three {part 2}

while the paint was drying on the bookcase & shelves i moved onto designing the boxes where the shoes would live.  these particular boxes i see all over, target, osh, lowes, k-mart etc.  they are awesome, inexpensive and come in so many colors.  i have used them all over my house {look for future posts} & with the genius brain of my mother, have figured out a way for a label to adhere.  i chose the black boxes for this room because i thought they looked a little more formal & i loved them with the dark gray of the bookcase.

my 2 little guys do not read yet so i thought the best way for them to identify which bin was theirs was to add a picture of them.  i printed out 3 black & white photos and using double sided tape, taped them to brightly colored scrapbook paper.  i then fed them through my xyron label maker to laminate them.

*side note:  the xyron was a birthday present to myself last year & i have used it so many times, it's paid for itself.  it is amazing! it laminates & makes just about anything into a sticker  or a magnet.  i cannot say enough about it!  the day i brought it home i took a picture and pined it onto pinterest.  the next week i got an email from xyron thanking me for pining it & they sent me 3 free boxes of laminate, sticker & magnet supplies!  so cool.

so i cannot take credit for the method of adhering the labels... that was all my momma.  because i always laminate my labels, they tend to be too slick to stick to most surfaces.  i tried hot glue, tacky, elmers & gorilla glue.  they would just peel off.  my mom's idea was to use a hole punch on the corners of the labels, then on the actual box, make a small hole & put a brad through! brilliant! they work perfectly & look so finished.


now i could have been done but i was so inspired by the inspiration photo, that i wanted to add some more color to the bookcase.  using paper from the same pad that the pictures are backed on, i chose 4 different but similar patterns, also very brightly colored.  i covered the back of the bookcase & each of the 2 shelves.  i just used regular elmers glue.

it fit perfectly behind our front door & i don't mind our boots neatly stacked next to it.  doesn't the paper look so cute?  i could not have been more pleased!

we decided that the hubbs shoes are way too big for a bin & he doesn't really mind anyway, so the 4th bin is for me {i just haven't added my pic yet lol}  we are now going into week 2 with our new system... i cannot believe what a difference it has made!  no tearing through a huge bin only to not find a match plus the kids LOVE it & love using it.  i must admit i have a few more pairs of shoes {ummm, like 50, ouch} that live upstairs in neat shoe boxes in my closet, but this bin is for the shoes i wear everyday ie. flip-flops, converse, toms etc.

how do you keep your kids' shoes?

three {part 1}

as i have mentioned before, i have 3 kiddos... therefore, 976,087,672 pairs of shoes.  i have gone back and forth trying to figure out the best way to contain these and not tear my hair out looking for matching pairs, certain requested shoes etc.  i have scoured the internet and pinterest looking for creative ways for them to be stored.  

not too many homes in california are blessed with mud rooms, so i have to use my front entry hall as a substitute. 

my first attempt was this large, wicker trunk my mom gave us.  it used to 'house' blocks, but they never played with them, so i thought it was the perfect fit for shoes.  plus i didn't mind the way it looked in our entry & it closed.  perfect! well not so much.  this ended up being the bain of our existence.  the 'shoe basket'... what this would end up becoming, was a huge mess of shoes on the floor whenever someone went hunting for a particular pair.  the basket was too big.  it was just impossible to actually find a pair.

my second attempt was using the 'shoe basket' again, but this time keeping 3 small baskets inside, each child had their own bin.  this idea lasted about 2 days...

*side note: in addition to the horrid 'shoe basket' i also had a tin boot tray right by the front door which was just supposed to house our rain boots.  so in all, i had 2 different systems going at the same time, in the same room, about 5 feet from each other.  yea, not so pretty.  the boot tray itself is awesome.  but random shoes were now being dumped into either container, thus spreading the frustration.

thank god for the amazing pinning power of the family/friends i follow on pinterest, because this came across my computer.

gorgeous right?! i'm pretty sure this particular shelf has been pinned and re-pinned about a bajillion times.  plus when i went to redoux.blogspot.com i was instantly hooked.  she is amazing!

so my thought was that i could use the smaller bin idea but put them into a bookshelf!  plus i love anything i get to add pretty paper or fabric to spice it up.

i couldn't believe how lucky i got when i went searching for the bookcase.  the third thrift shop i went into, i found it, $18! & it just so happened that all furniture was 50% that day! what luck, $9 for a basic small bookcase.

the before picture i took somehow never made it from phone to computer... so you can see the original 80's yellowish colored wood in the back.  my entryway & living room are gray, so i thought to keep in the same pallet would fit best.  i went for spray paint.  the color i used was rust-oleum, ultra cover in dark gray gloss.  a good cleaning, a light sanding and i was good to go.  i bought 2 cans & still have most of can 2.

it came with 2 shelves, but i only needed one, so i just painted and put one of the shelves on the bottom, just in case i want to reuse the bookcase later on for something else.

*check back tomorrow for the rest of the project

two

so i didn't really realize how cheesy that first post sounded... wow... i guess i was just at a lack for words, oh well.

so, why the title 'a nest of mess'? well, i guess it's kinda catchy, plus i really do love birds.  like an obsession. not owning them or bird watching, but like on pillows, or wallpaper.  one of my best friends sent me this video, couldn't help but share it.  she loves to give me s*^t about my birds.  & the mess part? well, my home is a disaster; most of the time.  i do have three small birds {kids}.

enjoy.  it is hilarious.

one

this is my new year's resolution... yes, it is october 16th... but for me, being able to actually cross-off a resolution is pretty impressive.  my list contained a few things, most of which people list every year, 'go to the gym, loose weight, budget better, read more...' but my number one was this; this blog.

i have been an avid blog reader for many years.  actually started one about 6 years ago.  needless to say, it had one post.

fast-forward to 2012... i am a busy mom, wife, girl-scout leader, project engineer & on too many boards to write about.  pretty much everything for everyone else.  this blog is for me!

so who am i? well, i'm lindsay.  i have a masters degree i have never used, i currently work in the construction field.  when i am not at work, i am home with my three crazy, beautiful kids, grace 6, brody 3 & declan 4.  i hate to cook.  i hate to clean.  but having these three birds, makes the above mentioned nearly impossible.

as i said above, i have been reading & ogling over many, many blogs, which i hope to post my favs here.  i thought to myself... 'why can't i do this?' well, i am.

so, welcome to 'a nest of mess'.  what i hope for this blog is to share my favorite things, ideas, inspirations & dreams.  i love home design & organization & i hope this blog will inspire me to make my nest a place of organized beauty.  oh & maybe learn a little about cooking & cleaning along the way.