Nesting Before & Afters

I’m nesting like crazy over here.  It’s more intense this time around because:

1. We haven’t been in our house that long and there are still a bunch of things I want to work on
2. Emerson was in camp for 3 weeks this summer and I felt like I had to  accomplish all.the.things during those 3 weeks.  I want to spend some good quality one-on-one time with her in August rather than be running to Homegoods and such.
3. Having one baby took a lot of time and energy, so I know having two kids means I will accomplish nothing for maybe the next year (and I’m ok with that bc I want to enjoy the time!). I want to do anything that’s ever been on my to-do list.

One of the things I’ve been working on since moving is staying more organized and having storage systems in place to route clutter. This counter top is often covered in receipts and coupons and random mail:

Before picture (after I straightened it up)

After (what can i do about this cord? Maybe a little succulent plant or something)

I found other homes for those candles and Alexa. I had originally planned on buying some kind of storage console to put here, but then decided I had a perfectly good drawer (that was filled with owner/instruction manuals) to use.  I relocated those to a basket that’s tucked away and bought drawer organizers. Receipts are now going in the ‘to be sorted/filed’ folder that Matt takes care of.

Project #2 was replacing the knobs on Emerson’s old/new baby’s changing table.  I thought this would be super quick and easy, but then realized a lot of options didn’t fit/required detailed screw shopping or were super expensive.

Before

After

I ended up with these knobs from Amazon – they feel high quality and install with bolts on a fixed screw so I  didn’t need to worry about screws being the right length.

I also decided to replace our entry light fixture because our old one seemed kind of boring for a big, open entry space. And I discovered this was a surprisingly inexpensive project.

Before (sorry for the terrible picture)

After

I found the fixture on Lamps Plus for $79 and had a handyman install it for $50. I couldn’t snap a good picture with it on, but it makes the space so much brighter!

After a lot of searching, I also found curtains that are neutral but fun from Anthropologie !

Before

After

And we decided to go with a Minted.com art print for our mantle rather than splurge on an original right now. I added some new pillows covers from Etsy a while back to contrast with the orange.

Our house still has a lot of white space, but feels soo much more ‘finished’ than it did before!!