It's Become an Addiction

My name is Tamara and I'm addicted to organizing/decorating.

This is a new phenomenon for me, one that my husband is whole-heartedly supporting. After joining Nester's 10 Minute Makeover party and sprucing up my master bathroom, I spent the weekend making the family room, hall closet and Charleigh's room more 'imperfectly beautiful.'

I would have liked to get more done, but I had to take a few breaks for a birthday party, cookout and church. Cake, Steak and the Good Lord...can't beat that!

Anyway, back to the makeovers. I started with the family room on Saturday. Here's a few befores. It's a fairly large room (20 x 20) but with built in bookshelves and a crazy counter (more on that in a few minutes...don't go away, I need your help!) it's not my favorite space to arrange or decorate.

We started by rearranging the furniture and I must say I think this is my favorite layout so far. Then I decluttered everything and put all our junk in its rightful place (which I must admit for more things than not was the garbage!). Then after a quick trip to Wal-Mart (hey, we live in a small Southern town and Target has not graced our presence yet, there's one close but not here at home) I put out some new pillows, some artificial greenery (brownery?) and then rearranged pictures and other knick-knacks from around the house. Finally, I added a floor lamp to add some soft light and I must say I was pretty pleased with the end result.

Sunday afternoon saw me tackling the hall closet. I'm almost too embarassed to even show you the before. I would like to say I was raised better, and I was...but I also get it honestly.

My mama organized this for me a couple years ago when she was visiting (thanks Mama!) but since then it's gone back to the catch all closet. All I did in here was pull it all out, get rid of stuff we don't and won't use and organize the rest. Not really a big deal, but it sure does make me feel better to see it all neat and clean!

Then it was on to Charleigh's room. Again, I apologize dearly for what you are about to see. It's a disaster and I know it. I try, I really do.

This room is still a work in progress. We're getting a playhouse for the backyard that will soon house her kitchen and babydoll's items (stroller, crib, highchair). Once those have all moved out I'll come back in and do the decorating. But for today I was proud of the organization. I cleaned out the closet, added a shelf for the shoes and voila! Then I brought in a bookshelf that would let me consolidate the majority of her books, flash cards, games, etc. in to one location. I also used a tray that one of her baby outfits came in to hold her DVDs and piggy bank. Other than that I just straightened everything up and this is what we have...

I know it's not perfect (not even close) but at least I can walk in there now!

Now...remember earlier when I asked you not to go anywhere because I needed your help? Well, here's my problem ~ the dreaded catch counter!

What can I do with this counter? It's in my family room and I hate it!! We can't knock it. 'Why?' you ask. See that first cabinet, it holds the backside of my dishwasher. And see that fourth cabinet, it holds my hot water heater. So the counter is pretty much here to stay. I want to decorate it so that we'll stop using it as a storage space, making the room look oh-so-cluttered and yucky. But nothing seems to look right.

Any ideas?

Thanks ever so much for your help!