While the cat's away...

Oh, nope that's not right. The cats are ALL still here and the ones in the barn have in fact dismembered a rabbit which I have been stepping over in order to feed the horses the past few days. My gag reflex is in good working order I can assure you.

Never mind all of that, too much information for you city dwellers. I don't know if any of my 3 readers are country dwellers. If you are, speak up. I need moral support.

Actually I should have titled this "While the husband is away, the wife will paint!!" Hubs is at a conference in Dallas all this week.

First of all, let me admit that I am insanely jealous of people who are blessed with mudrooms. I mean seriously, that has to be the best thing that could ever happen to a house. Well, that and ginormous closets.

We do not have a mudroom so I decided to get over my jealousy and make the best of what we have.

The problem I have is with our back entry into the house from the garage. It is a high traffic area and even most visitors come in this way. 99% of the time it is NOT fit for public viewing. Included in the problem is that the laundry room is right there in the back entry hall. Although presently "organized" it is not always tidy, if you know what I mean.

Here is the view as you walk in the door
Hello cluttered coat rack and dull beige walls! Yes the coat rack is full of winter wear even though it is August.

Just beyond that is the lovely island in the kitchen a.k.a the catch all.
I would like to blame that disaster on hubs who comes in from work and lays everything there, but hubs does not carry even one...much less two... purses! That picture is sort of embarrassing.

Ugggggh. The whole situation drives me batty.


So I painted the back entry a cool shade, Wedgewood Gray by Benjamin Moore.

I then moved this cabinet....... which I got a few years back for a song at my favorite craft/antique that was going out of business, from the guest bathroom, painted it black and moved it into the back hallway.

It is now organization central.Yep, organization at it's finest.

On the top shelf I put cork on the back for a bulletin board and a letter tray for all of hubs paperwork/mail/crap stuff.

Shelf #2 we have a cute little lamp and an old suitcase, which I bought on a fun antique/junk shopping trip with my adorable sister-in-law while in TN a couple of summers ago. (Hi pesky brother-in-law Mark in TN! I have to give him a shout out every now and then or he gets testy.)

Anyways...in the suitcase is a power strip which all manner of rechargeable items will be plugged into. Come in the door, plug in your phone/iPod/whatever gadget. All in one spot. Sweet.

Bottom shelf we have a bowl for keys. Yes hubs will be putting his keys there, if he knows what is good for him.

I put scrapbook paper on the back of shelves 2 & 3. Got that and pretty much the idea for this whole project from numerous other brilliant blogs which I did not keep track of...so don't give me credit. I am just copying!

I took the cabinet doors off the bottom because they would not stay shut.Hung a rod, attached some fabric to those fab little rings and there you have it.

A hidden spot for wayward shoes, blonde rascal's backpack, ahem... purses.

I took a little wooden, unused, coat hanger that was in the garage, painted it black (duh) and hung it behind the door. For the pool bag of course.......and hopefully a more manageable amount of winter wear! Probably both hung there simultaneously. I like to entwine the seasons to keep things interesting.

For the times when someone knocks on the back door and I gasp in horror at the sight of the laundry room, I took a cheap window panel from Target, sewed some fabric and ribbon on to it.......and attached it to a curtain rod and some clips. Now I can yank it closed and no one will be the wiser about the state of the laundry room!!!

For a little art I took a picture that blonde rascal drew which I loved and framed it.
It was on a 12x18 piece of construction paper so I reduced it. I reduced it after spending no less than 45 minutes sweating, cussing and crying in a very busy Kinko's with a possibly inept employee who kept saying..."OK, hmmmmm, let's try it this way"

I bought the perfect, looking, frame for the art. I bought the frame at the $1 store. It was $6 and that made me happy. But the 60 minutes it took me to try to force and then shave down the back of the cheap ass frame with a utility knife in order to put it back together did not make me so happy. (Note to self, do not buy another frame from the $1 store. Ever.)

So that sums up the happy story of my new organized back hallway.


The next picture I would like to title "When does school start?"....

Blonde rascal put up the cot/air mattress thing and slept in the living room last night. At which time a huge mess ensued. Couch cushions thrown hither and yon, various bedding articles strewn about...total loss of order. Oh well. School starts Monday so I have to cut the little man a some slack. Fun needs to be had while it still can.

On that note, we are going to Chuck E. Cheese tonight. Say a prayer.

On yet another note, I do believe this post is full of run on sentences. Do forgive.