Office Paint Help (Gray or White?)

I mentioned last week that I was planning to paint my office gray and I just hired a painter! This room has three doors and a window, and frankly, I'm not in the mood to paint it myself.  So, for $100, I'll save myself all the taping (there's 3 doors and a window) and let a professional handle it.  

But, I need your help picking a paint color, and quickly, since the painter will be here on Saturday!  

What color should I go with?  I'm torn between Gray and White.

Originally, I was thinking a light or medium gray, something similar, maybe a little darker than our bedroom (Sherwin Williams Essential Gray). 

Because I love Erika's office.

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And this office designed by Jenny Wolf.

But then, I'm also really smitten with a soft white wall. 

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What do you think- gray or white?  Do you have any paint color name/brand suggestions? 

Would it be terrible to go with white, and if I don't love it, then do gray?? 

I'll be sure to share the results with you soon!

Have a great weekend!

Decorating with Books

It's no secret around here that I love to read and display my books in a stylish way around the house.  Today, I'm over at I Heart Organizing giving you glimpses into nearly every room of our home to show you how books are incorporated into our decor.  Come on over and visit!   The post should be live around 11:00 a.m.

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Organized Coupons

This post title might be a little misleading because I'm not talking about grocery coupons, I cannot keep track of them at all.  But, what I DO use coupons for all the time is clothes!  In fact, with all the coupons that come in the mail these days, I make a point not to shop unless I have a coupon or discount code.  

The problem was that I didn't have a good system for keeping track of them.  I tried keeping them in my wallet, but the coupons were too many to fit inside a wallet pocket.  Then, I just piled them into this small zippered case, but I would have to search through all of them to get to the one I was looking for.

When I pulled everything out, I realized how many I had (and how many were expired)!

When I was shopping for blog binder supplies, I found a small (7x4 inch) Martha Stewart accordion file that I figured would be perfect for organizing my coupons.  It's small enough to fit inside my purse, but large enough to hold lots of coupons. 

I created customized labels with washi tape and my labeler for the store I shop at most often:  Express, Old Navy, Gap, Ann Taylor Loft, NY & Co, Macy's and Bebe.  Home decor coupons and Target fit in the first pocket, and Banana Republic will go with GAP.  

Now I can see what coupons I have!  I just have to remember to go through them monthly and toss the expired ones.

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Little Thrills (Ironing Board Cover)

Hi everyone!  Did you have a good weekend?  I got to spend time with just me and my favorite little guy since my husband was out of town.  It was awesome!  He's at that absolutely DELIGHTFUL age right now where we talk and play and I just enjoy him so much!

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If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know that "little thrills" are small, inexpensive items in our lives that just make us happy.  My little thrill today comes in the form of an ironing board cover- who knew they could be so cute?!  

I've been keeping an eye out at all the regular retail shops, but couldn't find one I really liked.  So I did a google search and found an adorable etsy shop called City Chic Country Mouse that makes them.

I ordered the aqua and coral floral cover below ($24). Isn't it darling?!

And look, she even makes a coordinating apron with polka dots.  

Yep, an ironing board cover is my latest little thrill!  Is it silly that I hated ironing before because our old cover was so icky, but now, I'm happy to pull out the ironing board??

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Office Changes are Coming

Now that I'm working from home more, I'm spending a ton of time in my home office.  I feel blessed to have a whole room in our house to myself, especially one that has a big window that overlooks some gorgeous, lush green trees.

I've been working a lot at that desk (from Z Gallerie) in the afternoons, and the glare on the computer was getting to me.  

So I turned the desk around to face the window.  

I like it so much better!  I can't believe I didn't turn the desk around earlier.  I think it's because I don't really like having my back to the door, but I'll trade that for the view.  It's still very bright in the room, I just couldn't get a bright shot out the window without blowing out the trees.  

I'm also planning to paint the walls.  I liked the pale yellow initially, but I'm leaning towards a deeper grey now.  Have you seen her office?  It's one of my favorites!

Blog Organization Binder

Since launching a second blog, taking on contract legal work, participating at my son's school, and working out nearly every day, my life has suddenly felt overwhelmed.  Then, I got sick.  Our bodies tell us when we need to slow down and regroup, don't they?  Over the weekend, I spent a lot of time resting, then, feeling better, got motivated to start clearing out lots of places in our house that really needed it.  

I knew I needed a better way to organize all the stuff that goes into running two blogs, but hadn't quite figured out how to arrange everything until I was reading Jen's blog this week.  She created a genius, and gorgeous, blog binder that you can even buy at her etsy shop.



Taking ideas from Jen, I created my own binder, that contains everything I need for my blogs, and also a daily agenda for my days in general.

I got my binder and supplies at Staples (the Martha Stewart Collection).  

I created custom templates on my Mac in Pages, but I'm sure you could do the same thing with Word.  I just copied and pasted my blog's header from my blog onto the page and printed it in color.

Because I wanted a "week at a glance" for what my posts will be for each week on both blogs, I created a template for that too.  I prefer to have my blog posts scheduled in advance, but that doesn't always happen.  

I'm also keeping my workout worksheets here.  I take them to the gym with me, then put them back so I can keep track of my progress.  (If you're interested, I'm doing the Jamie Eason Live Fit 12-Week Trainer).

The first page in my binder opens to the Daily Agenda.  This is my "go to" list for my day.  I like to plan it before bed the night before, but sometimes, I make my daily plan in the morning while I eat breakfast.  I usually pull out the agenda and stick it in my purse so I have it to refer to when I'm out and about.  

I also printed out a free downloadable calendar from Today's Creative Blog.

I loved Jen's idea of using Washi tape to create labels.  I printed the date with my labeler, then affixed it to a piece of Washi tape. So fun!  I think I got most of my tape at West Elm or Paper Source, but it's widely available online if you do a search.

Do you use a binder or something like this to keep your blog and life organized?  I still use a big calendar in our kitchen for appointments and reminders, and that helps a ton too!  I also like the calendar app on my iphone that syncs with my computer.

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Linking up with my friend Courtney!

Lulu & Georgia (and Discount Code)

I'm happy to share a 20% discount code with you to Lulu & Georgia, a new home decor online retailer:  HoneyWereHome20.  The code will be good until October 17.  Enjoy!

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