This is some sample text.
Learn More
New House

New House Update/Organized Binder

This week has flown by as fast as the rest of this summer!  I can’t believe school is going to start in a couple of weeks – I know some of you have started already.  Didn’t kids just get out of school!?  Crazy how fast the days fly by.  Anyway!  Popping in to share a new house update.  We’ve been busy this week trying to figure out furniture placement in a few rooms because we had to tell our builder where floor plug outlets should be located.  Kenny and I may have had a fight minor disagreement over said plug outlets which amused us greatly the next day.  Seriously!?  We were arguing over plug outlets?  Yes my friends.  That is what building a house does to you.  It certainly won’t be the last time we disagree about something concerning this house.  The good news is that we have become champs at getting over disagreements in record speed.  That is what being married for 15 years does to you.  :)
I took the framing crew some banana bread muffins yesterday.  They loved them!  Those muffins are always a hit.  Which is a good thing since that’s pretty much the only thing I know how to bake.  We declared it our first breakfast in the new house.  :)  Can’t wait to have the crew over when the house is finished.  For banana bread muffins again of course.  Here are some pics I took of the lot last week…

Lots of trenches and underground pipes for plumbing!  Is anyone asleep yet?  
No?  Well then here’s a few more pics that I just took today…
This is the left side of the house and the pop out in front is Kenny’s office.  It will be a happy day when he doesn’t have to take a client call in our car in the garage.  :)  To the right of Kenny’s office is where our front door will be.  We have a porch with a front door and two doors coming off the sides of the porch – one into Kenny’s office and one into the mudroom (by way of my beloved dutch door!). 

A view from the left side of the house.  
A view from the back left corner which is our master bedroom.

Left side of the house again (guess I was too lazy to walk around and take any of the right side).  

View from the right corner of the house in front of the garages.  We have a gas trench inspection tomorrow and then hopefully by the end of next week they will be laying the foundation!  YEA.

 Ok.  So now you’re asleep.

:)
Let me wake you up with this fun binder I just bought.  You’ll never guess where I got it.  

That’s right my friends.  I had to go back to Staples!  Those office supplies by Martha Stewart have been calling my name ever since I bought my purse organizer.  It’s hard to see in this picture, but the binder has such a cool texture.  I also picked up some fun tabs and something else I’ll share in another post.  :)

I love this binder.  I love the color.  I love the thick side pocket… 
 I love the easy to open/close latch at the bottom of the rings. 
But I didn’t buy this binder just because it was so fabulous (although that is totally something I would do).  I actually really needed something to hold all of my ever-changing sketches for the built-ins for the new house.  It was getting too hard to view them all on my computer.  Plus I wanted to make notes directly onto the paper.  My cabinet guy and I are e-mailing back and forth almost daily making tweaks and changes to things and I needed a better way to organize everything.  
This binder is perfect!  

I used the yellow tabs for all of the closets, blue for all of the bathrooms, and green for everything else. Now when I need to find the sketches for a certain room it is so much easier to locate them!  This binder takes me to a really happy place.  :)

The pocket on the left has been perfect for holding miscellaneous papers/notes of things I want to remember.  There is so much to remember!

And here’s a peak of one of my favorite sketches…

This is a bird’s eye view of my scrapbook room/office.  I keep tweaking things in this room and it still isn’t finalized.  Can’t wait to move in and organize this space!  I’ll share more pics of these sketches at some point.  Unless the majority of you are more drowsy now than you were during the dirt pics.  Kenny has a funny way of instantly falling asleep whenever I bring up our built-ins.  Such a multi-talented man I married.

:)

Happy Thursday everyone!  
xoxo, Erin
Join the Conversation

19 thoughts on “New House Update/Organized Binder

  1. I can’t imagine how many decisions you must have to make while building a house – it would take me years to decide! But a Martha binder is totally the right call!

  2. If that first sketch in your binder is your closet I might be a teeny tiny bit jealous over here!

    Love the Martha stuff at Staples, haven’t been able to purchase much of it yet but I do plan on using it for my little nook of an office when we finish it up.

    I have to say that I am so excited to live vicariously through your build. Building my own house from scratch is something I have always wanted to do. Can’t wait to see it finished!

  3. I love the binder! You are so talented at this Erin. And you know..I think it’s going to fly from here on out. They put houses up so fast nowadays…and I can’t stop thinking of how many people you are putting to work who love your for it. (Love you even more for the muffins I’m sure.)

  4. I can’t wait to see your craft room in it’s organized glory once it’s done. You are the queen of organization and I love it because you tell us all where you got everything and it seems doable. I am starting on making a home organization binder (recipes, weekly chores, etc) and I feel like I’m channeling you. LOL

  5. What a great idea with the binder; we are also in the earlier stages of building a house and I have papers and clippings all over the place…I think I see a run to Staples in my future :)

  6. Yes, once the foundation is poured it will go rather quickly, then all the final details! Your craft room is going to be amazing. And yes, I too love all things MS at Staples.

  7. It’s neat to see actual building going on for your house, it is easier to see everything now. I know it’s going to be beautiful!

    I looked at that same binder at Staples but I couldn’t pull the trigger because I couldn’t think of what I need ANOTHER binder for. I already have a binder that serves my “house ideas” function- I did not build a house but moved into one last October. The 90’s threw up all over this house so I’m busy renovating every room. I have that same Ballard catalog all earmarked in my binder too!

    I did however, find $98 worth of OTHER Martha supplies to buy at Staples. I have put most of them to good use already and I am going back for more labels soon.

    I’m sure you already have all your scrapbook supplies organized in your head but I saw Martha sells craft storage carts (at Home Depot) that would work great for PL plastic organizing. I am going to buy one and try it out. They come in colors too.

    Can’t wait to see more pics of the house when it’s going up!

  8. Thanks so much everyone! I love hearing from you all.

    Kathy – we will be able to see a peak of the ocean from the upstairs rooms of the house. :) Our main views are of the area we live in.

    April – you made me laugh! I want to see your binder when you’re done! Sounds fabulous!

    Kaiser – I have another solution for all of those magazine clippings coming soon! :)

  9. I too am starting the process of building a home and have already bought the clear envelopes and pencil pouch that you had previously talked about…now, I think I need to run to the nearest Staples (45 mins away) to get that binder and page dividers…..I love your blog!!!

  10. Planning for a new home can be so fun…or NOT!haha It seems as though this place is going to be organization central! Love the ideas you’ve shown so far. It’s going to be an awesome place to live. Can I move in?? haha Love the new binder by the way…thinking of heading to staples myself :) My Green standard binder looks so “uggh” compared to this fancy new binder of yours!

  11. Thanks DeAnna! So exciting you’re building too! We can be stressed out together. :)

    You are all so sweet! Thanks for stopping by. :)

  12. I had to laugh at your getting through the ‘disagreement’ fast at 15 years. The fabulous part of 30 years is you can’t remember what it was about :). Excited for you and fun to share a bit in the journey!

  13. Knittedgems – it’s really rare to see basements in California because of several reasons – the high ground water, earthquakes, and the city makes it really tough to get them approved. So nobody does them around here. :)

  14. Oh that brings back memories!!!! I have THOUSANDS of pictures of every single step of building our home. AND, all the paperwork, ideas, receipts, shopping lists, etc. etc. that I did during that 2 yrs. :)

Shop my instagram

View All Posts