Where do you keep all your stuff - part one

I cannot believe that I am going to show you the insides of cabinets!!!  Our house was built in 1961 by an architect for his use. There is no wasted space anywhere. You can see that the hallway, all the way into our bedroom is nothing but built-in storage from floor to ceiling. Perfect, isn't it?  I actually have room for all sorts of goodies behind all those doors and in those drawers. Today, I'm sharing napkin and napkin ring storage.

The built in in the mini-hallway in our bedroom is the perfect depth for napkin storage, although presently half the cabinet is used for sweaters. I tend to keep my napkins grouped by color if at all possible.

Are you intrigued by the mini-tubs you see? They are still a work in progress, as Staples ran out of labeling pockets and I am eagerly awaiting their restocking!

Can you tell what's inside? Sure you can... It's napkin rings. Only the lower right one has the label holder on, I think this is where I ran out.

I take pictures of the napkin rings, print them out to size and then cut to fit the picture to the label holder. I also make sure I write the number of napkin rings on the picture.

This way, I can easily see what I need, how many I have and only pull out the what I need without disrupting the entire napkin ring world. Oh, the mini tubs came from Wal-mart and were $1.50 each.

I also have two drawers in here with placemats and one of the drawers has placemats and matching napkins in it. Down the hall is the drawer where I keep the placemats and napkins we use on a daily basis.

 Oops, noticed the lower shelf has some chargers that got shifted. Wonder what I crammed in on the other side??

 

Votive candles and candle holders have a home in the lower drawer of the plastic drawer insert. In the upper drawer are Halloween spiders and pumpkin place card holders. Votives, jars, decorative elements all have a home in here.

Along with the bulkier placemats and chargers.

Off to right the mess on the lower shelf... Hope you enjoyed the visit. Sharing was painful! ;-)

How do you store your napkins, napkin rings and such? I'm curious.

I'm linking to Susan's Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday.. be sure to drop in for some really great inspiring redo's..

Hutch makeover - from yukky to "it's a bar!!"

This is the end result - a long from it's humble beginnings. The backstory: We've had this hutch since we bought our cabin in NM. So a very long time. It's either been relegated to holding dishes or craft supplies, but had no main focus in our home. I had a thought to turn it into a bar. Then we went to a local department store on the search for a couch (still searching) and saw a bar up there similar to this one. The lightbulbs flashed, the wheels started turning, time sped up!! Although the bones are good, the piece was UGLY! Color can make such a huge difference. See for yourself.

See, interesting design details, vintage and the ugliest yellow green color ever. Well that I know is subjective, simply put, it never fit into our color scheme! We refinished our first piece of furniture.

So we sanded, then began to paint. It's always hardest to pick the color. I have to remember that it's just paint, if you don't like it. Paint it again! I chose a gray-green-blue color from Valspar in a semi-gloss finish. We removed the hardware, sanded and then the painting began. Two coats. Inside and out. See the ugly wallpaper on the inside back! The tragedy was carried out to the n'th degree.

Even my right hand got involved. This picture shows the sharp contrast from what was to what is.

One more coat of paint to go. All the shelves and the inside were painted too. I think we didn't remove the doors because we didn't about it.

I used a ck gray colored Valspar semi-gloss to 'antique' the finished hutch. Use a damp rag, dip it into the tester size of paint and for less than $3.00 you have a stained piece of furniture. This little tip came from the really nice, cute paint guy at Lowe's. I was going to get a larger can of paint and he recommended the tester size. Then we sealed it with a water-base polyurethane. Two coats on the surfaces that get the most use and one on everything else.

And we found these great drawer pulls. I should have taken a picture of those that were on there..you would have gotten a good laugh. These are bronze with gold highlights. This will be very important... you'll see.

For the old hardware that was going to be too difficult to find.. the turn on the top doors and the latch on the bottom, I used a hammered oil-rubbed bronze spray Krylon paint to lightly, not solid coverage, spray paint the hardware. I wanted some of the existing gold to show through so that it would all match the new drawer pulls. Success! Yeah, the pull has undertones of gold also.

Each door had this mesh insert in it. Originally it was a brass finish also. So once again, the light coat of the hammered oil-rubbed bronze Krylon spray paint to allow some of the brass to show through. Perfect!

 

Okay this goes into the blogland bloopers file!!! See the chord hanging down from the light. I guess I didn't have the cord from the light tacked yet - ooh blamage!!  We then had a mirror cut for the back, and a glass shelf cut for the inside. Found the hanging stem-glass holders at Lowe's also. They were a bright and shiny chrome!! So I got out the dependable hammered oil-rubbed bronze spray paint by Krylon. I love that stuff!!! And they then blended right in with everything else. This time, full coverage, several coats, sealed with a semi gloss sealer.Found an under the counter florescent stick to fit on the front top to light the cabinet. Drilled a hole in the cabinet through which to run the cord. Plug it in behind the cabinet.

So it's finished. All told with drying time included this took a weekend and then a couple of evenings the following week. So a rather quick project.

Thanks for dropping in, I love your comments. Have a very blessed week. I am linking up to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for her Metamorphosis Monday Party.. be sure to go by and see the lovely transformation on lots of different items!