There was a space for a closet rod at the top – underneath that shelf. This could have been a secondary closet (we have another closet very close to this one)? There was a lot of wasted space for us. There was a top shelf and some shelves on the side. I thought horizontal shelves would be much better.

First, though, I had to move the cleaning stuff – broom, swifter, etc. Those were going to the garage (which is attached so not far away/inconvenient). I replaced another wood/bar combo and put up an “official” holder.

Then it was time to demo part of the inside and figure out what color I wanted.

The yellow seemed too drab when it was darker at night. But the blue – oh my! the blue! – looked great all times of the day.

So after demo was done, I did the first coat.

I was loving it! So I did a second coat. Then I added a twin track system from Home Depot with some nice crisp, white HORIZONTAL shelves. And finally, added an over-the-door organization system too.

I think it tripled our space. Seriously. I pulled stuff from another cabinet – so all similar items are in one place. It’s so nice and is going to change. my. life. when it comes to the grocery list. Seeing what I have? Yes, please!

Here you go, a final dramatic side-by-side.

What about you? Have any projects that are finally coming to fruition?

The post It’s My Pantry and I’ll Dance If I Want To! appeared first on Inspire Chi.

One of the reasons I decided to post this so late was because some of these ideas you could use for a birthday, other holiday or spring/summer in general.

Let’s start with my obsession – the centerpiece. If you follow me on instagram, you can get a sneak peak of how my mind works. I was playing around with things I had. Remembering my basic guidelines for a centerpiece – small, movable, able to be seen over if chatting across the table – I didn’t want to do candles since it was a brunch. Then I remembered I had these cute little favor boxes – which I used as favor boxes last year. Imagine that! This year I did something different with them.

I put them on a long silver platter I had with the bunny in the middle. I liked it. I used votive candle holders as small vases, added flowers and voila!

I thought it turned out great. The flowers lived for-eva! So what I ended up doing (wish I had taken a photo) is replace the bunny with a large candle. It looked very springy. This is an idea that you could use for a birthday party easily. A candle or large cardboard letter or even tall vase with candy could replace the bunny.

The table was set with bunny napkins and favors.

I had an excellent helper for the bunny napkins. I wanted to get Evan, my toddler, involved. He’s really into counting and any kind of craft, so this was a big hit. First I had him get 7 cotton balls. (So FUN!) Then I cut 7 pieces of wire paper ribbon to fit around a napkin. We glued the cotton balls on the ribbon…

Then folded the napkin like bunny ears. All I did here was fold it in half like a triangle and then roll starting from the center point. When it was a long roll, I just folded in half again until the ends met.

Then I wrapped the “tail” around the napkin. It was easy and I think looked adorable. Plus Evan had a great time telling everyone how he helped with them.

The next thing I did was create these mini candy terrariums that I had seen on pinterest. I just added some candy to the bottom and then a chocolate bunny and peep.

Where I ran into a snag was how to cover it. I don’t keep the lids when I save the jars (whoops!). I saw several people painted those so they looked uniform and that would have worked. I tried both tissue paper and wax paper – but they were hard to keep on while trying to tie them. Then I thought about tin foil. Worked perfectly.

I added a cute tag and that was that.

I also used the tag design on a large standing clothespin to let people know what candy was on the buffet.

The buffet also had “nest” brownies. I had looked (and pinned) a bunch of desserts. But when it came down to it I didn’t want to make time to do them. These were easy and cute. All you do is bake brownie bites and before they cool push them in the middle with your thumb to create an indent, which becomes the “nest.” Then when cool, add robin’s eggs or jelly beans.

I did see some that were more elaborate with edible grass. But again, time was an issue. These required very little “extra” time to be cute. And I also had a willing assistant.

You could incorporate this idea into almost any “themed” party. I was thinking toy cars would be cute for a child’s birthday. A real flower cut right at the bud and added on top would be elegant for an adult party. Or someone’s favorite candy. Endless possibilities.

It was wonderful to spend time with the family and ended up being such a wonderful day. It really started to get me jazzed for spring.

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The centerpiece.

A little decor for the kitchen.

And restroom.

The mantle. I found the banner online as a free template.

Above the armoire. That is a napkin inside a candle holder.

The buffet.

As per usual most of it I already had from year’s past. I did buy the ceramic bunny and make the Easter sign. Otherwise, they were things I had that I just rearranged.

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When we bought this house the former owner passed along some “historical” documents – like the original blueprints (!) and photos through the years. The blueprints were very helpful in determining the bagua layout. The photos spanned years – a few were taken as it was being built (1948) and some were later.

I decided it would be fun to add those to our decor. So I scanned, printed and hung them in our hallway.

I selected two of her being built and one from the 80’s because the car clearly indicated the time period.

We were lucky that the previous owners had saved them and passed them along to one another. We’ll have a few to share ourselves when the time comes.

They photos have been fun for people to see. There’s just something about seeing the “birth” of te house and then that Chevette!

Here are a few others:

There’s just something fun about seeing the history of the house. What about you? Do you have any historical photos of your house? Are they on display?

The post Honoring Margo appeared first on Inspire Chi.

I didn’t want to invest too much time, but I did settle on one project: vases that spelled “Lucky.”

I grabbed some free backgrounds from the web here and then used Publisher to make strips of them. I manipulated them slightly and then added one letter centered on each. The font I used was Imprint MT Shadow.

I just used tape to hold it in place. I lined the vases up side by side to make sure the letters were the same level. Then I used my trusty assistant to help me put green filler inside. Lastly, I added a few shamrocks and surrounded with a green boa.

I added some sparkle to the clock with a mini garland I had and balanced it with a glass of necklaces.

Then I changed up the table centerpiece with a green pitcher, some sparkly shamrocks and a hat, a ribbon and more green filler (so you couldn’t see the “sticks”).

Even the bathroom candle got an Irish influence (shamrock lei).

Even the gate got a little bit o’decor.

I like the added flair for the holiday. But what was really fun was having an adorable 3-year old, who happens to live with me (okay, my son), wake up from his nap and get so excited about the decorations. He even grabbed Daddy’s hand when he got home to give him the “tour” of the decor. Every. Single. One.

Do you decorate for St. Patrick’s Day?

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If you are looking for a new opportunity – job, relationship, hobby, etc. – check out what’s happening by your front door.

For more info, visit the Wind & Water School blog where I posted an article about that issue, as well as helpful hints.

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It was a trifle bowl with ornaments. Snowflakes went around the sides, then ball ornaments of different sizes went inside topped with a sparkly flower. The candle holders are recycled glass of some sort.

But for the Christmas meal, I wanted something different so I started checking out the web and came upon this inspiration photo:

As per usual, I did my own take.

I had the large vase, candle, fake cranberries and ribbon. I bought a fake silvered branch and copper-ish pine cones from Michael’s.

I cut up the branch using wire cutters and then just placed them in the vase surrounding the candle. Then added the pine cones and red berries and finished it off with the burlap and brown ribbon. It was missing “something” when I added it to the table, so I ended up grabbing a green plate for underneath. It made a difference!

As usual it met my requirements: low enough to see over, smallish to accommodate other food and easy to move.

I also ended up getting a little creative with place cards – which doubled as take-aways. Even though it wasn’t a large or formal dinner party, I decided to do them. I found this idea online – to take 3 candy canes and put them together. Some had glued them and some that had taped them. I went with the tape and printed out some cards and added names.

They turned out pretty cute, but they weren’t very stable. Also they were a challenge to tape together. So I probably wouldn’t go through the effort to make these again.

Although it’s past the season, I think this is another centerpiece that could be adapted for other seasons. Like adding flowers, sand or rocks in the summer, leaves in the fall, etc. Burlap is very versatile!

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Inspiration photo from Martha Stewart:

I ended up creating something similar:

I just started with some basics: silver/mirror-ish tray, votive candle holders, vases and ribbon.

I wrapped the ribbon and hot glued it, then put it on the candle holders. My theory here is the the ribbon could be removed/saved and the votives could be used in the meantime. I ended up burning my fingers (ouch!), so am not sure I’d do that again. I might just hot glue to the vase knowing it could be scraped off.

I then bought three bunches of flowers and arranged them in the vases.

I made two of these and gave one to a friend who was hosting Thanksgiving and then brought one to our hosts, my in-laws.

I was pleased with how they turned out. I think the ribbon added the touch is needed since the tray I used didn’t have the contrast the inspiration photo did.

I think this could be easily adapted to any time of year, just change out the flowers and ribbon. Or maybe even forgo the ribbon.

Next up: Christmas centerpiece.

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