oily essentials for healthy living

Last fall when I signed up as a wholesale member of Young Living I had absolutely zero intention of ever sharing anything about essential oils on the blog. There are enough bloggers out there that do that - am I right?! The only reason I signed up as a wholesale member was to get the 24% off discount. Seeing as how there are no monthly order minimums with Young Living it seemed like a no brainer. I mainly signed up because I wanted to get my hands on some Thieves oil and cleaner, and I didn't want to pay full price. Y'all know I love me a bargain!

Fast forward 6 months and I'm so in love with my oils it feels like a crime not to share them with you all. In my opinion that's what good girlfriends do........they let you in on their personal secrets and awesome deals. Now I want to be totally up front and honest here - if any of you read this post and decide that you want to get in on this awesome essential oil action I will get a small credit, but I'm not into essential oils for the business aspect of it......I'm in it because they work and I'm only sharing about them with you because I really do 100% believe that every household can benefit from using essential oils!

I've already shared my story of how Young Living's Thieves Cleaner has helped me to detox my home and rid our house of toxic chemically laden cleaning supplies. Today I'm going to let you in on the oils I use and love the most.

Like I said I've fallen in love with my oils. And I've totally become that girl who says, "Oh, I've got an oil for that!" Ha! Not even kidding, just ask my sister-in-law how many times she's heard me say that line in the last few months. ;)

1. First up, is Frankincense.....which is my second favorite oil of them all, and is one I use twice daily. I mix it with my Argan oil and apply it to my face morning and night. Y'all I'm not even kidding, this stuff is like liquid gold! It does wonders for the skin! It's basically like botox in a bottle - for realz! And it comes in the premium starter kit - which is an awesome way to give it a try!

2. Lavender is one of those oils that can literally be used for everything. It's such a calming and soothing aroma. I've made my own body cream with it which has been such a life saver through the super hard winter we had. No dry chapped skin for me. I also add a couple drops to the laundry when I'm washing our sheets. Nothing says have a good night's rest like Lavender scented sheets! I also love to diffuse it at night before bed to help get me into a peaceful ready for bed state.

3. Peppermint is the oil that got me, hook line and sinker. I've suffered with hormonal headaches at that special time of the month for most of my life and Young Living's peppermint essential oil works like a charm! I no longer need any over the counter stuff; just a couple drops of peppermint oil on my temples and I'm good to go! It's amazing to me how well it works!

4. Next up is Melaleuca which is a fancy name for tea tree oil. It has been keeping the buggies out of my kiddos hair - if you know what I mean. There is usually at least one lice scenario at their elementary school every year, and I've found that tea tree oil keeps those pests away. I add a drop to their heads as well as to their pillows.

5. JOY is without a doubt my favorite oil and the one oil I will not ever go without. ever. I use it every day. a couple of times a day. I LOVE the way it smells! I use it as a perfume and it really does lift my spirits and bring joy to my day - I know so cheese-y but seriously, it's awesome! I also put a couple of drops on cotton balls and stick them in the air vents in my car. Not even kidding, I think that is what has changed my kiddos attitudes after school. The after school car ride home has always been one where they tend to bicker with each other - being tired after a long day of school - but since I've been using Joy as a car freshener I've noticed better attitudes and less arguing. Crazy right?!

6. Lemon and Orange I'm lumping together, although they are equally good for different things. I just tend to find that I use them together quite a bit. I add a couple drops of each to a glass of water a couple times a day. Using them in my water has definitely helped me to start drinking more water as they add a nice citrus flavor. Drinking Lemon in your water detoxifies the liver and aids in digestion. I also use Lemon and Orange as home air fresheners in my diffuser. Lemon and Orange are both great for cleaning and I often add a couple drops to my Thieves cleaning solution.

7. Thieves is the oil that initially peaked my interest. It lives up to the hype. The stuff works people. As crazy and strange as it may sound, rubbing it on the soles of our feet during cold and flu season has helped to keep our family healthy. I know that sounds like some kind of crazy witch doctor voodoo, but all I know is that it works! It's a blend of oils that are known for boosting your body's immunity, and it just so happens to smell like Christmas which isn't a bad thing. It's really good stuff!

8. Last but not least is DiGize, which honestly is the worst smelling oil maybe on the face of the planet. It stinks to high heaven, but it works wonders for tummy troubles. Stomach aches happen sometimes - and when they do DiGize is your best stinky friend. ;) A couple drops rubbed on your tummy is all you need.

Young Living Essential Oils have changed the way my family lives. Our medicine cabinet looks a whole lot different now, and I feel good about using natural remedies that really do work! If you're at all interested in giving essential oils a try I'd highly recommend the Premium starter kit which is absolutely the best deal for the money and will enable you try many of the oils that have become my personal favorites.

You can sign up here if you'd like, and if you do I'd be happy to add you to the Oily Family's Facebook page where you can find out more and get tips on how to use the oils.

I promise not to overload you all with "oily" posts. Making a difference is way more important to me than making a buck. I only shared this info with you all because I know these oils work.

We live in a chemically laden world and we've become accustomed to using toxic personal care products and popping over the counter meds for what ails us, but we don't have to live that way........thanks to companies like Young Living.

UHeart Organizing: We Like to Move It, Move it! Tips for Organizing a Smooth Move

Unless they are singing the song, how often do you really hear someone say, "I like to move!"?

The last time I moved I was only 19 years old with little to my name, yet I still remember it being stressful. Everything from the process of home building, packing, planning, shopping, moving, unpacking.... I am exhausted just thinking about it all over again.

I get asked quite frequently for organized moving tips, and although I think I know what I would do if I were to pack up our family and move, actually having the experience doing it is entirely different. However, Megan of The Homes I Have Made is a moving wizard. She has moved her family numerous times and has learned many useful tricks along the way. She is here today to share how she eases their moving pains.

Happy Spring, iHeart readers! I am so thrilled to be back here today sharing another organizing project. While I love getting my hands dirty and creating unique organizing solutions, today I’m going to share a bit of a different organizing task. My family and I are just a few short weeks away from our next cross-country move. As a military family, moves are both expected and frequent (in fact, this will be move #6 for us in just under 10 years). Even though we do them often, it doesn’t mean they are effortless or stress-free. There are so many tasks, chores, errands, and plans that need to be carefully organized and managed when you uproot and move your entire life. While I would love to share all of my moving tips and tricks, it would be enough content to fill a 10-part series. So instead of telling you how we pack our boxes or label our inventory sheets, I want to share how my husband and I organize the logistics of our moves, as well as keep track of all of our important moving/life paperwork…all in a two-part paper+digital system we’ve developed over the years!

Probably like many of you, I am a passionate list-maker. Lists help me remember important to-dos, prioritize tasks, and feel accomplished when I get to line through completed items. If there’s one time in life to make a list, it’s during a move. The amount of things to do and keep track of is seemingly endless. Years ago, my husband created an Excel spreadsheet that detailed every single, minute task we needed to complete during the moving process. With each subsequent move, we pull the old spreadsheet and update it with current tasks and pertinent information. In my day-to-day life, I am a pen-and-paper kind of girl; however, our family master moving to-do list is the one case we go completely digital.

The digital spreadsheet is not only something we can use over and over again (key for people who move frequently), but it also allows us to modify and update the list without having pages and pages of written and scratched-out items. Our spreadsheet is organized by Action Item, Person Responsible, Deadline, Location, and Additional Notes. By having these categories on an electronic list, we can easily sort by priority, person, and due dates, as well as delete out and add in items as necessary. My husband and I review the checklist together each weekend in the weeks leading up to our move to ensure we are staying on top of deadlines. We also share it via Dropbox so we can update it in real time!

I love having our master to-do list electronically, but we also rely on two other paper systems to keep our move organized and on-track. With the stack of important move-related paperwork growing on my desk, I knew it was time to assemble our moving binders!

One of the first things you learn as a military spouse is there are a few things you never ever, ever send inside moving boxes: jewelry and personal documents (birth certificates, passports, marriage certificates, etc). These things should be carried with you as you travel from one home to the next. While bringing a locked filing cabinet on the journey would be ideal, it’s also not very practical. So before embarking on each move, I assemble a binder of all of our very important family documents.

Binders are convenient, but you typically don’t want to punch holes in these special documents. My go-to solution is clear page protectors…specifically the ones with the fold-over top so items can’t slip out. You can get them in the full-page size (ideal for powers of attorney, wills, and medical files), as well as segmented versions (great for passports, shot records, social security cards, etc). By having everything singled out into individual pages, finding specific documents is quite easy! You’ll note I kept the outside of the binder relatively un-assuming so that people won’t immediately know what is inside; and we are extra diligent about keeping this binder in hand (while traveling) and locked up (in hotels) at all times.

The other binder we keep handy at all times during our move is our Moving Binder! Although we are a digital society, there is still so much paperwork associated with moving, and we’ve found a dedicated binder is the best way to keep it all sorted, handy, and easy to find!

Sure I could have just thrown everything into a binder with a few dividers and page protectors and called it a day; but I love pretty organizing solutions and handy printables about as much as Jen does, so I spent a rainy afternoon pulling together this fun binder to keep us organized in style! All the colors and graphics were pulled from a free digital scrapbooking set: Color Me Spring from Elle Designs.

I didn’t have any dividers on hand, so I made a quick set…much easier and cheaper than running out to the store! I started by designing the divider shapes in the Cricut Design Space software and cutting them from 12x12 cardstock.

To reinforce the holes, I covered the edges in clear packaging tape and then trimmed the excess down with a paper cutter and scissors.

I punched holes with a 3-hole punch and added text also using my Cricut Explore. In about 20 minutes, I had dividers ready to rock in my binder!

With my dividers made and my printables printed out, my binder came together super quickly and is ready to be vigorously added to over the next few weeks. Let me show you just how we stay organized moving from one state to another!

In the front of the binder, I keep a simple Notes sheet for jotting down quick reminders, notes, phone numbers etc. I also include a simple 3-hole punch for adding items while we’re on the road!

Our binder is split into four categories:

• Here – for everything related to our current home and the pack-out side of our move
• There – for everything related to our next home and the pack-in side of our move
• In Transit – for everything and anything we may need to reference or keep as we literally travel from one home to the next
• Miscellaneous – for everything and anything we might need to reference or keep while we are without our household goods (military term for “everything we own!”)

HERE

Behind the "Here" tab is everything related to our current home and the packing up of all of our stuff. This is where we keep: our current lease, housing inspection/checkout sheet, official inventory lists from the packers, our personal inventory of expensive items (specifically electronics with serial numbers), local utility company names/numbers/accounts/passwords to terminate services, and personal packing lists. For thick, bulky items, I use page protectors for ease and accessibility.

THERE

Behind the "There" tab is everything we have or will need as we move into our next house. This is where we keep: our new lease, inspection sheets, floor plans, utility company names/numbers to setup new services, a running list of Needs/To Buy for the new house, local area information (closet grocery store, pizza place, pharmacy etc) and more.

In our moving binder, I always include the measurements of all of our furniture, rugs, and other large household items (all measured before we pack up, of course!). Quite often, we are able to get into our new house well before the moving trucks arrive. By having exact measurements of our large items in hand, we are able to get a good start on the floor plan. In turn, this allows us to get settled faster because we are able to tell the movers exactly where to put items instead of having to play musical furniture for days!

IN TRANSIT

Behind the "In Transit" tab is all the information we will need or acquire as we literally travel from our old home to our new home. Depending on the distance we’re moving, there is a potential to live “on the road” for days or even weeks without a home or our belongings. Quite often, there are many different hotel reservations, tourist attraction reservations, and more to keep track of. To keep me from constantly scrambling through my phone for the right reservation or address, I like to keep all of our destination points on one handy sheet. We also track all of our traveling expenses, and tuck our receipts into another page protector so we can file claims on the other end.

When all of your belongings are packed into boxes on a truck driving across country without you, it can be very unnerving when you can’t find your passport or your new landlord’s phone number. We’ve found that corralling all of our personal documents and move-related paperwork into two easy-to-keep-track-of binders keeps anxiety at bay and the right information at our fingertips at all times. By setting up these systems weeks before the movers are set to arrive, I now have a landing spot for everything and anything that comes into our hands!

While I would love to show you what I’m doing right now behind the scenes at my house to literally get ready for the movers to arrive, I’m living in a state of somewhat-controlled chaos! I hope you enjoyed this broad-range glimpse at what all is involved in a long-distance move and our techniques for staying on top of all the moving parts. While each family who moves a lot has their own tips and secrets they’d swear by, I’m pretty sure we’d all agree that proper planning and good organization can make the difference between a bumpy move and a smooth move!

Thanks again to the lovely Jen for having me stop by today. The next time I am here, we will be moved into our next house so I will have lots of organizational and home décor projects in the works! Be sure to stop on by and follow me as we transition to our next “new” home over at The Homes I Have Made!



Hello! I am Megan, an exercise and nutrition professional turned stay-at-home mom and DIY blogger. I am married to a U.S. Marine and currently reside in Eastern North Carolina, my 5th home in 9 years! My focus is renter-friendly, movable décor and organizational projects that are high on style and function yet low on complexity and budget. Armed with creativity, ingenuity, a can-do attitude, and a strong Type A personality, I have become a pro at making each and every temporary living space an organized, functional, and well-styled home for my family! You can get all of my DIY, organizational and crafting ideas on my blog The Homes I Have Made.

Irish consumers positive about economy but cautious about household finances

Irish consumer sentiment remains steady in April with all indications showing a gradually more positive outlook taking hold. However, while the public is reasonably confident of the country’s economic recovery, there remains a degree of caution around household finances. This may well make consumers more susceptible to “auction politics”, or election promises of improvements in…

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More than three quarters of price changes in Dublin so far this year have been downwards

Many people take asking prices with a pinch of salt but their movements can be a good indicator of what way the market is performing. That’s why it is interesting to note that almost three quarters of all changes in asking prices in Dublin so far this year have been downwards. In analysing the number…

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Government to crack down on TV licence evaders

The government is planning a crackdown on TV licence fee evaders by giving An Post access to customer details from TV providers such as Sky and UPC. The decision came about after the government opted not to introduce the new broadcasting charge until after the next General Election. The charge sought to impose a fee…

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The Terrible Horrible No Good Really Bad Day!

To those readers that have told us "You never write about the bad things that happen. Your lives can't be happy all the time."

Yesterday morning we woke to 2 1/2" of rainfall.

There has been rain off and on over the past few weeks.

The ponds are full!

This is a good thing!

We are singing praises!

Around about 3pm, Flower Boy got a call.

Dogs have ran the fancy heifers through the fence!

(No, not our dogs.)

Flower Boy relays the infomation to me.

I hang up the phone and head home.

Flower Boy retrieves the heifers almost a mile from their pasture.

All of our cattle are "feed truck broke".

This means they will follow the feed truck anywhere it goes.

They know where their "cake" comes from.

We get the heifers back in their pasture and the fence fixing commenced.

The dogs gathered the heifers in a corner between the pond and the fence.

Remember the rainfall and the ponds being full...

The cattle broke through a small section of fence and swam the pond to escape the dogs.

To no avail, the dogs met the cattle in the land owners yard.

They proceeded to run the heifers through the yard and gathered them again on the land owners front porch!

Thankfully, the land owner was home, ran off the dogs and called Flower Boy.

As of last evening, the heifers were settled down and seemed in good health.

We will keep a close eye on them, as we always do, over the next few days.

Adrenaline and stress can mask injuries, just as it does in humans.

The land owner made a clear identification of the dogs.

The dogs owner claims it was not his dogs.

"His dogs have been chained up and always are."

We have seen said dogs running our cattle before and a message was relayed to said owner.

I don't know the law in other states, but in Oklahoma, a rancher has a right to protect his livestock.

No rancher wants to kill another person's animal or dog, but when the dog is chasing, stalking and harming your livestock, you have to do what has to be done.

If the dogs are caught in the pastures, with the cattle, they will be disposed of.

Dogs are pack animals, descendants of wolfs.

Wolfs are predators.

They hunt.

Sadly, if the dogs that ran our girls through the fence aren't kept penned up, they will return and hunt.

Now, again, remember the 2 1/2" rainfall...

The bulls are in the pen at the house.

The bulls need a hay bale.

With all the rain, Flower Boy didn't think the truck could get in the lot with the hay bale.

The feed truck is a heavy duty truck.

With the weight of the bale bed and the cake feeder full, this makes the feed truck even heavier.

He decided to use the tractor.

Well....

It's a bit muddy

AND

The tractor got stuck.

Like really stuck!

No problem!

Just pull the truck around and attempt to pull out the tractor.

Well...

It's a bit muddy

AND

The truck got stuck!

Really Stuck!

Go get the white truck...

Whitey is a truck I have had for years.

I love that old truck!

She is a good truck and very dependable.

Hook a chain to Whitey and then to the feed truck.

I get in the feed truck.

Flower Boy gets in Whitey.

He backs up, tells me he is going to jerk the chain, I hold on to the steering wheel, and SNAP!

The chain breaks!

It pops back over the hood of the feed truck and leaves a nasty dent!

(sorry no photo)

Place a call to Drewman...

We might need some help.

Drewman heads home from college.

(What are we going to do when he leaves for good?)

I can't watch!

I go into the house and start supper.

Another chain is hooked to Drewman's truck and to the feed truck.

The next thing I see, out the kitchen window, is Drewman shaking his head.

Lets just say it was a terrible horrible no good really bad day!

At the end of the day, all the cattle were accounted for, no one was hurt, and I got flowers!

Today is a new day!

The tractor and feed truck are still stuck.

Drewman's bumper has been replaced.

Flower Boy and I got to ride into work together and watch the sunrise.

No matter how bad your day might seem, don't let it get you down.

There is always a positive!

XOXO,

Rancher Girl

One Room Challenge Week 5 - A "Hot" Mess

Welcome to Week 5 of the One Room Challenge being hosted by Linda of Calling it Home. You can see our plans here and follow all of the progress here.

Thanks for the well wishes last week! I am beginning to feel better and starting to get a spring back in my step. And just in time because our room still has quite a bit of work ahead of it before the reveal in one week from TODAY!

The room and I have been fighting for a few reasons, but as I continue to layer in elements, things are starting to feel a bit more like home. Some days I feel like I have lost my way, and other days I walk into the space and just sit and smile. This past few weeks haven't always made sense, even to me. It has been a learning process trying to navigate a new layout while also trying to incorporate my goal of a colorful, happy, stylish, yet family friendly space. And I totally have been tackling everything backwards... but we were waiting on the biggest element for a single "hot" reason!

What is THAT?!

We installed a fireplace! Woot!

A big wish list item with the entire renovation of our kitchen and living room, has been to add a fireplace. I am about the biggest freeze baby in the history of Wisconsin, and have been dreaming of a fireplace for years. We had ordered one and scheduled the installation awhile back, but a lot had to happen with timing the HVAC work for the kitchen (same guys running gas lines for cooktop and fireplace). Without kitchen progress, we had no living room progress. Talk about cutting things close!

So, last weekend we started building our built-ins, including the surround for the fireplace insert to prepare for the installation process that took place this week Monday.

It is hard to show the room this week because it literally has become one giant hot mess. We had to move all of the furniture to make room to build the new unit, which is only about half done. Accessories are piled at the back of the room (right next to a giant pile of tools), waiting patiently to make this space feel cozy and warm. I haven't settled on a coffee table yet (nothing has felt "right"), but after popping in our dining room bench, I sort of love the idea of doing a nice cozy ottoman. We tried our beautiful wooden World Market table but it is just not scaled for the space, although the warmth of the wood was a great touch. So that element of the room is going to be a last minute mystery, even for me. And did I mention the built-in is only about 50% done?

The custom curtain panels have arrived from Tonic Living and they are sensational. Simple linen panels pleated and lined, adorned with a bold black banding. The moment they were up, the room felt so much more like a room. And it is crazy weird to have real grown up panels! Now to dig out my steamer....

But.... between the built-ins and the curtains, I may have made the wrong choice on the chair...

I looooove white, but I have a feeling it is going to get one more coat of paint before this room is said and done. I am OK admitting that not every choice I am making each week is going to work in the end result. I have always been one to move things around and make changes until they settle and feel right. I just have to do it in triple fast forward time for the room challenge. But let me just say, the chair is about as cozy as it gets and my reading experience has never been better. Mama is in love.

We have been taking an abundance of photos and are prepping a few tutorials for many of the projects that will end up in the final reveal next week, including the fireplace surround.

The room has always been longer than it is wide, so we were lucky to have room to spare for the 16" deep cabinets and shelves. They were built to mimic the height and style of the kitchen cabinets across the way, and once painted they will be one more element that marries the two spaces. Once painted they will also look much more cohesive as a whole and should melt away into the wall. I can't wait to get to a point of posting about a single giant space again so you can visually see what is happening between the living room and kitchen.

Now that electrical has been run and the fireplace is installed, we can finish with the building. Continuing with our around-the-clock schedule we actually just completed the tiling last night and it is pretty gosh darn lovely. Next up is mantle building, trim work, priming and then painting. I am on a mission to get everything done for the sake of next week's room reveal, Bryan is on a mission to get his TV mounted and his PlayStation hooked back up! #priorities

The built-ins/fireplace/TV unit has been our primary focus over the past week, so that means I still have a lot to finish up before I photograph the space this weekend (my goal is Sunday, yikes!). Send me lots of happy vibes and luck! Although we will probably have a few unchecked room "to do" boxes by the time of the reveal, just to know how far we have already come in a few short weeks makes us high five on a daily basis.

Before I get back to painting, let's take some time to check out the rest of the One Room Challenge progress. I wonder if anyone else is freaking out as much as I am that there are only a few days remaining... Sleep is overrated right? DUN DUN DUUUUN

Jana Bek

Autumn Clemons

Coco+Kelley

The English Room

Vanessa Francis

Greige Design

Hi Sugarplum

I Heart Organizing

Jenna Sue Design

Stephanie Kraus

The Pursuit of Style

Julia Ryan

Savvy Home

Simple Details

Simply Grove

6th Street Design

Jill Sorensen

Swoon Worthy

Waiting on Martha

Kimberly Schlegel Whitman

Trademarked by Calling it Home

€750k for Duleek housing site

A site within Dublin’s commuter belt at Duleek, Co Meath, will be an interesting test of the new housing market when it goes to auction on May 20th. Jill Horan of Savills is quoting a minimum value of €750,000 for the 4.9 hectares (12.28 acres) off the Navan Road in Duleek, which is expected to attract…

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Property prices rise in March

Residential property prices rose by 0.9% nationwide during the month of March, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO). In total property prices are up 16.8% on an annual basis. In Dublin residential property prices rose by 1.1% in March and were 22.8% higher than in March 2014. Dublin house prices…

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An Organized Happy Drawer with Chic Shelf Paper & a GIVEAWAY!

Happy surprises come in a variety of shapes and sizes. It could be the gift of coffee from the car ahead of you in the drive-thru. Or a friend randomly stopping by just to say hello. My personal favorite is when my kiddos pop up behind me and say, "Surprise hug!" while wrapping their arms around me. Random life surprises are amazing. But there are also ways you can create small happy surprises throughout your home. Those special little moments that make you smile day after day.

When I am picking up our home or even just grabbing for a pen, opening a drawer lined with decorative paper is sure to perk up my cheeks. Ditto for opening a painted or wallpapered closet. That instant pop of pattern and color in those common mundane spaces is always a win. I know it may not be that way for everyone, but on top of loving the prettiness of it, it really helps me maintain the spaces I organize.

I have lined our drawers with everything from gift wrap to contact paper to even wallpaper. When it comes to the kitchen and bathroom, nothing really compares to true shelf liner. In those spaces, it is ultra important to select papers that are durable and easy to wipe clean.

The folks at Chic Shelf Paper asked if I wanted to give their pretty patterned liners a try. Knowing we have an entire kitchen to organize, I started browsing their endless selection of colors and options.

You may have noticed when I recently organized our pantry, I added a dash of pretty navy greek key paper... Makes all the difference right?

Living in chaos of a renovation for months has been a little nerve wracking, so to bring a little normalcy back to life, I have been slowly unpacking and organizing our kitchen drawers. Today, I organized our "essential" drawer and thought I would walk through the lining process a little more thoroughly.

First, most would call this type of drawer a junk drawer. I decided it was more of an essential daily life drawer. Our home office is located in our lower level, yet there are just some things we reach for on a very frequent basis. Instead of running up and down the stairs every time we need a scissors, tape or a pencil, we toss office items into this drawer. Although other random items may be tossed into this drawer throughout the years, for the most part we prefer to have it contain the following daily items:

• Screwdrivers in various sizes (as well as a temporary spot to toss extra hardware)
• Cutting tools; scissors and craft knife
• Paper clips, paper pad, highlighter, pens & pencils
• Sticky notes
• Tape
• Tape Measure
• Disinfecting spray
• Ruler
• Kleenex
• Shed key

To get started, I always clean out the drawer with a vacuum and a rag. This prevents any bumps under the drawer liner.

I then lay out my tools; a large cutting mat, a straight edge (I just use a level), a slicer/craft knife and a tape measure.

Using the tape measure, I measure the bottom of the drawer for both length and width.

I then use the mat paired with my straight edge to slice the paper accordingly. Cutting papers can be really frustrating, and this has been by far the easiest and quickest way to get a nice, accurate cut.

The shelf paper I was using for this project is super nice and thick (twice as thick as typical contact paper). This also makes a world of difference in the ease of installation. The flimsier the paper, the more you will struggle with it sticking to itself and running the risk of bubbling.

The paper came with a squeegee for installation, but I haven't had to use it. It repositions beautifully so if I don't get it just right the first time, I can easily shift it and try again.

Then I just press it smooth and done!

Typically, I find the paper too pretty to cover all the way up. That is where the happy surprise comes in when I am grabbing for that ruler. It is also why I generally use acrylic organizers/dividers.

We still have a room of boxes to unpack, but the addition of this single drawer is sure to be handy as we keep trucking along.

Having worked with so many types of papers, I am pretty sure that the Chic Shelf Paper has been some of the easiest, most durable to work with. Plus, they have the largest selection I have seen. They have a new number one fan!

Below are a few of my favorite patterns... You can probably guess that I am scheming to find a place for those pink ones. At least a place where my boys won't give me the stink eye.

pink fruit | ikat | scallops | greek key | aqua dot | black & white tile

Because I want for you to be able to create those happy surprise moments around your home, I am partnering with Chic Shelf Paper to give you a $100 credit to their online store!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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guest room closet - vanity in a closet

Hey hey friends! Happy Tuesday! I've been a little quiet on the blog front for a few days because my dad's in town visiting from California. He flew in Saturday and we've already been to The Home Depot three times! If you're new around here, my dad's quite the jack of all trades and every time he comes to visit good stuff happens around here. He has helped me build a swing set/clubhouse for my kiddos, created a backyard fire pit and benches, and fenced in our a/c units among countless other projects. This trip we're working on giving my basement fireplace a little makeover.........more on that story coming soon.

Today I'm excited to share the update I gave our guest room closet. I finished it just in time for my dad's visit. The closet area was the last thing on my to do list for the guest room which means the room is finally done. Or as done as any room gets around here.....design is never done......am I right? ;)

As you all know I have a disdain for wire shelving. I think it works well in utility areas like pantries and storage closets but a closet meant for clothing should, in my humble opinion, be outfitted with something other than wire. So I've been on a mission to rid the closets in our bedrooms of their wire shelving. I started with my son's closet and am now glad to have the guest room closet checked off my list.

Because our guests share a bathroom with my kiddos when they visit I thought creating a vanity area in the closet would be a nice way to give them a bit more privacy when they're getting ready for the day.

Previously this closet had just one wire shelf across the top which really didn't make the best use of the storage space.

After removing the wire shelving and patching those holes, I installed beadboard wallpaper. I'm a big time fan of that paper and have used it in the closet turned mudroom in our basement, the kid's bathroom and my son's closet. It's durable and pre-pasted making it super easy to work with, and it's pretty inexpensive. I could have just painted the closet but since I wanted to create "a room within a room" look I thought the beadboard paper would be a nice touch. And seeing as how it's only $19.99 a roll it really wasn't too costly.

I built in two shelves (which I'll give you a simple tutorial on later) and brought in two rods for hanging clothes (Allen + Roth adjustable closet rods - from Lowe's) which makes much better use of the storage space.

Because the attic access is at the top of this closet I made the top shelf removable. (More on that simple construction coming soon.)

Since this closet is just for guests to use and will only house linens for the guest room and extra blankets, it was easy to add a mirror in here to create a little vanity area but still have space for guests to hang clothes and stash away suitcases. This closet also has a ceiling light fixture so even at night it's nice and bright in there.

A counter height stool works perfectly as a vanity stool, and the shelf here is a great place for guests to store their toiletries instead of leaving them in the bathroom they share with my kiddos.

And it's so nice for guests to be able to store all their stuff in here and then close the doors. This way their room stays clutter free and they can better enjoy their time visiting with us.

My only regret here is that I didn't do this sooner! Clearing out this closet to create a closet that is both useful and pretty is really going to make our guests that much more comfortable when they come to visit us!