Organize your chargers, live forever

Do you have one of those spots in your kitchen where everything lands? The cell phone chargers, pens, pencils, scraps of paper, stray kittens, junked cars, spy manuals?

Don't we all?

I was shopping around recently for a solution for a client who wants to organize her kitchen counter top and came up with a few solutions I like:

This one is from Pottery Barn and comes in black, red and in a couple of wood stains. I love the way it organizes the electronics. You could stick a vase or planter for pens and pencils on that top shelf, too.

It sells for between 59.99 and $79, depending on the color.

This one is from Vat19 and is $48.95. It's a bit more utilitarian looking, but would blend right in if you've got a dark counter top.

Check out this one from spacesavers.com. It's smaller, but I love this lime green. It's $19.99 and comes in black and red, too.

This is from KangaRoom Storage and is made of bamboo. It's got a sleeker, more modern look and costs $45.

Finally, this comes from Levenger and is quite handsome, I thought. It also comes in black and is $158.

Where you put the kittens, though, I don't know...

A Snapshot: Welcome, baby

The latest member of our little paperweight family.

Where will it all end?

My friend Elisa wanted to make my head hurt and she didn't have a hammer so she posed this question to me instead: Where to stop painting?

Oh man, this is a doozy. The bedroom walls are being painted blue and the ceiling white. But, the two skylights butt up ("You said butt!"... sorry that's what my 5-year-old son would have said if he were reading this post over my shoulder.)

Back to work: The two skylights are really an extension of the wall.

So, I asked myself WWMWBRD? (What Would My Wonderful Blog Readers Do?)

I had a few ideas. I toyed with telling you what I told Elisa in tomorrow's post. But, let's face it, if you guys come up with better suggestions, I would have totally stolen them and claimed them for my own.

So, I'll tell you now what I said:

• Keep the blue paint going up through the middle of the skylight and paint the ceiling and the left and right walls of the skylight a lighter shade of blue. More work. I'm not sure she'll go for it, and who could blame her?
• Try painting just the middle strip and let's see what it looks like. If it looks like a plane is about to land there, paint the left and right sides blue, too.
• If you must end the wall at the ceiling height, then add a bit of crown moulding to create an end to the wall.

Not bad, but I'm sure you could do better. What have you got?

A little amour for the armoire please

The popularity of the flat-screen TV has left an ocean of orphans in its wake: the once-loved, now-neglected armoire.

Furniture consignment stores are chock full of them; Craigslist is overwhelmed with them.

But I'm here to tell you: Armoires were around a long time before the advent of the bulky need-to-hide-them televisions and computers and there are still plenty of uses for them.

A little history: Cavemen used armoires to store their drawings. Vikings hid the keys to their ships in them. And prairie folk put their Popsicles in them, but that was pretty much a bust until they invented ice.

It's been, in fact, only for the last several hundred years that people have stored televisions and computers in armoires. And now that lots of folks are down-sizing those appliances, it's a good time to buy those cast-off pieces of furniture.

The armoire shown here cost $135 at a consignment shop. It is a solid oak piece that was built as a computer station. Now it houses toys. A few baskets and it tames the toys that were in the family room of one of my clients. The shelf that once held the keyboard now holds puzzles.

Armoires are a handsome way to store office supplies, linens and, of course, clothing.

So, in the words of David Soul: Don't give up on us, baby. We're still worth one more try. (And if you don't know who David Soul is and you don't find out...you are dead to me.)

Room makeover, a before & after: Now everyone's going to want an invite

I thought I'd fill you in on a redesign I've been working on for a family in Massachusetts. Their home is beautiful; it just needed to a little punch and a little more color. I employed few design strategies that I thought I'd pass along.

The kitchen table was originally surrounded by four chairs. I pulled in a bench that was in the mudroom and was really too large for that space anyway. This not only provides two more seats at the table, it makes the dining area more interesting.

Next, I added a cushion to the bench to warm it up. The foam was cut to size, something most fabric stores will do for you. I covered it in a cheery blue, green and yellow stripe. The fabric is outdoor fabric, meaning it should stand up a bit better to the two children in the family. I also added a pillow with flowers in the same colors.

The original table centerpiece was too small. So, I found a cutting board with feet that the homeowner already had and grouped items that are used at the table anyway: salt and pepper shakers, napkins, oil and vinegar holders.

The lemon tree was lost as an accessory elsewhere in the kitchen. But on the cutting board, it provides a nice bit of color.

With a bit of contrast (the iron of the bench vs. the wood of the chairs), a little softness (from the cushion and pillow) and some drama (the height of the cutting board and the grouped accessories), the space is much more inviting.

Later this week, I'll show you a few other spaces in the home...if you behave.

Need a cure for the Sunday Blues?

Email me an interesting design, decorating or improvement idea for the home, office or garden for my Sunday “I Love These Ideas!” column and get this cool badge (and a link to your blog)! Mary@AtHomeRedesigns.com

Don't start grilling the burgers yet...

You can tell it's been a busy summer (and that I haven't had a party yet) when I'm just getting around to my deck now. The furniture has been out, and the odd accessory, but no va-va-va-boom.

So I started to tinker yesterday, and then decided to take my own advice when it comes to redesigning a room (and a patio is really just a room outside). I started from scratch, emptied the deck and then arranged the furniture.

You can throw all the accessories you want at a room, buy artwork, pillows and trinkets, but you will never be happy until the furniture arrangement is right.

So, I moved a bench from another part of the yard up to the deck and arranged potted trees to form a wall of sorts from the rest of the yard. I wanted the bench to be the focal point of the deck, what you see when you look out the French doors from the family room. There's another chair with an end table you can't see in this photo.

Now that the skeleton of the deck looks good, I can get the fun stuff ready. I need to buy some flowers and the cushions are in the laundry.

I'll let you know how it turns out when I'm done.