Order from Chaos™ : Creating a Serene Palette

During my down~time last month I was dreaming of prettily organized shelves, filled with soothing white baskets and uniform boxes...

like this...

and this...

and this!

Of course, these offices look nothing like our tiny office that Mike transformed from a walk~in closet! Even still...after giving it some thought...I realized that what I was attracted to was the serenity of the white palette...the white painted baskets...the white, Ikea Kassett storage boxes & magazine holders. I knew...these were the elements that would help me obtain a bit of order in my tiny, chaotic closet~turned~office.

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Once my energy returned (my enthusiasm, of course, never waned) off Rosie and I went...to visit...


IKEA!

(Ikea Baskets)

We found walls filled with lovely white baskets...the ones I really wanted were very much like a set of baskets I had bought at the flea market for a mere fifty~cents each. The Ikea baskets were priced at $9.99 each so I opted out of buying them.

(Ikea "Kassett" boxes)

We also found a multitude of Kassett boxes in all manner of sizes and price points...we bought a dozen or so magazine holders (the least expensive of the group)...along with several storage boxes...some to hold large files...others to hold smaller things like photos, cd's and dvd's.

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After arriving home, I hunted around the house and found the flea market baskets (below).

(Flea Market Basket BEFORE.)

After a few coats of primer (Kilz) and some white paint leftover from another project the baskets were transformed into near twins of the Ikea baskets I had wanted!

(Flea Market baskets after they were transformed with paint.)


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Please keep in mind that our little closet~office is very much a work in progress. My camera continues to give me a bit of trouble so please forgive the poor image quality...however...I refuse to let that stop me from sharing with you a sneak peak at what we've accomplished so far!

These are the magazine holders (above)...I love love love them! They hide a multitude of sins...



as do the baskets...


and boxes!


I will post more images as the office progresses and the camera allows!


Sending Good thoughts and love to all, as always.

Warmly,


Tracey and Family


x0x

Inspiration Photos: Source

Reflections...

Dear friends, how are you? Did you miss me?
During these days of silence I have been doing a lot of recharging after a near month of very ill health that threatened to… but blessedly did not… ruin our Christmas. This, of course, was due to the happy fact that I finished my holiday shopping by the end of November (and wrapped them all as well). As I lie about these past three weeks healing I did much reflecting and new ideas rushed to my mind and I can't wait to share them with you. That being said, I was not able to accomplish much recently so there is little to show you of my own work, but I dearly wish to leave you with something lovely to look at... pleasant scenes that made me feel better simply by looking at them.

Isn’t it a miracle how pictures of pretty things and places can stimulate good things in the brain/body? Makes me appreciate the obscure gifts inherent in the multitude of lovely images and ideas that are constantly shared on this wonder we call the Internet...such hidden powers and amazing gifts. We are blessed with an embarrassment of riches.

Sending love and good thoughts to all, as always.

Warmly,

Tracey and Family x0x

Photos: Pinterest.com

Serene...Simple...Holidays...

Hello my kind friends! I have been thinking sooo much about all of you! It's been a crazy time for us with some family business and business/business that is gobbling up time, focus and energy. This year our holidays are very simple...a small tree...white lights...green wreaths hanging in the kitchen window...lots of serenity...much like these amazing images I found on the charming My Sparrow and Pinterest sites! Today there is rain outside...it's misting down at a steady pace. My hoarded stash of fresh pumpkins are (finally) slow~roasting in the oven! Did I tell you? They were all free...donated to anyone who cared to go by and collect them...courtesy of our local pumpkin~patch. The kind souls (who've been organizing it for decades) do this every year. It's a win~win for all!!!! They need to clear the vestiges of their Halloween and Thanksgiving festivities out of the way in order to make room for the annual Christmas tree lot/mini~carnival! Today, thanks in part to their good will, the smell of fresh pumpkin~spice bread will be perfuming the air of the McBride household! Bad news...my camera has been on the blink as of late...yet...the good news is...after a bit of fiddling...I do believe we've put it on the mend. It's charging as I write this so keep your fingers crossed that I'll be able to take photos of my little pumpkin bread project and share them here with you. In the meantime, I hope you don't mind soothing your eyes with these lovely images! As always, sending good thoughts and love to all. Here's wishing a season brimming with serenity, happiness and harmony to all of you kind and kindred souls!!!



Love and good thoughts from Tracey and Family! x0x

Taking Comfort in "Wren Bay"

Wren Bay by Clarice Fox~Hughes

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This past February...while mourning the unexpected loss of my oldest brother...my long~time blog friend Clarice emailed me with a few sample snippets of her first novel "Wren Bay". It was a work in progress at the time. Clarice's labor of love.

In a rare quiet moment during a harrowing time, I read her work and was comforted. Reading about Wren Bay transported me across time to a cozy place populated by charming, productive characters.

Immediately, I responded.

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My Dear Friend Clarice,

I LOVE this concept! From what I've read so far you are creating a world that reminds me of a cross between Barbara Macomber (?) and Jan Karon!....I am down at my dad's house and....everyone is now napping so I thought I'd try to get my mind off of the sadness by losing myself a bit on the computer. So, I must say thank you for the lovely story bits you've sent. They were a comfort to read and I just want to jump into their world. It's my (humble) opinion that we need more books like the one you are writing....

Please keep going with this project as it sounds wonderful and comforting and just what the world needs right about now. You know your market (us bloggers) and what we like and need. I think you have a winner.

More soon my friend.

Love and good thoughts from Tracey.

x0x

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Happily, a few months ago I was able to buy the newly published copy of Wren Bay and I am so pleased I did. I've long been a fan of Clarice's creativity and Wren Bay is a fictional form of her inspirational blog Storybook Woods. Generously peppered throughout the book are Clarice's tried~and~true recipes and practical tips. She has taken the subjects she blogs about (fashion, crafting, whole food, self education, up cycling and the like) and weaves them into a charming fictional tale. Like Clarice herself, the main character (Wren) takes the simplest things in life and makes a celebration out of them. As Wren grows and learns new skills and ideas, so do we.




If you'd like to learn more about Wren Bay (or purchase a copy of your very own) just click HERE to make the jump to Clarice's charming blog. Please tell her Tracey says "hello"!







Sending love, comfort and good thoughts to all.



Warmly,



Tracey and Family



x0x

Thanksgiving Blessings to All...

I've been so busy these days my kind friends...but I have lots of new things to share with you when things calm down...and hopefully I'll have some fun news to share with you too. In the meantime please know that I am grateful for all of you good souls...you have blessed my life.



Thank you for your loyal friendship.



Love and good thoughts to all.



Warmly,



Tracey and Family



x0x



Image: Source

Holiday Eye Candy...Frugal Gift Pantry Ideas... & More

Hello my kind friends, here is some EYE CANDY to inspire and to illustrate the philosophy of frugal luxuries!!!


As always...love and good thoughts to all.


Warmly,


Tracey & Family x0x



P.S. I discussed some of these with my long~time friend Patricia Raskin on her inspiring & uplifting radio show...Positive Living™ !!!

"Peace on earth to people of good will." ~~The Book of Matthew 5.9






Images: Courtesy of Pinterest.com