Spring in the Hair

At first I thought it was fluke - all of this warm weather so early- but then again, we didn't have a really cold bitter winter like we had last year here in Atlanta.  Now, I hope it spring is here to stay.  I have been enjoying my back porch and my front porch swing.

But with the perfect warming weather, we get allergies, bugs, and yellow pollen.  I have decided that I can handle the itchy eyes and yellow car.  What is driving me insane - my cats shedding.  It is like a wild west show in my house - rolling tumbleweeds of fur no matter how much I sweep.  My cats should be bald right now due to their severe hair loss.

Aside from my hair issues - I am loving my first spring in my house.  This past weekend my parents came up and we power washed the back porch, cut down trees, re-mulched the backyard, extended my drainage pipes, cleaned up my front flower bed, removed my back flower bed, and planted lots of new stuff - transfers from my parents and grandmas house.  It is beautiful - I can't wait to have cookouts and play in the backyard!

I am Suzy Homemaker - with a green thumb!

Hiding Out in the Open

My house was built in 1922 - I think it gives it a ton of charm.  It also means that closets were miniature - just like the stairs.  And 90 years later, we in general are bigger as are our wardrobes.  Many people just say we have become slaves to consumerism and fast food.  I am not here to change those things (although I am celebrating 5 months of being "sober" from McDonalds!) - but to offer what I found to be a creative alternative to shrinking your wardrobe.


First, I am my mothers child, I do not feel the need to hoard or hold onto things.  If I haven't wore it or used in 6-8 months, it is sold, donated, or thrown away.  That said, I still have more clothes than fit in my tiny closet.

Now, you have the traditional shoes under the bed, out-of-season clothes in the attic, etc.  This solves part of the problem - but here in the south, the only thing that I truly can store is my bathing suits or heavy sweaters.  Weather can swing too much in given week during any time of the year.  Between this and travel to different regions - I needed to be able to access the majority of my clothes without having to crawl into my attic.

So... I hide them out in the open.  With a smaller bedroom, I didn't want it walled up with cabinets or more wood furniture - it would just make it seem even smaller.  Then it hit me - I would used shelving and my clothe boxes.

After some measuring, I realized my boxes would fit perfectly on the wall behind  my door.  Now that the measuring was done, it was off to Lowe's to see what they had.  $80 and some metal cutting later (by a helpful Lowe's employee), I left with everything need to put up my wall shelves.

In less than 30 minutes these shelves were up!  I love that they are partially hidden by the door - but not all the way - after all - the boxes are really nice.  I found that jeans, workout clothes, socks, shirt, scarves - just about anything fits into these boxes.  They are really easy to grab down and then put back up.

Since the shelves are adjustable, if I need to update the room, I can just get new boxes and adjust as needed.  Excellence use of a corner, right?