Finishing touches

Hi you all! It`s been way too long since I last posted. I had everything ready to show you the finishing touches I made to our walk-in closet, but my son`s birthday planning took all my time! After the party I got a spring flu with fever so I have been forced to stay in bed. Now I´m feeling better and decided it`s time to show you the after photos from our closet. I have to warn you about the photos though! It is almost impossible to get good photos from that tiny walk-in closet.




I had there an old cork board, which I gave a mini makeover! I had a lovely ombre cotton fabric and fabric starch in hands so after some work I had a free new necklace organizer! I think it is a lovely backdrop for my self made necklaces ;). The board has a wooden frame and to separate that and to get a more finished look I used some black washi tape! Really made a difference! Easy and inexpensive - just what I like :)

In the mood board I had these versatile Kasset boxes from IKEA. They are just the perfect size for my shoes! I can write, which shoes I have where for easy access. We had that Bestå unit in our son`s room before, but it had to go when we made some changes there. And here is just a perfect little spot for it. I attached small casters and - I had a rolling shoe storage unit! The best part is that there was a empty space with no real meaning and I was able to transform it into a functional space. No I can even reach them, before they were in the upper shelf! Not an ideal solution for a short person like me ;)

On the other wall we have two deep shelves and a rack for hanging clothes. I used two white Ikea Knarra baskets. I managed to store all our bed linens and extra curtains there as well.  My son has his own linens in his closet.

I really love Elfa storage system. I love those wall mounted standards and brackets we have. Ikea`s Nordli dresser have functioned well and we both love how much space it offers! One single thing that made a huge different is having only one kind of hangers. Ikea comes to rescue, again ;). We have had these wooden white hangers a long time and they work well for us!

In the drawers we have black Skubb deviders from Ikea to organize our underwear, socks, my husbands ties etc. I also have a wooden box on the dresser where I have my belts and some bracelets. It fits perfectly to our color scheme and brings some extra storage and eye candy ;)

About a year ago we took the door off and put there curtains. We have been more than happy with that decision. So here were the last photos from our walk-in closet. Next I hope to post some pictures from my son`s birthday parties and Easter is almost here too...See you soon!

Organized walk-in closet

I`m so exited that I finally have something to show you. I have finished organizing our walk-in closet - at least for now ;). Closets need constant purging to keep them neat and organized. We change, our tastes change and clothes sometimes wear out. I try to shop only when I need something and you go far by having just a small, but cohesive clothing, which you can mix and match.

When I started this makeover I was in need for more drawer space and streamlined look. Organizing this little space of ours, meant I needed to do something for a fem other places, too. More of them later, they are waiting for me ;).

Here is a picture to remind what I had in mind for this space:

Last time you saw the space, I had already assembled the Nordli dresser and it looked like this:

Now it looks like this :)

I kept all the Elfa-system parts we had there before, because they really function well. Now we have enough space for hanger clothes and enough drawer space as well as enough shelves for boxes and outdoor textiles. I´ve been so pleased with that dresser! It´s just a perfect fit for our space and offers so much drawer space!

I love to organize, but that isn´t enough, It´s just the first part of the process. The other part is making it all beautiful! Adding a mirror I love and some shelves for small items and my necklace organizer really made this space look pretty! The round mirror was bought from a Finnish store called Finnmari and those shelves are made using old wood planks and Ikea picture ledge. The wood planks I cut to size with our table saw. The lower one sits on an old radiator (which we don´t use) and is 110 cm long. The upper one is only 50cm long and is attached to a picture ledge to form a narrow shelf. I turned the ledge upside down and placed it on the plank and screwed them together. This way you can hide the screws. Then I just turned the whole thing over and screwed it to the wall.  So, in fact I used the picture ledges upside down ;). Because we live in a log house, it´s easy to attach things to the walls, but if you remove something, it´s no way you can hide it without paint.

I love the rustic feel those shelves add to the space! I also had to bring in some greenery :). Spring is definitely on it´s way! On the lower shelf you can see my necklace organizer ;) and next time I´m going to tell you more about it and reveal how I´ve organized our drawers and where I keep all our extra shoes! 

So. what do you think so far? Is there something you are eager to find out? Please leave a comment, I appreciate every comment, no matter how short or long it is.

See you soon, again!

Organized chaos

After visiting Ikea last weekend, I have been trying to organize our walk-in closet. It´s in our bedroom and even though it´s quite small it houses all our clothes, despite some seasonal outwear.

This is how our closet used to look like. Not that pretty, right!

We had there an Elfa system with wall mounted standards and brackets. We bought melamine board and cut the shelves ourselves We didn´t want to use the Elfa shelves, because, then we would have been limited by the width they should have been installed. We wanted those shelves to fill all the space available. The shelves on the long side of the room are only 35 cm deep, so there would be enough space to move around.On the other wall we have deeper shelves, space for dresses and an Ikea drawer system, Unfortunately I wasn´t very pleased with the drawer system. It did function well, but I just didn´t like how it looked like The fact that I always had to search my items in the lowest drawers didn´t help either ;).

This time I wanted to invest more time and money for the project. I love the Ikea´s Pax wardrobe system, but those would have cost too much and they wouldn´t have fitted that small space. I started thinking what I liked about the wardrobes - The drawers for example with their white front panels and dividers. Then browsing Pinterest I found a nice idea to use dresser in walk-in closet! So I started searching for a nice max. 45cm deep dresser. The new Nordli line was the answer.

Here is a inspiration board I came up with. I´m hoping to add a small shelf and a mirror there, too. I just have to try how I can fit them there ;). Those DVD-storage boxes from Ikea I have used to store my shoes in the upper shelf, but this time I hope to have a place for them little lower So this -not-so tall girl can reach them without a stool! In our trip to Ikea I also bought a few of those drawer dividers. I plan on using them for accessories and such.

I used to store my necklaces this way, and I hope to find a place for this in the new plan. Those lovely colorful long wooden pearls I got from my son <3. He loves to make them as gifts!

I have few in progress pictures for you! I can´t promise you when I get all done because I´m going to a back surgery. After surgery it´s going to be hard not to rush into organizing. At the same time I am going to organize our foyer wardrobe, our closet in office/craft room and a tiny nook we have in our small entry. All that only because if I remove something from our closet, I need to find a place for it somewhere else! Our home is sure going to look like a mess for a couple of days, but after the whole thing is over and done with, I hope to have a logical and practical place for everything!  

Here is the new dresser in it´s place and yes, we are going to add the rest of  the drawers, too ;) This dresser is in fact assembled of five different parts. There is a package which contains the bottom and the top. The rest is built of two drawer units. We bought two smaller units (for my stuff) and two wider units, in totally eight drawers. You can basically arrange them any way you want after deciding the width of the entire dresser. At least here in Europe there are three different base and top widths, 80cm, 120 cm and 160cm. There is even some colorful units. The structure is also very balanced, there are small "legs" underneath which you can adjust. All in all I´m pleased with the quality and finishes of this dresser!

See, all drawers in place! It was quite a job to assemble, but luckily I had a little helper with me all the time finding the right pieces and learning to read the manuals!

This is all I have for you right now, but I promise to keep you updated!

See you later again!

Craft room love

I thought I´d share you some photos of our craft room! It also functions as a home office and my husband studies here. And of course our son Oskari also wants to do his crafting here as well as in his own room! So you can call this a multi functional room :).

When we moved here, it was obvious that one of the rooms would be our office and craft room. Before that we only had a small computer nook with a little storage and I had to do crafting and sewing on kitchen table. It was frustrating as I had to always clean before meals and could not leave things as they were to continue later! So I was thrilled to have a whole room for office and crafts. (photo below) It did function well until Oskari grew up. Then I needed place for him too! My husband, then teaching philosophy and psychology, needed more space to file all his papers and to keep his teaching material at hand, so we made the decision to switch room! It did not take long to actually make the move, put to convince my hubby that it was the right move to do!

As many crafters say, it´s difficult to get your own craft room just right, it took us many changes until we finally got this right! And it has served us well. I can have a few friends with me crafting here or I can spread my fabrics over the table and sew, or I can make cards with Oskari! My husband also likes to spread his papers to study or to take part in web seminars. Is it obvious that I just LOVE this new room?

I´ve always been an organizer. I remember when I was a child and we lived in a small apartment, where I shared a room with my parents, that I had to keep my things organized in a very small space. I learned how to let go of things I no longer needed, used or wanted. From those days I´ve enjoyed organizing, like really ENJOYED! That just isn´t enought though, I want things to look good, too.

 As you can see, we have used Ikea`s cabinets and tabletops. Here in Europe these are called Alex  drawers.  We have used them for years and just bought some more, when we changed the rooms.  First we had the basic white legs, but since have got these curved ones, which I like. I do many different crafts so it´s easy to organize things to these drawers. A couple of drawers hold my pearls and jewelry making supplies, one has all my Himmeli straws. Then there are drawers for inks, Big shot equipment (Big Shot is a non electronic cutting machine), origami papers and so on. I´ve labeled most of the drawers so things are easy to find! I would have loved to use Martha Stewarts book plates, but it would have cost so much to order them from Amazon with shipping to Finland, that I ended up using just card stock.

We combined three tables, so there would be plenty of space for all of us! I use one of the tables for sewing, but if we need more space I have a place for them in the cabinets. So a lot of free counter top space if needed! Above the sewing desk there is a Bestå wall cabinet from Ikea for my sewing supplies within easy reach. I´ve used Ikea`s boxes a lot, because they are durable, stackable and, well - affordable. Then I have a couple of turquoise metal storage containers from H&M home as well as some metal cans. I think the key to a successful organizing is different kinds of storage options.

On the other side of the room is our computer table and a bookcase for our important files and some of my husbands professional books. One whole wall is full of cabinets (this used to be a bedroom), where we have more books, files, seasonal decor and clothes as well as some of my craft supplies. Next to the computer on the table there is a filing system. We have there bills to be payed, papers to be filed, witch I go through once or twice a month, Oskari´s daycare papers and my husband`s learning material. It´s easy enough to use and maintain. 

This fall I joined School of Decorating, a online school founded by Jackie Hernandes, woman behind the Teal and Lime -blog. By the way, it has been worth every penny! So I truly recommend it to anyone, who wants to learn more about your own style and learn to decorate your own home! You can sign in here. One of our homework was to style a bookcase with the directions and help we had in an online seminar. I chose this bookcase to style and I´m pleased how it turned out! Looks good even though hold many different sized and colored books.

In my last visit to Ikea, I found this light, which I totally love! I was planning on adding a Himmeli "lampshade", but I love it the way it is. plain and simple. It offers plenty of light over the desks, so crafting during these dark winter months is a pleasure! 

One of the tables serves also as my dressing table! Here is enough light, even natural light in the summer mornings and a place where I can get ready without disturbing anyone. I had one in our bedroom before, but if I had to get up earlier than my husband it just didn`t work. My husband didn`t like that I had to switch the lights on to see something and he would have liked to sleep some minutes more! So this is a perfect solution! And even my mom can now use this place when visiting us! She has been great help during my back surgeries and recovery. We wouldn´t have made it without her! We are so pleased to have such a supporting family around us!

If I happen to need even some more counter space, I have one of those rolling Alex drawers. There is even a place for big papers on top of it and on the other side I have hooks for my curling and straightening irons. So versatile! I even had that tall one in our walk in closet for a while!

I truly love tihs space and spend a lot of time here working on projects and so does my husband and Oskari! We probably use this space more than our living room! So, if I ever build a house, I will definitely design a big room for crafting and basically just doing things together!

So what do you think? Would you enjoy working here? As a starting blogger, it would mean so much for me if you would leave a comment! Thank you for reading and see you again soon!