Chalkboard Kitchen Jars

I've been collecting random glass jars for a while.  Anything from jam to salsa,  tomato sauce to pickle.  I have a special place in my heart for glass. It is too useful to just get rid of and I’ve always rationalized that I’ll keep them for storage some day. Then, gasp, I actually did use them and gasp again, I combined my love of glass jars with my lust for chalkboard paint.  (Remember the chalkboard fridge)

Planning: The Kitchen

Rental properties aren't usually known for having great kitchens, at least not the ones we've seen/live in, but we got lucky this time.  It's not perfect, but there is a lot of potential & the appliances & fixtures are in great shape!  From the floorplan above (via Floorplanner.com) you can see that the room, like our living room, is long and narrow, but I have lots of ideas on how to use this space. 

Planning the Stairwell

When I was younger I had my bedroom walls taped up with teen magazine tear-outs as high as I could reach (*bonus = I lived on the top bunk so some even made it to the ceiling). My mom and dad would always say "one day you'll get tired of those and take them all down!"  Haha to them because I want that look baaack, well sort of.  As you can see in the living room/entrance floor plan in this post, the new house has a little stairwell with a fantastic skylight but naked walls.  The space is tiny but very bright, so I'm brainstorming how to make it less blah:

In Love With: Antique Suitcases

design*sponge

I try to be organized, but can't seem to keep up with mine and my boyfriends growing collection of things.  I'm always looking for different ways to add creative storage that not only holds a lot of my junk but also hides it from visitors.  I inherited an antique suitcase which currently holds my knitting supplies, but I'd really love to pull it out of the basement and put it to everyday use!  I rounded up a few different ideas on suitcase storage and I learned I'm going to need more suitcases!

In Love With: Vintage Wooden Crates

So, fall is finally here and the heat wave has subsided, here at least. I think autumn is my favourite season. The leaves are changing, you can actually open the windows to let in some crisp fresh air, and you can start bringing the outdoors in to add new decor elements to your space.   A great way to cozy up the house and add nature inspired elements is to add some wood...so for today's post wooden crates! The crate above may look dirty and hopeless, but there are so many creative ways to use crates.  Here are a few ideas...

In Love With: Trays

 1. Leather Pencil Tray 2.Wooden Tray Set 3. Hourglass Novelty Print Tray 

I've been searching on my favourite blogs and decorating sites for ways to keep clutter contained and organized.  I love bins and baskets because you can litterally throw stuff in them in no particular order, then put the bin on a shelf and no one sees your clutter and your shelves and storage spaces look organized and tidy.  For the kitchen, I love the junk draw that hides all my funny shaped and odd sized kitchen utensils and tools.  Now I'm loving trays, not only for serving, but for a way to organized clutter and display decorative items, while still allowing easy clean-up when extra surface space is needed.