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As an organizing junkie, storage boxes are kind of a big deal to me.  Especially pretty, decorative boxes.  They are so great for EVERYTHING, including desk accessories, remote controls, keys, jewelry, hair accessories, coffee pods... They not only tuck away all of those hard to store itty bitties, but they also can double as great home accessories on desktops and bookshelves.

During my recent storage room cleanup, I found a few plain boxes ranging from unfinished wood options to simple shoe boxes, and they were all begging for a makeover.  So, I did some inspiration digging and thought I would do a quick round-up of some superstar storage boxes that were made with a little DIY love.


1.  Felt Boxes

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These little felt boxes were crafted from pieces of felt.  I adore the vibrant colors and that they are small, simple and soft sided.


2.  Decoupage Boxes

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Shoe boxes will become shining stars a few times over throughout this post.  They are "free", sturdy and easy to update.  These shoes boxes were updated by decoupaging maps around the outside, although, any pretty paper would do the trick!  The addition of the adhesive bookplate label holders give the box a polished, finished look.


3.  Fabric Covered Boxes

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Look at the loveliness that can be created by combining shoe boxes with spray adhesive {or Mod Podge} and pretty fabric!  And can we talk about those stud embellishments for a moment?  Awesomesauce! 


4.  Romantic Boxes

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Take those fabric or paper covered boxes to the next level by taping around the perimeter of the lids with adhesive fabric or layering in other sweet embellishments.


5.  Spray Painted Boxes

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A combination of painter's tape and spray paint gave these white and typical boxes a bit of golden glam!


6.  Duct Tape Boxes

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Everyday banker's boxes can be turned into chic, over-sized storage with a coat of spray paint paired with decorative duct tape!


7.   Jeweled Boxes

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Unfinished wooden boxes have never looked better.  I love this one done in a beautiful emerald green paint and literally "dressed up" with jewelry!


8.  Neon Boxes

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Neon is HOT right now, and so are these great unfinished wooden boxes, which shine bright thanks to some painters tape and neon paint!


9.  Geometric Boxes

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These simple wooden boxes are also brilliantly bright with the addition of boldly painted geometric shapes.


10.  Lacquer Boxes

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Lacquer boxes are likely to remain an essential piece of storage for any space due to their classic lines and versatility.  However, true lacquer boxes can be super pricey, so why not create your own with some high gloss craft paint?


11.  Top-Tastic Box

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Give any simple wooden box oodles of character by adding a decorative object to the lid with super glue.  Make it look like it was always meant to be by using rub-n-buff or spray paint to cover both the lid and the item in the same finish.


12.  Malachite Boxes

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These beautiful malachite boxes couldn't look more expensive.  The best part is that they weren't costly at all!  Just a simple wooden box paired with high gloss paint brushed on in random swirly patterns and you have a $200 box for a total of $8.


13.  3D Boxes


Paint seems to be a key ingredient in creating the perfect decorative box, but how about taking them up a notch with puffy paint?  The subtle embellishment adds endless whimsy to otherwise typical boxes.


14.  Stained Boxes

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Hey!  That box looks familiar!  By giving the box a quick coat of a beautiful wood stain, it turned into a piece I was proud to place on my desk.  That little label holder didn't hurt the eyes either!


15.  Quarts Crystal Box

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Hot gluing a few pieces of rock or crystal to the top of a pretty box will give you have a high-end designer look on a budget.  Simply brilliant!


Thanks to all of this over the top amazing inspiration, I am challenging myself to do something snazzy with a few of the empty boxes I recently discovered.  Have you created or seen any other great storage box makeover ideas, which offer up a decorative look while only costing pennies to create?  How do you use these little gems around your home?

Howdy friends!  How was your Christmas?  I hope that it was completely magical and full of blessings.

I know that some of you are already ahead of the game, and have moved on from Christmas and packed up your things.  I, however, have not.  I can't help but want to hold on to that sparkle for a few extra days after Christmas is over, so I wait until New Year's day to put away the pretty lights and holiday bling and return to our version of normal.

That said, I am really in the organizing mood!  And this year found so many great ideas, some old and some new, which I wanted to put together in one giant Christmas organization post for you.  So I apologize if I am too late, just pretend that I am really ahead of the game for next year as some of these ideas were just too great to wait!  And for those of you who are still looking to organize the remainder of your Christmas gear, hopefully you can snag a few ideas to still implement this year.  Suddenly, I am feeling like Dr. Seuss.... 



First, let's chat about gift giving, since that is really a huge part of the season.  One thing that I have loved year after year is my Gift Giving Tracker.



However, something new that helped me when it came time to wrap all of those happy little packages was our new gift wrap station!



For those looking for other great wrapping stations, I am still gaga for this over-the-door awesomeness created by my gal pal Cassie!

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If you are looking to tote around your gift wrapping essentials, you must check out this amazing DIY caddy created from a fast food cardboard drink carrier.

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When you have the space, it is great if you can carve out a little nook of your home for gift wrapping away from the kitchen table.  I love this happy office corner, which can be used all month long for last minute gift wrapping sessions.

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If you are at all like me and use your ribbon year round, check out this smart solution which pairs dowels and a plastic basket for rockin' ribbon storage!

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And once the gifts for the kiddos are all wrapped and pretty, organize hide them inside a storage trunk until Christmas Eve.

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But how about organizing all of those decorations?  Many of us sprinkle Christmas throughout our entire home, and even trim a tree.  So many things to store away nice and neat!

Tip number one is to always add a sleeve or clear pocket to each bin, so that you can easily tuck a contents list inside.  This will prevent rummaging next year!



Tip number two is to fall in love with Ziploc bags and Gladware containers!  I try to reduce my use of them in my day to day life, but when it comes to storing itty bits and even those shatterproof ornaments, they are my go to organizers!



Tip number three is to wrap the rest around cardboard!  The cardboard wrap method prevents items from tangling and works for everything from lights to garland; and is a simple and free solution!

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Tension rods work great as well!

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I am also simply smitten with this alternative solution to cords and strands, which is to wrap them with Velcro strips.  Easy peasy!

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Other free storage solutions include empty apple containers...

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Or maybe egg cartons tickle your fancy?

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I am sure you have seen it 100 times, but the plastic cup glued to cardboard stacking trick is pure genius!

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Tip number four is to pack things up as if you were unpacking them!  Place less used items at the bottom, frequently used or the first items use decorate with, at the top.  Make things as simple as you can for next year.  Also, keep original packaging and even use gift boxes to provide storage inside of storage for those ornaments and special decor pieces.

Last but not least, tip number five is to store all Christmas decor in similar style and colored bins for easy identification.  This will ensure you are only grabbing at bins that matter most during the holidays, and not left searching amongst bins of memorabilia and auntie May's fine china.

I am head over heels for these stackable divided bins used by Katrina of the Organized Housewife!  They are so wonderful for dividing ornaments by category and separating decor types.

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When it comes to storing a Christmas wreath, I have tried those hard sided bins and they only work well if you have a wreath small enough to fit inside.  So happy I stumbled upon this idea to use a hanger paired with a dry cleaning bag for my additional storage-less wreaths!

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Do you display the lovely faces of friends and family that grace your mailbox in the form of greetings throughout the month of December?  How freakin' adorable is this card display crafted from an old window shutter?

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But what do you do with those cards once the year has come and gone?  I don't keep them all, but the ones with family photos get stored away in a special greeting card binder.



You can't go wrong by just paper punching them and placing them on a ring by year.  Simple.  Adorable.  And memorable!




Last but not least, this little holiday binder didn't leave my side this season.  It worked out great, and I look forward to adding to it for years to come!  Even my guys used it a few times, which of course, made me warm and fuzzy inside.



So who is geared up to do a little extra organizing this year, to ensure next year goes off without a hitch?  What are your favorite Christmas and holiday storage and organizing tips?  Anything work particularly well for you this year?


 Image used for header graphic found here.

... although it wasn't even planned.

Sometimes one thing leads to another, and when I am involved, it isn't always necessarily as planned.  I am good at taking something and running with it {or as my husband would say, making a mountain out of a molehill}.  Me running with the purchase of a new vanity caused the entire bathroom project to have the Lorax effect.... it kept biggering and biggering and biggering.


It all started out when our old vanity had seen better days and the drawers busted due to little climbers and the fact I hadn't kept a good stool at their disposal.   The vanity had been painted multiple times and was never intended to be long term anyway {although 12+ years was pretty long term}, so I was excited to pull it out and say farewell.  And being that we had leftover materials from lower level and guest bathroom projects at our disposal, it seemed as though the stars were aligning in our favor of a sweet little bathroom update.  All we would need to purchase is a new vanity and boom, much better right?!  Not quite.


Once the old vanity was removed, the walls needed to be painted and far more than what we had left in our touch up paint jar.  So, the cheapy in me just pulled out a gallon of paint we had on hand and painted the walls in Behr's Burnished Metal.

Bryan installed the flooring {these from Home Depot which we have used in our guest bathroom and throughout our entire lower level}, and we also updated all of the trim in the bathroom.  We followed the exact same process as we shared in this post here {which also links back to more step by step tutorials}, so I didn't duplicate the documentation process this time around.

This is where the biggering comes in.

The new vanity really opened up the bathroom and allowed us better storage {I will touch on that in a moment}, which also meant we could remove the stand-in storage cabinet we had been using.  Removing the small cabinet left the big giant wall looking sterile and blank and the dinky hooks looked just that; dinky.  My wheels were spinning and I decided that subtle stripes paired with beautiful new substantial hooks would be much more fun for the space.  Simple, yet functional while also filling the big empty wall.  No big deal.

I shared the beautiful stripe and house number projects in my last update.


And then things went entirely downhill.

As I was taking and editing the post photos, I noticed that the light was catching areas that needed to be touched up.  So after I posted my last update, that is exactly what I went to do.  I touched up edges and corners and even a missed spot on the stripes here and there.  Then it happened.

Jennifer Jones was painting a wall, Jennifer Jones had a great fall.

Yep, I fell as I was touching up the ceiling.  Completely lost my balance and not so gracefully bruised my wrist, ribs and ankle.  At that point I called it quits, slowly walking away to allow my touch ups to dry and to take a few days to recover.

Once the touched up areas were dry, I was left completely disappointed.  Because the metallic glaze was a mixture that I created, even though I stirred and stirred and stirred some more, it didn't provide the exact coverage.  In fact, the spots I "touched up" only looked worse.  Blotchy, runny and oh so wrong.  I panicked.

I went and spoke with a paint specialist at Sherwin Williams and asked about finish options to fix the metallic mess I created and to see if they had any options that would allow me to redo my stripes.  I was told that applying any type of metallic glaze can be a finicky process due to running, mixing and edging, and that they usually recommend hiring a pro.  Um, that was not part of my plan.

So, we went to Home Depot and heard the same thing from there paint department.  Somehow, I got lucky and most of my stripes looked beautiful, so I am guessing that if you can get it all on and blended at once, you should be OK.  Just don't attempt to touch it up after.  Ever.

Feeling deterred and frustrated and sore... I chickened out and purchased the exact same color of paint as the walls were already finished in, only in a glossy sheen.  My fingers were crossed there would be enough of a difference between the eggshell and gloss paint sheens, to still achieve the subtle stripe effect.

Re-taping was easy, we just followed the lines we had previously created so no re-measuring was required.  Hubby and I whipped out the glossy stripes together in under an hour, and started pulling the tape again.  This time, it was nearly impossible to even spot a difference.  Strike two.


Before getting too much tape pulled, we stopped knowing we would have to paint yet again.  Nervous to head back to the glaze I loved and risk messing it up again, I decided to just find a pretty complimentary shade and call it good.  Lame I know but sometimes you have to know when to fold 'em.  I went with Glidden's Misty Moonstone and it was juuuuuust right.  Did you hear the sigh of relief from there?



Other than the paint drama, the rest of the bathroom came together easily and quickly and makes me grin for a lot of different reasons.  In fact, I was fairly happy with our previous bathroom refresh, but this one takes the cake.

My visions for this bathroom down the road include a lot of tile, including a whole new tub and shower.  Knowing the direction that I see the bathroom heading, anything purchased this time around had to fit with those plans.  I searched high and low and when I spotted the vanity online I knew it was "the one".  The vanity was one that I could see myself loving for the rest of the life of our home and had all of the characteristics I was after.


And that vanity was an absolutely game changer.  Attempting to translate size within photos is nearly impossible, but this bathroom is a whopping 5' x 5'.  The beautiful new vanity {purchased here from Lowes}, was actually not as deep as our previous version, giving us an extra few inches of floor space.  That few inches paired with the leggy base resulted in a bathroom that felt twice as big. 


Although smaller, the cabinet actually works harder for us in the storage department.  The previous vanity had one small cabinet paired with two small drawers.  The drawers held random bathroom clutter and the cabinet was utilized for cleaning supplies.  There was no room to store our extra set of towels, however, the open shelf on the bottom of the new vanity solved that problem instantly.  Love.


To organize the inside of the cabinet, I added a caddy to hold the cleaning items and rags on the left....


While a basket on the right holds daily toiletry items.  I gave the bottom of the basket a coat of the coral paint to tie it in with the house numbers and freshly painted stool.


Speaking of house numbers, they are so stinkin' darling floating above each of the bathroom hooks.


The entire bathroom is done in neutral grays and blues for my boys and to stay consistent with the flow of the rest of our home, but the little pops of corally pink sure speak to me. 


A few years ago we switched from towel bars to hooks in the bathroom, and I will never turn back.  Hooks are so much easier for my boys to use.  No need to fold anything nice and neat, just toss the towel back on the hook and go.  Occasionally, towels would slip off of their hooks, so this time around we sewed small ribbon loops onto each towel.  Couldn't be easier for the boys to maintain yet adds a sweetness to the space.




We toss a soft bathmat over the edge of the tub which is placed on the floor during showers, so I opted not to put down a rug for now.  This allows the stool to glide across the floor on felt pads, and encourages the boys to grab the stool when washing and brushing.

Of course all of the room accessories were curated from items we already had around our home.  My favorite elephant print still set the tone with its fantastic colors....


While the other frame was updated with a small print I received with a recent order from Aedriel.  The shower curtain was purchased at Home Goods and allowed for us to play a game of musical shower curtains around the rest of the house.

The hand towel may be a little too much stripe on stripe, but we already had it on hand and the color was too perfect for now and really ties in the house numbers and stool on the opposite side of the room.


So that is the story of our little bathroom update and the three attempts at getting the perfect stripes.


Have you had a "third times a charm" project recently?  Or a room that started out as one itty bitty update and kept biggering and biggering?