Memorial Day Weekend!!

Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone!

Hurray for 4 day weekends and no school and SOLS starting next week. Aw man.

Summer is just around the corner!

Have fun, be safe-

Nay

Bathroom Beautiful!

If you're like me, the bathroom isn't just a bathroom. It's an oasis, where I can relax, hide behind some steam and a shower curtain and just BE. And think. I do my best thinking in the shower. Seriously, I can solve the world's problems in the comfort of my shower.

However, the bathroom is often the most neglected room of the house, decorating wise. Why is that? We spend a significant amount of time in there, why shouldn't it look amazing? Aren't we worth it? Aren't our guests worth it too?
Good, I'm glad we're in agreement. Now here are some tips from my most favorite magazine/website, Real Simple, as well as a few of my own.

1. Old wooden crates make great holders for extra toilet paper and rolled bath towels. You can find these crates at antique stores or sometimes yard sales. And no, don't go and get the cheapy plastic milk crates either. This isn't college and no, it won't look pretty. The aim is for ease of access AND elegance. Keep these by the toilet or the tub.

2. Turn an unused nightstand into storage for small towels, makeup, hair tools and accessories, and toiletries. A nightstand with drawers is preferable. And remember... a coat of paint does wonders for that pressboard el-cheapo night stand from walmart. Just a suggestion.

3.  A sink skirt hides a multiude of sins and cleaning supplies. I'm just saying. You can make one out of an old bedsheet. Here are the details.

4. When your tub lacks wide ledges where you can stow your bath products, hang a multilevel, wire fruit basket for additional space. I LOVE THIS IDEA. It is so much more "put together" than leaving your toiletries just sitting out. (see the picture at the bottom of the post)

5. A shelf rack with hooks is a space-saving answer for small bathrooms. Think shelf-coat rack, but with towels and bathrobes.

6. Bathbeads or salts often come in pretty jars, but when you run out of salts, then what? Use the jars for cotton balls or q-tips, and store out on the vanity. The jars are often lovely, so why not show them off, and make them work a double shift?

7. Use mismatched, unused or mate-less serving pieces to store toiletries. A tea cup without a partner is a great place for cotton balls, or a demitasse cup for earrings, rings, whathaveyous. This tip also applies to pieces that might be chipped.  A no-no in the dining room creates character and charm in the bathroom.

8. Put out some fresh cut flowers in the bathroom. It makes the room seem  more inviting, and it is also a great, sneaky way to feign luxury. No one has to know they came from Kroger (or, even better, the back yard)

9. One lower-cost solution to old bathroom tiles: blunt the behind-the-times tile color by painting the walls a complimentary color for a more cheerful (and less cheesy) scheme. But if the tiles are avocado green or pink... for heaven's sake RE-TILE.


And don't forget to set out your best towels, the nice soaps and the fancy French bath salts. This is YOUR space, and life is too short not to use the best stuff. So relax and enjoy.

Bubbily yours,
Nay

Banishing Kitchen Clutter!

For most of us, the kitchen is the heart and soul of our home. This is where people gather, where we fix and take our meals, and where we come for comfort (food is truly the best medicine!).

But because this room of the house is the most traveled and the busiest, it often becomes a catch-all for the trappings of our lives. Like keys, mail, random appliances (do you really need that curly fry maker out on the counter?)

Here are some tips for making the kitchen as functional as it can be.

1. The number one rule of an organized kitchen is to store items where you use them. Put your plates near the table or the stove (depending on if you serve from the stove or the table), glasses near the fridge and cutting knives and board near island or counter where you cut up produce. Keep like items together, and items that you use all the time within reach.
2. If you do any baking, set up a baking section. Store together all items you use when baking.
3. Clean and organize your fridge and freezer. Do a quick upkeep once a week on trash day. If you don't use it, get rid of it. Nothing worse than a stinky fridge.

4. Move the excess clutter. For example, seasonally used items such as platters and holiday dishes are better stored in a basement or attic. Unless you have a very large kitchen, it is best to remove items that are not used on a regular basis. You know that cabinet over the fridge? That's also a great place to store seasonal dishes and serveware since it's out of the way.

5. How many glasses do you really use between dish washings? Store only as many as you regularly use (glasses, dishes, wine glasses), and place the extras in storage, like the bottom of a coat closet or pantry. Have them close by for parties or dinners.

6. Go through your cookbooks and keep in the kitchen only the ones you use regularly. Seasonal cookbooks can be stored with your holiday dinnerware, others can be kept elsewhere, like the living room or office bookshelves. Or even better, photocopy the recipes that you use the most often, laminate or bind them in sheet protectors and keep them in a binder.

7. Here's a tough one. If you don't use it every day, remove it from your counters. So many of us complain about not having enough counter space yet we crowd the counters with things we don't even use. Do you really need that Tater Twister or Smoothie Machine RIGHT there on the counter at all times? No.

8. Check out all the racks and drawer units on the market to more efficiently store all your kitchen items. You will find a large selection at home stores around the country. If you can, hang your pots and pans on the wall. Julia Child was right on the money with this one, especially if your pots are lovely copper or stainless steel. But even if they are not stunners- hanging them up near the stove is functional and makes for interesting living art.

9. Set up a small pantry somewhere in your home for extra cans of soup, coffee and other essentials. You'll save money by buying in bulk or during sales and you'll save space in the kitchen. A small closet can easily be converted to a pantry. Once you have one you'll never want to be "pantry-less" again.

If you have any other kitchen organizer tips, feel free to email me at musingsbynayblog@gmail.com

Organizingly yours,

Nay

(Re)Organizing Your Life, Episode II, or Why Decorative Boxes Are Your Friend

There is something satisfying about placing items in a box. It's true. When we pack, boxes are neatly labeled, packed carefully, sealed and moved. When we package gifts, we chose a tidy box, wrap it lovingly, add a tacky bow (ok maybe that's just my family) and place it next to the other perfectly wrapped gifts with a contented sigh. We love boxes.

And guess what. Boxes are not just for storing things.... some are actually pretty AND multipurpose!! I KNOW!!

I found this great set of colored magazine boxes at Exposures Online, a photography store, which are perfect, not only for photos but for storage of just about anything that will fit. And because they are quite lovely, they would not look out of place in your living room or office.

Last summer I bought 2 sets of three white cardboard magazine boxes from Target. I assembled them myself, no tools required, and have stored all my magazines by subscription on a bookcase. I wish I had bought about 12 more, they are so versatile, but of course, I cannot find them anymore.

However, Target's latest fashionable line, Liberty of London, has several lidded storage boxes in GORGEOUS colors and patterns, like this lovely here.

Stacked on a bookcase, a desk or even on a side table, these handy boxes can be storage for just about anything, such as:

-ugly remote controls stash nicely in a pretty box. Now hubby doesn't have to complain that you lost the remote.

-pictures, postcards, greeting cards, and letters all have a safe place to land

-a smaller size box would hold costume jewelry if you're not into jewelry boxes or hanging pieces on the wall

-recipes or even cookbooks would have a clean, out of the way place to stay without crowding the counter tops

- obviously, magazines. Most boxes feature a metal label square so finding the title you're looking for is easy.

- bills are less ugly in a cute box

- DVDS stack tidily in boxes. You could even get a few and label A-D, E-G etc, etc. Oh wouldn't you be a neat freak then ;)

There are tons more things we can cleverly store in decorative boxes! How will you use yours?

Boxily yours,

Nay

(Re)Organize Your Life, Episode I

Let's face it. Sometimes we are so busy making sure that our professional selves are nice and tidy (files in their space, inbox under control, messages answered) that our home selves suffer! But reorganizing and tackling the clutter is sometimes so daunting that we'd rather just shove the stuff in a closet and forget about it. And for a lot of us, that works. But for my generation, we are apartment dwellers. We can't quite afford the house in the suburbs, 2.5 kids and a golden retriever. So every square inch counts for us!

A lot of times, the junk we collect sits around because we can't quite figure out what to do with it. Sometimes it's mismatched or misplaced members of a pair that we hold on to, and so there it is, collecting dust and taking up space. Time to reuse those leftovers!

Real Simple magazine, one of my MOST FAVORITE magazines (Don't worry InStyle and Dogfancy, mama still loves you) has a great newsletter they send via email, and the following tips are from one of their articles.


7 Double Duty Decorating Ideas:

1. Use earrings as pushpins- if you've lost the mate to a lovely set of studs, use the remaining stud as a lovely pushpin. It will brighten up any corkboard to-do list!

2.  Dress up your refrigerator door with rarely worn brooches- remove the pin with wire cutters, glue a magnet to the back and voila! a lovely, sentimental magnet. Way more chic than that god-awful tchotchke magnet Mom and Dad brought from their trip to Dollywood...

3. Coffee cans as a wine rack- use a can opener to cut off the bottoms of multiple aluminum cans, spray paint the outsides so they are all uniform, then glue together in a balanced, artful way with Krazy Glue or another strong adhesive.

4. Cupcake foils as votives- got leftover cupcake foils from that over-zealous cupcake phase? They make great votives for tea lights. Best part? Throw them away when the candle melts! No muss, no fuss. Wish you could say the same for those cupcakes.

5. Cake stand as a candle platform- we all have those gorgeous cake stands, but most of the time they sit their collecting dust. Why not use the plate as a pedestal for pillar candles? Make sure you put a doily or even some parchment paper under the candles to protect the plate from the wax.

6. Salt and pepper shakers as bud vases- unscrew the cap, clean, fill with water, and oh look isn't that precious? A bud vase!

7. Wallpaper as drawer liners- got extra wallpaper? ( I know, who really uses wallpaper anymore, but you never know). Anyway, the scraps, when cut to fit drawers, make lovely drawer liners. It's a nice touch.

You can read more at Real Simple Magazine- new uses for old things if you want more tips.

New and Improved Musings

I've decided to try something different with this blog. I used to blog about random things, things that popped into my head, things that happened on the way to the forum, etc. etc. Then this evening I was musing in the shower (I do a lot of my best thinking in there, how about you?) and I decided that maybe I should start blogging with a basic theme in mind. I thought it might be interesting to pick a different theme each month, and write blogs based (maybe loosely) on that chosen theme. Knowing how I am, I thought it might be best to assign myself two to three blog posts a week on this chosen theme, that way I can explore lots of areas of the theme.

Does this sound like something you might want to read?

Here's the yearly projection, by theme.

May- Health and Wellness (these posts could range anywhere from exercise, vitamins and minerals, The Happiness Project, and any other interesting tidbits I dig up about wellness today)
June- Food and Drink (I was thinking farmers markets, great wines and wine tours, the latest trends in food/drink)
July- Americana (American traditions, some NON-PARTISAN politics, etc)
August- Great Literature (Books, magazines, blogs. I think I'll have some guest writers for this one)
September- Fall Fashions (in honor of The September Issues of Vogue and InStyle... both GIGANTIC issues)
October- History and Folklore (I was thinking Halloween things, maybe some history stuff thrown in because I was a history major as an undergraduate)
November- Great Films (Again, a few guest writers)
December- Holiday Traditions Around the World

Does this sound interesting? If so, please comment, or email musingsbynayblog@gmail.com for theme suggestions or post ideas.

This really depends on things you're interested in, so drop me a line!

Thoughtfully yours,
Nay

Feathering the Nest

I'm in a nesting mood. This always happens to me in springtime (must be instinctual). In the spirit of spring cleaning and the newness of life, here are a few of my favorite house things.

I just want to jump into this bed and sleep for years :)
(Restoration Hardware)

I love botanical prints, especially old drawings and Latin

(Restoration Hardware)

I love old glass bottles in all shapes and sizes. They are so versatile

(Pottery Barn)

I think this would be lovely over a dark cherry wood dinning table

(Pottery Barn)

Clocks are very chic

(Restoration Hardware)

Key to my heart :)

(Pottery Barn)

You could get an assortment of these: First initials or last name would be very stylish

(Restoration Hardware)

This was the headlining photo on the Restoration Hardware home decor site and I just LOVED it

(Restoration Hardware)

This bedding color is so soothing, like it would feel cool to the touch- perfect for hot summer nights and sunburned skin :)

(Restoration Hardware)

All-Clad Copper Core 15 Piece... I had to throw it in there

(Williams Sonoma)

Bright pillows can really spice up a muted room, and they're so much fun to look at!

(Crate and Barrel)

What to do when the world won't catch up?

I don't usually use this blog as a journal or a place to jot down my frustrations/feelings, whathaveyou. But I am bummed, and I need to vent about it.

My life is at a complete and utter standstill right now. I am in a perpetual waiting game, waiting for outsiders to decide my life (fate) and it is driving me CRAZY. I'm a take-charge kind of girl, and this "wait and see" bullshit is exactly that. Bullshit.

It doesn't help that my life is currently moving at a snails pace in ALL areas- career, school, love. I am SO frustrated I could punch something, but more likely cry, and there is absolutely NOTHING I can do about it except, you guessed it, wait.

I have several unanswered questions, such as: What do I do while I'm waiting for the world to tell me where I'm going? Why do the shitheads get the good things in life like babies and marriages and great careers? Why do good people like me end up with the short end of the stick all the time?

See where this is going? Pity party for Nay, party of one? I don't like pity parties, and I especially don't like being patronized (which for some reason, most people seem to be doing to me lately) so what IS a smart girl to do?

If you figure it out, let me know. I'm just waiting, you know.


Spinning my wheels,
Nay