I don’t know the name of the company that was selling these, but I found the photo above here which is exactly what I saw while I was driving.  How cool would this be for a kid’s playhouse?  I have to feel some sense of deja vu while writing this because for my eleventh birthday, I believe, my dad, who is a carpenter, built me a playhouse which was basically a pretty storage shed with three windows added and a door.  He even added a little porch to it.  Now my parents use it as a garden shed.  I loved playing in it.  I bought everything for it at garage sales (a cot, art, a rug, some kitchenware, etc.) and even was given an old-fashioned desk to use in it by my great uncle.  It was everything a little girl could dream of, so when I saw these awesome sheds with the lighthouses I couldn’t help but file them away for future reference when I have kids. 

Heck, I may even buy one for myself one day as a quiet retreat!  I’m hoping the little girl inside of me never dies and I just keep on dreaming!

Would you ever build or buy one of these for a child in your life?  Did you have a playhouse or treehouse growing up?

Here is how it was organized to begin with:

Left side

Right Side

Here are photos of what it looked like before I organized it.  I left it exactly as is because I wanted you to see how I really use it and also because I was too lazy to pick it up before I was going to tear everything out anyway.

View of left side.  I put that pink vintage apron over some of the shelves because I thought it would make it look pretty.  It just made it look even more cluttered.  My clothes actually are very organized by type (tops, bottoms), cut (long sleeve, short sleeve, tank top, skinny jean, bermuda shorts, etc.), and color, but they layout of the closet made them look disorganized since they can be easily viewed upon entering. This is what the floor always looks like.  I couldn’t fit my flip flops and some old shoes in the shoe rack so I put them in a small tub.  I’m trying to get myself to get rid of the scale, but it hasn’t happened yet.  The small piles of clothes are clothing that I rewear, such as work out clothes (why clean them when I’m just going to get sweaty again the next day?) and jeans that I didn’t stretch out or spill anything on.

If I had a wide angle lens, I could show you the whole right side.  This is basically what it looks like.  Above the shoe rack is the memo board.  Between the shoe rack and green canvas nighstand are reusable bags that I sometimes remember to take with me when I go shopping.  On the nightstand is my jewelry box and a bag full of belts, and above that is a garment bag hanging from the top shelf.

Basically the problem was not that I didn’t have enough storage, but that the location of the storage was not working and I needed a place to get some of the things off the floor.

I started by taking everything out besides what was on the top shelves that are still disorganized and will be saved for a later time that will probably not be worth writing about.

Pretty!  Wish I could leave it like that.  By the way, the closet is green because that was the color my walls were before I painted them the light tan.  There was no point taking apart the closet system to repaint a small closet.  Plus, it’s a breath of fresh air!

Out all the clothing, shoes, and accessories went.  Don’t look at it too long – it’s embarrassing and it kind of disgusts me.  Moving on!

Thankfully I have a lower end closet system.  I say this because it means I can move things around really easily.  I ended up flipping the layout of the left side so that the hanging clothing moved to the far side of the wall and no longer smack me when I walk through the door.  Unfortunately now all of the tops are facing the wrong direction, but I’m going to let that slide.

I got rid of one of the shelves and left more room to stack t-shirts, camis, and pajama bottoms.  I also moved the bag of belts to this side because there was some extra space.

I moved a hanging basket under the lowest shelf next to the hanging bottoms to put the clothes I rewear so they no longer sit on the floor.  I keep extra hangers to the left of that and any bags beneath that.  I still need to put them in a tub.

The right side is almost the same except I got rid of the memo board with the pictures (it was too much for such a small space) and replaced the standing shoe rack with a hanging canvas shoe organizer I had stored in the basement.  Because the shelf on this side is so high and I am so short, I had to hang the canvas shoe organizer off of a wire basket I hung from the long shelf but I ended up using that to store the purses so it all worked out really well.  Now that the shoe rack is gone, I can fully open the door and check myself out in the mirror.  Ha!

And a view of the whole thing:

  Much better!  You can see I kept the tub of flip flops and my tennis shoes, but I organized them much better.  I got the scale out of there so that I can give it to a friend or find a better place to store it so that I’m not using it every day.

I’m very pleased with how it all turned out.  When I step inside, it feels so much bigger and there is nothing on the floor that could get in my way.  Although I didn’t get rid of anything during this less is more project, I organized my small closet so that it no longer looks like there is a ton of stuff that cannot be effectively stored.  I should go through my closet again and donate a few items, but for now, this project was enough to satisfy me.  And I did it all in one afternoon!  And this isn’t to say that this closet is perfect.  I am working with a budget which means I didn’t buy anything new.  I could have bought nice wooden hangers to replace the mismatched plastic ones I have (if I had money), but really that would defeat the purpose of living with less because I would be adding more.  I love it the way it is and can now focus on other areas of my life.  That is exactly what I set out to do with this series.

Is your closet performing to its full potential?

Because Rochester is an older town that is still growing, there are tons of options for house styles and areas.  Today I want to share with you one of my favorite neighborhoods.  Growing up, my parents would drive me around what they called “Pill Hill” which is where the rich doctors traditionally lived that worked at Mayo.  The lower area by the Apache Mall is nicknamed “Aspirin Flats” with smaller, more affordable houses, in a nice quiet neighborhood.  The houses on Pill Hill remind me a lot of the houses you can find in the southern part of St. Paul and Minneapolis along the Mississippi that I have featured in past neighborhood tours.  They are old, but most of them have been updated and they are gorgeous (and definitely expensive).

Take a look:

The one above is spectacular – it is either brand new to fit with the rest of the neighborhood or was majorly renovated.  Either way, I love it!

Gorgeous, right?  I definitely could fit right in in this neighborhood.  Unfortunately as a future English teacher and San in the food industry, we don’t see doctor salaries in our future.  But that’s definitely okay with me.  I’ll take cute and cozy over huge and polished!  I’ll just make sure to stop by every once in a while and keep dreaming. :)

I hope you enjoyed this short tour of just a small bit of what Pill Hill, and Rochester in general, has to offer!

I’m a huge fan of vintage-inspired clothing, but most of the secondhand stores I can afford to shop in do not offer very much vintage clothing in my size, to my tastes, and in my price range, if they offer any at all.  I stick to buying mostly basics and more business clothing (for when I am teaching or presenting for classes and need to dress up) which need little embellishments. 

I decided not to buy strictly from secondhand stores recently when I was on the prowl for a cute skirt that could go from casual to semi-formal in a flash.  I wanted something with a pattern, preferably a floral pattern since I can never get enough of them, and also wanted it to hit just above my knee since my petite frame makes wearing skirts any longer or shorter a big no-no most of the time.  I searched secondhand stores but couldn’t find anything that fit my tastes.  So, I headed to regular clothing stores.  After a couple months of looking around occasionally, I still came up short.  I was ready to give up.

A couple weeks ago, I wandered into Charlotte Russe, one of my favorite stores when I am not buying secondhand.  I was blown away at how much vintage-inspired clothing there was.  The store was completely remodeled, so I think it has had a new design in the clothing as well, but am not sure.  I planned on just trying a few things on “just to see how things looked.”  Well ladies, you should know the rest of the story!  I found the perfect skirt without even looking!  Take a look:

Lace Inset Floral Skirt

On me, it hits just above my knees and sits slightly below my belly button, so I can wear it as a high-waisted skirt with a shirt tucked into it or let a shirt hang over it and still look good.  I love the floral pattern and the little band of lace.  Plus, it has a dark black lining on underneath, so I don’t have to worry about it being transparent.  For me, it was a lot of money, but really $22.50 for a gorgeous skirt I can wear out with my friends, on a date with San, or even to a wedding is a bargain in my book.  It even comes in another color if you are interested:

I can’t wait to have a reason to wear it!  Lately I’ve been doing a lot of working and not much else (you don’t see many Subway employees sporting a cute floral skirt), so I need to make plans with some friends or find time to meet up with San for a fun date night!  Too bad my legs don’t look as good as the models (I’m much to pale and short), but the skirt should take the attention away, right?  Just nod and agree! :)

What is your favorite clothing item that switches from day to night in a pinch or can easily be worn casually or for a more formal occasion?

I thought they would be a great addition to all the kitchen supplies I’ve been collecting for my studio apartment.  They only cost $19.99 as well, which means I could actually afford them.  However, while at Target earlier this week, I came across this seven piece ceramic canister set at an even more affordable price:

It is made by Room Essentials, who make a lot of affordable products mainly aimed at young poor college students like me.  These canisters are perfect – they are white (so they match everything), they create a great airtight seal so nothing inside will spoil and they come with sleek stainless steel scoopers.  And seriously, those little ones are so cute I may not even put anything in them but keep them out on display anyway!  And it all only put me back $15!  Nice!  Here they are in my mom’s kitchen:

The best part about these is that for a tiny bit of cash, I have bought a quality set that could possibly last me the rest of my life.  I can’t get enough of quality at low prices and since they are a neutral color, they will never go out of style.  If you are need of some canisters, you should consider these because they are a great buy at a great price.

What has been your best purchase lately?  Have you bought anything that has outlasted its worth based on the price?

Note: No brands or products mentioned in this post are affiliated with this blog.  I could not get enough of the great quality and super low price of these and couldn’t wait to share it with all of you!