one thing I will let clients keep lots of, well max 3 sets. 
 
This cabinet shared in my back to school post
 
ok and beside the stove
there was only one cabinet here when we moved in. My dad made these for me for Christmas. I LOVE them they hold lids in one and the other is cooling racks and cookie sheets. Its important to have every inch in a small kitchen use to it fullest.
 


 
Then the pantry
This pantry makes my OCD a little nuts but its getting there. ahhhh red modular mates I love you!!!!
   
 
so that is my work in progress kitchen. This is not the last you will see of this room. Now i get to cook dinner in it right now before the man gets home from work.
 
I challenge you to find more space in your kitchen. Think out side of the box!!!
thanks!!!!!

 
 
 
 
 

Kitchen makeover on a nothing budget

OK I think I have never been so excited to share my makeover of my kitchen. Oh this kitchen is getting better over time, well that's what I think. Lets go back, WAYYYYYY back.
When my brother bought the house



Then he painted It was not bad. The red was nice just didn't go with the feel I was going for.


ugh cluttered mess

 
We have been living here for almost 3 years. I have grand dreams for the kitchen but not a grand budget. I grabbed the cabinets from a few places. A family friend and the thrift shop here for a $1, yes your see that right ONE loonie. It was luck, destiny, fate what ever you want to call it. The base cabinets fit like omg I could not have planned it better if I tried. Ok lets get on with some super eye candy. 
funny moment for a second, so I sent my husband a text well I was doing this that said "do you want to see something sexy" and this is what I sent him
OMG that is one sexy baking cabinet
hehehe
 Lets get on to the really good stuff. oh its good, well I love it and I see a very small light at the end of the reno tunnel for this kitchen.


 
We had the shelves in storage since they came off to fit the hutch in the dinning room.
The old cabinets we great for holding stuff but they were so dark and blah in that corner. I love open cabinets and or shelves. I, like a lot of people love to stuff things and have that "Out of sight out of mind" thing happen.   

waiting for paint to dry sucks sometimes this is going to cover the hole from the old spice shelves

I didn't do a lot on this side just cleaned it.


this might be the hardest kitchen to photograph.
In spring the green will be coved with the  house color.  

still waiting for the top doors to dry. but oh it looks so good.
This is the problem we have in this kitchen there is 8 walls in this kitchen ugh, and the man and I cant agree on the pantry getting doors or not. I love it open ( I love looking at my beautiful red Tupperware) and its easy to put stuff back for the rest of them. 
 
I am in love with my kitchen. Its a work in progress, but I am looking for progress not perfection.
 
Please comment, love to know what you think about the pantry door.
 
Thanks
 


Wednesday 15 October 2014

Good morning,
well I have had a flood of questions about how I run my house. Trust me we don't live in a show home. I have "clutter" and messes. We all do, even the people that look like there house is perfect.

So the questions EVERY mom has is how do you keep the house clean with kids? Well that is a challenge all in its self.  I had a light bulb lighting hit me in the head moment. I was getting so mad and upset with the kids bedrooms and playroom. We moved to this wonderful house with all this space and they still could not keep it clean. (Enter crazy mom here ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!) why am I expecting, then 5 and 2 year old to one clean like me and to know were everything is suppose to go. Heck I could not remember where it suppose to go. So I set out on a mission to be a MOM and take control of there spaces. They had some say on what we got rid of. Red is a stuffer and a hoarder, she gets that from here mother. If there is no home for something it gets tossed with anything it will fit with.

So I would litteraly sit in the play room at there level and I would get so overwhelmed. That is were we started getting rid of lots. Do they realy need 5 rolling pins in the play dough bucket and realy does the bucket have to be the size of a laundry basket NO!!!! you are the boss you control 100% what the kids have. I found a $1 store basket and the kids picked there favorite play dough stuff and that was it the rest got donated to a  friends day home. Know they have to share more of the stuff but really, is that a bad thing.

Some of my pointers in getting the kids stuff under control is getting yourself under control.They don't need that much stuff. They don't need to keep everything. you need to help them learn to not have to NEED all the stuff. You are the boss. Also if you cant clean the room why are our expectations so high for a small child.

Know 2 years latter my kids get rid of stuff all the time they really have no need to keep stuff. but I struggle more and I have to remember its ok get let go of stuff that does not make there life better. you yelling less and cleaning less is really all that is important. I will post all the other tricks I have asap.
coming soon!!!!
How to label for school age and preschool\kindergarten age
Thinking the way a child thinks
how to make a kids closet and or dresser work for you and your child.
How to get kids to help with house work.
Reds room before our big purge. How would you feel getting up every morning to this.....STRESSED!!!!


If you have any idea as well, I am always looking for cool stuff for the kids

      

Wednesday 10 September 2014

BACK TO SCHOOL!!!!!

HAPPY FIRST day to school for us. Red is in grade 3 and MM is starting kindergarten.  It was a bittersweet day for us. I was happy to see my kids grow and move on to a new chapter in life but also at the same page I was so sad i cant figure out were the time has gone. Feels like yesterday that i came home from the hospital with red. Well life goes on and mommy has more time to do her hobby and run the house.
On to back to school organizing. We didn't have to do to much in moving around the house. I have been making lunches for almost a year for the Man and this will be year 4 for Red. I have learned some good ways to make going back and getting in the swing of things again a bit easier.

I am not by any means perfect at it, but I figure if we have more good days then "ugh i want to go back to bed days" then we are golden. Here are my tricks to getting out the door on time and the neighbor getting wokeup by me yelling.

  1. Get as much done the night before.  for some people this is big, for me i am a morning person so getting up is not bad at all. But i do make sure the kids have there outfit out and paper work ready for me to do what needs to be done. I don't make lunches at night, but i do have a plan for the morning ie. pull bread or something that was already premade.  
  2. EVERYTHING has to have a home!!!!  This is a huge thing for having a good start in the morning. Some mornings I am on total auto pilot I don't have to think just do it. I have a small kitchen which I don't mind at all. I just have to think of were everything fits. Sometimes Red wants to make her own lunch. in order to let her, she has to be able to reach everything without making a huge mess or falling off a chair.

This is my most used cabinet in the house. It is the Middle of my kitchen. It is the only space big enough to work on. The bins are from the dollar store and they have been working well for over 2 years.

This bin is the lunch containers. As you can see i have an addiction to Tupperware. The best part is i sell it so I get great deals. Some of the containers are missing because its a school and work day for red and the man.

next is sandwich keepers and cutters. Yes i cut the crust off my kids sandwiches.

this is the kids dishes. all there dishes fit in here. i love the baskets for this because they don't have to be stacked up so nice and neat to fit. sometimes a put some order into it but it works well for us.

Then we have water bottles. we have a lot of them there is around 7 out today for work and school and i keep mine in the fridge. having a lot of water bottles saves money on bottled water and deposit costs but it  so keeps us from using the glass cups up. I don't know about anyone else but if i give the kids a cup for water my sink fills up in no time.

These bins fit behind the water bottles and kids dishes. They hold straw cups and extra water bottles and small kid dishes., i have friends with small kids that come for coffee still so i keep them around.

This is my pantry one bin has bread, wraps and pittas in it. the other one is snacks that are just for school. My husband has a corn intolerance so a lot of this he cant eat so i don't buy a lot of stuff like that but when i do make cookies or rice krispies that's were they go. its so much better then finding empty boxes in the pantry. once a week i get red to fill snack baggies with gold fish and pretzels. makes life a bit easier. We also pre baggie up grapes and celery and carrot sticks. my kids always get sick from "baby" carrots so i just buy regular carrots and cut them up it takes all of 5 mins on my prep day.
 
3. making a plan that works for your family.  You would not go on a hike without a plan or a map right. Having a plan for the week makes the week flow much better. There are some nights i get home with the kids and i am so tiered for what ever reason. Having a plan makes those days way better. i have everything in the house to make that meal. A lot of my meals are 50% already prepped for prep day.  When i am making a plan for the week i am not going to make a large dinner on swimming night or a meal that has to go in at 3 when i have to get the kids at that time. A lot of  people want me to share my plan with them but it is so hard because i am a stay at home/ work from home mom so i have the time to prep the meal when kids are in school.  we also have a few allergies that kind of put a little spin on stuff. red has a shell fish allergy, i am milk intolerance and the man is corn intolerance. the thing with intolerance's is that we can have small amounts of it but we have to be carful not to over do it. Meal planning for me has been a learning experience over the years but i find if i fall off the wagen for a few weeks i feel like i have no control over my days. so even the simpleist plans do wonders in the chaos of family life.  
 
4. plan a prep day. The kids LOVE this day!!!! I do a big prep day when the man is on call on the weekends. The kids love it because this is the day they help me cook. we play cooking show and eat dough and have a great day or at least a few hrs. They each pick a meal or something they want to make for the week lunches. they are the best for adding new things to my meal plans. When they help me it seams like they eat it too. so for example our last prep day was the long weekend before school. We got fruit and veggies bagged. Broccoli cups and oatmeal cookies made.




 
Kids packed them up for lunches the next day and

this was MM first lunch i made him for kindergarten. it took all of 3 mins to toss everything in and we are golden. MM Is what some would call picky I think he just knows what he likes. But he helped put all of it in his lunch and he did eat most of it. I guess eating a sandwich out of a Spiderman keeper makes all the difference.
 
 
Here is my sweeties on there first day of school Ana-belle would not move. She wanted to be part of the picture so bad, it was so funny.
 
well I hope this gave you a guide on were to start making your days run a bit smoother. How do you get out the door without loosing it or being late?
 
SIDE NOTE: the day I was editing this MM (AKA: mommy's monkey) fell off the monkey bars and broke his arm and needed 5 pins in it. Some day you just cant plan. Thankfully his is doing great.  

 
 
 
 

Monday 25 August 2014

front entry, take 5

Good day! I am here to share my front door redo with you today. If you follow my blog you might know that is have a front door from the 60s. its horrible.(older post here)  NO door for the closet and the hardwood floor was getting very bad. so bad that I got a sliver in my foot from it. My dad had given us some flooring for our bathroom that was left over from there reno in there house, But it was 3" to short for the bathroom. so plan B was to use it up in the front door. Lets see a before pic of the front door first.
nicked name the 'black hole' for a reason I hated coming home to this.






 Even just putting the lino down changed the area. I can mop it now. Its the small things in life right.
total cost $5.00 for a lot of glue left over.

next took some math skills I do not have but I think it turned out well. anyone with kids and husband that work hard the walls at a front door or main entrance get trashed. With this in mind I sat on the web for hours looking at other peoples ideas . It was time to not look for perfection and just get the project done. here is a few before photos of the wall.

 
 
I was not bad, it is just not totally my style. Then I went to town with my idea. I feel I could not have been better I just love it.
ARE YOU READY!!!!!
 
 

 
The wall colour is Jade frost and the trim is white on white.
 
We want to change the green wall but cant decide on a color that we both like. This project was a little pricy with the trim but it was still under $100 but it changed the whole house and gave the home so much character. I love it.
Just a few more pics
 
The pictures were taken at the same time and same lighting what a difference paint does.  As you can see if painted the door well I was at it too.
Just to add a splash of my FAV colour to the house.

Well that is all I am off and runny to do some more crazy things with the kids before school starts in a week. YAYAYAYAAYAY!!!!
 
 

 

bedroom makeover on a $30 budget

Welcome,
I have found a new product, it might be a problem. Chrome spray paint. Stay tuned for EVERYTHING!! in my house to be Chromed.
Today I am here to share my master bedroom makeover. I might have spent $30. ok first that's go back to what it looked like before. NOTE: this is the smallest Master bedroom, but to us its bigger then our old house. The room is 10'11" x 9'5" see so 'BIG".

When my brother owned the house
 
When we moved in. My dad made the bed for us. I just love it so much.

As you can see it was a dark chocolate brown. It served my brother and us for 6 years. It had a blue wall that was nice as well.  I wake up one morning and was ready to over haul it, but with school starting funds for projects is not going to happen. I tried to get over it and moved on with my day. We then went for our weekly thrift shop trip and they were sitting there Screaming at me. "BUY ME,PAINT ME" well you know if that happens its fate. I paid the first worker I could find a whapping $2.00 for both  and could not get them in the truck fast enough.

With some water damage on one of them painting was the only option. I had one drawer to fix with a L bracket. The bones were just what I always wanted. Then I had to pic a color out of my paint shelf. It was hard I wanted them light but also with our bed very country I wanted it to flow with the rest of our house that is kind of county chic modern blend.
I had lots of trim colour left from our front door redo (POST TO COME). Out came the paint and brushes. The kids helped paint the table and I spray painted the drawers. I love chalk board spray paint it covers great and is so very durable. One can has done so much I cant even think of all the stuff I have redone with it.  As I said before with the chrome spray paint. I have never used it before, I always figured it would look cheap. Well Canadian Tire had it on for $5 a can so I thought I cant buy one new pulls for $5 and them look good. I took the plunge and painted the nasty ones that came with the tables. WOW!!!!!!! LOVE  

after just one pass. HEHEHEHEHE
 
I also had a can of $5 mis-tint paint on my shelf and I tossed it on the walls lol the whole painting the room and tables only took maybe 5-6 hrs. that includes a dog walk and bike ride in that. Lets just say I might have been a little crazy. I pulled my shoulder so I was down for the next day. Well if you call making window covering down lol I have wanted to make these for so long so I took the plunge.  I followed her instructions and was so impressed  how easy it was.
I just used a twin sheet. When I find a side curtain I like I will maybe add one but for know we love these. total cost $5. I had the blinds kicking a round for a few years. they are not perfect but I really love them.   
 
well are ready for the whole room picture. Are you ready!!!!
 I have requested a new bedding set for my birthday in 3 weeks so hopefully I can get that asap.
Just need to get our wedding photo printed and my sign made and it will be 100% the bedroom of my dreams.


  Just some eye candy shots. I made the frame a long time ago. The lamps are a thrift shop find $3 each and the tray is also thrifted for $.50.
 
Lets recap the budget here. Wall paint $5.00
night stands with paint $7.00 and window coverings $5.00
grand total =  $30.50

This is proof you don't need a large budget or a large room to make your dreams come true. My sign beside my bed says it all. I am blessed.
 
Get crazy happy with your house, even if you have no money. The smallest thing can make a big difference on you well being.