DIY Idea: Rolling Basket

I came across this lovely basket by C.S. Post & Co. on Pinterest, and of course my first thought was "surely I could make that." I love the generous size, and I know Elliot would enjoy pushing her toys from room too room (she does it anyway, so the basket may as well have wheels!).

I later spotted this basket at HomeGoods and think it is a lovely candidate for a DIY version. I've been looking for attractive and affordable baskets for toys for months, so had I not just -- literally days before -- spent $60 on a pair of baskets from the Privet Home for Target collection (which seems to not be available online anymore), I would have snapped it up.

Then then seriously considered adding a set of these lovely brass casters to it.

Office to Guest Bedroom, Part 1: The Closet

In the process of making the guest bedroom the baby's room, we had to deal with the office. Since we were consolidating the two rooms, these were the priorities:

1. Closet space and a dresser for Wes. Our bedroom has a single closet. It's just not happening.

2. A place for guests to sleep. We have family and friends out of town so this is essential.

3. A smaller desk area. We made a skirted desk not long ago, but there wasn't room to keep it and bring in the bed. Admittedly, the desk didn't get much use, but we still needed a dedicated bill-paying station and a spot for our laptop (other than the dining room table).


First up was the closet. Wes has been using it, so it got a good clean-out, a fresh paint job, and a better arrangement to accommodate some of the things that were in the desk and elsewhere in the room.

We swapped a small, low dresser for the one that was in the guest bedroom. The small dresser is finding a new home at my sister's house.


The closet needed doors, and since we put the dresser in front of it, there wasn't really space for anything but a curtain. I made a simple one out of a drop cloth from Lowe's ($9.48) and a tension rod from Target ($3). I still haven't mastered my sewing machine so I just used iron-on hem tape.

On the wall that used to host the small dresser (the larger one couldn't go there with the bed in the room), I finally hung the warbler prints I've had for a few months. The frames are simple ones from Target ($16.99 each) that I painted with leftover trim paint (Bennington Gray by Benjamin Moore).

Summer Break is Over

I didn't intentionally take a summer break from the blog, but I may as well have! Now that I am back from a week on the beautiful Gulf Coast (not a drop of oil in sight!) I feel like it's back to school time, and thus, time for a better routine, which will again include blogging.


But my break wasn't all fun and games. One afternoon I walked outside to find a huge tree had fallen through our fence in the backyard. The tree was dead and it only took out one section of the fence, so after a day with the chainsaw and leftover boards (and lots of water deliveries from me), Wes had the backyard as good as new.


We've also been busy making room for baby. I'm a few days shy of the half-way point and starting to feel like it's time to see some progress. I've gotten three of our five closets cleaned out, and we rearranged and got rid of some furniture this weekend. And, of course, we've added some, like this flea-mall high chair, which I've added to my needs-a-paint-job list. More to come on these projects!

Entry Envy

Our little house has major entry issues. Mainly, the lack of one. The front door opens into the living room, the back door opens into the kitchen, and neither space has the spot for the "command center" we could really use. Just a place to hide dirty work boots and pile of mail would be an improvement! In my mind, these three ladies and their functional and cute entries have it made.

Julie of Milk and Honey Home is new to the blogosphere (thanks for the introduction, Sissy), but her blog is fast becoming one of my favorites. Her home is decorated in such a personal and fun way, it's hard not to love it. The cheerful green door (Georgian Green by Benjamin Moore) and beautiful wallpaper (from Home Depot!) give it personality but I'm thinking that those baskets under the console could hide a multitude of sins. And of course, the lighting and mirror are fabulous as well.


Paula from Two Ellie shared her updated entry earlier today, and again I was struck by how functional and attractive it is. Even a total pile looks great in a cute metal basket!


And Seleta's foyer really takes the cake. I can only imagine the amount of stuff that a busy household with four kiddos generates, but it looks like she's got it under control. She had her cabinet-maker put together the shelf and bench when he did her kitchen, and the hanging files came from the Ballard Designs outlet. You can find more of the sources for the smaller items on her blog.

So thanks, ladies! You have inspired me to come up with something to do about our mail-and-shoe mess.