inspiration in the living room

the living room. oh, the living room. i have this issue with living rooms. i want every room in my house to be one.
i grew up in a home where there was a family room, a dining room, a kitchen, and a living room. and the living room did not have much living done in it. it had the most uncomfortable sofas, the least amount of 'fun things' (in the eyes of a child), and was furthest from the kitchen. not ideal. i always promised myself that every room of my apartment or house would be fully lived in... and so a living room would be a gathering space.
a capture of books, comfortable things like blankets and pillows, and a museum of art and other loved things, a living room should be a centre point. and that's how i would organize mine to be.

keeping the mess to a minimum, in a room that's truly 'lived' in? that's the hard part.

mismatchy, filled with books, art and memories on the walls, and lots of comfortable things... my perfect living room. throw pillows that can serve as seats. chairs that people aren't afraid to sit in. blankets for cozy movie watching. mirrors and paintings; books and plants. everything about my daily life that can be captured in one place. shouldn't the room named for life, be the one that indicates how you do your living?

really, any way to display things that mean something to me, are perfect. i keep a lot of things - tickets from shows, postcards and letters from friends, and paintings or drawing i'm given. and i'm SO lucky to be surrounded by many many talented people. so i make a point of displaying everything i'm given. in frames, on the fridge,  in easels... whatever it needs to be shown to every visitor in my home. bits and pieces pulled together in actual curated collections on the walls and shelves.

shelving... the cornerstone of a living room. to avoid having 'things' all over, shelving provides spaces and galleries for goodies. making them somehow neat and organized (even if you've just thrown them on a shelf). even if art is temporarily stuck on the wall, in patterns with other recent finds... it all means something (AND gets it off the counter). next time, i'm building my own shelving... that perfectly suits my space, and me.

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inspiration in the kitchen

if there are two place in my home that i insist are clean and sanitary, it is my washroom, and my kitchen. i'm obsessive. i frequently take my gas stove apart, and clean it down to the gas burners. i organize all of my dried goods in glass jars and old classico pasta screw top containers (which are the best - for cups also). i de-box granola bars, and isolate them into baskets; i organize tea by bagged or loose leaf, into ikea containers; i lazy susan the shit out of my spices. it's all relative to the amount of time i need to spend in there (lots - when your main food group is tofu, you need to utilize those seasonings friends), and i want the space that i prepare my food to be spick and span.
about a year ago, the house where i rent my apartment was all of a sudden home to a ton of mice. i'm talking hear them in the cielings type infestation. it was no one's fault - construction men left the doors wide open for almost a full year, which meant lovely little tiny fuzzy creatures wandered their way into the warm gates of heaven. my landlords and i waged full on mouse warfare, including the apolocalypse of mice - when the exterminator came. let's just say, i was the happiest woman on earth when all of my dried goods - all trapped nicely in glass containers - came out unschathed. it was like a pat on the back. i'll never change.
confession: i clean my kitchen floor with all purpose cleaner mixed with vinegar and lemon. on my hands and knees. with a rag. it's a process, and i will also never change that. but man... it's so worth it.
so, i take my decorating (but really, organizing) of my kitchen so seriously, it's not even funny. really - this is not a laughing matter. and i'm always looking for inspiration. here you have my faves.

remember what i said about glass jars folks? and remember what i said about it not being a laughing matter? this is serious business. save your dry things. mine are even colour coordinated (because i eat boring food) which makes for nice counter top decoration. popcorn, rice crispies, quinoa, oatmeal, lentils (brown - of course), quinoa pasta and rice flour. all comprise this beautifully boring spectrum of beige-y goodness on my counter. 

but seriously. everything in glass jars, a better world does make. 

i'm all about the shelving. after living somewhere with see through cupboards, you realize how important the aesthetic of matching dishes, and coordinated dinnerware is. doesn't need to be a matching set, just needs to be coordinated from the 'colour palette' perspective (sorry... we're getting too interior design-y here). 

and, i love that pig. 

OH! and rugs in kitchens. win.

all stacking, all the time. cartons on cartons on cartons. as long as you stick with what you like, you can never go wrong. i always joke that my boring taste in colours (think moss green and pale blue on white and/or beige) makes for easy peasy moving... i never have to worry that things in different rooms won't match. when you buy what you like, things will always go together. plus, when you wash your dishes, and you have a green spatula, green frying pan, green curly straw (i have no shame), and a green knife, drying on your green drying pad... you look like you have your life so planned out it's intimidating. 

(i don't).

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inspiration in the washroom

people think it's funny, that i'm anal about the cleanliness in my washroom (no pun intended). i insist that the places where i eat, and clean (kitchen and washroom, respectively) are impeccable. and so, while my home is often cluttered with things i need to clear out, stacks of books, blankets and pillows (i like things to be comfy), and clothes everywhere, my bathroom is most often spotless. i sometimes find the motivation at 2am to clean my toilet, and have been known to spray my shower just before stepping into it (ALWAYS when i should be doing something else... it's my favourite way to procrastinate). friends will be over, and they'll hear the 'spritz' of the cleaner (when they thought i was taking a shower, or just brushing my teeth), and know what i'm doing.
so, when looking at apartments, i'm looking for cleanliness. not size, shape, or beauty. which means, i often end up with teensy tiny (currently), or green and pink (just previous to now) washrooms.
needless to say, i'm ALWAYS looking for ways to make my washroom more organized, to hide all of my cleaning supplies, contact solution, and make it look a little more like a stylish woman lives in the place - and less like it's a teensy tiny, watermelon coloured hospital washroom.
a few pieces of inspiration for sprucing up, and personalizing... while maintaining the cleanliness and organization i neeeeeed.

trays to catch all are key. vital elements to washroom organizational success. vital elements to ALL room success really... as noted in my bedroom post. so i love how these large trays catch everything... instead of a few small ones, one large to hold all that is awry in the washroom of jshea. and, as much as i am not a woman with many hair products, of special beauty things, i still have my vices. like my aveda face spritzer thingy - or, as i like to call it, 'heaven in a bottle'. (trademark). it's a dream. so, with all my small things, i need them together. crammed in a nice little lucite tray. to display to the world, and pretend i'm all fancy like. 

and shelving. did i mention i like shelving? so, if i could store my towels in my washroom, instead of in my bedroom (which is where they currently reside, simply because it's the only room in my apartment where they fit), i would be in dream washroom land. and even - *gasp - shelves for photos?? dare i. it would be luxurious. i dream of washrooms like these.

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inspiration in the office

my office (or, as it's currently known, my piece of wood on my lap i use as a desk when sitting on my couch) would need mass amounts of organization. when your business and art of choice is beading, your home often looks like a kindergarten classroom exploded. mine does all the time. so i'm ALWAYS looking for ways to clean things up, and organize things. again, the challenge is small pieces, all so different, and all trying to be corralled into more small spaces. and yet - in an organized manner. i love the way these spaces have done it. i may also just love them because they have room for desks (luck-yyyy), but who cares. i can still dream. maybe next apartment.

i'm so jealous of shelving. because of the walls in my apartment, i can't hang much. so shelving - which would be WONDERFUL in my small small place - is pretty much out of the question. if i had the space, and the ability, it would look something like this. wooden accents, stacked things, and LOTS of containers for holding. plus, i love how minimal this one is. can't take up too much space with simply shelves, can we.

*le sigh. desks. 

anything against a wall, long long, and with room to display things around me that inspire, i'm happy with. whether a full piece in itself, to create the look of furniture in an empty space, or a homemade wooden long desk, with some lime green... both are my perfect idea of using space to make 'work' fit into decor.

i just have a lot of magazines people. ones i'm not willing to get rid of. this, i can make, and hide. perfect. what more do you need?

shelving. in all sorts of shapes and forms. as fit into a scheme, or on it's own... and let's just say, i'm quite fond of DIY projects. shelves for baskets, shelves for books, shelves for plants, shelves for memories. anything that will act as a leaning or standing display for all my precious goodies, is a friend of mine. plus, i have too many books. it's a problem. shelves take care of THAT problem, 100%.

anything that inspires you, hung on a wall and stacked in front of your face - it's a great method. things that inspire you (for the most part) will always continue to. i believe in surrounding yourself with memories and motivators... and i adore the way bre from scout and catalogue has done so here. note to self: globes, photos framed differently, and LOTS of horseshoes this year.

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inspiration.... in the bedroom

in recent attempts to purge and clean my apartment, organize, and turn over my life, i've found myself seeking ways to organize in a clean, concise, functional and beautiful way. thus begins my journey to rearrange, purge, replace, and surround myself with only the most functional things. those things that serve a true purpose. also including things like my favourite porcelain candle holders from my dear friend alex; my letterpress tray from erin as a treasured bday gift; my canadiana plate tray from CB2 (complete with wine cork mounties)... and other things i will never part from. so how, in each room in our house, do we arrange, purchase, coordinate, and manage in such a way that allows us to get the most use from our space, and at the same time, fit our own things in?
this week i'm sharing rooms of inspiration. things that i use to compile everything i love, in those particular rooms. photos of rooms, organization techniques, and DIY's that i am drawn to when organizing my home.

first up, my bedroom.

my bedroom is my oasis. it houses most of my favourite things, so i can keep them close to me. my vintage jewelry that have been gifts over the years, my favourite clothes, scarves, and special gifts i've been given that inspire me. however, i live in an apartment that's JUST over 500 sq ft, and my bedroom is small. i'm talking wall to wall double bed (nook), small wardrobe and a small dresser with all my jewelry faves. so i'm constantly looking for ways to not only organize my things, but also ensure that the space looks larger than it is, and not crammed full with clothes. this is the challenge. i also have a bad habit of deciding consciously that instead of putting all my clothes away, i'll just set them on my dehumidifier (aka. paper weight in the winter time), and do it in the morning *ahem.
these are some spaces that inspire me...

i'm a HUGE fan of open space clothing hangers. with small dressers alongside to catch other accessories and clothing items - open space hangers allow clothes to act like art. and, since i'm already incredible anal, and hang my clothes in colour coordinated order, things like an open space hanger would be a perfect showcase for my favourite hanging clothes. not to mention, it would force me to ensure i have all matching hangers. which i already have an issue with.

i love any sort of shelving set aside to display things like jewelry, art, and special momentos, instead of hiding them away. i am a jewelry fanatic, and have far too much of it, and yet i display it proudly. being able to display it alongside some of my favourite pieces of art, and other accessories is a requisite of the bedroom. so shelving is key - whether shallow shelving for small items to hold their own, or stacked to compile large pieces all in one place. 

and, of course, specific space for jewelry. catch alls, spaces for makeup, and pieces to display jewelry and other goodies like art. i never understood people hiding their things... i love my stuff, and since some sort of societal rules say i can't wear every piece of jewelry i own every day (pfff.... society. what a joke), i'll display it like art in the place i love most. love these gold rimmed plates gathering items in their specific functions.

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