T-Shirts, Keychains and Home Improvements

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!  Its been hot and humid all weekend here but despite that, we had fun.  My parents and sister came up for a visit n' lunch and to see all the improvements we've made to the house so naturally, I had to give the house a good scrubbing first.  That was a barrel full of fun while sweating bullets.  But it needed to be done, especially after all the work we've done downstairs and all the dust that kicked up.  I love that feeling of kicking back and relaxing after you know everything is nice and clean.  I also got the spring cleaning bug and donated a bunch of clothes and tossed a lot of things that I haven't used at all since we moved into the house.  Wished I'd tossed that stuff before moving, would have saved me some lifting!  

My first issue of Real Simple magazine came in the mail on Saturday.  I love this magazine and got a free subscription from the points we've earned on My Coke Rewards.  I couldn't wait to get started on some of the ideas from the magazine!  DBF cut a piece of wood to fit inside one of our dresser drawers and I rolled up all my t-shirts, using the wood as a divider to keep the sections separate.  I have enough room to roll a second layer of shirts on top and this was I can see everything I have all at once.  What a clever idea!

Da boyfriend and I went to a craft fair over the weekend and I spotted this beautiful key chain. Isn't the pattern gorgeous?  

On to the improvements!  I'm so happy that the whole first level of the house is finally done.  Well except for the bathroom, but that's going to be several years before we're able to afford to redo it.  The closet doors are still up, we're going to switch them 

Before...

and AFTER!  The carpeting over the nasty tile floor has made a world of difference.  It actually feels nice to walk on the floor now!  And the light blue paint really brightened up the room.  I love the contrast of the moulding against the paint.

Before....

and AFTER!  Isn't this bench adorable?  We picked it up from Bed, Bath & Beyond and the coat rack is from Christmas Tree Shops.  This whole level is so happy and cheerful now.  And cool, the tile floor under the carpet keeps the floor refreshingly cool to the touch.  It feels like this level is air conditioned.  Its not so nice in the winter, but for now, it feels wonderful.

I've had this little table for years, picked it up at AC Moore forever ago.  Its the first thing you see when you walk up the stairs and is a great place for keys, mail, junk from your pockets, etc.

I don't think I ever took a before picture of this part of the room, but there used to be a door at the base of these stairs.  We think the previous owners had turned the house into a mother/daughter and put in the door to give this level a little privacy.  It was handy when doing demo, we could easily block Shadow and Gigi from coming downstairs and being in the way.  But it blocked the light switch there on the wall and was a pain in the ass, so off it went.  Such little changes that make such a huge difference!