Mail and Key Rack.

We have a problem with flat surfaces in our house. They seem to be a magnet for EVERYTHING. The built in cabinet and shelving unit that's in our living room, right by the front door is especially problematic. Mail, photos, ads, library books, pens, wallets, phone, receipts, cash-you name it, it ends up there. As part of our major decluttering effort that we've been undertaking since the N-boy arrived home we've been trying to clear it off and make it look nicer.

The first step was to clear off the shelves of all the random and haphazardly piled books. But we still had to deal with the problem of mail, receipts and keys. We spent some time looking around on Etsy and Pinterest to get some ideas (domesticity at it's finest here people) figured out a rough idea of what we wanted. 

Then, during my festive evening out with Andy, I found this little guy in the dollar spot. 

The N-boy loved it. So from there we headed out to Meijer, Target and finally Michael's to see if we could put something together. We ended with up a picture frame, chalkboard paint, three drawer pulls and this cute little wooden conversation bubble.

A little spray paint and glue and we got here. 

Here's the final product! We're super happy with how it turned out and so far it seems to be working great. Each day when I come home and hang up my keys there's a new message waiting for me from the N-boy, and sometimes the owl's eyes move to look somewhere else!

Next up... we continue to work on the entry way. We're looking to better corral our sunglasses, coats and bags.

Do you have any creative ideas to organize your entry way? 

Weekend Recap-Things we didn't buy.

The N-boy and I had a pretty good weekend, with some business but also some time to hang out and get things done around the house.

We started the weekend with date night on Friday, going to see Brave at the theater.

Saturday we did a lot of running around doing errands and on the hunt for some DIY project idea items. We're working on going through some of the cluttered areas of our house and finding better ways to store things. One of the areas we wanted to work on is the front coat closet, where we also store shoes, hats, scarves, and bags. Unfortunately we didn't find anything to help with that project, but we did find quite a few things we didn't buy even though they would have been highly festive.

Our best didn't buy finds were at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. 

What I wanted: a thread and zipper rack from Walmart. 

This definitely got me the eye roll from the N-boy. 

What the N-boy wanted: an old school sign about carpal tunnel. 

Admittedly, he did want to make it say something else, but still. 

Sunday we spent a relaxing day at home sorting through various areas in the house. We worked in the front closet, the N-boy's office and my office. We also decided to do a major purge of our paper files (which were in great disarray) and shredded a ton of paper. We also decided to start scanning and then shredding the bills that come in after they're paid to avoid getting into this situation about. This whole purge and shred adventure was actually quite calming once we got into it, although a little stressful and emotional at times. 

What was the best part of your weekend?