My sea of shoes

I spent some time cleaning my closet yesterday. When I saw the shoes all lined up on the floor waiting to go back to their home, I couldn't help but take a few shots. They look like a shoe army!

Speaking of... thanks to Kay over at Apartment #412 I have become a fan of Sea of Shoes, a fantastic fashion blog written by a ridiculously stylish 17-year-old. Her shoe collection is spectacular - very sexy, tough and avant-garde...

 

Day 4: Pocket Change

Saving change is a necessity, but a shoebox (or if you live in my house, a plastic pretzel barrel) filled with random coins and pocket lint is not the tidiest or most attractive way to corral it. How about a cute piggy bank instead? I'm dying for the Jeff Koons balloon dog myself. A tiny work of art for the dresser, and a place to store my pennies for a rainy day!


Collage 1, from top left: vintage paper mache piggy bank; Jeff Koons balloon dog; Karim Rashid "Time is Money" bank; Los Luchadores; Bruno Limberger Koin Bank 

Collage 2, from top left: Harry Allen pig bank; Year of the Ox; black elephant coin bank, Jonathan Adler; Vacavaliente leather pig bank; Dwell elephant bank; Domus house coin banks

                             Day 3: Bathroom Storage!

It's a great thing to have storage space in the bathroom. For us though, the storage is on open shelves. For this reason, it all needs to look pretty in addition to being functional. I didn't want wall to wall bins, so I worked in some framed prints and knickknacks to break things up. And the baskets hold cleaning products, toilet paper and other items that are best kept concealed.

Since the color of the soap matches the wall, I decided to unwrap the bars and put them on display in a big glass jar from Crate & Barrel. Now when one of us gets into the shower and realizes the soap has been worn down to a sliver, it will be easy to grab a fresh bar!

Meanwhile, the horse print is by The Cellophanes and the "Love" jar and little elephant are by my favorite potter, Jonathan Adler (found at the fantastic Matthew Izzo moving sale, for my Philadelphia friends!)

Bowls for cotton balls and toiletries in modern packaging sit out on a tray (this one is Thomas Paul) and towels are folded and stacked on the shelves.

I left open space so we can add baskets as needed, but for now it contains our clutter and allows room to display some fun objects. What a relief!

                                    Day 2: My Craft Space

I love my little office/guest bedroom/craft room.  Since it is so very small, I've tried to come up with interesting ways to store my various supplies. I love glass jars, and think they look so pretty filled with ribbons, glitter and thread. Mine are arranged on the dresser, a place which in addition to holding towels and off-season clothing, serves as an area to corral my craft materials. I think it is inspiring to see these things out in the open, instead of having to dig through storage boxes. Inexpensive mason jars can be found at Michael's or Ikea, but I like to salvage spaghetti sauce and pickle jars by running them through the dishwasher, peeling off the old label, and giving the lid a coat of bright, glossy white paint.

This classic Ikea hold-all is a real workhorse. It keeps my most-often-used craft supplies at close reach, from glue gun to fisherman's line to fabric scraps. More spools of ribbon find a home in a milk glass pedestal dish.

The bright and playful fabric scraps are from my favorite sewing shop in Philadelphia, Spool. I'm using them for an announcement mailing that I have going out soon...

A view from the doorway: I don't sew clothing, but I like having a dress form for displaying my favorite pieces. The sequined shift is by Vera Wang.  And the adorable birdcage coat hook is an Oh Joy! design from Urban Outfitters.

And wrapping and craft papers are stored in this fantastically minimal, glossy-white trash can from The Container Store....

Tonight is spaghetti night, so I'll have more jars to work with soon! Meanwhile, how do store your craft supplies?

                                       Day 1: Laundry!

Maybe it's the new year, but something has got me in an organizing mood. So this week, I will be sharing some of my neat and tidy house projects, as well as cool products for keeping things out of sight/out of mind.

It seems like no matter what we do, my guy and I always have an enormous pile of laundry overflowing from a basket in the bedroom. I think this authentic postal surplus bag from Three Potato Four would be a playful solution to our laundry woes.  A couple of these bags lined up along the wall would make a graphic statement and might also serve as additional bean bag-style seating for our three cats!

Meanwhile, this bag of money is hilarious.  I think it would be perfect as an ironic objet d'art in the living room...