Filing Solutions

It’s March 25th and there’s snow on the ground in Pittsburgh.  My frustration is quelled only by the fact that Punxsutawney Phil is within reasonable driving distance (should I feel the need to seek revenge on his handlers for their empty promises of an early spring.)

On the bright side, I am warm and at home thanks to my recent decision to take a “sabbatical” from work and focus on home renovations for a few months.  I consider this time my equivalent of backpacking across Europe.  I’m about 4 weeks into unemployment so far and thoroughly enjoying it.  I’ve been busy painting, reupholstering, shopping, and planning for a kitchen renovation — all of which I hope to share in due time.

In the spirit of spring (though it is nowhere to be found), and spring cleaning in particular, I wanted to share a small project I completed back in the fall.

Organizing is one my life’s greatest pleasures.  It had been about 2.5 years since I had revisited our household filing system.  When we were housesitting last year, I had all of our files crammed into two mismatched filing cases — one that had been mine and one that had been Alex’s.  Last year we also inherited lots of furniture from my mom’s house, including some of my paternal grandfather’s army trunks.  When we moved, I decided it was time to revamp and consolidate everything into one filing cabinet.

I was inspired by this all-in-one office idea from Martha Stewart which utilized a trunk similar in size to my grandfather’s.

Image credit: marthastewart.com

I decided to make my own version using some of the office supplies we already had, including Alex’s metal mesh file case that we had already been using.  Lucky for me, Target still sold the same case and I was able to buy a duplicate.  I also supplemented with a roll of cork, some labels, and a box of manila folders (made of recycled paper).

This is what the trunk looked like to start:

For file storage, I simply inserted the two metal mesh filing boxes into the trunk.  I also utilized a metal mesh letter holder to hold longer legal size folders.  A layer of cork hot glued to the inside provides extra storage for notes, photos, etc.

My filing system consists of recycled hanging folders organized into major sections (with color tabs) like property, finances, etc.  The hanging files themselves are for minor categories( ie: student loans — located within finance section) and manila folders are for individual accounts (ie: one particular student loan lender).

 

When closed, the trunk fits neatly under our entry table turned sofa table.  I like the vintage appearance of the trunk and the sentimental value of my grandparents’ names painted on the top.  If I were to change one thing, it may be to eventually add casters onto the bottom.  At the moment, we just drag it out across the carpet to access the files.  That’s all for now.  Happy spring, and stay warm out there!

Remembering Kay

Kay’s engagement announcement

On Friday morning, we lost my beautiful grandmother to Alzheimer’s Disease.  She was 95 years old.  I saw her last around Christmas time.  Though I’m sure she could no longer remember my name, she embraced me warmly as she always did, with a hug and kiss on the cheek.  I am thankful that my last words exchanged with her were words of love.

Kay with her children, Ted, Kathy, Curt, and husband, Henry

I was born ninth in the sequence of Grandma and Grandpa Lind’s ten grandchildren (nine granddaughters and one grandson) which meant that most of my experiences with her were during her later years.  Though my sisters and I had the privilege of being geographically closest to her, I often wish that I had more time with her when her mind and body were well.  I’ve found myself wishing to know more of what she was like as a young girl, about her experiences growing up in Providence, RI, and her time as a young female interior design student at the Rhode Island School of Design.  I wish that I had time to ask her for her shrimp dip recipe (an appetizer staple at all of our holiday meals) and for her to teach me how to watercolor a Beaux Arts rendering (she was an immensely talented artist, a trait that did not go uninherited).

I do cherish the time I got to spend with her shopping in Historic Fredricksburg, swimming at the lake in Locust Grove, and learning to play clock solitaire in her den.  I thank her for teaching me the importance of hospitality and etiquette — the respect, love, and care inherent in a neatly made bed, a properly set table, a napkin across the lap, and a slowly eaten meal with mouth closed.  I attribute my design sensibilities and good taste to her influence.  I can only hope to mirror her class and dignity, dedication to family, and appreciation for heritage throughout the rest of my life.

Kay (standing in black), with her parents and sisters, Nancy and Avis.

I am so grateful that she is well and at peace now in heaven, watching over our family.  She is missed dearly.

New Year, New Couch

There have been a few changes around here in the last 4 months (including my work schedule – which has clearly left minimal time for updates).  One of the most exciting has been our living room.  I hope to share a bit more in depth about my design for this room some day soon, but how incredible is this sofa we had reupholstered?

 

It’s a 1960s Tuxedo style Drexel sofa that we rescued for $50.  To. die. for.

Two steps forward, one step back

This week, our house is in shambles.  It looks a little better than when I filmed this silly video a few weeks ago, but still not as organized as I would like it to be.  Part of it is because our new windows and doors are being installed this week (!) and we had to move a bunch of our stuff out of the way (including all of our curtains — it’s like a fishbowl in here!).  Otherwise, I blame several factors:

1) Though unpacking has been my only official responsibility up until today, I’ve had to spend some time wrapping up work for Habitat, applying for jobs, interviewing, and doing all of the laundry/cooking/cleaning because Alex is still helping out his former employer in the evenings.

2) It’s hard to unpack things when you don’t have anywhere to put them.  My sister and I had to spend the better part of a week assembling bookcases so I actually had somewhere to put all of our books.  I had to wait for Alex to help me hang shelves in our dining room and kitchen before I could put much away in there.  Then there are situations like the one with our sewing room bookcase (one we already owned).  I made Alex help me shuffle some furniture around in his limited free time so that I could move a bookcase into our sewing room and load it up.  Around 10:30 pm, we realized that it we wouldn’t be able to fit it through the door in one piece.  Alex was too tired to help me take it apart so we had to shove it in the dining room temporarily.  It’s been there for nearly a week now.  Two steps forward, one step back.

3) I had to pack up our things in Virginia so quickly that I didn’t have time to sort or organize anything.  That and our movers didn’t take the time to figure out my labeling system and put boxes in random locations all over the house.  Everything is everywhere.

4) Every time I start to organize something, it ends up getting piled back up again.  Namely, papers.  I’ve been working on overhauling our personal files for several weeks now.  I’ve made pretty significant progress but it seems I can never quite get things filed before I have to move them out of the way.  This time, I had to quickly clean off the basement floor for the window installers and all of my to-be-filed piles ended up shoved together in paper bags.  Two steps forward, one step back.

It will get done eventually I suppose.

In the good news category, we have a new front door!  Now I just need to find the time to paint it before it gets too cold.

Also, I started a part-time job today as an Interior Design Assistant at a Furniture Store.  Good enough for now (two steps forward, one step back).  Hooray for seeing other human beings!

 

Outdoor Updates

Several weeks ago, we took the plunge and ordered all new fiberglass exterior windows and doors for our house.  The windows on the house now have a whole slew of issues.  They’re original aluminum sliders.  Many won’t lock, are fogged, and all are serious thermal bridges bringing unnecessary heat and cold into the house.  The exterior doors are pretty awful as well.  The one on the front is scratched and difficult to open.  The rear door still shows signs of a break in that occurred a couple years ago while the house was vacant.  The door to the garage has a two inch gap underneath it and is not fire rated.

Last night we were thrilled to hear that our new windows/doors will be installed next week.  Maybe soon our house will no longer be the ugliest one in the neighborhood?

Here’s what I’m thinking we’ll do at the top of the stoop:

In terms of colors:

A. A peacock blue/teal paint on the new front door (1.)

B. Gray/brushed nickel hardware

C. White trim, similar to what we already have

D. Fresh greenery near the door

E. Black metal accents

For the basics:

1. A semi-traditional six panel ProVia door for added architectural interest in a current color, while maintaining the style of the home (I originally wanted a flat panel door but the salesman talked me out of it)

2. Modern house numbers in black to contrast the white paneling behind.  These are black ribbon anodized numbers from West On.

3. A new brushed nickel wall sconce in a transitional style to match the brushed nickel hardware on the door.  This one is a Kichler Seaside Outdoor Wall Lantern.

4. A hearty cold weather (or artificial) outdoor succulent.  Image found here.

5. A brushed nickel peep hole from ProVia, embedded in the door of course.

6. We’ll leave the brick as it is, since no one else in our neighborhood has painted brick.

7.  Brushed nickel doorknobs to dress up the teal door.

8. Your basic terracotta planter for the succulent(s).

9. A new coat of black paint on our wrought iron railing.  Image found here.

What do you all think?

The next big job will be ripping out those huge bushes and re-landscaping the yard. Unfortunately, that may have to wait until next summer.