an organized closet: how to

I've never considered myself an organized person. I've never thought of myself as an unorganized person either, I just do my thing and move on.

But when people come to my house for the first time, they often comment on how organized everything is.

And then I remember I have tendencies to over-organize things.

Or when my co-workers think it's funny to come into my classroom and move my stapler just a tiny bit so that it's the first thing I notice when I come back in my room, I remember I might have some issues.

But I just love an organized space, gosh darn it.

And I don't think what I do is hard. Anyone can have an organized desk, even you! (Did that just move into infomerical territory? Because I sure hope so...) 

I have to be organized or I couldn't get everything done that I need to. I have to have systems in place or important parts of my job get forgotten. I have to have routines or I skip parts and end up at school without mascara on and it freaks my students out. (I'm serious, twice this year I've had to run to Walgreens on my prep to buy mascara--the comments were distracting and it was obvious no learning was going to go on since MS. GRAHAM ISN'T WEARING ANY MAKEUP.)

If the idea of organizing something seems daunting, start small. Like a junk draw or, if you happen to live in a small house like I do, your closet. Here's how I set mine up so I can quickly get outfits ready and then spend the week not worrying about what I'm going to wear.

If you happen to have a large, spacious closet, this post might not be for you. Also, I'm jealous, but that's an issue for another day. We live in a 1950's bungalow and, while we do have more closet space than a lot of other houses from that era, we don't have enough space for me. You see, I'm quite demanding when it comes to closets. The good news is our bedroom has two closets so we don't have to share. I don't think our marriage could survive that.

I organize by function. I've seen some people organize by color within function, but that is a little too OCD even for me. Also, I tried once to do this, but since my husband does the laundry at our house (and often puts it away), he was not keeping my color scheme the way I like it and it was driving me crazy. But it wasn't a battle worth fighting, obviously, so I let the color thing go. (deep breath)

I get all outfits ready for the week on Sunday. By the time I'm heading to bed each night I'm too tired and I'm normally running late in the morning, so the only way for me to not wear the same outfit over and over again is to pull them all on Sunday. I think about what is going on each day (basketball game after school? spending the day in the library with my classes? hoping to pick up groceries on my way home?) and that dictates a lot of my choices. I also might have a new piece or two I want to incorporate or a look from a magazine or Pinterest I'd like to try. All that is floating around in my head as I put looks together.

Even if you're a stay-at-home mom, I suggest trying this for a few weeks and see how it goes. There are days where the only reason I got out of bed is because I have an outfit I'm excited to wear. And knowing I have something already put together lets me worry about more important things than running to the basement to find some pants at 6:30 AM. And having an outfit waiting for you makes it more likely you'll actually get dressed. Even if it's just a clean pair of leggings and a sweater, being prepared for your week changes things for the better.

By organizing the way I do, I can instantly flip through my cardigans if I need to add something to a sleeveless shirt I want to wear. Or sometimes, I just go through a section and try to pick something I haven't worn in a while. Falling into a style rut is too easy and knowing the things in my closet need to be worn or purged helps to keep things fresh. I don't have the room to keep pieces I haven't worn in a while. (I envy the girl who can pull out a piece that she worn in middle school and kept it so long it came back in style. I just don't have that space. Also, you're the same size you were in middle school? I hate you.)

(this isn't labeled, but on the far left, there's a Rubbermaid set of drawers that holds scarves, wallets, and bathing suits.)

I wish I had an amazing way to organize my shoes and they looked all pretty and I could see all of them at the same time. And I've tried multiple different ways through the years, but, for me, it comes down to space. I just don't have a lot of it. So right now, summer shoes (sandals, flip flops, etc.) are in an under-the-bed storage container. Once summer hits, I'll store my boots there. Every other shoe needs to stay out because I wear them year round. Shoes that are wore often (or are flats) go in the cubes. Dress shoes normally stay in the box and go to the top shelf I need a step stool to reach (or get piled on the step stool when it's time to get rid of some). Looking at the above picture, I see at least four pairs I haven't worn in over two years and they need to be tossed. Or maybe stored somewhere else, I have a hard time parting with shoes.

If you're super-observant, you noticed that I apparently have no dresses. But that would be a trick. All my dresses, because of space, are stored under our stairs in the basement. There are some handy bars down there and so all my dresses stay there. Which means I often forget about them, but I'm working on that.

On the door, I have a hook that holds my bathrobe and new clothes. Occasionally, I would also forget about new clothes because I couldn't see them and they would hang, with tags still on, for months. And that is frustrating and, obviously, not acceptable. So now they stay front-and-center so they get into the rotation quicker.  

Would a nice, roomy, walk-in closet be wonderful? Yes. Do I sometimes dream about the time before kids where I had my own room that functioned as a closet? Absolutely. But we're not moving, there's no room for a closet remodel, and, apparently, you have to take care of kids until they're at least 18, so I'm stuck with this little space for a while. And I'm okay with that. It just takes a little bit of organization and we're managing just fine.

How about you? How do you organize your closet? Do you (GASP!) have to share your closet with someone?!? Any small-space tips I need?

finally completed//picture frame walls

I have a Pinterest board entitled "I want this in my house." If you put all those pictures together, I'd have approxiamtely 13 kitchens and about 35 living rooms. Which is totally do-able if my husband would stop being such a slacker and get on his honey-do list.

Just kidding, we don't have a honey-do list. Those things annoy me.

But you know what I'm talking about right, all those magical spaces you pin and then do nothing with? Don't pretend it's just me. Well, I finally took some inspiration from those beautiful pics and did a little sprucing up at Casa de Graham. (I'm not sure if that's the correct Spanish, I only took two years in high school and passed by cheating off my friend Krissy. So I'll have to double-check that phrase with her.)

You know the photo wall idea, I'm sure. They're everywhere.

1 \ 2 \ 3 \ 4 \ 5 \ 6 \ 7 \ 8 \ 9

You know what's hard to do? Take pictures of picture frames. Dang you, sunlight and shadows. Also, windows and walls.

We have a small hallway (if you could even call it that) in our house and I originally planned on only doing the large wall (the first picture below), but after I got started, I couldn't stop and I did all three walls. If there was space for a frame, I put one up.

(We're in the process of painting all the trim and doors white which is why you see some white and some wood. Also, my children were running around their room and the playroom while I was taking pictures so I'm blaming the mess you can partially see to those two rugrats.)

The majority of the frames are from IKEA with a few from Target or Wal-Mart. The round flowers (that are hard to see details of) are from Target. Most frames are filled with pictures of our family, but there's some random vintage book pages, a few masterpieces from our daughters, and a few personal momentos (like flowers from our wedding or the number 6 made of buttons for our six-year anniversary photos). Most photos are from our travels: family camping trips, a trip to Poland, road trips, etc. We like to travel and as the girls get older, we plan on doing it more often.

I like the idea of changing photos out for new ones to keep things fresh, but we'll see if that happens. I'm in love with every picture we have up and the idea of taking it down makes me sad. I'm sure we'll have new memories and items to display, but for now, I'm pretty proud of my small space and how it turned out.

What about you? Have you done any Pinterest-inspired home projects recently? Do you have a photo wall or two? I also have one in our living room that's been a work-in-progress for over three years, slowly growing out as I buy more frames. I know that's not how you're supposed to do it, but I'm just a rebel like that.

Linking up with Young House Love's Pinterest Challenge.

weekend read: Young House Love

(If you've been around here for a while, you know that Friday afternoons are for book recommendations. Lately, I've been struggling with reading. And I don't exactly know why, but I just can't focus and read anything right now. Things have been hectic and rushed and I can't find the time to just stop and read. Which completely bums me out. So I'm sharing a non-fiction, how-to book today. And next week, it's a non-fiction book on fashion. Just bear with me, I'll get back to novels, it's just taking me a minute.)

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I only got two books for Christmas this year.  Normally, I'd get a pretty nice stack to last me a couple months, but this year I didn't. Although I'm not complaining since I got two pretty awesome books that put all other books to shame.

One of those is the new DIY Young House Lovebook. You read their blog, right? It's awesome, inspiring, and helpful. I don't read it daily, but when I do, I spend hours on their site. It's that good. I've been following along with them on Twitter and Instagram as they did their book tour in the fall and couldn't wait to get my hands on their book.

It was well worth the wait.

This book is just like their blog only I get to post-it note it and make lists right on the page. It is super-addicting.

I have a compulsion (that I would like to thank my mother for passing along) to always be redoing and updating my house: the decor, the paint, the furniture, the placement, etc. I could be happy moving furniture around my house all day. Actually, sometimes that is how I spend my days. Luckily, I married a guy that is good with physical labor because I keep him busy moving and building things. 

This book is full of great ideas--some I've seen before and some I haven't--about how to show your home some love. And I love to love my home. I often get comments on our house posts and I feel like I need to do another home tour since so much has changed since last summer. I'm always changing and updating things. And this book is quite the enabler for an addict like me.

It's got handy features telling you about how much a project should cost and how much time it will take. So you can pick something to do in an afternoon or something that will take all weekend. Some things I have marked to do:

-update our living room curtains with fabric and shower curtain rings/clamps

-get crazy with a shelf and turn the books around backward (crazy, right?!)

-finally add a headboard to our bed (actually, still going back and forth on this one, I really don't like headboards for some reason)

-redo a dresser for the girls' room

-chalkboard wine bottles

-faux fireplace (I've been trying to talk Chris into this one for a while...still a work-in-progress but soon he will see things my way, I'm just sure of it.)

And more, actually. This book has made me wish for a sick day to just create things. Not that I ever call in sick unless I'm really sick, of course.

This book will probably never make it onto my shelf because it will always be out somewhere sitting next to a project. And that's the best kind of book, one that you never stop reading.

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Today is the last day to take my reader survey and be entered to win a Thirty One bag. Get on it!

where we lay our heads

Growing up, my parents loved spending Sunday afternoons going to open houses.  They always talked about moving some day, but it was more about seeing how other people lived, what they could do to their house, and dreaming about the future.  As kids, we loved being able to "claim" a room as ours and imagine moving to a new house.  I think that's where I inherited my love of home.  Making a place yours.  Making a  space feel lived-in, cozy, and personal.  And that's what I've tried to accomplish with our house.  It's always a work in-progress.  Always a project underway or an improvement being started.  I like living in a state of constant improvement.  It keeps us on our toes. 

(again, that damn date stamp, sorry...and the project we're working on now is painting trim and doors.  So if you checked out the kitchen and living rooms, those rooms have white trim and doors, but the bedrooms do not.  It is such a drastic improvement, I'm antsy to get the bedrooms finished.  And the goal is by August 1st.)

Elliott Quinn's room. Age 3.

the hallway (photo wall is a work-in-progress)

Harper Kimery's room. Age 13 months.

hallway and then our bedroom. Chris and Mary. Age: nunyourbusiness young at heart.



I've shown part of our basement and one of our completely-outdated bathrooms before.  There's also a half-bath in Harper's room that, while newer, is also in need of an update.

That's our house. 

Most of the time, it's enough.  Some days we dream of moving somewhere with more land, more bathrooms, and a laundry room not in the basement.  A bigger kitchen.  A fireplace.  The list goes on and on.  But we're trying really hard to live our lives content with what we have (which is more than enough) and within our means.  We don't struggle to pay bills in this house.  We get to travel, shop, eat out and live credit card free.  Chris is able to stay home with our girls.  Truly, we don't need more.  We just have to remind ourselves of that every once in a while because our world says we should want bigger and better.  And we're called to not live in the world.  No matter how tempting it is sometimes.  



come on over.

(news: my camera is officially dead and I'm borrowing my dad's until we get a new one.  Unfortunately, I can not figure out how to make the date stamp turn off...so no matter how much it's bugging me [a lot], some of these pictures have the date on them.  I'm sorry.  Super-tacky but I DON'T KNOW HOW TO MAKE IT STOP.)

If you were coming to visit us today, you'd have to drive down a one-way street that people often drive down the wrong way.  And if you happened to drive down it the wrong way, all the neighborhood kids would yell at you as you went by. But if you're heading the right way, you'd pass Danielle and Madeline's house (Ellie's friends) and probably see Charlie mowing his grass (he mows it about every other day).  Then you'd come to our house. 

A three bedroom, one and a half bath 1950's bungalow with a detached two-car garage.  It's quaint and cozy.

You'd come to the side door, not the front, because that's the one we use all the time.  And since you're a friend, not a guest, you'd just walk in without knocking.  There might be naked kid running around inside, but you'd be okay with that.

You'd walk directly into our kitchen where we'd sit at the table, catch up on each other's lives, have a drink (Diet Mt. Dew or a margarita if it's hot out), and talk about books we were reading and projects we're working on.  How work is going and what vacations we're dreaming about. 

(and since we're good friends, I'm letting you see our dirty dishes)

We'd eventually end up in the living room where we'd continue chatting.  If it was late afternoon, we'd have to pull the curtains shut for about an hour or two because our house faces the west and that setting sun is blinding.  But around 8:00 things cool off and we'd open the blinds again for a couple more hours.

We'd sit in the living room until there was more yawning than talking going on.  Eventually, we'd call it a night and I'd turn the porch light on so you could make it the ten steps to your car safely.  My dog would run out to see you off and then I'd crawl into bed happy and content, the way I always feel after an evening with friends.  So filled up and blessed.  Thanks for stopping by.

(The rest of the  house is coming on the next post, I just felt this one was getting a little picture heavy...and I'm creating  suspense because I'm all about the drama.)

prairie home companion

(skirt, polka dot shirt, belt: Kohls, shoes: Target, ring: NY & Co.)

I would just like to thank my neighbors for getting rid of that sweet work bench.  Chris spotted it coming home from church one Sunday and brought me back to see it.  What a good husband.

Its new home is on our back patio, located behind our garage.  We put the patio in shortly after moving in to our house.  It's mostly used in the evenings for fires or if we have cookouts, but I've got big plans for the patio now that the table is back there.

And it's the perfect place to put the random mix of potted plants and herbs I have in the summer that I never had a spot for.  I can't wait for it to warm up so I can start planting things. 

I'm also on the lookout for an old wooden table that I can paint to put with some old chairs I've got in the basement to complete the patio decor.

Then we just have to do some more landscaping.

It's pretty barren back there.

It's going to be a busy summer. 

I can't wait.