chronic stylejust for fun

My Latest Source of Inspiration

I need another webpage to be addicted to like I need a new hole in my head but if you need a source of inspiration (whether it be for home, DIY, food, or anything), you really need to check out Pinterest.

It reminds me somewhat of weheartit.com (or Tumblr) as you can search for topics and come up with a gazillion pictures and you can seriously lose track of time but this allows you to create pinboards of inspiration. I’ve got boards for our house, the playroom, quotes, and even shoes!

I could seriously spend HOURS looking at all of the different pictures. Just a word of warning: be careful searching for tattoo. You get some seriously scary pics! YIKES! LOL 🙂

You can request membership to Pinterest or I have a couple of invites! If you are already on there, let me know so I can follow! My username is newkindofnormal!

Enjoy!

blogging

11 in 2011: Best Organization Tricks

This is an area that I am REALLY trying to work on in 2011! My almost type-A and perfectionist personality make it difficult to function without organization! I get overwhelmed really easily if I feel surrounded by clutter. Since moving into our house in July, trying to get organized seems to be an ongoing project! So here are some tips that I am learning to live by:

A place for everything . . .

I love knowing that I have an assigned place for everything (not saying that I have completely reached this point in our house) but I like knowing that light bulbs go here, diapers are stored there, etc. Even if you have a spot, such as a basket, where things go until you have time to put them in the proper place. This rule definitely helps me keep my sanity in the playroom as I’ve got different bins for each different type of toy. For example, I’ve got one bin for her baby doll accessories, another for her cooking/kitchen toys, and another for puzzles so it makes it really easy when it comes clean up time to know where everything goes.

Baskets!

I love baskets! They make organizing super easy and you can find them to match any decor! I have them all over our house! Not only do they contain the clutter, but they also look great! IKEA is my favorite place to shop for baskets and bins because they have tons of choices at really good prices!

What are your favorite organization tips and tricks?

holidays

Holiday Home Tour

I just love the holiday season and this year is our first Christmas in our first home (ooh – which means I should look for a new ornament – lol) so I couldn’t wait to decorate!

However, we spent the first five years of our marriage living in a small apartment so decorations were slim in comparison to the amount of space we have now! But we decided to try to make the most of it! However, next year I plan to go all out so this chick will be up bright and early the day after Christmas looking to score deals on decorations!

For me what makes looking at our decorations so much more exciting is to know what our house looked like 6 months ago! We bought a foreclosure (scored the most AMAZING deal!) and while the previous owners didn’t trash the place when they left we still had quite a bit of work to do (the previous owners must have had a thing for cheap paint and a hatred of painters tape).

So here is our holiday home tour!

We can start outside!

After moving in, we painted the front door red, installed a new storm door (which totally kicks butt), and painted the shutters! So far we only have a pretty wreath on the door but next year I envision mini trees on the porch and simple wreaths on all the windows!

Next onto our living room!

living roomAfter moving in, we painted using Valspar paint in Drizzling Mist, put down laminate floor, and added window treatments! We love this space and spend so much of our time here! I love our photo wall! This year we have a slim pre-lit tree but I’m hoping for a big fat one next year and we’ll move this one to the playroom. Thanks to my asthma and Abby’s allergies, real trees are a bust so we’ll be sticking to artificial!

Probably the biggest change is our kitchen!

kitchenOk so there aren’t a lot of Christmas decorations in this space to show off (just a cute Moose and snowman) but I just had to share the change! We painted the cabinets, put down new floorings, and just completed the countertops (I have a post coming up on Saturday about the transformation! It was SO easy!). Next year I hope to be able to add a touch of sparkle to this space. I have collected Holly Mountain Lodge dishes but have never really been able to utilize them so hopefully next year we’ll have a kicking party to showcase our space!

There you have it! Hopefully next year I will really have a classy yet modern space to show off! I love being a homeowner! Even though it does take more spoons 🙂

And if you haven’t noticed my house isn’t the only thing that has been renovated! What do you think of the new blog design?