Spring Cleaning: Closet Organizing

I love SPRING for many reasons. The warm weather, the blooming flowers, and Spring Break!

With a break from school, I have a few simple house projects planned for the week. Stay tuned for blog posts to follow each project. The first little project I tackled was cleaning and organizing one of our bedroom closets. It was very easy. The biggest hurdle was finding the time and energy to solve our messy closet problem. I've been meaning to organize this closet for awhile.

Take a look at the messy and I'm embarrassed to say before picture:
This project took about an hour. The most time consuming aspect was folding all the clothes. However, simple and pain free.
During:
After a trip to TJmaxx and Walmart, I reorganized and ta-daaaa...
After:
Looks so much better and I feel my closet can breathe.

In my basket I am storing all my scarves and bathing suits.
The hubby is storing his spare contacts, toothpaste, bandaids etc. Nothing too exciting. But all safe and organized in his straw basket.

To provide more shoe space, I purchased a cheap rack from Walmart.
Total Cost Breakdown

• 2 baskets from Tjmaxx- $16.64
• 1 shoe rack from Walmart -$12.50
• Organizing- Free
• Folding- Free

Total Cost: $29.14

A love opening the door to see a fresh, clean closet.

Do you dare to face your dreaded closet?? I promise you will feel very refreshed.

Modern Inspiration: Aloft W Hotel

Modern decor is not top on my list, but I wanted to share some photos of a really cool hotel called Aloft W Hotel at the National Harbor. Our room was huge and full of modern decor. The straight lines, graphic art, pops of color, swing back chairs, and blue office chair all worked together to accomplish a swanky, modern look.

The lounge looks like this...

It's full of boxy lamps, graphic prints on the carpets, pillows, and lights, and has color coming from all angles.

Our room...
I just love those purple stools in the sitting area. They are great for extra seating when guests come over and simpy add color and interest to the room when not in use.

Like this look? Have you been wanting to "go modern" but have no idea where to start?
Here are some suggestions:

Start my incorporating one piece of bold graphic art that matches the colors in an already existing room.

Buy some bright solid pillows or be daring and buy some graphic pillows that really make a statement.

Switch out your current lamps for boxy lamps with clean lines.

Add in color wherever possible: office chair, alarm clock, area rug?? The possibilities are endless.
There you have it, a few simple but bold ideas to change a room without over doing it.

Bridal Shower

This weekend I had the pleasure of hosting my friend's bridal shower at my parent's home in Pennsylvania (where I grew up). It was great to see my college friends and celebrate the upcoming marriage of Dawn and Sung-Yoon. After countless secret e-mails among the bridesmaids, it was exciting to finally see everything come together.

I love surprises in any size, shape or form so I was so thrilled when the shower began with a surprise!!! The picture says it perfectly.

We wanted the shower to feel classy, personal, and fun!
Here's how we did it...

Decorations

• We set the dining table room with formal china and decorated the table with flowers and candles that coordinated with the wedding colors. It made the lunch feel very elegant. We just happen to have purple glasses and napkins that matched perfectly.

• Hanging on the fire place were several pictures of the bride and groom throughout their relationship. It was a personal detail that received many "awws" and "I remember..."

Favors

• Each person had a favor waiting for them at their seat. The favors consisted of a box of mints with the name of the bride and date of shower. Each guest also received a herbal tea bag with a personalized sticker that read the bride and groom's name.

Food

• It was decided to have a couple family members make the bride's favorite food for the shower. Seafoam salad, pita sandwiches, Miami bean dip, cheese and crackers, and fruit made the menu. It was the perfect fare for an afternoon lunch.

This was taken before all the food was placed on the table.



Dessert

Games/Presents

• To kept things moving and entertaining we threw a few games into the mix.

We played:
Who Knows the Bride the Best??
Bridal Bingo and
The Newlywed Game

Each winner went to the prize basket for a special treat.
Friends and Fellowship


So there you have it, a fun, personalized, elegant shower for a great friend who's about to embark on the wild ride of marriage.