Monday, August 31, 2009

My organizational wall

Well, I had hoped to completely finish my organizational wall before posting pictures, but if I did that, I'd lose my status as a 95%er. It truly wouldn't be "Felicia's house" if there wasn't an unfinished project displayed somewhere.

My "stud" of a husband built me all these pieces for our anniversary. I designed it, and he built it, and I am in love (both with him AND the wall).

My goal was to try to find a home for the clutter that kept collecting in my SILVERWARE drawer, on my counter, and on the fridge.

At the top, we put chicken wire in a frame, and added some mini-clothespins to hold all the little stuff that cluttered up the fridge. Things like post it notes, addresses, checks to deposit, etc.

On the left is a magazine rack with a spot for "To Do" and "To File". Inside there are folders for each kid, and one for the massive amount of papers that the school sends home.

In the middle, there is a magnet board. The magnetic containers are for box tops, magnets, and miscellaneous screws, nails, staples, etc. I made a bunch of magnets to display a very general weekly schedule, reminding me who has library/scouts/soccer/etc. on which day. Next to that, is my shopping list.

Under the magnet board is a towel bar, with tin buckets to hold crayons, and pens/pencils. If anyone out there knows where I can find a third bucket for my wall, I would be ever so grateful! I bought these two at Wal-Mart a couple years ago, but they don't carry them any more. My buckets are 4" high, and the diameter of the opening is 4 1/2". (I know that one of my buckets is "naked" but I'll eventually get a ribbon around it...)

On the right side, I have a shelf for whatever floats my boat, and a cubby for scissors, a calculator attached to a string (my calculator tends to be just as elusive as my glue guns), and that piece of scrapbook paper will soon be mod-podged onto a notebook where I can jot down all my idea's and lists. I love a good list...

I want to have a black vinyl letter "G" cut (help Melanie!) to put in front of the scissors and to the left of the keys, but I'm searching for the perfect font. Also, I need to get back to Hobby Lobby for another piece of black/cream toile scrapbook paper to line that space under the shelf.

On the bottom left (and right) I have these 3 ring clip boards that my hubby made with minimal swearing, to hold my menu planner, school reading charts, the bright pink school lunch menu (I love that it's hidden but still easily accessible), box top charts, etc. The right side has our family calendar, and my quilting schedule behind it.

The frame in the middle has a spot for two pictures, and the middle is our "white board", but it is actually plexi-glass w/scrapbook paper behind it, and we use a wet-erase marker. I debated putting a chalkboard there, but I hate touching chalk, so the plexi-glass won. If you zoom in, you'll notice that some clever person has already drawn glasses and a mustache on my youngest...ahh, the love.

If I'd had electricty on this wall, I would've included a spot for charging cell phones, and a digital picture frame.

Now I need to clean up all the tools, paint, paper, and mess so we can actually BE organized!

18 comments:

Sisters Stuff said...

I LOVE it! I wish a had a spot in my house to do something like that! It is awesome! Enjoy it!

Rachel H. said...

A-MAZING.

Seriously.

Scouring my house to find a wall like that...haven't spotted it yet...but you never know. :)

girlsmama said...

Amazing Felicia! I have just the wall. Can you come do it for me? I am totally cool with 95%. Even 75%.

Aimee said...

My Lowe's carried little buckets like that earlier in the summer and I also got a plant when I had surgery recently that was contained in one, so check with your florist. I love the wall. I have one started above my desk.

Brenda said...

That looks great! I want to do something like that, but I'm not sure where. Maybe I could find a spot in my laundry room, but I'm the only one who ever goes in there. So it wouldn't help the rest of the family.

Mike, Sha, Kenna, & Kate said...

I LOVE this idea and can't wait until I have a house that has a wall for this. Great job and thanks for sharing!!

amylouwho said...

That is so awesome! Are you near IKEA? their garden section has all sorts of little tin buckets - for ridiculously cheap!

Lisa said...

wow. i'm so jealous! where did you get this idea?!!

Anonymous said...

I'm so in awe of this, your hubby rocks!! Great design, excellent execution, even at 95 percent. :)

It's very inspiring!
Donna

Felicia said...

Lisa,
The magazine rack and the shelf with the cubby were inspired by some I saw at pottery barn. I saw chicken wire in a frame somewhere on a blog, and I came up with the 3ring clipboard myself out of necessity for all those charts from the school!

mommymelb said...

Oh that's stinking cool! I'm seriously impressed...how much do you charge to come and make one at my house! :)

What kind of font are you thinking of? Fun? Scripty? Classy? I'll put some together for you to look at! :)

Wendy said...

I love this wall!! It's so me! Thanks for sharing

Leisel said...

How did your husband hang the 3 ring binders? I need details for my own "handyman". Thanks!

Felicia said...

Leisel,

First, we carefully removed the 3 ring metal piece from an old binder(this was actually quite difficult to do because they bend so easily).
Then my hubby cut a piece of 1/4" thick MDF and drilled holes in the appropriate place before I mod-podged it. We then marked where it would go on the wall, put some drywall anchors in, and screwed it right to the wall through the holes that were already in the 3-ring part.

I hope that makes sense. If not, let me know and I'll try to explain it again :o)

Leisel said...

Felicia,
Gotcha. Thanks - that's makes sense. Can't wait to make my own!

Hannah said...

I linked to this over at Poppiesatplay.blogspot.com. LOVE THIS WALL! Thanks for shairng!

Michelle said...

Keep an eye out for lots of these items as spring stuff is displayed in the dollar bin at Target!! Bet we can find a lot of it there!

Carmen Hollywood said...

Your design and husband are amazing! Kisses, Carmen