I love interior design books. I love the nice hardback covers and pretty photos of gorgeous spaces. It’s especially awesome when you come across an interior design book that not only has pretty pictures, but is filled with simple DIY projects and practical ideas for everyday living. Last week, I picked up a book such as this! Living in a Nutshell by Janet Lee.

First of all, a little bit about Janet. She’s an Emmy Award-winning television show producer and has styled and produced for leading home decorators, entrepreneurs, and designers such as, my favorite, the one and only Martha Stewart. She started out as a home décor producer for Lifetime Television’s Our Home and spent ten years as a senior producer for The Oprah Winfrey Show (while working closely with another favorite, Nate Berkus!). Janet blogs over at livinginanutshell.com and lives in New York City.

Janet’s book, Living in a Nutshell, is a super practical DIY guide of decorating ideas that trick the eye into believing a small living space is larger and more glamorous than it’s four walls. Even if you don’t live in a tiny space, these style-infused and oh so clever ideas are sure to inspire – especially if you have a love for modern style with a dash of urban quirk. This book comes complete with an illustrated survival tool kit as well as extensive listings of off-the-beaten-path design resources and a buying guide. Lucky for us, Janet is here on the blog today to share some of her favorite tiny, skinny storage solutions! Without further ado, here’s Janet…

I’m a small-space nester living in over a dozen petite pads in the past 20 years. I am in a constant battle with clutter and each space along the way has become my personal decorating lab where I road-test storage solutions that look cool out in the open, maximize vertical as well as horizontal real estate, and are super easy to maintain.  I need instant gratification when it comes to my storage and organizational systems or I won’t keep it up. I am not naturally neat and tidy by nature so these skinny storage ideas will give you the motivation to stay the anti-clutter course!

Every small space dweller fights the good fight against clutter. These skinny storage solutions and décor ideas won’t take up valuable real estate and are more a pleasure than a chore to maintain.

Shoe Bar. Lightweight polyurethane molding lets you display your favorite pairs of heels while freeing up valuable closet space. Removable  picture hanging strips keep the design chic and portable. No need to hammer nails or put screws through the wall.  Ideal for renters.  (p. 81)

Stretching Your Storage. Keeping clutter at bay is a stretch for most of us but with inexpensive rubber boating straps you have a hip catchall space to store keys, bills and sunglasses maximizing valuable vertical real estate. (p. 125)

Skinny Coat Rack. A removable wall decal affixed with Command clear hooks is transformed into a 3D hard-working coat rack strong enough to hold an umbrella, coats and hats without taking up valuable real estate.

Shoe Chair.  A flea market chair, with the seat removed, can hold up to 20 pairs of high-heels. Add a few removable hooks and you’ve the perfect place to display and store hats and handbags.

Gallery Frames.  Oversized art frames can cost more than the art itself.  Inexpensive doorjamb weather stripping has a soft rubber side to keep artwork unharmed and a pre-drilled metal side that attaches to the wall with decorative thumbtacks. (p. 147)

Double-Duty Shelves. Talk about a shelf with benefits! Industrial C- clamps can double the storage and style potential of ordinary shelving. Now this shelf can hold books, an umbrella, coats, sports equipment and more. Just twist each clamp and you’re done. (p. 136)

Shrink-Wrap File Cabinet. Couture is only a blow-dryer away.  An old file cabinet gets a designer makeover with removable vinyl adhesive that hugs every curve with the heat of a hand dryer. With a wink to the Louis Vuitton original, personal initials “JL” playfully stand in for the iconic monogram.  (p. 42)

Standing Lamp Only. If you don’t have an inch to spare in your cozy nook, these easy-to-make standing lamps from a wall decal, a lamp cord and a flashlight holder won’t leave a footprint. (p. 109)

And the Oscar Goes to… Plastic trophy heads attached to the wall with picture hanging hooks stylishly hold scarves, ties and lightweight handbags maximizing the vertical storage potential in your space.

I’m really digging Janet’s fresh approach to slim living and stylish organizing! Regardless of whether we live in a space of 500 sq. ft. or 5000, we can all appreciate the art of using our spaces wisely.  And when it can be done with such fun, originality and finesse, thats always a home run in my book. Oh, and I love the text on the floor mirror in the decal lighting photo, don’t you?!  What’s your favorite project of Janet’s? It’s so hard to choose, but I’ve got to say that ever since reading this post, I’ve been keeping my eye out for trophies at the thrift stores, ha!

Growing up, my mom had a small chalkboard that sat on the kitchen counter next to the coffee maker. She’d always write little messages for me and my brother – like encouraging words on math test days (Both me and my brother are artsy, and therefore, bad at math.) and the annual birthday and Christmas countdowns. Therein lies my love of chalkboards.

For the past few months, Greg and I’ve been keeping an eye out for something to turn into a chalkboard to go in the utility room. For a while, I thought about maybe using an old single-panel door and painting the inside of the panel with chalkboard paint. Then I could put a doorknob on it to serve as a hook for Bentley’s leash. That would be a really cool idea if only I could find a door that didn’t cost $180+. Plus, when I tried to picture it in my head, it seemed kinda bulky. So then I moved to plan B: a frame. I searched for literally months for an old frame that was long enough. Finding one wide enough was never a problem – it was the length that fell short. Then, it happened. I was at a local thrift store, The Love of Jesus Thrift Store for your Richmonders, and lo and behold there it was: a huge, slightly distressed (which was a good thing!), 28″ x 52″ wood frame. It was perfect. And, get this… it was only $1! Yes. One. Dollar. Uno denero. Even though there were only like five other people in the store, I went after it like a Mom on Black Friday 1996 diving for a Tickle Me Elmo.

The night I brought it home, my dad came over to say hi. Btw, if I haven’t mentioned it before, my parents live just across the street. When he saw this big beauty leaning against the wall, he said, “What is that?”. “Potiental, Dad. Potiental,” I responded. I explained to him what we were going to do with it and all he said was, “Uhh… okay.” Little did he know, I had plans. Big plans!

After going back and forth several times, we decided to not paint the frame. The original wood color was very close to the floors, and it really popped against the blue walls. Plus, we’ve already got the green dresser, and we didn’t want to add a crazy-colored frame for it to compete with. As for the chalkboard part, we thought about just painting over the artwork. The backing was nice and sturdy, but it had a lot of really deep scratches that would have shown up even after several layers of paint, so that was a no go. Instead, we decided to buy a piece of wainscoting, have it cut to size, then apply a few coats of magnetic primer followed by chalkboard paint. Then we got smart! We realized it would be really easy to just skip the magnetic primer step, buy a piece of sheet metal, and paint it with the chalkboard paint. Duh! So that’s what we did.

Lowe’s, Ace, True Value and Home Depot all sold sheet metal, but only up to 2 x 3 feet. We needed something more along the lines of 2 x 4 feet. Luckily, my dad “knows a guy” for just about every situation, and this was no different. Being in the access control business, he gets to know a lot of people in the construction industry, and he just happened to “know a guy” who supplies sheet metal to construction companies. As it turns out, they end up with a decent amount of scrap metal that they sell for a pretty reasonable price. We were able to get a sheet of steel for $20 and even had it cut to the exact size we needed! How cool is that?!

Once we had the sheet metal, we gave it a few good coats of primer on both sides to prevent rust. Then we coated the front side with chalkboard spray paint. After about three coats, we realized it wasn’t going to cut it. It was really splotchy and even after three coats, didn’t seem to be covering the metal very well – even with primer. We switched gears and picked up some Valspar Matte Chalkboard paint. Simply put, this stuff is the bomb dot com. I painted it right over the splotchy spray paint with a small foam roller. After just one coat, the board looked so much better and as smooth as butter. Even though one coat looked like it was enough, I ended up doing three coats for good measure.

Now came the fun part: finding a way to secure a 20-pound piece of sheet metal into a 20- to 30-year-old frame that was made for a 2-pound piece of artwork!

Enter our best friend: Liquid Nails. We prepped the frame by taking out the artwork, removing all the staples, and unscrewing the lightweight picture hanging hooks from the back of the frame. After checking the fit of the sheet metal in the frame  - It was a very tight fit, thanks to my dad’s ninja-like measuring skills – we put a bead of liquid nails on the lip of the frame, pressed the metal into place, set some heavy stacks of books on top of it, and let it sit.

Twenty four hours later, we put a second layer of Liquid Nails on the back side of the metal (we applied it like you would a caulk line) just for extra security. At that point, we had done all we could. Either the frame was going to fall apart under the weight, or it was going to be rock solid. I have to admit, when Greg picked it up the first time after the glue had dried, I was a little nervous, but it was absolutely, 100% rock-solid. This baby ‘aint going anywhere!

Greg attached two small (yet reasonably heavy-duty) D-shaped rings to the back of the frame with screws, adding a little bit of our BFF Liquid Nails to each screw. Then it was ready for hanging and chalking…

This entire project only cost 36 bucks. The frame was $1, the sheet metal was $20, and the roll-on chalkboard paint was $15. We already had the roller, primer (and the chalkboard spray paint that didn’t work out) left over from another project, and Liquid Nails is a staple around here… kinda like Cholula hot sauce.

Greg and I are both crazy in love with it! The texture of the Valspar paint is what I consider to be “perfect chalkboard texture” and our Crayola chalk writes on it really well and, just as importantly, erases like a dream with a damp paper towel.

For a bit of a quirky touch, we left the art plaque on the frame. It’s a cool way to remember where the frame came from.

I hate how my wide angle lens makes everything look grainy and the walls look bowed — the walls are straight. Promise. We really like how it helps fill up the laundry room a bit more. But the best perk… Christmas countdown! ; )

I know this is kind of strange – for me anyway, not Ash – but when I hear the word “shelf” or “shelved”, one of the first things I think of is the I Love Lucy episode where Lucy, Ethel and Fred think Ricky’s movie, Don Juan, has been shelved and they try to cheer him up. I guess that’s what happens when you’re the husband of an avid I Love Lucy fan. But this post has nothing to do with I Love Lucy. It does, however, have to do with shelves. Three of them!

Yes, as the above photo proves, we finally got around to installing the floating shelves in the kitchen! Like the rest of the kitchen, you could call this project “Semi-DIY”. Basically, we took an existing product and made it into what we needed. Here’s what we did…

Each shelf needed to be 8 inches wide and 10 7/8 inches deep. First, we picked up two 24″ white Allen + Roth floating shelves from Lowe’s (these) with the intention of cutting them down to size. If you’re a visual thinker like Ash, maybe a picture will make more sense. (Thanks for the illustration, sweetheart!)

Once we made double-sure we had the right material, we headed over to the lumber department and asked them to cut the shelves for us.

Sure, we could have easily done it ourselves, but with their big, precise cutting machine, this was a lot faster. There was less chance of the process completely destroying the shelves or causing the paint to chip, too. And hey, it was free!

When we got home, we ran into one little snag. We totally forgot there is a small piece of molding in the corner between the subway tile and the cabinet. Rather than cutting a notch in the corner of each shelf (which could have been messy due to the thin material they’re made of), we cut a piece out of the molding. Using the scrap piece of shelving as a template, we marked where the molding needed to be cut. We then put a piece of painters’ tape on the cabinet for a little protection. We scored the edges of the molding, and with a little chisel action, the pieces came out perfectly.

The shelves came with a long bracket to “invisibly” mount them on the wall, so we cut the bracket to the depth of the shelf using a hack saw.

Now it was time to put the shelf on the bracket, but with only the bracket holding the shelf on, there was nothing holding the back of the shelf to wall, which caused it to wobble a bit.

To solve that problem, we took two pieces of scrap wood and glued them to each other then we wrapped the pieces with duct tape to act as a vice and let them sit to dry. There are screw holes in them because we were initially going to screw the pieces on the wall, then slide the shelf on. But the bracket was in the way, so that obviously didn’t work out. No worries, that’s where Liquid Nails come in!

We slid the pieces into the hollow part of the shelves, put a few dabs of Liquid Nails on the now not hollow part of the shelf and put them into place. After making sure the shelves were level, we caulked around the edges to make them look nice and finished. To make sure the shelves were totally secure, we let them set for 48 before putting anything on them. By Saturday morning, they were ready for styling…

On the top shelf is a mercury glass bird Ashley picked up at HomeGoods (for just $5.99). On the second shelf is a can of Bentley’s dog treats. (He gets a treat every time he comes in from “going outside”.) The can is from Harry Barker, but we refill it with Bentley’s prescription dog treats from the vet. (He’s allergic to pretty much everything.) On the bottom shelf is a conveniently placed glass jar filled with some rolled up dishtowels. The glass jar (without the lid) is from Crate & Barrel, and the dishtowels are from Anthropologie. I wouldn’t have known all of this if Ashley didn’t tell me… I leave most of the shopping to her.

The shelves are super sturdy and look as though they came with the cabinets. They didn’t even need a coat of paint, like we originally thought, because the cabinets and the shelves match perfectly – much to our surprise. This entire projects only cost about $35 and some change. Not bad for “custom cabinetry”.

Once the shelves were hung, we felt it was due time to hang the light fixture (from West Elm) above the sink! We ordered the silver light kit and spray-painted it our go-to finish of choice, Oil Rubbed Bronze. We really like the modern meets industrial look, and painting the hardware a darker color really helps it stand out against the white subway tile and cabinetry.

Here’s another shot of the new shelves and light fixture…

And a wide shot…

The sun was glaring through the window, but since we’re on a roll, how about one ultra wide shot…

Check out this before-and-after comparison. I feel super-accomplished every time I look at this picture…

The last two things on the grand ‘ole kitchen To Do List are finding a window treatment (the typical white blinds just aren’t cutting it for us) and bar stools for the peninsula. It’s so awesome to think the kitchen can be deemed “officially done” with just a shopping trip or two, hopefully!