Closet inspiration - organizing jewelry

While half my friends sit without power or heat, I shoulder on with my regularly scheduled programming of nonsense.

However, especially in chaos there is a certain comfort to a tidy drawer. When I'm stressed, nothing restores mental order like folding the scarves.

 

Don't you feel better already?

Images: A House in the Hills via Sadie and Stella's Pinterest, Better Homes & Gardens, Cheetah is the New Black, Elle Decor, Everything Fabulous, Everything Fabulous, Hilary Inspired, A House in the Hills, Houzz, Made by Girl via Inside-Out Design, The Paris Apartment, The Glitter Guide via Thanks I Made it, The Glitter Guide, The Zhush, The Makers Project, The Zhush, The Zhush.

After the storm

Our neighborhood is quiet today except for the sound of chainsaws and the mayor's helicopter. We are fortunate to be on high ground and in a neighborhood with electricity and relatively stable Internet and phone service. Trees, branches and leaves are down everywhere.

The park in front of us flooded as did neighboring DUMBO. Yours truly had her head under a pillow during the worst of it.

Best wishes to everybody cleaning up.

Closet inspiration - organizing shoes and purses

I've been stuck at home, first with a sniffle and now with Sandy. When the going gets tough, the tough style their closets. Here's a little inspiration to get you started if you are trapped indoors, too.

Images: House Beautiful, Matchbook, Elle Decor, Fresh Home, Houzz, Unknown, theberry.com

Our DIY tree planters

This is really completely Mr. Bromeliad's DIY. My sole contribution was measuring and marking some wood.

The highly resourceful Mr. Bromeliad set off for Home Depot one Saturday morning when he came across a deck being torn out. He picked up the discarded treated wood and never went to Home Depot.

Below you see the rustic conditions under which an urban DIYer must work. Mr. B used a hand saw for his cuts, a paintbucket as as table and his lap as a sawhorse. (A friend with power tools did the top piece for us as shown above. It was impossible to cut the angles with a hand saw, not for lack of trying.)

Now both of our big shrubs are snug for the winter.

Are you still enjoying outdoor spaces where you are?

DIY gold and lace roundup

Lace, paper, gold leaf, gold paint and tape are all you need for these impressive-looking projects.

 

Lace containers by Suzonne at Urban Comfort, doily cuff at Burda Style, gold confetti dish by Casey at Vitamini Handmade, gold paper mache bowls by Kelli Murray, gold chevron art by Jess Lively, gold wall design by Alecia Stenseth at Design*Sponge.

Dress your dummy

 

It's autumn, and that means pumpkin spice lattes, turning leaves and closet cleaning. Woo hoo.

 

To get you going, here's some inspiration for storing your jewelry, belts and jackets on a dress form from Kelly Framel and Vogue.

 

No dress form or space for one? Then consider a bust like these from The Glitter Guide, Love Maegan and Kelly Framel.

 

My mom has two dummies (not including me and Dad.) One lives in the barn and the other, a bust, lives in the garage and never fails to creep me out.

 

Mom, you should drag those inside and dress them up. You totally have the jooolz for it. 



Making house plants cool again

Here's something low impact for a cloudy Monday morning. I came across a back issue of Martha Stewart Living and had to pass on mod bromeliads for home decor.

See more frumpy house plants turned hip from Kevin Sharkey at marthastewart.com.

My DIY dish towel art

If you're looking for some bold graphical easy-to-do cheap art, take a look at kitchen linens.

I made this artwork with a $6 dishtowel from West Elm and a thrifted poster frame.

You'll also need a big piece of white paper or poster board cut to fit your frame and doublesided tape to hold the tea towel in place. Iron it. Center it and tape it down. Then get your spouse to help you reassemble the frame because you are a klutz.

While World Market and Anthropologie sometimes have cool napkins and dishtowels that are frameworthy, my favorite is still West Elm. Consider the Brushstrokes Tea Towel below, now on sale for $6.

Or I'm also really liking the Stamped Oval Tea Towel, which is currently $9. You could do a whole room around this.

So, you may say that's nice, Bromeliad. But why don't you hang your cheapo art on the wall?

Because it's being used to cover this low-rent mess.Does anyone know why cables are always black when nobody has black walls or outlets?

Those fish hide a world of ugliness.