What We're Pinning

We haven't done this in a while, so I thought we could update you in some of the fun things we have been pinning! We find so many great ideas on pinterest, we just need to put them into action!
And since you're here...you might as well follow us on pinterest---{ Niki} {Shannon}



We are both suckers for reusing mason jars. We simply heart them. the more places we can use them, the better! Stashing colored cupcake liners on the kitchen counter would be adorable. except that cupcakes are not in the diet plan!

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We're always pinning outfits like crazy. Trying to expand our tastes a bit. Try new things, like bold scarves to brighten up our regular jewel tone outfits.

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These are also not in the diet plan, but they look delicious! we do pin some healthy food sometimes too, so it evens out right?

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I have no idea what kind of pup this is, but I'm fairly certain that I need one. now. Isn't it just the cutest little chubby cuddly thing??

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Coral and teal seem to be everywhere lately! That probably means we should give it a try. This is a look we could even wear to school.

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Shannon is planning to do this with her pots and pan cupboard in the apartment. There is already a rack, but it is being completely wasted storing lids. which never actually get put in there anyway. This seems like a much better use.

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I, Shannon, am thinking this is a quick and easy solution to the pickle jar lid that is is my change collection jar. I was thinking spray paint, but there still snow and I'm not going outside in the snow to spray paint, or buying a whole can of spray paint for one jar lid.

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Finding Inspiring Ideas

I have been living in my apartment since last August, and while it's a nice little two bedroom apartment. I really just don't love it. I just doesn't feel quite right yet. However, I don't really know what is missing, or what I need to change. I have conquered quite a few of my clutter/storage/organization challenges and come up with solutions that are much more functional. But overall, I'm just not in love with the space. Yeah, I know don't whine about the fact that I have a nice place to live. That's not where I'm going with this. I know that I am lucky to have a nice, safe place to live in a nice neighborhood. I'm just saying I don't love my decor, organization, and arrangement. Nothing to do with my actual home. Just what I have or have not done with it. That being said, it's up to me to turn it into a space that I love right??

Here' a peak at what our apartment looked like before we moved in...ignore the boxes in the kitchen. I forgot to take photos before we started brining stuff in. It's not huge, but its okay. For three 20 somethings on a budget, it's a nice enough place. Also I love that I have a dishwasher and garbage disposal. 

I don't intend on doing much in the kitchen or bathroom. I'm okay with those spaces actually. Both have recently gotten some organizing updates and are functioning well for us. Except the tupperware cupboard, its a recurring nightmare.

I made an entire pinterest pinboard to help me come up with some wonderful ideas. Check it out here. and follow me on pinterest too, if you'd like :)
Our bedroom is one area that I really struggle with. It's a pretty small room and we have a queen size bed with a large wooden frame with storage underneath and in the headboard, along with a short, long dresser, and a tall, skinny dresser. Plus a jam packed closet. I mean packed. I've posted about my attempts to get it in order before, here, but brace yourself before you read that. it. was. bad.
I have gotten our closet to a point where it is tolerable, but still waaaay too full. Packing up some of my warmer winter clothes would help a little, if I had somewhere else for them to go.
I would love to rearrange the bedroom...but with that much furniture and a stupid window to work around, I can't seem to come up with any brilliant ideas. Plus, my TV is stuck where its at because of the cable cord. So this space remains in it's awkward state, until I can come up with something better. Here's a few spaces that I love...

This room is close to our color scheme, since painting or new bedding isn't an option. This offers some good inspiration and also tips on making a small master bedroom seem bigger.

The colors in this room are a bit much for me, but I don't mind the idea of the bed in front of the window. And the desk in there isn't bad either, but I don't think we have room for that.

I don't love the tree on the wall, but I do like the double duty storage and seating boxes at the end of the bed.

This room is so cozy and cheery I just love it.  Maybe a future color palette? I like the large canvas photos above the headboard, except ours is rounded, not sure if it would work the same?

I love the open spaces in the long skinny side tables and the art work above.

I know that I cannot recreate any of these spaces, but I hope to be able to pull some sort of inspiration from them to incorporate into our space.


Also, you may have noticed that there is no office. My desk was previously residing in the living room. And now it is tucked in the corner of our dining area. Not sold on which location I like better. But I do like that the dart board is moved out of my kitchen, so I think the "w" goes to the current location.
Here's what my space presently looks like....functionality score =0. You can't tell in the photo, but the floor under my desk is currently my storage location. It is less than aesthetically pleasing and I would love to get some sort of small shelving situation happening here. I also don't love the corner desk, or the glass. but it was free.

and here's some spaces that I love... (click the photo to view the source)

This seems like the most reasonable option. I'm waiting for my wonderful daddy to make me a parson's desk and then this would work out swell.  I love that everything is nicely tucked away but still accessible, and pretty :)

If I had an empty closet, this would be a perfect solution. But there are no empty closets so this is just a dreamy space to look at.

If I had a whole office room rather than a corner, this would be a wonderful work space.

I absolutely love this cheery workspace!

I also love these fun desk storage accessories and hope to come up with some cheery storage of my own!

I also wish I had a better entry....and not just a hallway. I found a few cute entry/mudroom spaces that could be non-permanent to do in an apartment.

A small cabinet could make a perfect apartment entry space

Crates and hooks make the cutest non permanent entry space!!

So tell me, where do you find inspiration for your home? Do you have any brilliant suggestions for me?? I'm all ears!

A {fitness} guest post

Hello everyone! We have a very special guest post for you today. Our cross country/former roomie bff, Amanda! She's here to share about her {current} fitness journey. Since you all know that we are both "working on our fitness" (sung Fergie style)
Here she is:

At the beginning of January I had this extremely persistent (and mildly annoying! J/K) friend that kept texting me and calling me, trying to get me on board the workout train. I resisted and resisted until I couldn't honestly come up with any reason not to get my butt of the couch and do it! I started by walking on the treadmill in our home office. I would walk 3-5 miles at a time...sometimes for almost 2 hours! I decided I needed something to look at while I walked so I went to my wonderful Pinterest board “Motivation” and started printing off my favorite quotes. I found some construction paper, glue sticks and poster board and this is the end result.

I soon got bored just walking and started going to the gym. That ended as fast as it started because my 2-year-old hates the babysitting room. So I started doing Couch to 5K on my treadmill, but soon decided I needed more if I was going to reach my goal by the end of April (and our family vacation to San Diego!) Off to Pinterest again! (What did we ever do before Pinterest?!) I found a workout titled ‘10-Week-Workout Plan’ that I’d pinned on my “Fitness & Nutrition” board. Fantastic! I conveniently had just over 10 weeks until vacation time. It was supposed to take 70 days to complete because they didn’t account for rest days. I did however, and subtracted 10 days to give myself some days to rest. I can’t do anything the easy way and just print it off and there you have it, so I wrote it all down in my ‘Handy Dandy....NOTEBOOK! (And yes, I just said that like Steve from Blue’s Clues. Don’t judge me, I have toddlers!) Here is a link to the ‘10-Week-Workout Plan’ and a few pictures of my notebook.

After 2 weeks of working on this program (and really loving it), I again decided I needed more. (I think I’m really a glutton for punishment, what do you think?) It was also the beginning of March and all the wonderful monthly challenges were popping up. I found a personal challenge to work on through a Google search (I believe I just typed in monthly challenges and scrolled through tons until I found one that I liked) and then also chose the March Challenge that Shannon sent me. (Yes, this is on top of the ‘10-Week-Workout Plan’ I’m still doing...told you, glutton for punishment!) So I printed of my personalized blank calender from CLD and set to work. Here is the finished product.

love her workout calendar? order your own in our etsy shop!

Okay, you’re probably wondering what all the numbers and colors mean, right? The colors mean nothing...except that I like all of my Sharpie Highlighters equally! The numbers on the bottom of each day are my countdown of the ‘10-Week-Workout Plan’. I like to countdown, something about numbers getting smaller is very exciting to me! The top entry on the calendar is the activity from the Google search and the middle entry is reminding me to complete the March challenge. I have that as a reference taped up below my calendar (one can only be expected to write so small!) I also write the number of minutes it takes me to complete the whole program each day. I saw someone that set a goal of working out 1000 minutes in March and I don’t want to set a goal like that until I know what I am typically at. Speaking of goals, i wrote those at the top of the calendar as a daily reminder.

There you have it! From couch potato to wanting more, more, more! I just keep telling myself that I will feel better and have more energy if I keep it up! I wonder if I could squeeze in another 30 minutes each day... ;)

1. We already mentioned that she's our cross country bff. That automatically gets points.

2. She lives on "the cape". Way cooler than Iowa.

3. She is a constant source of motivation and accountability to both of us! We do our best to keep each other on track and at the gym!!

4. If she can do it with two little pumpkins at home, so can we!! 

5. Plus, she's mega organized in her fitness, and we love that!

a little inspiration

I recently paid off my car and have since been trying to get my budget in order and try to save some money, all while paying off a truckload of student loans. There might actually be two trucks. Five years at a private college, I'm an idiot.

A while ago I turned an old (giant) pickle jar into our savings jar. And since then it has collected a little bit of change, but not much. I need to paint the lid too, but just haven't gotten to that yet.

It just took a few minutes and supplies I already had on hand. 

Recycled Jar

Foam Brush

Label

Mod Podge (homemade or otherwise)

 Use the mod podge on both sides of the label to make sure its nicely stuck down.

Then just wait for it to dry.

Easy Peasy.

But there was nothing to make us actually put money into the jar. So when I found this pin yesterday I figured I should try it out.

The 52 week Challenge from Stuck at home mom. (click the picture to see her post)

I made my own version of the amounts to be deposited since I didn't think I would be able to swing the weeks where you are putting $50 in at a time. Remember that truck I mentioned?

So here's the one I made for myself:

{poor kid style}

And my take on the original version:

Click on the image to download either for yourself and join in the savings challenge!!

A few good reads...

We have had such a mild winter here in Northwest Iowa, but now its actually starting to look and feel like winter; which leaves me wanting to do nothing more than cozy up with my blanket and a good book or magazine in the evenings. So that's exactly what I have been doing. I made a big step and bought my first storage/organizing magazines at the store. I have subscribed to Real Simple for a year or two but have never bought magazines at the store. And since one of my favorite bloggers, Jen at Iheart organizing was featured in this BH&G Storage issue, I figured now was as good as time as any to take the plunge. I also snagged up an HGTV magazine. I also had an All You magazine that I receive as a subscription, it came along with my Real Simple magazine that I ordered as part of a school fundraiser. I'm going to combine all three by category, my brain just works better that way. Instead of oh look at this nice kitchen space, then four pictures later, oh hey, another kitchen.
(I apologize in advance for this insanely long post.)

Even the covers are glorious! If I could just like have these catalogs move into my house, that would be perfect! Of course I would need a house first, but if we're just dreaming here, game on!

So first up, my most favorite subject, organization.

Greeting card storage- Get a cute little box with dividers and pop your cards in, in the appropriate section. Super Simple and functional.

A suggestion list of organization projects you can complete in 15 minutes or less. That is my kind of project. With three jobs, I don't have much for big projects. So everything that I do is broken down into small sections if it can't be completed in a very short period of time.

Stash those everyday items in a cute bin or tub in your entry!

Corral supplies in a cute, functional and portable caddy. Who doesn't love a good caddy?

These adorable bins make me want to do better at recycling! 

And look at this amazing resource! Just cross check what you are looking for and they suggest awesome sites for your project. woo-hoo!

Many of you have already read  my whining about not having a nice office space,but if you haven't, I have been searching for a brilliant solution to my need for a work/desk/office space in my apartment since I moved in, back in August! Obviously since there has been no post shouting, jumping up and down, and singing about how I found something amazing, one can assume that I am still stuck with my random weirdo corner desk in the living room.
 Please enjoy the following photos that I was drooling over   admiring in my magazines.
(yep, I put post it flags on the things I really liked and thought I could maybe actually pull things from to put to use, don't judge)

 A great way to turn a teeny tiny space into a work and storage area.

 Those cute little friends double as seating and storage, a win win situation.

 These little cuties could easily find a home in the classroom or my home office space!

This beauty could just move right into my house.

 Another super adorable desk that could just make its way over to my apartment. I would love to have a fun chair!

 Making use of your vertical space is always important in a small space. I am using some of my wall space, but I know that I could do much better.

Another cute and functional desk.

 This is a dreamy craft area. This would be great for the room at my mom's that we affectionately call the "scrapbook room". Except that if we did that, the closet couldn't be full of all my stuff...

 I am actually in the process of getting a little beauty like this! Mine won't be near as high tech as this guy, but I'm still excited that I am putting an idea from a magazine into practical use! hooray!

Bringing extra color into a space is always fun! And these were decorated with duct tape!

This could be a practical solution for my desk? or building a command center?? only $15.

There are always so many great ideas for storage solutions in the kitchen...like plates in a drawer, sideways (rather than vertical) silver wear drawers, and utensils stored in divided and labeled drawers.

 I would love to have a pretty storage rack that sits out like this.  Pretty and practical. Double win.

A cute little coffee cupboard would be wonderful. 

Or a cute little coffee nook

 Use a cute side table with a door to stash away board games. We sort of have this going on in our "entertainment center" (its really not an entertainment center at all- its itso cubes from Target put together to form something similar to furniture)

When I get to have my own big girl house with a guest room and bathroom, it would be so nice to have a handy little tote with extra items that could be forgotten.

I love pretty closets and clothes storage. I think my dream closet would have a pretty hidden hamper like one of these two.

And pretty drawer organizers like these. Dividers make things so much easier.

A pretty boot hanger like this would be delightful! I only have two pairs right now, but I can get more!!

I love this double function space. It would be perfect in a room that doubles as a office space and guest room! 

Simple labeled bins in the laundry area.

A space efficient kitchen cupboard. I love the matching jars and that you can quickly see what you are running low on.

I love this scarf organizer. Mine are currently on shower rings, strung on a hanger. I think I could transform my system into something like this. Just connect the shower curtain rings together- maybe a pretty ribbon?

A cute coat hanger to keep your everyday coats and jackets within easy reach.

A pretty crisp white built in to house the television.

Use duct tape to brighten up so many things in your home!! Its a super simple way to spice up any room in your home!

I love that this island is pretty and functional, but not permanent. A great solution of apartments or rentals.

Crisp white kitchens are so pretty :)

I think these lovely little bowls should come live in my kitchen.

And these should live in my kitchen too.

I love this pretty entry solution. Its something that I could *in theory* duplicate in an apartment or rental house. Nothing permanent would need to be attached, so no troubles there. And its so pretty and personal!!

A great guide to holiday returns--good to keep on hand for next year.

It will be getting warmer soon, so motivation to workout side is a good thing.

A quick fix to common hair mishaps.

More workout encouragement!! I need all the help I can get.

A guide to what is normal and when to visit the doctor- a great resource to keep handy.

 The ultimate couponing guide- I need to read this. I am trying to do better at using coupons and shopping sales for our groceries.

 This article has great tips on food storage. Also a good thing for stocking up when I have coupons and good sales.

I think I could use some of these tips in our apartment. Its not a teeny tiny apartment, but making it seem bigger cannot be a bad thing.

I seriously spent hours staring into the glorious pages of these magazines. hours, glorious hours. I'm hoping that I can actually put some of these wonderful ideas into practice. But don't worry, if I do, I will share all about it.