From Simple To Simply FALLbulous

Saturday, was opening day for the local pumpkin farm. Daddy was going to be gone ALL day long doing his scuba certification, so I decided to embrace the Saturday with E.T. and Baby Girl! So, we loaded up and went on down to Moore Farms for a morning filled with a hayrides, pumpkin picking, corn mazes, hay mazes, and animal petting!

E.T. and Baby Girl had the best time searching for the perfect pumpkin.

Here is the front door to the house. This is what it looked like before we went to the pumpkin farm. Quite simple. . .

Here is the front door after our visit to the pumpkin farm simply FALLbulous. . .

E.T. and Baby Girl can't wait to carve these pumpkins when it gets closer to Halloween! Can't wait to see what they come up with for our pumpkin faces. . .Have you been to the pumpkin farm yet?

Last Visit To My Closet Retreat

Well, here is the last little bit to blog about in my closet retreat. . .

Yes, that is a McDreamy doll in his scrubs. Took him to the hospital with me when I had surgery last November. Everyone should have their own personal Dr. with them at all times! I also have my Oscar I recieved when I went to Hollywood this summer. . . it's for best all around woman (mistakes and all). Last, but not least, I have my tiara! Every princess needs one of these to remind herself that she is a child of the King.

Here we have pegboard. We have this mounted on either side of the window in our closet. We put pegboard hooks up to hang belts, scarves, hats, etc. You can find pegboard and pegboard hooks at Lowes or any other local hardware store.

Here I am showing you that I stuff all my purses that are not in use with paper before I store them on the shelf. This helps them to keep their shape just like it was when you first brought it home from the store.

I always keep a removable hamper bag in my closet for dirty dry cleaning clothes. When it fills up, off it goes to the cleaners. To the left of the hamper you see my extra ironing board. I keep one in the utility and one in my closet. Nice to have it handy when you need it. The extra iron is stored on a shelf above that is not pictured.

Yes, this is a steamer I purchased at Bed, Bath, and Beyond with a 20% off coupon. There are some things that are just not meant for the iron to touch, I learned that the hard way. . . melted some really cool pants with an iron one Easter Sunday morning :-( Never gonna have that happen again now that I have my handy dandy steamer!

Valet hooks are a must have, This one is right by the door in my closet. I hang my clothes for the next day there. When I am packing for a trip I pile everything up there. When I bring home clothes from the cleaners I hang them there and sort them to their spots from there. I sometimes hang my coat there or even my purse or a bag. It has tons of uses. I got this cute one at Anthropologie.

This is a valet hook that I got at Lowes, It stores all my robs on it. It hangs on the side of my purse shelves. What is it Bugs Bunny would say?. . . That's all folks!!!

Beautiful Feet

. . . "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" Romans 10:15

I would so love to use this scripture as a defense for having great shoes, but I am sure that is not what this scripture means! :) I am quite certain this scripture is talking about those people who spread the good news of Christ's great sacrifice and love for us. It doesn't mean that the beautiful feet are just the feet of missionaries, pastors, etc. It actually applies to everyday ordinary people like you and me. We can bring this good news to people at the grocery store, dry cleaners, beauty salon, post office, work, etc. So, as you ponder this thought about beautiful feet, let's go back to my closet retreat and see I organize the hardware for my "beautiful feet". . .


So, here is how is organize my shoes. I use boxes I have bought by the case at The Container Store. Most of our shoes are in boxes. Some people label the outside of their shoe boxes and some take polaroids to tape the the outside of the box. I just put the shoes in there and look at the end of the clear box to know what is in there. The reason I do not use the labeling or the photo labeling method is because I purge and merge every now and then, so the shoes end up changing boxes etc. I just find this is the way that works best for me.



In this photo towards the bottom you can see my husband has a larger shoebox for men's shoes. Above the athletic shoes are the women's shoe boxes. All of these can be bought individually or by the case at The Container Store.

Many of my boxes have more than one pair of shoes in them, especially if the shoes are not bulky like these. This particular box is an older box from The Container Store. This was the box they sold before they patented their very own box with their logo on it. This box is a tiny bit wider than the newer ones, however it is very easy to get more than one non bulky pair in the newer boxes.

On the bottom few shelves you can see my boot boxes from The Container Store. I am able to put two pair of short boots in 1 box together. In some of these photos you see shoes out of boxes and the reason is because it is time to purge and merge. In this photo you can see I have a shelf that has some personal photos, a cell phone charger plug, and an iHome. I have photos in several places in my closet and my I love to listen to music when I am in the closet/bathroom area. So, my iHome allows me to listen to my ipod or the radio and it also where I can charge my ipod when not in use. Well, there you have it. . . this is how I organize my shoes in my closet retreat. I have two questions for you. . . How do you organize your shoes and more importantly do you make the best use of your "beautiful feet" everywhere you go?

How do you organize your unmentionables?

Well, Hurricane Ike has come and gone. By the time Ike reached us, it was a tropical storm. We only had 2-4 hours of high winds and our electricity was out for about 2 hours.
Before the electricity went out I had started this post, but when the power went out I was shut down and had to take me a well deserved nap. Above you see a built in chest of drawers that is in my closet retreat. My husband can't believe that I am about to show you some of the stuff that I have in these draws. Let's see what I have hiding in here and how I chose to organize them . . .

My top drawer has my jewelry stored in it. I organize them in stackable sectioned jewelry trays.

I bought my trays years ago at The Container Store. You can also find these exact trays at Bed, Bath, & Beyond. If you go to Bed, Bath, & Beyond you can use those handy dandy 20% of coupons they send in the mail on a weekly basis.

Check out The Container Store's website for sizes and price ranges.

The next drawer house the bras and panties.

This drawer has all my socks in it.

I use these sox boxes and panty boxes for socks and panties. I do not use the bra boxes. You can find all of these things at The Container Store too. There you have it. This is how my unmentionables are organized. How do you organize yours?

Authentic or Imitation

Looks like I am going to have to take a break from posting about my closet retreat because Girly Stuff invited me to crash The Nester's P.O.O.P.I.E. party with her! I do love myself a good P.O.O.P.I.E. party!


Let's PARTY!!! So, in order to crash this party I have to show all my fake arrangements in the house right now. I really don't have a ton of them simply because I am OCD about the dust. I have to really like them to have them around.

I do love myself some fall colors. I found this one the other day at Ross for only $12.99. I thought it was not a bad price for the size of it. It is on my coffee table for this season.

I found this little pumpkin cutie at Marshalls this past weekend. It was only $9.99. It is on my buffet in the entry for this season. My 4 year old E.T. was with me and was helping me pick out some really great pumpkins that day and he latched onto this one because it was a pumpkin with flowers on it. He really liked it and because he liked it, I found a place in my heart and my house for it too.

This arrangement sits behind the couch on a sofa table. Someone I knew made it for me.

This little arrangement, I blogged about in an earlier post. It sits on E.T. and Baby Girl's vanity in their bathroom. The little box was a souvenir from vacation one year and someone I knew made the little arrangement for it.

This wreath has been in the family for 8 years. Yes, you read that right, 8 years and yes, it does have eucalyptus in it. I can't part with it! I still love it! There is a business called Always Unique that is at Canton, Dallas Market, and other shows. It's headquarters are in a town near where I live. These people are patients at my husband's office and this is the first piece I had them make for me. The next several pieces are more current works. Always Unique has moved way past the wreath arrangements in recent years. The owner even suggested I give it up, but I still like it!

A greenery arrangement made by Always Unique. This is on top of a cabinet in my

bathroom. Not a huge greenery fan, but this has brown tones in it like I like. Maybe it should call it brownery. . .

Made by Always Unique. This is on a round skirted table in my bedroom.

This is on my dining room table and it too was made by Always Unique.

Last one in the house. This sits on a small round barley twist table between two antique iron beds in my guest bedroom. Yes, this too was made by Always Unique. That is all I have for you. Maybe I will get back to my closet retreat for the next post. Until then. . .

Hanging Tough

These are my clear plastic hangers. These are some of my very best closet friends. It has taken me two years to convert all of my hangers to these. I love the uniformity of having all the same hangers. I know you will think I am crazy, but I even swap out the hangers on the clothes when they come home from the cleaners. In my opinion they hang better when they are not on a wire hanger. I buy these wonderful friends in bulk at The Container Store. I have even recently converted E.T. and Baby Girl 's clothes to these hangers. Now the entire family's wardrobe hangs on these. There are many hangers out there on the market to buy. I chose these because they fit best in my budget and allowed me to unify the entire closet in a shorter amount of time, not like two years is a short amount of time, but it would have taken me 6 to get all wooden hangers.

I pretty much hang everything. There are very few things I do not hang, you will see these things in a later post. When you first walk into my closet, to the left is my side. The first two racks are short hang. The above photo shows the bottom rack. It starts with tank tops, sweatshirts, jogging suits, short, skirts. Each section is color coordinated. Going from light to dark.

This is the rack above the tanks, sweatshirts, etc. Up here you will find all tops coordinated from light to dark.

Still on the left side (my side) of the closet at the back, you will find one rack of long hang. Here I hang my jeans, capris, and dresses. Again, each section is color coordinated.

Above the long hang in the back of the closet, there is a short hang rack. This rack has blazers and coats that are used very little where I live.

On the right side of the closet at the back, is my husband's clothes. He has two racks of short hang. This rack has his shirts. He organizes them in two sections. He has short sleeve and long sleeve. Then he color coordinates them with in those sections.

My husbands second rack of short hang has his scrubs, sweatshirts, pants, and shorts.

We do hang his scrubs togeher as a set using the wire cardboard hanger for them. So, we use 8 wire cardboard hangers still.

Well, there you have it. That's how the hanging clothes are organized. The kids closets are pretty much the same. In my opinion there is not a right or wrong way. Just come up with a method that works for you or take one of my ideas. Either way, an organized closet makes daily life easier in many ways. I know some of you are thinking that my closet is maybe bigger than yours and so it is easier for me to keep organized. However, this is how my closets have always looked even when they were 1/8 of this size. When the closets were smaller, I had to purge more often than I do now and really just keep what I really wore on a regular basis in my closet. Things I hadn't touched in a year or two to my body always had to be tossed to the give away, garage sale, or Goodwill boxes. I also had to rotate fall/winter and spring/summer. I used to not be able to house it all at one time in my closet like I can now. Check out future posts for other ways I organize my closet retreat. How do you organize your hanging clothes?

Closet Retreat

Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God. . ."

Ever since I was a kid I have retreated to my closet. Sometimes, I was mad, sad, wanted to talk on the phone in private, sing a song, or even just be still and pray. It seemed as if my closet was the only place in the world I could get away and be alone during any of those instances. To this very day, I still retreat to my closet. To you it may look like a place where all my clothes, shoes, and accessories are neatly tucked away, but it is more than that to me. My closet is a place where I can actual y be still, quiet, undisturbed, and spend quality time with God and have my soul become refreshed and restored. You might have a place like that in your life, it might be your car, bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, etc. For me it is my closet. This is my special retreat and I want to share it with you.



This is our his and hers closet. Unfortunately, it's not all my space to have to myself, I must share it with my husband! However, I definitely take up more space than he does. Over the next several posts I will share with you different areas in my closet and how I have chosen to organize them for my OCD personality. These are organization techniques that I have used for many years, even back when we lived in an apartment and other houses which had much smaller and practically nonexistent closets. No matter the size of the closet, over the years, these ideas have always worked for me.


I have to say I absolutely love decorating and sharing about it, but hands down organization is my gift! I love to purge, merge, reorganize, and restore order to things in my closets, cabinets, drawers, garage, and attic, at least 3-4 times a year. I love it so much it is like entertainment to me! You might think I am a little bit crazy. . . you are right! So, get on board the crazy train for the next few posts and see if you might want to get a little crazy like me in your closet and make it a place you want to retreat to.

Tag! I'm It!?!?

I got tagged by Girly Stuff to list 6 unimportant things about me! I sooooo don't play tag! I am going to give it my best effort though, just for her! Here I go. . .

1. I just recently got introduced to the T.V. show Arrested Development and I actually think it is funny!

2. I taught first grade for 4 years in public school system.

3. I love clipping gardenias out of my flower bed when they bloom and floating them in a crystal bowl filled with water.

4. My husband is a dentist and I STILL do not like to have my teeth cleaned, but I do it anyway because it would be bad advertisement if I didn't.

5. I love the Weight Watcher meals offered on the menu at Applebees's.

6. I actually like cleaning my house.

Now I am going to tag:

An American Girl In Tokyo
Cutie Patootie