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Three Time Management Tips to Increase Productivity

It is officially March and we have officially hit March madness at our house!  Spring is coming and along with the pretty flowers it also brings ALL the activities and due dates and sports and birthdays and competitions and events, etc. etc. etc.   My head seriously starts to spin just thinking about our calendar! Can anyone relate!? When things pick up like this with my kids’ activities I’ve found that I have to be especially careful with the time I do have to work and get things done around my house. I’ve mentioned before that I’m a tad obsessed with the subject of time management. Kind of nerdy I know.. but it’s my favorite thing to read and learn about! Partly because it involves organization (my true passion) but also because in the past I’ve struggled with managing my time. I’m constantly searching for ways to be less “busy” just putting out fires all day long and to be more deliberate and productive. I’ve learned SO much about this topic this past year and have found three time management tips that help me increase my productivity and manage my time better than anything else!

3 time management tips to increase productivity

A few weeks ago I came home from dropping the kids off at school, went straight to my office and sat down and got to work. I was in the ZONE. Just checking things off my to-do list and having such a productive morning. (Love that feeling, don’t you!?)  Around 11:00 am our home phone rang and it was my husband wondering where I’d been all morning. I told him I had been home and was having the BEST most efficient morning getting so much done. He told me that he had been trying to reach me on my cell all morning but I wasn’t answering. I looked around for my iPhone and realized that I had left it in the car after I dropped my kids off at school.

And then it hit me. That was it.. right there. The reason I was having such a productive morning. I didn’t have access to my cell phone! I don’t think I was truly aware of what a huge distraction my cell phone was to me during the day until I spent a morning without it!  We are constantly being bombarded with e-mails and text messages and phone calls and social media and while it seems harmless to pop in and quickly check on those things, taking time to do that switches your mind set and then it’s hard to get back in the zone focused on your work after. I was so productive that morning without my phone because I was able to really focus on what I needed to get done without any distractions!

I hung up with Kenny and went to my car and picked up my phone and had 23 text messages, over 60 new e-mails and 7 missed calls. I didn’t even dare look at my IG comments and DM’s!  I had to laugh.  That would have been my morning instead of checking things off of my to-do list that I really wanted and needed to get done. I spent the afternoon responding to messages and e-mails and calls and realized that every single bit of it was fine waiting until later in the day.  Ever since that day I drop my kids off at school, come home and then quickly set my phone in the other room away from me and get to work!  I’d leave it in the car except I’m worried about missing an emergency call about one of my kids so I just set it in a different room where I can hear it ring, but don’t have it next to me with the temptation to check messages.  If you follow me on Instagram you might have noticed that I don’t post in the morning.  I really try to spend the morning “eating my frogs” and getting the most important things done that need to be completed that day. (I wrote a whole post about that topic here.)  

TIP #1) When you are ready to focus and get work done, set your phone in a different room!  Also turn off pop up notifications on your computer so that you can get lost in your work and stay focused.

The next tip that has been a total game changer for my productivity is called “batching.”  If you haven’t heard of batching before it’s simply grouping similar tasks together.  I’ve been working on getting better at this for a while now and feel like it is starting to really make a difference!  For example, instead of checking your e-mails all throughout the day, you would establish a set time to work on e-mails and only check/answer e-mails during that time.  By batching tasks you can set aside some time in the morning to knock out your top priorities and know you will have time to catch up on other things during other parts of your day.  There are SO many things that can be batched together to save time.  These are some of the things that I “batch” throughout my week:

E-mails:  I try to quickly go through my two inboxes once in the afternoon after I pick up my kids from school while they are doing homework (different time each day depending on their activities) and once again in the evening before I go to bed.  I don’t always make it through all of my e-mails, but I knock out as many as I can during those two times.  If I answered e-mails as they came in I would be doing nothing but e-mails all day long.  It really helps me to set a time to work on e-mail and then to have a time to cut it off even if I don’t get through them all.  I just do the best I can with the time I have!

Laundry/Cleaning:  I throw in a load of laundry here and there and pick up my house a little bit every day, but I have a main cleaning day each week when I do most of the cleaning and most of the laundry including towels and sheets.  I wrote more about my cleaning routine in this post on my 10 secrets to keeping your house clean and organized.

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

{Recent Spring tour and home sources here}

Errands:  I always have a running list of things I need to buy and try to just go shopping one afternoon or morning each week.  If I have an appointment (hair, dentist, doctor, etc.) I usually schedule my errands around that appointment so that I’m only away from my home one morning or afternoon a week and can work the other days.  This has been a huge time saver for me because I used to run one simple errand or have an appointment most days of the week and then it was so hard to block out time to really focus on my blog or other things that needed to get done.

3 time management tips to increase productivity

*Quick tip: Keep a basket in a closet close to your door to hold items you need to return.  That way when you are running errands you have them ready to grab and go!  

Meal prep: So you all know that meal prep isn’t my thing and I’m not going to pretend that I have this one figured out because I don’t!  But one thing I’ve been trying to do more often is to make two meals at the same time once a week.  I really don’t enjoy cooking so I try to just knock out the dinner prep out all at once and then I don’t have to think about it again!  I make two simple meals one morning and then put them in the fridge so that we have a couple of options for our busy evenings.  Two is usually enough for my family for the week because our schedule is so hectic and most evenings we are on the go or in different places at dinner time.  (We make a quick sandwich for dinner or grab something on the go.)  Over the weekend we usually take the kids out one night (or get them pizza if we’re going out) and then my husband cooks one night.  I absolutely love weeks when I prepare two meals ahead of time!  I’ve been doing this on Monday mornings, but would love to find a way to make it happen on Sundays so that I can free my Monday for work.  I also want to get my girls involved more so that they learn to cook and do better than their mom does in that department. ;)  This one is a work in progress for me but I’m trying!  I’ll share a few simple meals I batch soon.  EASY stuff.

3 Time Management Tips to Increase Productivity

(Getting ready to help mom cook – you know he means business when the stool and his favorite monster book comes out) ;)

Organization:  I organize a lot.  As you know. :)  Because my mornings need to be spent on my computer writing and working I’ve found that my best time to organize my home is in the afternoon.  I work straight through lunch and just eat at my desk so usually by 1:30 pm I need a break from computer work and I have one hour before I have to start picking up kids from school.  This has become my organizing time.  Sometimes I pick up and clean the house during this time, but if I’m working on organizing a specific space or thing I try to do it around this time of day.  One day last week I spent an hour cleaning out our freezer.  Right now I’m tackling my kids’ school work that has been piling up.  Hopefully I’ll have some progress to share soon!

Phone calls:  I make a list of calls I need to make and then try to do them while I’m organizing or cleaning at the end of my work day.  I don’t need to be as focused when I’m cleaning/organizing so it’s a perfect time to also knock out some phone calls.

Blog to-do’s:  I have also been trying to batch a lot of my blog tasks.  For example, if I’m taking pictures one morning I’ll try to take pictures for more than just one post.  (Because Thursday is my main cleaning day this year I take a lot of pictures on Fridays when the house is clean!)  I have a lot of blog friends who schedule their social media posts and do it all at a set time so that it’s done for the week.  I haven’t found that this works for me because I like my social media posts to be a little more organic, but I’m sure that batching social media tasks would be a huge time saver!  If I have some quiet writing time I’ll try to write more than one post and then I can add pictures later.  I also edit pictures and get them ready for posts all at the same time.  Usually after 9:00 in the evening when the kids are asleep or in their rooms and I’m watching TV with my husband.  Popcorn in hand of course. :)

Those are just a few tasks I try to batch to help me manage my time.  If this is something you think would be helpful for you, use a piece of paper to brainstorm all of the activities that fill your days.  See which activities can be batched together to help you save time!  It’s such a simple idea, but once you figure out a way to make it work for you it can really increase productivity during the day!

Tip #2) “Batch” similar tasks together to save time.  Focus on your most important tasks first thing in the morning.

The last tip goes hand in hand with batching.  In order to really be able to batch your tasks together like I shared above, you have to be organized!  You have to have your week organized and planned out ahead of time so that you know which tasks you will be grouping together and when.  I have two planning sessions that I can’t live without!  One at the end of each day when I re-write my to-do list and go over what I have going on the next day.  Then on Friday I have my “Week Ahead Prep” time.  I used to try to prep for the week ahead over the weekend but we are in a stage of life with our kids where the weekends are often just as busy as our weeks!  I couldn’t find a good, quiet time on Saturday or Sunday to do it so I spend some time first thing every Friday morning going over the next week.  I write a list of everything I still need to get done before Monday and then a separate list of things that can wait until the following week.  I also spend some time thinking about how my schedule will be laid out and which tasks I can batch to save time.  That way when Monday morning hits I know exactly what I need to be working on.  These planning times are so engrained in my schedule that I don’t even have to think about them!  They are a daily and weekly habit that makes my life run so much smoother and really helps with my productivity.

Tip #3) Establish set planning times in your schedule (one at the end of each day and a longer planning time once a week) to go over your goals and to-do’s and to plan for the day/week ahead.

Moving my cell phone, batching tasks, and set planning times.  Those are the three time management tips that really help me manage my time and increase productivity!  Such simple changes I’ve implemented that have made a HUGE difference for me.  I hope something in this post helps you with time management too!  To the moms out there.. hang on tight for the next few months, right? :)

Is there anything you are doing that saves time and helps you increase your productivity?  I’d love to hear about it!

Because I’m nerdy like that.

:)

xoxo, Erin
Home Decor

Spring Decorating!

Happy Monday everyone!  I’m so excited to be joining some of my blog besties to share some Spring decorating with you all today!  If you are joining from Megan’s fun blog Honey We’re Home hello and come on in!  I love having people over. :)

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

I have to admit that until a couple of weeks ago my house was looking pretty bare!  I took down Christmas and then went in for a not so fun knee surgery in early January and as you can imagine the house didn’t change much for a good six weeks.  Survival mode is always a good time, right?  If the counters were occasionally wiped off by my poor, exhausted husband I called the day a success!  I’m still limping around, but am finally feeling good enough to be cleaning and decorating a little.  It feels SO good!  Like I’m me again. :)  You won’t see any major changes.. just a few small Spring updates that are putting a smile on my face at the moment!

(All room sources are linked at the end of the post!  Affiliate links used.)

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

{NEW FAUX FIG TREE}

My style is always fairly casual, but I wanted my family room to feel a little more on the crisp, clean side vs. a complete farmhouse feel for a change.  I swapped out my old frames for some white frames and I moved the vintage books I’ve had on my shelves for over a year and replaced them with a few simple accessories.  I still love the coral accents in this room (especially for Spring!) so I bought this beautiful rose print to add more coral to my shelves.  It helped give this space the crisp look I was going for!

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

{NEW FAUX FIG TREE}

I’ve had a larger faux fiddle leaf fig in the corner of this room for years and loved it so I wanted to find another one for my husband’s office.  I searched on-line and found this faux fig and ordered it and when it came I fell in love all over again!  I decided to keep it here for a change and I put the other faux fig in Kenny’s office and they both look so good!  Either of them are great options if you are like me and can’t keep a plant alive to save your life.  #thestruggleisreal

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

Speaking of plants.. I was getting groceries the other day and found this darling little rose bush that matched my home too perfectly to be left behind.  I’m praying it will make it through the month!  Isn’t it cute!?  Another new addition are my pillows.  These large white pillows with small navy designs and coral tassels might be my most favorite pillows ever.  At least this season. :)  This cozy striped throw is also new for Spring and will be perfect to transition into Summer.

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

{Woven Araya Pillow/Embellished Shape Pillow}

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

{navy Grainsack pillow}

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

Simple decor on the right shelves also!  I bought this Paris print before our trip to Paris over a year ago and am happy to finally have it displayed.  The coral throw over my chair is the one I’ve had in my master bedroom.  Such a pretty throw with a herringbone pattern and it comes in lots of colors for Spring!  On a side note if you’re a flower lover, this book (displayed on my shelf) is so good!  I get lost in the pictures alone.

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

I’m still trying to figure out what to do with my mantel!  It’s such a hard spot for me to decorate because it’s so big.  I took down the magnolia wreath and am loving the clean look of just the mirror.  I still love my lanterns, but need something to go on the right.. always a work in progress around here. :)

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

Hydrangeas are every season to me. :)

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

Getting my black and white striped fix on my console table.  I love color but can’t say no to a good black stripe.

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

Which is why these fun vases had to come home with me the second I saw them.  So pretty full of faux Spring blossoms!

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

I added a touch of Spring to the kitchen too!

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

If you saw my IG stories last week I attempted to switch out the dishes in this cabinet and ended up creating nothing but a great big hot mess.  I absolutely hated it!  So I put everything back how it was.  Sometimes change isn’t a good thing.. ha. :)

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

But I did mix up the tray and added some of my new navy gingham dishes.  Love these!  So cute for an Easter or Spring/Summer table setting!  They come in yellow and blue too.

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)One thing I’ve found decorating with plants and flowers is that if you have a few that are real sprinkled in with all of the faux, everything looks even more real!  This faux topiary looks real on its own but even more next to my real small plant.  That will most likely kick the dust within the week. ;)  I added some of my antique rolling pins to a basket in my window.  I collect them because they remind me of my grandma Ellen (who Ellie was named after).  She was an amazing cook and would always make me the best homemade noodle soup when I was a little girl.  I loved watching her roll out the noodles!  I know she looks down on me from heaven when I’m making Kole Ramen noodles for dinner and just shakes her head.

Maybe the rolling pins will help..

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

I added more little faux plants over the stove and called it good!

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

It’s the little things. :)

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

The rest of my gingham plates are on this butler’s pantry shelf.. ready for Easter!

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

I’ve had so many questions about my black and white striped rugs and if they wash well.  They do!  I’ve washed all of them multiple times in my washer (even though they say not to!).  I always wash my kitchen rugs and lay them out to dry.  The only issue is that the first time you wash them they will shrink a little.  It didn’t bother me at all.. I just cut the rug pad a little shorter.  They are still plenty big!  But something to be aware of.  They are the same rugs I have in my upstairs laundry room and on my front porch.  I’m a fan. :)

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

I kept the decor simple in my kitchen nook too.. just green apples in my dough bowl.  Next to hydrangeas of course. :)  Two of my three kids are obsessed with green apples lately so that was an easy decor decision!

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

Time to open these french doors and feel the cool breeze of Spring!  Pretty much feels the same as the cool breeze of winter, summer and fall for us in southern Cal, but who’s keeping track? ;)

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

Like I said, no major changes around here.  Just a few new plants, a few new pillows and a clean kitchen.

Spring Home Tour (Sunny Side Up)

All this girl needs to feel normal again. ;)

If you are new, below are a few other spaces in my home that always feel like Spring!  You can also head here to download all of the paint colors throughout my home.  Thanks for stopping by!

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space.

{MASTER BEDROOM}

{LIVING ROOM}

Spring Tour! (Sunny Side Up)

{POWDER BATHROOM}

*Update – Getting lots of e-mails about this rug in our family room.  I wrote all about it in this post on the rugs throughout my home!   

 

All this girl needs to feel normal again. ;)

Next up on the tour is my darling friend Courtney at A Thoughtful Place.  Courtney has such a beautiful home and warm personality!  We live about an hour away from each other and are lucky to get to meet for lunch once in a while to catch up!  Always a treat.  I know you will love her as much as I do!  Also be sure to check out the rest of my friend’s Spring tours!  So many fun ideas to welcome this beloved season. :)

{POST SOURCES}

 









xoxo, Erin
Home Decor

Guest Room Decor (progress!)

Happy Friday friends!  I hope you all had a good week!  Mine was ok. Truthfully a little long.. but we made it. :) It has been a while since I shared progress on our guest room decor! I thought sharing where I’m at with this space might be a good way to end our week.  You think so too?  Oh good!  Funny how we always tend to think alike, isn’t it!

That’s why we get along so well. :)

Guest Room Decor (Sunny Side Up)

If you remember my first post on this room, it started out as my son’s bedroom when we moved into our new house because this room is close to our master bedroom and Kole was just three when we moved in.

Guest Room Decor (Sunny Side Up)

That was always going to be temporary and as soon as he turned seven we moved him into his “real” room next to his sisters.  (Hoping to finish this space soon!)

Guest Room Decor (Sunny Side Up)

I was left with a blank slate in the new guest room and started by adding a focal grid pattern wall.  That’s just about where I left off last time.

Ready to see what it looks like today?

Guest Room Decor (Sunny Side Up)

Ta-da!  Yea!  A REAL guest room!  With a bed and nightstands and pillows.. oh my.  :)  I wanted this room to feel light and bright and airy and cozy.  The cozy was easy to pull off because it’s not a big room.  The white duvet cover made things feel airy and spacious and the nightstands, rug and pillows add a bright pop of color.  Done done and done. :)

Guest Room Decor (Sunny Side Up)

(affiliate links used)

Details!  Here we go..

For the bed I chose this Pondicherry bed with nailheads in a soft grey fabric.  I knew I loved it when I ordered it on-line, but when it arrived at my house and I saw it in person.. GAH!  It’s so gorgeous!  I couldn’t stop walking into this room and staring at it for several days after it came!  I tend to lean towards straight lines with furniture so this bed was a bit outside of my comfort zone at first, but because the wall had so many straight lines in the grid pattern this style of bed ads some contrast and works so much better.

Guest Room Decor (Sunny Side Up)

The bedding is this Claremore Duvet.  Very similar to the white duvet cover I put in my master bedroom!  I love the fun pattern on both of these white duvet covers.  I thought about putting a set of larger pillows in the back, but when guests come and stay I don’t love having too many pillows for them to set aside each night.  Plus I love the headboard so much I decided to keep it simple with pillows and let it be the star of the show. :)

Guest Room Decor (Sunny Side Up)

Guest Room Decor (Sunny Side Up)

The pillows are from Anthro.  I think the larger two sold out but the mint pillow in front you can find here.  I’m having a serious obsession with Anthro pillows at the moment!  They have so many cute options for Spring and the texture and colors are just too much fun.  You’ll see more popping up all over my home in my next post! :)

Guest Room Decor (Sunny Side Up)

This little moment I couldn’t love more!  I kind of want to move these mint nightstands into my bedroom because I love them so much.  I won’t.. because they aren’t the right size or color for that room.. but oh.. they have my heart.  When my mom first saw them she said they had “Erin” written all over them. :)

Guest Room Decor (Sunny Side Up)

So do these lamps!  Just like the bed, the day these were delivered was a happy day.. they are absolutely stunning in person!  And aren’t the fringe tassels fun!?

Guest Room Decor (Sunny Side Up)

I’ve had my eye on this gorgeous Malibu Chandelier for quite a while and never found anything I liked better for the guest room.  It was a splurge, but is such a stunning fixture!  (I shared this chandelier on IG stories once and got so many questions about similar less expensive options so I’ll link to some below!)  Beaded chandeliers add so much texture to a space and really make a statement.  I’m a fan!

Guest Room Decor (Sunny Side Up)

I also love the way the whole frame of the fixture is covered in hemp clear to the top!  It’s such a beautiful fixture.

Guest Room Decor (Sunny Side Up)

This pretty flower painting was a great price and it was the perfect size for this little wall space next to the window.

Guest Room Decor (Sunny Side Up)

Now for the other side of the bedroom!  I mentioned in my first guest room decor post that my parents use this room more than anyone and my mom put in a request for a TV when we were building.  She likes to stay up late watching the news in bed. :)  The only space for it was in-between the closet and bathroom door.

Guest Room Decor (Sunny Side Up)

I debated what to put below the TV and decided on this Dorsay Console Table.   I had envisioned something with a marble looking top and gold legs so I told my friend/designer Tritia to see if she could find something like that for me in the right size.  Major score when she landed on this beautiful piece of furniture!  I love it so much but almost didn’t order it because the reviews aren’t great.  I decided to try it and see for myself and seriously don’t know what people are talking about!  It’s gorgeous in person and great quality.  It has a matching coffee table that I would snatch up in a heartbeat if I had a place to put it!

Guest Room Decor (Sunny Side Up)

There are drawers in the closet in this room so I didn’t need a dresser for guest’s clothes, and because of the small walk way space I wanted something that wouldn’t take up a lot of room.  This console table will be a perfect place for guests to set their keys, purse, hat, etc.  I was initially planning on getting a bench for the end of this bed, but because the table is the long shape of a bench I ended up ordering these X base stools instead.

Guest Room Decor (Sunny Side Up)

I chose a good neutral fabric in case I eventually put these in a different room.  Decor tends to move around often at my house. :)  Guest Room Decor (Sunny Side Up)

Guest Room Decor (Sunny Side Up)

Guest Room Decor (Sunny Side Up)

This Distressed Arabesque Wool Rug was another item I had been wanting for a long time and just didn’t have a place to put it.  I keep looking for rugs for this room and not loving anything and would think “I wish that navy Arabesque rug worked in this space..”  Then I finally just decided it does work in this space!

Guest Room Decor (Sunny Side Up)

Why not add a pop of navy!?  It pulls the blue out of the pillows.  And even more importantly.. I love it!  One thing I’ve learned decorating this home.. worry less about what “works” and more about what you love.  When you surround yourself with things you love, they always work together.

Plus they make you happy.  Bonus. :)

Guest Room Decor (Sunny Side Up)

I still want to do something fun on this blank wall.  I have an idea!  (I’m never short on ideas.. the time needed to make ideas actually happen is a different story.. can anyone relate?)

Guest Room Decor (Sunny Side Up)

I also want a fun throw to put at the end of the bed..

Guest Room Decor (Sunny Side Up)

and I need to accessorize the console table and nightstands with a few things.

Guest Room Decor (Sunny Side Up)

But after those small additions this room will be done!

Guest Room Decor (Sunny Side Up)

One more room that will be checked off the list!  We’ve lived in our home 4 1/2 years now and I’m almost done decorating.  Even though I’ll never really be done decorating.

You feel that way about your home too?  Funny how we always tend to think alike, isn’t it!

That’s why we get along so well.

:)

Sources and similar items are linked below!

{SOURCES}





**UPDATE

Gallery Wall (Sunny Side Up)

I just hung this fun gallery wall in our guest room!  Snapped this quick with my phone but I’ll share better pics soon!  I’ll also share pics of what I’m putting in them as soon as I figure that out.. ha. :)  For those asking you can find these frames HERE.  I ordered six of the 8×10 (15×19 without the mat).

xoxo, Erin
Home Decor

paint colors throughout my home (free printable!)

My favorite gray paint!

Friends!  This is such a happy day for me!  And I hope for a lot of you too. :)  We moved into our new home over four years ago and ever since then I have been getting so many questions about my paint colors.  I wrote this post in 2016 sharing paint names of some rooms, but there were still a lot of paint questions because the main brand we used (Frazee) later joined with Sherwin Williams.  That made things tricky!  Some of you were having a hard time finding the exact color, some of you had questions about what sheen we used, some of you wanted info. on our white paint or our ceilings or on rooms I hadn’t fully shared on the blog at that point.

SO!  Because I love you all. :)  I have spent hours getting everything figured out for you!  This involved a few trips to my local Sherwin Williams, several phone calls with my painter, and going back to where my mind was during building and painting our house which quite frankly is a place I didn’t really want to return to.. ha. ;)  I then typed EVERYTHING up for you on a printable that you can print out and keep!  This printable includes ALL of my paint colors throughout our home (exterior and interior).  It also includes the brand and number that goes with each color.  A few of these rooms I haven’t even shared on the blog yet!  But now you’ll know the name of the paint color when I do. :)

Get a free printable of the paint colors throughout my home!

And for my main grey paint color that I get asked about daily?  I also included the exact formula and sheen we used in our home!  (If you want to use that same grey paint with a different sheen, just give someone at SW my color numbers and formula and they will be able to match it for you.)  

OK.. here’s another reason it took me a while to get all of this figure out for you and why I’m so excited!  

I am obsessed with list making – as you all know. :)  I have always typed up my own printables to help me stay organized.  I have printables I use for projects like decorating a room, printables I use for organization, printables I use for blogging.  I have never shared them with all of you because that involves major tech work (setting up the library and making everything accessible to you on-line).  Most of you know that the tech side of blogging is not where I excel.  But I finally hired some help and now have a printable library all set up that I will be able to add printables too.  YEA!  If you subscribe to my blog you will have instant access to this library.  My paint printables and the printables I made to help with gift giving at Christmas are in the library now, but more are coming!  I’m so excited to show you a few things that have helped me stay organized and on track with my projects and time management!

 Sign up at the end of this post or CLICK HERE to download all of my paint colors and get access to my new printable library!

If you are already a blog subscriber (thank you!) you can just enter your name and e-mail again to get the paint printable.  It won’t double your e-mail. :)  If you are not signed up for my e-mails and are nervous about subscribing to my blog, don’t be!  I totally understand wanting to keep your inbox clean.  I will never share your e-mail address with anyone and you’ll only get a quick e-mail from me when a new post is up (on average twice a week).  Plus we have a good time around here so why not join the party!?  I’ve got lots of fun posts in store for you all. :)

My favorite paint colors

In other random news, I’ve been decorating for Spring (so fun!) and if you want a sneak peek of a few things I bought to refresh my home (and some clothes I’m loving lately) you can check out my updated favorites page.  This throw I have on the ladder in my master bedroom is so beautiful and went out of stock in most colors so quickly!  They just got it back in stock if you want something fun and pretty to toss over your chair or couch for Spring!

My favorite grey paint!

And speaking of my master bedroom, we just got a new mattress!  You guys.. I’m so excited about it!  The kids and I are always on this bed hanging out – even more so the past six weeks because of my knee surgery.  We got our kids all new mattresses after we moved into our house, but ours was 17 years old!  Yikes.  So when Mattress Firm reached out to me to collaborate and write a post on their blog I couldn’t say yes fast enough.  We bought the kids’ mattresses at Mattress Firm and knew they were good quality and that they had good customer service.  You can read the post I wrote about why we love king size beds and which mattress we picked out here.  They are having a huge sale right now if you’ve had your mattress for 17 years too!  (Please tell me I’m not the only one..)

Alright friends.. that’s it for now because it’s time for after school pick up, but I’ll be back soon!  Enjoy your day!  :)

xoxo, Erin
Organization

My Organized Pantry!

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

I’m so excited about today’s post!  Finally.  I’m finally sharing my organized pantry with you!  We’ve now lived in our new home over four years and this pantry was for the most part organized one month after we moved in.  WHY haven’t I already shared this space!?  I honestly have no idea!  Ha.  But I guess it doesn’t matter because I’m sharing it with you now. :)  What I have shared multiple times is this butler’s pantry (the counter and open shelves in my kitchen that links my pantry and the formal dining room).  See that door to the right?  Let’s go inside!

*affiliate links used

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

There is no window in my pantry so I’m sorry about the lighting.  A tricky spot to photograph!  (Maybe that’s why I procrastinated so long on this post?  I’ll be analyzing that one for a while…)

When I was working with our architect to design my pantry he kept trying to make it bigger.  I kept explaining that food/cooking wasn’t really my thing and after living with my previous pantry, anything I could walk into would be plenty big and would feel like a dream!

A few things that were on my pantry wish list: regular drawers, pull out basket drawers, open shelving for food, open shelving for kitchen accessories, counter space and wall space to hang a few things.  Done and done!  I am so happy with how it turned out and feel grateful for this space every single day.

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

Even though I LOVE organization there are some spots in my home that I struggle to keep organized.  My pantry isn’t one of them!  For some reason food pantries have always been my easiest spot to keep neat and organized.  I think it’s because I really can’t function when this space is a mess.  I just can’t.  I am in and out of my pantry too many times a day.  I also have a long time habit of straightening things in my pantry every time I bring in new groceries which is pretty much every other day!  (I absolutely had to do this with my previous pantry because we were short on space).  So while other spots in my home can get out of control in no time, this pantry always stays nice and organized.  Just the way I like it. :)

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

Now before I break things down for you I need to add a little disclaimer.  I am not a food blogger.  Or a nutritionist.  My pantry is not full of wheat/organic/tofu/all natural whatever.  I wish it was, but it’s not.  You can usually count on some type of fruits and veggies cut up in my fridge, but my pantry is another story.  Just throwing that out there so there’s no judging the food I have in this space.  Let’s just focus on how it’s organized mkay? :)

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

How about these open shelves I have for storing miscellaneous kitchen items when I’m not using them?  Pretty storage?  Now that I do. ;)

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

Below these shelves I have baskets I labeled SAUCES, CHIPS, GRAINS and PASTA INGREDIENTS because those are the things I seem to be reaching for most days.  The baskets are these Savannah Utility baskets – long time favorites!  I have them all over my house and love them for organizing!  You can see them in my master bathroom cupboards, on my tub shelves and I also have them in a few closets.  I took these pantry pics quite a while ago and since then have actually switched these smaller square baskets out for the Savannah Lidded baskets because they are longer front to back so I can store more food and utilize my counter space better (I’m not using the lids.)  My labels were just typed on the computer on white paper and cut to size to fit in these bin clip labels.  Easy to switch out if I ever ditch the chips and add the tofu.  (I don’t think those labels are getting switched out any time soon.)  ;) 

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

This is a picture of my pantry soon after we moved in.  Initially I was going to keep the drawers open like this but then a few months later I decided I wanted to put drawer fronts on them.  Hardware and labels please!

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

My carpenter made the drawer fronts and I found these label pulls at Pottery Barn. (They don’t sell them anymore which is so sad because I love them!  I used them in our playroom and Kole’s room for drawers too.)  I printed labels for SNACKS, FOILS, PAPER GOODS, APRONS, and COOKBOOKS.

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

I keep snacks for the kids in the top two drawers.  This makes lunch packing and snack time a little easier.

Organized Pantry Drawers (Sunny Side Up)

I shouldn’t say these drawers are just for the kids.  I’m the one who has always been popcorn obsessed.

Organized Pantry Drawers (Sunny Side Up)

I use these Dream Drawer Dividers to organize our snacks.  LOVE these.  Another favorite organizer I have all over my house!  You can see how I use them in closets here.

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

This drawer holds foils and ziplock bags.

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

Paper goods are in the bottom left drawer and I didn’t take a picture of our aprons and cookbooks on the other side.  (Those two drawers could probably use some dusting.) ;)

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

Moving to the left side of the pantry!

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

I use the top two shelves for more miscellaneous kitchen items (bowls and things I only use once in a while).

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

And the next two shelves for baking products and food we reach for often.

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

I use these Store and Pour containers for cereal and then the OXO Good Grips for everything else.  I like to keep my baking supplies labeled but I don’t label the rest of the containers because you can easily tell what’s inside of them and they are easier to wash without the labels on them.  And yes.. we eat a lot of pretzels and pasta at our house. :)

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

The counter in my pantry is one of my favorite things and has come in so handy!  I often have my black tray and our beloved popcorn bowls slid to the side.  Then I have a clear counter to set my grocery sacks and food on after a trip to the grocery store while I’m putting everything away.

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

I risked my life getting on a ladder to take some of these pics.  Am I forgiven yet for taking so long to share this space?  ;)

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

Let’s talk about the magic happening below the counter.  SO nice having these open shelves for larger items.  I use this Expand a Shelf in the middle to store canned goods.  I love that you can adjust it to fit any space.

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

The bottom shelves are for any extras.

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

This wooden crate was a random Home Goods find and works perfectly to hold all of our oils.  They can get sticky so I always like having them in some sort of tray, basket, or crate.

Organized Pantry Baskets (Sunny Side Up)

Then there’s my pull out baskets.  I told my carpenter about these (I had seen something similar in a magazine) and it took him a while to find them but he finally did and built them into my pantry design.

Organized Pantry Baskets (Sunny Side Up)

They have a plastic lining on the inside so they are great to store food and wipe out.  I use the top drawer for bread and the bottom two for things like onions and potatoes.  And no.. we don’t usually keep this many onions and potatoes on hand!  I filled them for the BHG photoshoot and then was trying to come up with creative ways to use them for quite a while.  Which basically just meant lots of potatoes with onions.  My culinary skills are impressive I tell ya.  Ha.

Organized Pantry Baskets (Sunny Side Up)

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

I knew I wanted some wall space in my pantry so that I could hang/display my kids’ art/school work and random letters, announcements, etc. (You can find my kitchen art prints here.)

Organized Pantry Pin Board (Sunny Side Up)

I bought these two pin boards from PB (they have similar options now I’ll link below) and have loved them.  Perfect for swapping out every day life kinds of things. :)

Organized Pantry Meal Planning (Sunny Side Up)

When I bought a large chalkboard for my office I loved it so much I decided to put the same thing in my pantry.

Organized Pantry Meal Planning (Sunny Side Up)

You guys.. I had such great plans for this chalkboard!  I was going to start meal planning and writing the week’s menu on this chalkboard.  Every Sunday night!  I was going to be planning those meals.

Guess how often that happened?

Organized Pantry Meal Planning (Sunny Side Up)

When the BHG crew was here taking pics of this space they suggested some meals I could write on the chalkboard.  Some of the meals they suggested sounded so fancy and I seriously hadn’t even heard of them before!  I laughed and told them there was NO way my blog readers would buy that I was cooking all that.  So they said ok.. just write what your family typically eats during a week.  So I wrote the menu above.

And then they laughed.

I didn’t dare tell them that this was a good cooking week for us.  Baked Ziti AND Teriyaki Chicken the same week?  That’s my A game.

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

And I haven’t touched this chalkboard since.

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

We may not always enjoy the finest of dinning around here, but this pantry has served us well and works great for our family.

Organized Pantry (Sunny Side Up)

Plus it is an organizer’s dream!  And when you can have that.. who really cares what you’re eating?  #priorities

;)

On a sidenote, if you are struggling with pantry organization I’m going to write a post that covers some tips I’ve learned over the years!  Let me know in the comments if you have anything you want me to address in that post.  All pantry sources are below!  Also below that I’ve added some links to all the fun things I’m scoping out that are on sale this weekend for President’s Day.  So many great deals.  It’s a good weekend to shop!  Or to organize your pantry!  Or both!  Or neither.

Whatever you do this weekend, I hope it’s a good one. :)

{PANTRY SOURCES}




{WEEKEND SALES}

xoxo, Erin
Fashion

Fashion, Life Lately and Valentine’s Ideas

Sharing some recent fashion favorites today!  Along with a lot of additional randomness.  I’m apologizing early again for the length of this post!  I guess we have some catching up to do. :)

Weekend Fashion (Sunny Side Up)

{Zella Hoodie (on sale!)/Zella Leggings/Adidas Sneakers}  *affiliate links used

I can’t tell you how good it feels to be out of bed and getting dressed these days.  Of course my wardrobe has consisted of pretty much leggings and athletic wear, but I’ll take it!  This knee surgery has been a little harder on me than I thought it would be and has definitely helped me appreciate all of the little things I often take for granted.  I missed getting dressed in cute clothes!  I missed driving.  I missed being able to pick things up and carry them from one room to another.  I miss checking on my kids in their bedrooms upstairs each night after they fall asleep (still can’t do that one).  I even missed grocery shopping.  Not the cooking of course – I was happy to take a long break from coming up with dinner each night.  In fact I’m still conveniently suffering from major knee pain and needing to rest right around 5:30 each evening.. ha.  We’ll see how long I can milk this thing. ;)  Anyway.. happy to be among the living again and grateful that I have several pairs of these Zella high waist leggings.  They have been on repeat around here!  The Zella hoodie I’m wearing is so soft and warm and perfect for easing back into life.  And I know.. you’re all dying to know how you can get the knee brace.  It’s a hot accessory this season so I’ll link to it at the end of this post. ;)

Weekend Fashion (Sunny Side Up)

{sweatshirt/necklace}

This sweatshirt might be my most favorite sweatshirt I’ve ever owned.  Honestly.  I love it so much I wore it three times last week!  I’m going to order it in a different color because I just keep reaching for it.  It’s so comfortable and soft!  And not too heavy.  Perfect for transitioning into Spring.

Weekend Fashion (Sunny Side Up)

The material is so nice you could even dress it up.  Would be so cute with these jeans and my peep toe booties.  I miss wearing peep toe booties!

Weekend Fashion (Sunny Side Up)

This Nike half zip top is so light weight and comfortable.  I love having the option of using the thumb holes on athletic tops like this.

Weekend Fashion (Sunny Side Up)

This Zella hoodie is one I’ve had for a while and love.  It’s on sale and comes in coral and a darker blue that’s cute too.

Weekend Fashion (Sunny Side Up)

I just ordered this cute half zip running top.  I love the blue!  It fits true to size except the arms are a bit tight so I might try it in a small.  (Wearing xs in this pic)

Weekend Fashion (Sunny Side Up)

{Camo top/AG jeans/Adidas sneakers}

I ventured into jeans twice last week but could only wear them for a couple of hours.  My knee is still swollen and gets so sore and I’m moving very slowly (can’t bend my knee at all when I walk) so after a couple of hours in jeans I just wanted to be back in leggings!  But I was dying to wear this camo top I ordered.  I’m so in love with it!  It runs BIG so order a size down (this is an xxs).

Weekend Fashion (Sunny Side Up)

It’s long!  I love it tucked in the front and hanging in the back.  And I know.. this brace makes me look like I’m right out of Terminator.

Weekend Fashion (Sunny Side Up)

A newish cute flannel plaid top!  I don’t normally love pink on me but I love the pink and black together in this shirt.

Weekend Fashion (Sunny Side Up)

K – these drawstring trooper pants.  I’m so in love!  Pants like these are my all time favorite and I live in them.  Soft, comfy, stylish.  They come in other colors and I want them in black too.  Or the green!  I think the pink sold out.  The camo pair was a no brainer for me. :)  Wearing them with this long time favorite linen tee.  Pants like this you can wear casual like I am or dress them up with different shirt/shoes.

Weekend Fashion (Sunny Side Up)

This pic was from last year with similar cargos I bought at Anthro.  I love wearing cargo pants with these beloved strappy sandals.  A quick shoe change and you’re ready for dinner out!

Weekend Fashion (Sunny Side Up)

I’ve had these black similar cargos for years and have worn them out!  Another look at this type of pants with cute strappy sandals.  Spring we are ready for you!  And speaking of gingham because I love this top.. there are so many cute new gingham things I have my eye on.  Here are a few..


Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer

Remember in early January when I shared this Dyson Supersonic blowdryer that my husband gave me for Christmas?  I kind of decided I didn’t love it and was going to return it.  Some of you suggested learning how to use it better and I probably should have done that but I had time to do a little blow dryer research this past month :) and I decided instead to give this one a try..

Weekend Fashion (Sunny Side Up)

{RUSK Engineering W8less Professional 2000 Watt Dryer}

I’ve been using it the past few weeks and love it!  It dries my hair faster than the Dyson did, doesn’t get too hot and like the Dyson it’s really lightweight.

Weekend Fashion (Sunny Side Up)

So since I had a little extra hair care cash after returning the Dyson.. ha :) I decided to try this T3 Twirl Trio curling iron.  It just came last week and I haven’t tried it yet but I’m so excited to because I’ve been hearing rave reviews about it for a long time now.  You can buy just the 1.25 barrel for less, but sometimes I like the 1 inch and I curl my girls’ hair often for events too so it will be nice to have the different sized barrels to swap out depending on the look we’re going for.  Do any of you have this curling iron?  Would love to hear what you think!  I’ll let you know if I love it or not soon.  I’ve always just used a super cheap $12 curling iron from Target but my last one broke and I’m excited to see if this is worth the extra cash!

Kitchen Barstools (Sunny Side Up)

This is random but I was looking for a new mirror on-line the other night and I stumbled on my barstools!

Well.. almost my barstools.  My barstools were made custom but because so many of you have asked about them I wanted to share that you can get almost identical barstools for a great price right now on Overstock!  Hope that’s helpful for some of you. :)

Random pics of life around here lately..

Bike riding with dad.

Kole does such a fun thing in his 2nd grade class.. every Friday he writes a journal entry to someone in his family and then over the weekend we write back. :)  This journal will be so fun for him to keep forever full of sweet notes from his family.  I love this so much and want to continue this with him next year even if he isn’t doing it in class.  Thought I’d share it in case any of you want to start it with your kids too. :)  You could even write the letters back and forth once a month if once a week was too much to keep up with.  I love how he ended this one “I hope you are having the best day of your life.”  Hmmm.. some laundry, housework, computer work and driving kids around.  Definitely a top contender. ;)

Leaving Physical Therapy.  Another dreadful winter day in southern California. ;)

Sisterly love.

Leaving student led parent/teacher conferences last week.  I have lots of good pics of the back of Kenny and the kids lately because I’m always walking at a snail’s pace behind everyone.

What most evenings have looked like the past two months.  Thanks for all the love on my master bedroom post btw!  I was so happy to finally share it with all of you. :)

I gave Kole this set of Roald Dahl books for Christmas (long time favorites) and we are almost finished with them all.  I’m looking for a fun new set of books to start with him.  Moms of boys in Elementary school.. what have been favorites?

I seriously love life with a 7 year old.  :)

{this pic was taken one week after surgery – which is more scary.. the brace or how white my other leg is? Ha.}

Ok.. this post has already gone on too long but so many have asked on Instagram what the deal is with my knees so I’m going to quickly explain the situation for those of you who are interested.  If you don’t care (or if hearing medical issues makes you queasy) just skip to the Valentines ideas at the end of this post!  :)

My knee caps dislocate.  Both of them.  Often.  I could be exercising or just walking or whatever and my knee cap will pop out of place and I fall to the ground and have to put it back in place.  (I told you not to read this if this stuff makes you sick!).  Whenever it happens it hurts so badly (I always cry!) and then I’m usually icing my knee and limping for a week and then back to normal until it happens again.  It happened the first time when I was in Elementary school and has been happening ever since.  My sister has fun childhood memories of the Easter I ruined the egg hunt because my knee dislocated right when they blew the whistle to start the race and she didn’t get any eggs because she was comforting her crying sister in the grass. :)  I dealt with it a lot during high school and college because I danced so much and did physical therapy to help.  It happened when I was pregnant with Kole and I hit the ground so hard we had to go to the emergency room to make sure he was ok.  It happened once when he was a baby and I was carrying him coming out of Target and I fell and dropped him in the parking lot.  One of the saddest days ever for me!  Thankfully he wasn’t hurt.

It’s genetic and the reason it happens is because of the structure of my knee.  The surgery to fix it is major (it lasted 4 hours) and that’s why I’ve put it off for so long!  But the past few years one of my two knees was dislocating at least once a month and I just couldn’t deal with it anymore.  To fix it they had to do basically 4 surgeries in one.. break and realign the bone below my knee (I have a fun long scar on my leg from that one), add donor tendons to help keep my knee cap in place, reshape things and then clean out the joint from all of the damage done from years of my knee cap dislocating.

Isn’t that fun!?  Are you all so jealous?  Ha. ;)  I can’t even think about doing all of this again on the other knee.  I think I’ll need to wait a year or two for that.

The first two weeks were rough.  A lot of pain and the meds made me so sick!  My kids have been so sweet through the whole thing.  The first few weeks after surgery whenever they were home they were either in bed with me or playing right next to me.  The girls help me shower and pick up the house and put Kole to bed because I can’t go upstairs.  Kenny has been working non stop covering his work, the kids activities and all of the other stuff I usually do.  I have been so grateful for my little family through it all!  Things have definitely been different with everyone taking care of mom lately.

I’m doing physical therapy once a week and feeling much better than I was.

But more than anything I’m just so grateful to be done with crutches!

My parents were in town for a week and that was a huge help.  Plus I just enjoyed the company.  Nice to have people to chat with when you’re spending most of the day in bed!  I was glad they were here in time to see Kole’s ancestor program in school.  It was so cute. :)

So!  I’m through the worst of it and now just have to keep doing my exercises and wear this brace that locks my leg straight when I walk for the rest of February.  It has to be so tight to stay in place that it pushes my thigh fat up at the top.  Such a cute look.  Can you tell how much I love it?  Ha.  If my X-rays look good in March I will be able to toss the brace and walk normally and I’m hoping the pain will be minimal by then.

Thank you SO much for all of your kind and encouraging words!  So many of you have reached out to check on me and offer well wishes and it has meant so much.  I’m sorry if I haven’t been able to get back to each of you but please know that I read every message and comment and e-mail and I’m beyond grateful for all of your love and support.  I have had quite a few not so fun days during recovery and your sweet words have honestly cheered me up more times than I can count!

Because this post isn’t long enough.. ;)  here are a few past Valentine pics and links for anyone looking for ideas!

{Over 10 Fun Ideas for Valentines Day}

This post is full of Valentine decorating ideas, fun Valentines for the kids and our favorite pretzel hug V-day treat.

{Our February Tradition.. Sharing the Love}

Doing this with the kids tomorrow!

{Simple Valentine Party Ideas}

{How to Make a Cupcake Valentine Box}

An easy solution if you need to help throw something together for the kids.  Happy February friends!  :)

{POST SOURCES}






xoxo, Erin
Home Decor

Decorated Master Bedroom!

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space.

Friends!  I’m sharing my decorated master bedroom today!  Finally!  Usually for long posts when I’ve taken WAY too many pictures I suggest you all grab a snack before we get started.  Today I’d like to suggest you grab a meal.  That’s right.  Cheese and pretzels won’t cut it today.  You’re going to need something more substantial.  Ha. ;)

I tried to include as many details and sources as I could but let me know if you have other questions!  This is the hallway leading to our bedroom.  (French doors lead to our backyard.)  Come in come in!  I always love having you over. :)

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space.

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space.

I mentioned in my last post (with earlier pics of this room soon after we built our home and moved in) that I wanted this room to feel spacious and full of light, but also cozy.  Mission accomplished and I’m so happy with how it turned out.  I hope you all like it too!

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space.

I decided on the same pitched shiplap and beam ceiling that I sketched for our family room.  It’s my favorite. :)  And I’m so happy with the new paint!  (You can see the original paint I had in my previous master bedroom post.)

*affiliate links used

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space.

Ok.. so many details to share in this room!  Here we go…

First.. the chandelier.  This room is large and to be honest I really struggled with the light fixture!  It was so hard finding something big enough that fit the style I was going for.  I loved and ordered this light (same fixture I have but a smaller size) and it looked so funny.  Just way too small for this space.  Which I kind of knew, but I wanted it to work so badly that I ordered it anyway!  I returned it and then wanted this light.  Too small.  Same with this one and this one.  Every fixture I loved and wanted for my bedroom just wasn’t big enough.  Finally I found the original light I ordered in a larger size!  That was a happy day. :)  It has sold out now but this fixture is almost identical.

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space.

This Moroccan Trellis rug is one of the first things I ordered for my house.  I had loved it for so long and almost put it in my formal living room.  But then I found my living room rug and decided to put this in the bedroom.  They are similar!  Clearly I like cream rugs with diamond patterns. :)  This rug is the absolute SOFTEST rug ever and I love that about it.  BUT.  It sheds like crazy.  I’ve had it for a few years now and the shedding is finally slowing down.  Worth it to me because I love the rug (style and softness) and vacuum this room once a week, but a warning if you are considering it too!

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space.

I love having a wooden ladder in this room to toss throws over.  (I have the same ladder in my powder bathroom that holds towels.)  The orange/coral throw in this pic has always looked a bit too bright to me so I recently ordered this herringbone throw in “salmon” to put there instead.  But I love my new throw so much I want it in the family room too so we’ll see where it lands.  I play musical home decor a lot around here. :)


Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space.

Our nightstands are from Restoration Hardware.  The Eva glass lamps were the second thing I bought after the rug.. love  them so much!  (These are the Jade color.)  I don’t know what it was about these pagoda shaped mirrors but they were love at first sight also.  I like how they add just a touch of glam to the space.  I keep my nightstand decor pretty simple.  I know a real plant or fresh flowers would look better, but I keep real flowers on a different table in this room and that’s all I can keep up with. :)  My nightstand holds a small frame with a favorite pic of my three kids, my all time favorite candle and then I framed my list of 40 things my friends love about me from my last birthday party.  SO special to me.

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space.

K – these chairs!  I can’t even think about these spindle chairs without feeling pure JOY.  Like they almost make me want to cry I love them so much.  They almost made my husband cry when he saw what I spent on them.. so yeah.. lots of tears were almost shed over these beloved chairs. ;)  These exact chairs aren’t available anymore but below are similar options.  Similar options that are less expensive so tell your spouse I said you’re welcome. ;)  I also linked to similar silver end tables (mine is also sold out).  The pillows in my bedroom are all custom and so are the drapes.  (I ordered them from my darling friend/designer Tritia.  You can find her info. in this post.)  I wasn’t going to put drapes in this room because I already had plantation shutters, but then decided on simple panels just for decor (they don’t close all the way) to soften the space.  When I chose this fabric I was a little nervous about how they would look, but the second they were installed I was thrilled!  I love them so much.  They add a lot of softness and texture.


Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space, spindle chairs.

Fresh flowers and a favorite organizing book complete this happy sitting area. :)

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space, spindle chairs.

My bed is the Alison bed from Ethan Allen and then I customized it by choosing the fabric.  Bedding is this Pintuck Duvet cover/shams from West Elm.  I love white bedding!  Especially this white bedding.  So clean and crisp and you can mix up your pillows and decor and bring in so many fun colors.  Lots of options with white bedding!  I’m a fan. :)  I also have to add that we have had these sheets for over a year and I love them.  SO soft.

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space, spindle chairs.

My bench was a custom order from a company I’ve never used before and I have to say.. NOT impressed.  The customer service was awful.. they took forever with my order and didn’t return calls.  Huge pain to work with and even though I’m happy with how the bench turned out, I’ll never order from them again (or recommend them to you!).

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space, spindle chairs.

I was struggling with what to put over my bed (I knew I wanted one big frame but couldn’t decide on a family picture, art or a sign.)  Tritia suggested some art from Minted so I looked on-line and found this print and loved it (plus it was the colors I wanted to bring in the room!) but I wasn’t sure.  For some reason art has always made me nervous!  A bit out of my comfort zone.  I looked around for a few more months and couldn’t find anything else I liked as much.  I had the art selected with the frame I wanted in my on-line cart ready to push buy but I just couldn’t do it.. I kept going back and forth and talking myself out of it.  Then literally later that same day I got an e-mail from Minted asking if I wanted to choose some art to share with all of you in a post!   I seriously couldn’t believe it!  I took that as a sign.  This art was meant to be mine. :)  It’s Minted’s Morning River and I chose the classic white frame in the largest size (54 x 40).  I’m so happy with how it turned out!  In fact I loved it so much that soon after I bought  this Minted art for my entry way.  One thing I’ve learned decorating my house – whenever I break out of my comfort zone and order something I love but that also makes me nervous.. those are often the things I end up loving the most!  It’s good to break out of our comfort zones once in a while. :)


Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space, spindle chairs, minted art work.

{West Elm Bedding/Custom Pillows}

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space, spindle chairs.

I had some space on the left side of the bedroom for a desk/console table.  Sometimes after we put the kids in bed Kenny and I head to the bedroom and he watches TV and I do a little work at this desk.

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space, spindle chairs.

{lattice accent table/similar console/pinboard/frame/white vase here and here/similar silver tray/chair/large silver vase – Home Goods/faux blossoms}

I found the console at Restoration Hardware and then soon after found this one that is so similar and a lot less expensive.  Never fails!  I love this pinboard.  Perfect to hang pictures and keepsakes from the kids.  This is a happy spot in my room. :)


Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space, spindle chairs.

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space, spindle chairs.

I shared this in my last post.. a custom linen closet I designed for this space that’s directly across from the door to our master bathroom.  We keep things like sheets and extra pillows in the cupboards.  I added a mirror to the front middle cupboard because I don’t have a full length mirror in my bathroom.

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space.

{necklace/madewell bag/Tory Burch bracelet/favorite jeans/peep toe booties}

It ended up becoming my Fashion Friday spot. :)  Btw..  I just updated my favorites page with new fashion favorites I love and some I just ordered!  I saw my surgeon Friday and was able to switch into a better knee brace.  I can finally start putting a little weight on my leg and wearing some cute clothes again!  I’m so excited.  I’ve been in the same sweat shorts for a month and I’m over them.  I’m over crutches too!  Good times around here lately. ;)

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space, spindle chairs.

When we were framing the house I noticed an open pocket of space inside the wall between my master bathroom and bedroom because of the way the wall turned.  I talked to my cabinet guys and asked if it would work to add a little book shelf that went back into the wall.  I drew a sketch and they said sure and it ended up working out perfectly because we use the bottom cupboards to hide all of the TV equipment for this room.  I’ll share a pic of that in another post!

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space, spindle chairs.

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space, spindle chairs.

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space, spindle chairs.

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space, spindle chairs.

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space, spindle chairs.

The Let’s Stay Home sign on this hook is another favorite spot.  Because I’m all about staying home. :)

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space, spindle chairs.

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space, spindle chairs.

I keep favorite throws and magazines in the baskets by my fireplace.

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space, spindle chairs.

I talked a little about these benches I designed in my previous post.  I resisted my temptation to cover them in too many pillows because I’m not so great at making our bed every day and I knew they would hold all the bed pillows most of the time.

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space, spindle chairs.

This is how they usually look holding the pillow overflow.  I snapped this with my phone and shared it on IG stories last week.  My every day view.  I’ve been spending a lot of time in my bedroom this month!

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space, spindle chairs.

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space, spindle chairs.

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space, spindle chairs.

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space, spindle chairs.

And that’s it!  My master bedroom.  Finally decorated and FINALLY posted on the blog.  Sorry for the delay.  Did you make it through your meal?  Moved on to dessert?  Just happy you’re still with me. ;)

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space, spindle chairs.

No doubt I’ll be tweaking things in this space forever but it’s always such a good feeling to have the main furniture and decor figured out.  I’m so happy with how it turned out and I hope you all like it too!

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space, spindle chairs.

I know my little contractor is happy with it.  He helped me design this space five years ago.

Master Bedroom Reveal! (Sunny Side Up) vaulted shiplap ceiling, plantation shutters, custom window bench seats, linen cabinet, french doors, wood floors, marble fireplace, sitting area, desk work space, spindle chairs.

And then helped me photograph this space five months ago.

Couldn’t have done it without him.

;)

p.s.  I’ve been getting so many paint questions lately!  If you enter your information in the box at the end of this post you will have access to a free printable with ALL of my paint info.  Colors, numbers, sheen, etc. for all of the paint colors throughout my house!  Happy painting. :) 

{ALL MASTER BEDROOM SOURCES}












{RECENT FASHION COMING TO THE BLOG SOON!}

*Some of these are backordered and sizes are running out so sharing them early. :)  You can see more recent home/fashion favorites on my favorites page here.


xoxo, Erin
Home Decor

Master Bedroom (the beginning!)

Friends!  I’m finally sharing pics of my master bedroom!  Kind of.  Well.. almost. :)  Before I share the “for real” pics of my master bedroom all decorated I thought I’d back up a step and show you the beginning of this space because it has had a bit of a transformation!

So – back to the beginning..

Our master bedroom during the building process.  My little contractor kept us right on schedule. :)

“I’m envisioning an airy, light filled room.. spacious yet cozy.. with a vaulted planked shiplap ceiling.. and perhaps a  custom window seat.. wait.. make that two custom window seats.”

Kole always has the BEST ideas.

Someone found his sisters!  Day job is over.

My kids loved playing in this room when we were building.  It was tucked away from the busyness and the construction crew and I often found them all three together in this room riding their scooters or playing tag whenever we were at the new house.  The room had good vibes from day one. :)

I did want our bedroom to feel spacious, but also cozy with lots of light.  I ended up doing the same shiplap vaulted ceiling with beams that I put in our family room and loved how it turned out!  What I didn’t love.. was the paint.  After choosing paint colors and making so many decisions during building for every room in my house I reached a point of major burnout.  I had no clue at the time what colors I would use to decorate my bedroom so I picked a grey with blue tones and called it a day.  I knew the second I saw it up on the walls that I didn’t like it.  Because of the light in this room the grey gave off a purple tone.  It made the room feel darker and I immediately wanted to re-paint!  But I just couldn’t tell my husband.  We were putting out fires right and left and stressed out dealing with a lot of bigger issues (so typical when you build!) and I didn’t want to hit him with one more thing.  I decided that I would just wait until I was ready to decorate this room and figure out paint then.  After the stress of building was behind us.  Timing is everything ladies.. ;)  I also decided to wait on getting a light fixture for this space until I was decorating this room and knew what direction I was going.

We had a beautiful bedroom set in our previous house that we’d had for years.  Headboard, nightstands, dresser and hutch.  It wasn’t the style/look I wanted in our new master bedroom, but I had planned on moving it into this space anyway knowing that it would be a couple of years before I would get around to decorating this room.  On move in day our movers brought my bedroom set out of the big truck and asked me which room to put it in and I just decided on a whim I didn’t want to bring it into the bedroom.  We didn’t need the dresser because our closet was big enough to hold all of our clothes and why go to all the hassle when I knew we would be moving it all out at some point?  My mother-in-law had always loved that bedroom set so I made a quick executive decision and told the movers to just leave our entire bedroom set in the garage.. we would give it to Kenny’s mom.  My husband said “that’s fine.. but what do we do for furniture in our room for now?”

We moved in the mattresses and an old black side table from our last house and called it a day.  We planned on at least getting box springs to lift the bed up off the floor.. but never did.  Did I mention we were burned out at this point and just didn’t care?  It looked like this for over a year!  And we kind of liked it this way.  It reminded us of our early married college days when we were too poor to even go out to dinner.  Ha. :)  Our friends all teased us and cracked up when we would give tours of the house and get to this room.  It was such a beautiful space and then there were our mattresses on the floor with an old dated comforter, one black side table and a random ottoman that I bought for the family room and then didn’t love in the family room.

We had so many spaces to furnish and as you all know.. I’m a slow decorator. :)  It was nice to just not think about this room for a while!

So I didn’t. :)  Instead I decorated our family room, our kitchen, the formal living room, our dining room, my office, the girls rooms.. pretty much every room but our bedroom!

But I was excited to finally decorate this room at some point and starting pulling ideas together.  When we were designing the house I drew pics of these custom benches with pull out drawers (they aren’t attached to the wall and can be moved) and I couldn’t wait to decorate them with pillows.  I wanted something with simple legs that fit the style of our home.  Kind of cool to draw a picture of something like that and then see it come to life.

A few more pics of this space..

This is the hallway leading to my bedroom..our master bathroom is the door on the right.

I also designed this custom linen cabinet with a mirror and had my cabinet guys build it for me when they built the benches.  This mirror and our bathroom door on the opposite side might look familiar to you.

J crew checkered shirt (Sunny Side Up)

{J Crew Buffalo Plaid Shirt/Favorite Jeans (AG)/Favorite Necklace/Uggs}  *affiliate links

Hello fashion Fridays. :)

The french doors in our hallway lead to our back yard.

Finally it was time to start working on the master!  I picked out our bed, nightstands, bedding and pillows first.  Then I knew I had to re-paint.  I gently broke the fun news to my husband when he was in a particularly good mood one night.  He gave me the ok but said that I better pick something I loved because we were NOT paying to paint this room a third time.  Pressure!  I looked at so many options.  I really just wanted something softer and lighter than my original paint color.  A nice light background for the colors I was decorating with.  I chose “Balboa Mist” by Benjamin Moore as the winner (sample on the far left) but I was afraid it was too light so I had it darkened 20% and went with that (middle color).  It was just a tad warmer.

I never know if I’m going to really love a color until it’s all over my wall (the hard part about paint!) so I’m pretty sure I held my breath this entire morning.


By this point I was in love!  The room felt so much lighter and brighter!

This paint color is a perfect soft, neutral “greige” (color between beige and gray).  It looks like a beige in these pics, but with my furniture/fabrics in the room it looks like more of a gray.

Which you’ll see.. in my next post. :)

xoxo, Erin
Organization

Organized Built-ins for Toys

Happy Friday friends!  We made it to the end of the week.  And I made it through week two after knee surgery.  I can’t say it has been an easy two weeks.. or a fun two weeks for that matter!  But every day gets a little better so.. baby steps right?  I can’t think “baby steps” without wanting to watch What About Bob.  A classic in my book. :)

Talking about organized built-ins for toys today but first.. I’m happy so many of you liked my post on DVD organization!  I had lots of questions.. one that kept popping up was where am I going to keep the DVDs.  Oops!  Forgot to take a picture of where I’m storing them.

{wood oval tray/chair/lamp/wool jute rug/favorite throw}

Right now they are in this cupboard in our family room entertainment center.  I couldn’t take a picture on crutches today so you get a lovely arrow on an older picture instead. ;)

I might move them into these drawers in our theatre room when it’s finished if there is enough room OR just leave them out on this counter.  I’m going to see if we are using the DVDs in this room or the family room more.

Alright.. let’s talk toy organization!  Last summer when I was decorating Kole’s room I started moving his toys into the new space and quickly realized that he had too many.  Something most moms realize about toys at one point or another, right?  Between birthdays and Christmas and grandparent visits and trips to Target in-between, kids end up with a crazy amount of toys.

Whenever I’m purging and organizing toys I gather them up all over the house and dump them in one huge pile like the one above.  A lot of times I don’t involve the kids in this (so that I can get rid of things without a struggle!) but I had a nice pep talk with Kole before we started and told him that he needed to choose some toys to give to other kids who might not have many toys to play with.  He is better about purging than my girls ever were so he was on board.

We go through the pile picking up one item at a time and decide if it’s a keep or donate.  If it’s a “keep” we start categorizing.  I think categorizing is great skill for young kids to work on!  I let Kole guide which pile something belongs in.  We ended up with piles of vehicles..

stuffed animals..

dinosaurs, pretend play items..

transformers, tools, snakes and spiders, arrows and swords.  We got rid of a lot of toys through the process.  Not as many as if I would have done this process alone, but.. progress.

Kole was a huge help as always. ;)

Now it was time to find a happy home for everything!  My favorite part. :)

You might remember when I shared Kole’s bedroom that I mentioned designing these built-ins for toys.

I used them for the largest items – all of the “guys” as Kole calls them (transformers, star wars guys, etc.) and then dinosaurs.

Then all of the vehicles go in the two drawers on the right.

I still need to add labels but so nice to have these items organized!

 Easy access and easy clean-up for my little buddy too. #win

The stuffed animals went in the rustic rope bin and the smaller toys went in the top three drawers of his dresser.

I still have a few things to finish in Kole’s room (on the home project list for this year!) but it’s nice to at least have all of his toys organized.

We have other organized built-ins for toys in our playroom and I need to take a new picture of this closet because it’s half empty and doesn’t look like this anymore.  Some of these toys went to Kole’s room and my girls are playing with toys less and less so we’ve sent some to goodwill.  I still love this closet with built-in shelves for family games and toys we are hanging onto.

We also have these organized built-ins for toys against the wall in our playroom that hold the girls stuffed animals, etc.  You can read more about them in this post.  Fun options if you are building or re-modeling and thinking about built-ins for toys.  In previous homes I created my own toy storage with baskets and bins and containers and shelves.  The key with toy organization is purging often and making sure your storage is easy access for the kids so that when it’s time to clean up they can do it on their own.  Organizing toys feels SO good doesn’t it!?  Toys can take over a home and drive you crazy if you aren’t careful!

Alright friends.. signing off!  But first Kenny asked me earlier this week to give him a few ideas for Valentines Day.  I think he can tell I might need a little pick me up after surviving this surgery. :)  So I’m sharing my wish list below!  For him or in case any of you are in need of a little Valentine pick me up too and someone in your life also needs a hint.

To my sweet husband.. I would love any one of the items below!

Or any two or three of them.. ;)  Love you babe.

{Kole’s Bedroom Sources}



xoxo, Erin
Organization

DVD Organization (the best solution!)

Friends!  This post has been a long time coming.  A very L-O-N-G time coming.  I am so happy to tell you all that I have finally organized my DVDs!  And I feel like it’s the best solution out there.  At least for us. :)

organized DVD drawer
In order to really appreciate this new system I feel the need to share what a struggle DVD organization has been for me in the past.  The picture above was taken about 7 years ago in our previous house.  Life with three kids brought many things into our lives – one of which was a decent collection of kids’ DVDs that I organized in this drawer in our entertainment center.  In alphabetical order of course.  No.. I haven’t changed much. :)

This worked great.  Until..

Organized DVD's

Kole was on the move.  Adorable?  Yes.  But on a mission each day to destroy every ounce of organization in my house.

Organized DVD's

See what I mean.  Never thought I’d say this but I miss those days!  Not the mess.. but definitely my little terror. :)

organized playroom

{Organized Playroom}

When we moved into our new house I put all of the DVDs (that had grown into an even bigger collection) on my hutch in our playroom.

Organized DVD's (Sunny Side Up)I know that DVDs will be phasing out eventually with Netflix, Streaming Media and all of the other options out there, but my kids still watch and love these movies.  We have family movie nights and watch old favorites, we use them when we travel, the kids watch them with friends.  We just aren’t ready to get rid of them yet.  But keeping them out like this in the playroom was a terrible temporary solution!  No matter how hard I tried I continued to struggle to find the exact movie my kids wanted to watch, to keep the correct disc in the correct case, and to keep some sort of order with these movies that my kids were constantly moving around.

Organized DVD's

{DVD Pro Dividers/DVD Pro Sleeves/DVD Pro Snap-Fit Tray} *affiliate links used

I had always planned on creating my own system to organized DVDs, but I finally realized that I’m in a phase of life with my now older busy kids where my time matters most.  I just don’t have the time for a lot of DIY projects.  I had seen and been debating these dividers at The Container Store for years and finally pulled the plug and bought them.  I ended up buying two Pro Divider Packs, five Pro Snap-Fit Trays, and LOTS of the DVD Pro Sleeves because we have so many DVDs.  It was a long time coming investment in my sanity!

Organized DVD's

I have to say that I underestimated how long this little project would take!  I pulled every DVD from every room in our house and started taking the covers out of their cases.

Organized DVD's

Then I decided to organize them all alphabetically with their dividers before putting them in the cases.

Organized DVD's

{Family room sources: Fiddle Leaf Fig/Baskets/Fig Basket/Wool Jute rug/Similar Coffee Table/Similar Lamp/Accent Table}

Pretty soon this project had taken on a life of its own and before I knew it my kids were home from school and we needed our family room back!

Organized DVD's (Sunny Side Up)

Organized DVD's! See details of this project on the blog! (Sunny Side Up)

So I moved everything into our formal dining room.  And then I got busy and it all sat there.  For weeks.

Until we needed to use our dining room.

Organized DVD's! See details of this project on the blog! (Sunny Side Up)

So I moved everything into Kenny’s home office.  And I continued to stay busy and it all sat there.  For more weeks.  Making my husband so happy.  He just loves it when I dump my half finished projects in his office. ;)

Organized DVD's (Sunny Side Up)

Finally months later I had a free day to invest in this project.  I pulled everything out in the family room (again!), turned on one of our DVD’s :) and got to work.

Hours later…

Organized DVD's (Sunny Side Up)

Ta-da!  DONE.  DVD Organization.  Was it really happening for me!?  After years of DVD chaos?

Organized DVD's (Sunny Side Up)

It was.  Every single movie we own.  In a thin DVD sleeve.  With the DVD jacket in front so we can still see pics of our favorite movies.

Organized DVD's (Sunny Side Up)

Organized alphabetically.  Oh the JOY!

Organized DVD's! See details of this project on the blog! (Sunny Side Up)

What was that Kole?  You want to watch Big Hero 6?  Why let me just flip to the “B’s”.. and quickly pull it out!

Organized DVD's! See details of this project on the blog! (Sunny Side Up)

Girls.. are you in the mood for The Sound of Music?  I’m on it!  In record time. :)

Organized DVD's! See details of this project on the blog! (Sunny Side Up)

And if that wasn’t enough to make me giddy.. just look at all of the space I’m saving!  With room to spare in two of the trays.  I love how you can adjust them to fit how many DVDs you have.

Organized DVD's! See details of this project on the blog! (Sunny Side Up)

It took three trays to hold all of our regular DVDs.

Organized DVD's! See details of this project on the blog! (Sunny Side Up)

Then I used two separate trays to hold Christmas movies and Barbie movies (we have quite the collection my girls don’t want to part with!).

Organized DVD's! See details of this project on the blog! (Sunny Side Up)

I used my trusty label maker to label the last two trays.

Organized DVD's! See details of this project on the blog! (Sunny Side Up)

It was so nice to just pull out this single tray in December and have easy access to all of our Christmas movies!

Organized DVD's! See details of this project on the blog! (Sunny Side Up)

I also added “Kids Performances” to the last tray.  So nice to have a place to keep all of the DVDs of plays, school performances, dance recitals, etc. for the kids.

Organized DVD's! See details of this project on the blog! (Sunny Side Up)

When we travel I just pull out the DVD sleeves we want and put them in a large ziplock bag.  I love how it takes up NO space.  This set up has been a dream!

Organized DVD's! See details of this project on the blog! (Sunny Side Up)

So that’s it!  DVD organization in my home.  FINALLY.  I wish I would have done this years ago!  But instead of looking back, I will just celebrate the fact that it’s done now.

A before and after that was definitely worth waiting for. :)

DVD Organization (Sunny Side Up)

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xoxo, Erin
Organization

How to Set Up a Productive Home Office

How to set up a productive Home office (Sunny Side Up)

Well!  It has been an eventful few days around here to say the least.  Thank you so much for all of the love and well wishes about my knee surgery!  It made my day to hear from so many of you on the blog/social media and truly helped get me through a not so fun week.  Surgery went well and after a few days of serious pain and nausea I am doing much better!  My sweet family is taking such good care of me.. my kids just piled in bed with me over the weekend :) and we are making it one day at a time.  I go in for my first post op app. tomorrow and will be able to take a shower for the first time since surgery after that so counting down!  It’s the little things. :)  I will share more knee updates along the way but for now we are switching gears to talk about how to set up a productive home office!  Why?  Because productivity is a favorite topic of mine and it’s especially fun to talk about when I’m laying in bed being sick and completely unproductive.  Ha. ;)

How to set up a Productive Home Office (Sunny Side Up)

I’m always looking for ways to be more productive during my work day and one thing that really helped me last year was getting my office organized.  And by organized I don’t just mean clean.  I mean organized and set up in a way that helps me to be more efficient with my time.

How to set up a Productive Home Office (Sunny Side Up)

I while ago I bought these wood and metal 2-level trays for my office.  (I bought three of them to put together.)

How to set up a Productive Home Office (Sunny Side Up)

I made labels for each one and the system I’ve set up with these trays really helps me keep my paper organized and helps me to stay on task!  I use the top three bins for personal items and the bottom three are blog/work related.

How to set up a Productive Home Office (Sunny Side Up)

The top right tray is for urgent to-do’s.  These are the personal items that need my attention soon.  They might have their own deadline like a form that needs to be signed for my kids’ school, or it might just be something that I want to go over soon with my husband.  Anything that I need/want to address and take care of within the week goes in this bin.

How to set up a Productive Home Office (Sunny Side Up)

Right below that is the “urgent to-do” inbox for my blog.  Again it just holds things/notes/forms I need for posts and blog stuff I’m working on now.

How to set up a Productive Home Office (Sunny Side Up)

The middle two trays hold personal and blog items that I’m “working on” which for me just means things that are coming up. Future posts and paper work that needs to be addressed at some point, but not necessarily this week.

How to set up a Productive Home Office (Sunny Side Up)

Then the last two trays hold paperwork for blog resources (mostly notes I refer to often) and house projects that are always in the works.  I love having a spot for house project odds and ends!  Notes I’ve written when I have an idea for something house related, a bid from a contractor for the theatre room, a magazine inspiration page, a paint sample I picked up and love, etc.

How to set up a Productive Home Office (Sunny Side Up)

I’ve loved these trays because when paper starts to pile up it’s so easy to go through everything and either trash it or file it here.  When I sit down to work after dropping my kids off at school in the morning I always start by glancing through my “urgent to-do” trays to make sure I’m focusing on things that need to get done soon.  Then I refer to my to-do list and work off of it.  The urgent trays have really helped me make sure nothing slips through the cracks that needs my attention!

How to set up a Productive Home Office (Sunny Side Up)

Soon after I bought my wood trays I started paying attention to what type of paper was piling up every day and that’s how I knew what to label everything.  If you think something similar would help you organize all of the random paper that piles up in your house start thinking about what categories your paperwork would fit in.  Do you have items for a project you’re working on?  Stuff for the kids?  Work related lists?  Paint samples and magazine pages cut out like me? :)  I think everyone should have some type of “urgent” or inbox tray that gets looked through daily for those items that require action.  That has been the most helpful for me!
How to set up a Productive Home Office (Sunny Side Up)

I’ve shared these white hanging file folders before.  (I’ve had this for years!  You can find something similar here or here.)

How to set up a Productive Home Office (Sunny Side Up)

This is where all of my kids’ paper work goes.  I took this picture last summer so the files are just holding their summer workbooks, but usually these slots are for anything my kids are currently working on (files are labeled with their names).  Study guide for a test coming up, notes to review, flashcards, Kole’s weekly spelling list, etc.  Current things.  (I file their school/art work we are saving somewhere else!  That’s a post for another day.) :)

How to set up a Productive Home Office (Sunny Side Up)

This fun to-do board was a Home Goods find.  I took this picture months ago and keep forgetting to share it!  Nice to have a place to jot down random house to-do’s I can work on when a free minute pops up.

How to set up a Productive Home Office (Sunny Side Up)

How to set up a Productive Home Office (Sunny Side Up)

My desk drawers hold my favorite pens and highlighters.  List making essentials!

How to set up a Productive Home Office (Sunny Side Up)

How to set up a Productive Home Office (Sunny Side Up)

And below that.. my secret stash of cute notepads.  I know.. I hoard cute notepads.  It’s a problem I don’t want to fix. :)

How to set up a Productive Home Office (Sunny Side Up)

Those are just a few things I’ve done to set up a productive home office that have helped me be more efficient with my time!  Now if you’ll excuse me.. I need to move from my bed to the couch which takes a great amount of effort and is the main thing I will accomplish today.

Working on a different set of to-do’s around here for the next few weeks. ;)

{OFFICE SOURCES and SIMILAR ITEMS} *affiliate links used




xoxo, Erin
Favorite Things

Gratitude and Favorite Things

Friends!  It has been a slow week on the blog. For good reason. I’ve been cleaning. And organizing. And running my kids all over the city. And doing laundry.  And cleaning some more. So basically the usual. Ha. But even more intensely this time! Because tomorrow morning I check into the hospital to get knee surgery. Major knee surgery on my left knee to fix an issue I’ve dealt with my whole life. I’ll spare you the gory details (I’ve dealt with years of gory knee details!) and just say that I’m happy and bummed about it all at the same time. So happy to finally be fixing this issue! (On my left knee.. I’ll have to get surgery on the right knee at some point too.) So bummed about the recovery. 10 days of not being able to bend my knee or drive and then a few weeks after that of being able to bend my knee, but no weight on it. So basically a month of crutches. :( Kenny is working from home and covering the kids the first week and then my parents are coming for the week after that. Then I’ll have a couple of weeks on crutches to fend for myself.. good times around here. ;)
Favorite Things (Sunny Side Up)

So my house has gone from full on Christmas.
Favorite Things (Sunny Side Up)

To full on disaster.

Favorite Things (Sunny Side Up)

To organized and clean once again.  Knowing that I won’t be able to really clean much for a month has put me into hyper overdrive and I have seriously made my house shine from top to bottom.  (Favorite cleaning supplies and tips here.)  Which is ridiculous because after two days of me being down it will be a complete disaster again.  But oh well.  I feel better knowing it’s clean.  I have so many projects to share with you all!  And the good news is that I’ll have plenty of time to share them.  Blogging/computer work is basically all I can do for the next month.

So get ready to get tired of me. ;)

Favorite Things (Sunny Side Up)

I do have a litte bit of Christmas cheer still lingering!  I displayed our Christmas cards on my shiplap display wall and then put the overflow around my office door.  I usually leave my Christmas cards up through February.  They make me happy. :)  (They are all attached with blue painters tape.)

Favorite Things (Sunny Side Up)

Remember the little closet in my mudroom?  (That I affectionately call my hobbit closet.) :)

Favorite Things (Sunny Side Up)

You can see how it’s organized here.  I use it to store pool stuff and luggage and I use a laundry basket to corral miscellaneous bags.

Favorite Things (Sunny Side Up)

I added this bin just inside the closet door to hold things I need to return.  A return bin!  Such a simple thing but I’m loving it!  I always have returns.. clothes I ordered that didn’t fit the girls, home decor that I brought home and didn’t love, etc.  Now I have a place to put them all together (out of the way) so that when I’m running errands they are all in one spot and easy to grab before I head out the door.  Thought I’d share that idea in case any of you would benefit from a return bin too!

Favorite Things (Sunny Side Up)

Speaking of my mudroom, after I cleaned it all out for the new year I laid down this gorgeous new rug!  So pretty.  I love the deep blue and the pattern.  Plus it’s so soft and was on sale!  Nothing like a clean space with a new rug for the  new year. :)  (You can see how I organize my mudroom here.  My Hunter boots are also on sale!)

Couple of other recent favorites..

Favorite Things (Sunny Side Up)

I love these reclaimed wood shelves and they are such a great deal.  I’m trying to figure out where I can put them!

Favorite Things (Sunny Side Up)

During my crazier than usual cleaning spree this past week I realized it has been way too long since I bought new dishcloths.  I did a little searching on-line and found these from Williams Sonoma.  So cute right!?  They come in lots of fun colors.  I went straight for the black and white stripes and coral.  But you knew that. :)

Favorite Things (Sunny Side Up)

My mom gave me and my brother and sister these beautiful glass Gratitude Jars for Christmas.  They were part of Oprah’s Favorite Things on Amazon (did you all see her round-up.. so many fun things!).  They sold out fast but I thought I’d share them because you can obviously use any jar to do this with your family (I’ll link to some other options).  We are all writing down one thing we are grateful for each day this year.  It has been such a fun family activity!  Kenny and I sometimes forget and the kids remind us. :)  I’ve loved reading the sweet things they write down.  I’m trying to decide if we’ll share some of them together once every month.. or maybe in November around Thanksgiving it would be fun to read them together?  Still figuring out the details, but for now they are helping each of us focus on something GOOD every day.  Love that.  BEST gift mom!

Grateful for you. ;)

Favorite Things (Sunny Side Up)

I’m also grateful for my fireplace this month because is has been chilly!  I know.. not so chilly to some of you (low 60’s and we are in full on winter mode around here!) but regardless, I love getting my kids off to school and then coming home and putting on my favorite cardigan and turning on the fireplace.  Sometimes I sit here with my computer and work until my back is burning. :)
Favorite Things (Sunny Side Up)

For Christmas Kenny and I gave each other this 10 piece Stainless-Steel cookware set.

Favorite Things (Sunny Side Up)

These pots and pans are SO beautiful.  And SO intimidating.  Ha!  Seriously though.. I don’t dare use them!  They are still sitting in my cupboards just looking shiny and gorgeous!  I feel like I’ll start cooking with them and let them down.

Favorite Things (Sunny Side Up)

Couple of things we’ve been eating on repeat.. made with our old pots and pans.  My favorite Taco Salad.

Favorite Things (Sunny Side Up)

And this White Bean Chili Soup.  Perfect to eat next to the fireplace until your back burns.

Favorite Things (Sunny Side Up)

And on a random side note since we’re talking food.. I’m loving this new to me microwave bacon!  Seriously.. genius!  I love bacon once in a while with eggs for breakfast but never make it because of the mess.  Not with these babies!  Pop a pouch in the microwave for 3 minutes and done!  Perfect crispy bacon ready to eat.  NO cooking.  NO mess.  I’m a fan.

Favorite Things (Sunny Side Up)

{table/similar chairs/fiddle leaf fig/basket/rug}

I’m already really missing our mellow evenings over Christmas break.  I loved just being home together as a family.  My husband can get stir crazy during long vacations, but not me.  Having my whole family home just hanging out together is my favorite thing.  Kole got a chess set for Christmas and none of us can beat him.  We’ve all given up trying. :)

Favorite Things (Sunny Side Up)

{family room rug/Ugg slippers/black striped pillow}

The girls and I started watching Gilmore Girls over the break and they are loving it.  I am too.. even better the second time around. :)  We are also loving our new Ugg slippers.  SO cozy and they are 40% off!  We keep trying to squeeze in an episode each night in-between activities but life is busy once again!  Although I don’t think that will be a  challenge for me next month.

Bring on Netflix. And another ice pack. ;)

Favorite Things (Sunny Side Up)

I’ve been getting lots of hair questions lately!  Mostly about what shampoo/conditioner I use.  I’ve tried SO many different brands and about a year ago I landed on my favorite. (Part of my shower for those of you who have asked to see it too.) ;)

Favorite Things (Sunny Side Up)

I use Moroccanoil Hydrating Shampoo and the Hydrating Conditioner.  They make my hair so shiny and smooth and I love the smell!  So does my husband – double win. :)  I’ve always loved Moroccanoil but never thought about trying their shampoo/conditioner until the girl who does my hair recommended it.  I’ve been hooked ever since!

Favorite Things (Sunny Side Up)

Speaking of hair care, my sweet husband surprised me with this Dyson hair dryer for Christmas.  Crazy expensive hair dryer with amazing reviews.  I was so excited!  I thought it was going to revolutionize my life and take my usual 20 minutes of hair drying time down to 10.  But you guys.. I don’t love it!  It’s VERY lightweight which is so nice, but I don’t feel like it dries my hair that much faster.  And it makes my hair feel a little straw like?  I’m so sad!  I really wanted to love it.  Do any of you have it?  Wondering if it’s just me because I’ve heard nothing but good things about this hair dryer.  I think I’m going to return it.   :(

Favorite Things (Sunny Side Up)

But so sweet of him for thinking of my hair care needs. ;)  Pic from our last trip to Utah with shade over Kenny’s face but I wanted to share this favorite sweater I love and keep wearing over and over so he has to take one for the team. ;)

Favorite Things (Sunny Side Up)

I was twinning with my niece.  Missing that sweet baby so much right now!  She’s my favorite of ALL the favorites. :)

Well!  I have to go.  I think I’m going to walk up and down my stairs a few times since I won’t be able to do that for a month.

I’ll be back!  A little out of it with LOTS to share.

Get ready for a party.

:)

{SOURCES BELOW.. YOU CAN ALSO FIND ALL OF THESE THINGS AND MORE THAT I’M LOVING RIGHT NOW ON MY FAVORITES PAGE.}  *affiliate links used




xoxo, Erin

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