Organized Linen Closet - Take One

I read recently that you shouldn't store your medications in your bathroom because of the humidity and how it can lose its effectiveness and also how the chemistry of the medication can change into something harmful. So today I decided to overhaul my bathroom medicine cabinets and store most of those items in our hallway linen closet. Well when I got to my linen closet, I realized I had another problem entirely. I need to get more organized.... everywhere!!

 I made a list of the main categories of stuff I wanted to store here. I removed all of the items from the smallest shelf and got to work sorting them into the clear plastic containers. I had these in my craft room containing lots of random things, so this would be a much better use for them.

I made some fun chevron labels and printed them out with my categories, mounted them to cardstock and taped them to the front of each container.

 There, much better. At least now my husband will be able to find things now too!

Below is a link to the chevron labels I made for this project-free for you to use for your own projects. Happy organizing!
                                                             Linen closet labels- blank
                                                           Linen closet labels with text

Thrift Store: Owl Lamp Makeover

A few weeks ago I made a stop at my local Goodwill. I don't get there often and its pretty picked over most of the time. The store had moved into a smaller space a few years ago and doesn't have much room to look around. I am always bumping elbows with other customers, annoying. On this particular day I did nab one item that 2 people tried to steal away from me before I even got to the register! It was an old, ugly, retro owl lamp, everything I love!! My kids have both grown up in our owl inspired nursery and I just have a love for them.

In all her original glory, (yes......her, you can't have an owl lamp with this much personality and not give it a name, Elsie) she would have looked great in a completely retro den but I wanted it to fit into my eclectic retro/modern craft room.  I have about 3 styles going on in most of the rooms of my home so it isn't hard to find or make an object and add it to any space. But even this called for a touch of paint and new shade of some sort!

So I gathered my ideas:

1. Modern look of a retro piece = owl needed to be painted

2. I wanted some bold colors but maybe not the whole thing = new fabric shade

3. I wanted to make sure that if somewhere down the road I wanted to move her to a new room, I could       easily add a new shade and she would fit in = neutral base color

So I began by cutting the off white disposable plastic tablecloth thingy that was tied with gold pipe cleaners. I set that aside and spray painted her glossy white. While she was drying, I gathered up my long, skinny scrap fabric piece and began tying them between each of the vertical wires. This part took the longest, like way, WAY longer than I originally thought. But in the end, it was all worth it!!

In the end I added a new The Original Vintage Style Bulb from Lowes. I thought it would look great peeking through the fabric.