Wednesday, March 10, 2010

What Do You Wish For?


I love this magazine. Has anybody else looked through it yet? Beautiful pictures! I am going to share just a few in case some of you are interested in what's inside the cover.


Love these cheerful red chairs.



More red and white! Don't you love that mirror?



But for those who love pink and white....




I loved this tea set chandelier! so unique.



Or for those who favor the more rustic look - this reminds me of a mountain home.



Such lovely interiors and lots of inspiring pictures and ideas..

Today I am thinking about how much I would love a mudroom. Oh..to have a mudroom...okay even a laundry room. This little cottage had POOR planners. The back door comes right into the kitchen with a very small area for a kitchen table - can't even be called a breakfast nook.. The laundry room is just to the right of the opening back door. So the bi-fold door was constantly getting smashed every time it was left open and the back entry door was used. That just didn't work. Down came the doors ...up went curtains.





There was nowhere to leave shoes, boots, gymbags, sports stuff, dog paraphernalia, etc. What to do??? Well I just went out and got me an industrial steel rolling rack years ago... (eclectic woman that I am...) and decided that would be my little rolling mud room, errr, rack...errr, storage area...thingy. Yes, it sits in front of my window!!!

Top shelf...too high to reach for daily stuff....alas...have to resort to pretty stuff.


Second shelf... Cd player, CDs, Mandatory Aloe plant for kitchen, pictures, and miscellany.


Third shelf.... Catch all basket for gloves, hats, caps in the winter time. small sports equipment in the summertime...and an old metal container for scoop bags (for walking the dogs!)


Fourth shelf... Dog food storage bin...MilkBone supply, and first level of shoe storage
and by the way that "pop of red color" can was only $4.99 at TJ MAXX. Holds plenty of dog food for the week while the big bag is stored in the laundry closet. I love it.


And the fifth shelf...I won't show. It's all shoes!!

This little stool has gone from stained wood to being painted white with a blue and white fabric in Kat's room to now painted black with a red and white fabric to match the Kitchen table chairs. It is the catchall destination right inside the door. (mostly for Jonny's gym bag so he won't set it on the table!!!)


And here is the teeny little corner spot carved out for the doggie stuff.


So this little corner is where various ones eat at different times. Since this house is full of people who are all working 5 different schedules....it works for us. (a girl's gotta work with what she's got!!!) If we ever DO get to sit down with a majority, we head for the dining room.


In the mean time I keep the little inspirations and ideas stored in my head for possible future changes in this little area. :-) Magazines like the one above are great for that.

How about you???? Do you have small areas in your house that you wish you could change or enlarge just a liiiiiiittle bit to have more storage and more leg room for your clan??

Keep on dreamin'...Hey!!....It could happen!


Thanks so much for popping in.


Thanks so much...very much for saying a prayer for our Military. Thanks for praying especially for my Justin, and Cindy Lou's Justin, and Lynda's Billy, and Nancy's Jeff... God protect them.


Blessings!


Julie

17 comments:

Nice and Easy Antiques said...

Hi Julie! Sometimes I dream with a little tiny room somewhere to call it studio, but it's just a dream. Love that magazine, I'll try to find it!!!

Dianna said...

I have a mud room, Julie...and I love it. But I have to say that you have very cleverly provided yourself with the necessary storage with that beautiful shelving! Our daughter uses the same shelving in her kitchen to act as "pantry"! It works well for them and she can survey and see what she needs.

My "dream room" would be a walk-in closet! Seriously...this house has very little closet space...

Great post!

Julie Harward said...

This home we just built has about everything I need especially with the kids gone now. But I sure can understand what you mean, been there done that! It looks like you are managing it well though, I love a place for everything and everything in it's place! Love the magazine too! :D

Cindy Lou said...

I would love to fix my house up like a picture in a magazine but with kids in and out and Marines in and out...Not right now!! Maybe in years to come!! Loved all the pictures! Enjoy yur day and I got a call from my Justin at Midnight!! Have a great day and we pray constantly and Thank you so much for your prayers!! Blessings from Georgia!!

Theresa said...

I love that magazine too! Your house is so cute and I love the use of the steel shelf. Not only is it useful for what you need it for, you made it pretty too:) Oh, dear Julie, the prayers are going up constantly and Justin says they are working. We will keep our Justins in our prayers. Hugs to you my friend and let's have a special day together "apart"! You will hear from Justin soon, I can't remember if he took his laptop or not but we got to talk to our Justin on his laptop when he landed at the in between here and there place:)

Rebecca said...

I enjoyed reading about your ingenuity and seeing all your personal "touches"! I also appreciate the testimony of God's grace and your passion for the supremacy of Jesus Christ in your "About Me" profile.

I think blogging is a foretaste to Heaven. I suspect at least part of our time in Heaven will be enjoying our "forever family" at a level we can't imagine.

Janean said...

that chandelier is awesome!!!! how much fun would it be to look at that everyday...not fun to CLEAN, but fun to look at! LOL.

Miss Gracie's House said...

I haven't seen it yet...looks fun though! I like how you made your portable storage work for you and your situation! cute, too!
Rene'

Rebecca said...

Hello
What a great use of space and it looks wonderful! Sometimes the very thing that creates a problem we have to become creative and it turns out better than what we thought of in the first place. I like small spaces - I like them better than these mammoth homes that people rattle around in, personally I think we should bump into the people we live with now and then :)
Blessings
Rebecca

June said...

Hi Julie,
I think you've made wonderful use of the space you have. I enjoyed coming and seeing your lovely blog, so glad you came to my place so I could follow you back. I have not seen that magazine yet, but I know I will be looking for it now.
hugs

billypandnikkysmom said...

I loved the tea cup idea, so cute!!! I never seem to have enough romm either and it's only the two of us here!!!! Need to do some serious "cleaning" out and what-not!!! Hope you hear from your Justin soon, in the meantime we're praying for his safety and his success ` RAH!!!!!

Jayme Goffin, The Coop Keeper said...

I love your house! It looks just like you....colorful and full of life! I can't even look at ideas right now...my brain is on overload!

Dianna said...

Julie,
Just found your note about the music. That was one of the easiest things I've ever done in the world of blog! I'd like your honest opinion though...do you find it distracting? They are all songs I found from another blog I visit on a daily basis...and I find it very soothing...but I don't want my readers to be distracted. I'm open to hear what feedback you might have, my bloggy sister and friend.

Oh...and did you notice that at the end of my post on Grandma's tins today that I successfully added the link to Garden of Daisies? I'm slow...but I do catch on...sometimes. :)

Tallulah's Antique Closet said...

Great pic's of your home and your mudroom. Have a good day, Julian

Anonymous said...

you certainly have done a beautiful job to accommodate what you needed. I don't have a mudroom either. The back door comes straight into the kitchen. I do have a large entry way though and in bad weather all kinds of shoes, etc. are thrown down there. It's so exasperating!

Dandelion and Daisy said...

WOW! I love those stainless shelves but you really made them look CLASSY! Thanks for visiting my blog, please stop by again.

Anonymous said...

Great post, Julie, and you have such a charming kitchen. I don't really collect things. I don't like clutter, but what meaningful things I do have, well, let's just say everything in my house has it's place and I've made painstakingly efforts to have a place for everything. I'm a little OCD. Okay, I'll admit it... I'm a LOT OCD! :P

Thank you for sharing! :) God bless!!