Another Peek in the Dining Room

Now that all of the Christmas decorations have been taken down and put away, this is the winter look for our newly decorated dining room.

I still cannot believe how cheery and airy it feels with the lighter color on the walls. The less formal linen curtains allows more light in the room which also helps to brighten the space. (Although it does make it a little challenging to get good pictures.)

To view the BEFORE pictures just click here.

Here in the northeast we are in a deep freeze with temps barely getting out of the single digits, so I hope you all are staying nice and toasty. 

XO 

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The Brambleberry Cottage

Getting Organized ~ Winter Hats and Gloves

The start of a new year for me is the perfect time to begin getting my house organized. Now don't get me wrong...I am not a very organized person by nature, but there is a wonderful feeling I do get when I clean out my closets, cabinets and draws of unwanted clutter like items which are missing parts or haven't been looked at or touched in the last 12 months.

Once I get myself to the point where I have uncluttered my storage areas I like to try to reorganize them. And I am always looking for creative ways to store things, especially in smaller tight spaces such as our laundry/mud room. A couple years ago I came up with this idea for organizing all of our hats and gloves so they are easy to access for both the kiddies and the grown-ups. 

I purchased one of those over-the-door shoe holders from Walmart...you can get them in canvas or in clear and opaque plastic.

They cost anywhere from $11.99 to $19.99 depending on the material and number of pockets.

I put sets of gloves in the bottom 4 rows of pockets and hats were tucked into the pockets at the top. This way everyone has a spot for his or her gloves and hats, and the space on top of the dryer where in the past I had kept a basket of these winter items, is now clear of a regular mess. It also helps to cut down on time spent rooting around looking for a match to each glove.

For more great storage and design ideas for smaller spaces check out this super post over at Build Direct Blog. The folks over at BDB put together 45 design ideas for small apartments from different bloggers across the blogosphere. But no matter what size your home is, who couldn't use more practical ways of utilizing its space and ingenious ideas for creating more storage?

Wishing you a great start to your week!

XO

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Coastal Charm

Savvy Southern Style

Classy Clutter

10 Ideas Plus One for a Green and White Bedroom Makeover

Last year about this time, right after the holidays, I was out shopping at Home Goods when I came across this beautiful grassy green and crispy white Laura Ashley quilt. I purchased it along with a few throw pillows, a bed skirt and a set of sheets. I even published a post all about my love of green and white and how I was going to use it to makeover our bedroom. 

Then do you know what happened??? I figured you probably did...everything else began to get in my way...you know life...and my gorgeous green and white linens went into the cedar chest at the foot of our bed. It then spent the next 11 months tucked inside while a stack of everyone else's junk was piled high on top. 

(I un-lovingly refer to our bedroom as the catch all junk trap because anytime anyone says to me "What should I do with this?" my response is "Oh just put it in our room".)

Definitely not what I envisioned! So this year armed with a fresh start and some new ideas, I am pulling out my glorious green and white linens, for good this time, and I am redecorating our bedroom.

Here are 10 green and white inspirational bedrooms...

(I am in love with this first room)

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Viscusi Elson via source

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source  (http://aynart.livejournal.com/)

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And finally I just had to throw in this one from Pottery Barn as an ah-mazing piece of eye candy. I think the green is simply stunning with the water in the background and pops of fabulous pink!!!

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Wish me luck with the bedroom project this year!!!

XO 

A New Year A New Look!

Welcome to 2014!!!

I trust you all enjoyed a very happy and safe celebration of the new year!

As you may have noticed 21 Rosemary Lane has taken on a new look to help usher in 2014. Yes you know me, I like to switch things up a bit every now and again. But this time I wanted to take the time to help make things a wee bit easier for you, my wonderful readers, to navigate your way around 21 Rosemary Lane. So in addition to the sparkling new header I have also decided to change the way my navigation system works. With some persistence and a never ending quest to figure out html coding, I managed to create icons just below the header to help you find what you are looking for here at "The Lane". Once you click on an icon you will be taken to a collection of posts under that titling. I used the InLinkz project manager to put together collections which will show you a thumbnail with a title and direct link to that post. 

Go ahead...give it a whirl!

Awesome right???

I am still in the process of updating each collection so please bare with me while I spend the next week working on them. 

For my fellow bloggers, in the weeks to come I plan to put together a tutorial on how to create your own custom social media and navigational icons using my favorite editing site PicMonkey and the ever so loved Photobucket, so you can go ahead and customize your blog til your little heart's content.

In closing I just want to say that I am really looking forward to the creative journey the new year holds for 21 Rosemary Lane, and I am truly grateful for all the love and support you all have shown me in the past. Without you blogging would not be anywhere near as much fun!

So as the image comes to my mind of Granny and the Clampetts waving from their front porch at the end of each week's episode of The Beverly Hillbillies, my hope is that 21 Rosemary Lane will continue to be a place you'll look forward visiting,

 again and again!

To quote Elly May's immortal words which have been forever etched into our minds,

(and with my hand a waving)

"Y'all come back now, ya hear?"

XO