It’s no secret that I love old TV shows. That might be because I’d be perfectly happy living in the “nearly-perfect” world portrayed in these shows. A Milk Man, grocery delivery, unlocked doors, and knowing the name of everyone on your block; doesn’t it sound absolutely wonderful? Then again, I would miss blogging… and Twitter.
Long gone are the days of Lucy Ricardo, Donna Reed and June Clever. Life is busy, hectic, and we sometimes have to fight to keep everything straight. That doesn’t mean we can’t channel our inner 50′s housewife every now and then. One thing all of my favorite 50′s housewives had in common, besides a spotless house and endless amounts of energy, is they liked their aprons. To me, an apron is one of those things you wouldn’t think you need until you actually use one. A friend gave me a Martha Stewart apron about a year ago as a gag gift (I love all things Martha). I decided to use it one day when I was rushing around the kitchen (in our old apartment) trying to get dinner ready before my in-laws came over. Come to find out, they’re tremendously functional and I was hooked. Especially when you are making mashed potatoes and they kind of… explode. Then when the in-laws show up, just throw the apron in the washer and you’re ready without the mess.
So, yeah, they’re functional. But it can also act as a fashion statement, and that’s where we’re headed today. Aprons are coming back in a stylish way and I’m here to share a few of my favorites that Lucy, Donna, and June would adore…
So the question is ladies, are you an apron girl? Have you always been or is it a new thing for you? We’d love to hear your apron stories. Happy Friday everyone!
Here at the Brown house, we have a pretty hefty amount of magazine subscriptions. Well, actually, I have a pretty hefty amount of magazine subscriptions. Real Simple, InStyle, The Nest, Professional Photographer, Better Homes & Gardens, Fresh Home, House Beautiful, and not to mention catalogs from some of our favorite stores like Pottery Barn, Flor, Crate & Barrel, Ballard Designs, West Elm… the list goes on. Since we started renovations on the house almost a year ago (Wow! It seems like just a few months ago!), I’ve been saving the magazines that had articles that inspire me. Magazines dating back to February (when we moved into my parents’ house to begin the renovation) have been piling up on the bookshelf in my office. That’s a lot of magazines. On one hand, I didn’t want to get rid of them. They’re chock full of inspiration, information and cool products that we’d love to use. On the other hand, I really don’t need them taking up valuable space in my office. I’m a “have your cake and eat it too” kind of girl, so I needed to find a way to condense, simplify, and organize my magazine collection.
I like things to be organized. “A place for everything and everything in it’s place.” And I love notebooks. (As if you couldn’t tell from the blog design!) In my top right desk drawer, I have three spiral notebooks: one for to-do lists, one for jotting down creative ideas (projects, designs, etc.) and one for blog topic ideas. They keep me organized and sane. Two very good things. I also love a well-organized 3-ring binder. We have one for home maintenance, one for our collection of home inspiration photos, one for takeout menus, and even one for Bentley’s medical records. Call it an obsession, if you want, but my notebooks keep things simple and organized. We never have to wonder where Bentley’s records are or where the California Pizza Kitchen to-go menu is.
Anyway, I digress. I needed to do something about my growing pile of magazines. So what do I do? Go to the office supply store, of course! Greg and I ended up leaving with a few bags of office supplies (a girl can’t have too many glue sticks and Sharpies), but most importantly, I found a solution for my growing pile of magazines!
Fast forward a few hours, dinner, a walk with Bentley, shower, getting comfy, an email answering session; here’s what I gathered up to get started on Operation: Magazine Madness…
Now, the plan of attack: I started browsing through the magazines one by one. When I found something I wanted to hold on to, I simply tore it out and trimmed the edge (nasty, ripped edges are a n0-no). After a few magazines, I realized the articles and clippings I was setting aside could easily be divided into eight categories: Home Decor (Yes, we have a notebook for home decor photos, but this section is for home decor articles such as picking the right paint color, curb appeal tips, etc.), entertaining, home life, recipes, beauty/health, gift ideas, general articles, and photography. Low and behold, the eight tab names.
Once I got in a groove, it was actually a lot of fun!
The Post-Its come in handy to make notes — especially in the gift idea section. If I come across something that will be perfect for my mom, I can just attach a note. And if for some reason she’s later browsing through my ultra-organized, nifty magazine notebook, and I don’t want her to see my gift idea, I can just snatch it off and put it inside the sheet protector between the pages.
I’m not quite finished going through every magazine at the moment. That will take another magazine night or two!
Now, you’re probably thinking, “Isn’t the notebook going to eventually overflow?” It’s possible. We may have to upgrade from a 1.5″ notebook to a 2″ notebook one day, but I’m going to go through the notebook every couple of months and remove the things we don’t care for anymore, read one too many times, etc. That way, things don’t get too out of hand. The notebook will be ever-evolving and it’ll always stay fresh and new. This process is a lot better than keeping stacks upon stacks of magazines, right? Yeah, I thought so too.
What are your favorite magazines? Do you keep them around for a few months or pitch them as soon as you read them?
Want to make your own Magazine Notebook? Click here to download cover art for your notebook (like the one pictured above). Happy organizing!
When it comes to customizing furniture, installing different hardware is the easiest and fastest way to make it unique. It’s kind of like jewelry for your furniture. In the same way that you can totally transform an outfit by just changing your jewelry, you can make a typical-looking piece of furniture unique and fun by changing the hardware.
We have a few furniture projects around the house (like the guest room dresser and the future kitchen cabinets) where we are thinking about replacing the stock hardware with something a little more custom. Since we have hardware on the brain, we’re rounding up some of our favorite decorative hardware pieces…
So. many. to. choose. from! Keeping in mind that we will probably be using multiple knobs in a single area, I think my personal favorites are on the top row in the first set. They’re unique, but not too busy. Greg really likes the bottom-middle and top-right knobs in the third set. We really wish we could use all of these, but that would probably be overkill!
Do you have some favorites out of all these? Do you have a favorite store where you go to find unique hardware? We’d love to add to our list, so let us know in the comments section!
