One of a Kind

I obsess over cell phone cases! I realize this is a silly thing to care about but I want it to be just right... not too flashy, not too boring, and not too trendy. Can a cell phone case be all these things?? I say yes! So did Martha Stewart's crafters, apparently, because the latest LIVING magazine had great ideas and a template on how to create a one of kind fabric iphone case. 

templates here

I copied the idea for my droid and came up with a sleek and sophisticated cell phone case for just a few bucks.

All you need is a transparent cell phone case, some Modge Podge and your choice of fabric. It's best to choose a thin fabric so it can form to the outline of the case.

 Brush Modge Podge over the outside of the case, press fabric on, trim the edges and Voila!

Earring Organizer

I call myself a Professional Organizer but should I really allow myself that privilege when my jewelry box looks like this??

It's usually worse than this, too! I had just cleaned out the crayons (no idea), spools of thread and receipts. I always had trouble finding both earrings of just about every single pair jumbled in there, which I'm sure is really hard to imagine! 

I had seen some really fun earring displays made out of screen and picture frames like this one on Etsy

and thought I would try to do something similar.

You can buy this here!

I didn't have any frames sitting around that I could use, though, but had a moment of inspiration when I was trying to find a new place for my old silver tray.

The tray has handy dandy cut-outs (I'm sure there's a fancy name for it) all around the sides that make it easy to stretch twice across.

Once I had the twice strung across and knotted, I added a loop at the top and got to work organizing!

 Now I'm all organized and am well aware I have more dangle earrings than any one person needs. Who can say for sure, though....

It's so fun to be creative and give something a new purpose!

I

Salon makeover

Usually, I'M the one getting a makeover at a salon so it was such a fun experience to makeover a salon!

The salon owner had been trying for a few months to juggle working a full client load, all the responsibilities that come with being a parent, AND somehow update the look of her salon all at the same time. Friends and clients were even trying to help her stay on track but she lost her steam so they lit the bat signal and I rode into town in my super cool minivan ready to save the world.

As you can see, the salon waiting area was kind of....lifeless. We can be honest about that, right? The salon owner, Kim, is so fun and creative but this room wouldn't give anyone that impression about her.

I think part of the reason the salon redo wasn't going well was because the gray accent color Kim had chosen, had no warmth and drained energy from the rooms instead of bringing energy to the salon. 

The first thing I did was focus on color. Kim wanted the salon to stay mostly white so the wall color wouldn't affect the way hair color appeared but we DID change the accent walls. 

With a new vibrant blue, accented with reds, the waiting room has color and style.

A new custom logo will be going up over the red chair so that wall will  have some color soon!

The room where Kim and her clients spend most of their time was cluttered and boring. It lacked creativity AND function.

We rearranged the work stations, organized, organized, organized and then added the same vibrant blues and reds that we used in the lobby.

Since the salon is divided into four small rooms, we needed to make sure that everything was really organized and streamlined. 

The room with the dryers was crowded and had a stack of decorative items no longer being used.

 We cleared out everything that was unused and Kim even sold one of her dryers so there would be a little more elbow room between chairs. We added photos of her clients to make the space more personal.

I re-purposed one of her mirrors by painting it the same blue as the wall color (I still let some of the metallic shine through) and I brought in more of the same color with storage bins. By repeating the same colors, the rooms are cohesive yet not overpowered.

One more room....

The shampoo room had the same issues as the other three rooms. No color and no function. Our first order of business was to find a storage cabinet that could fit all the shampoos, towels, color tubes/bottles, and all the extra little things that needed a home.

Thanks to Nadeau in Nashville, we found a great cabinet that just needed a little bit of pizzazz. 

We changed the accent wall from light gray to vibrant blue and then added some pizzazz to this, too, by having a custom mural painted. Devon did an amazing job!

The shampoo room now has style and function. 

Remember what the salon looked like originally?

Now it's colorful, organized and inviting.