We all know that plates are stored in upper kitchen cabinets along with glassware, right? Since I am only 5′2″, I’m loving the trend that’s bucking the traditional upper-storage cabinets design: deep drawers.  

In the kitchen of this year’s YMCA Dream House, I have completely eliminated the upper cabinets that usually flank the window at the sink.

This photo showshow functional a pegged-bottom deep drawer can be. I love these drawers and how easy they make it to reach stacks of plates, bowls and even utensils. You can even pop your napkin rings over a peg to keep them organized – a great way to use vertical space!

When we remodeled our kitchen last year, I made sure we had far more deep drawers than upper cabinets. I typically cannot reach beyond the first shelf in kitchen cabinets so it did not make sense to have storage where I couldn’t reach.

I love my deep drawers and how functional they make my kitchen and I hope that they will be appreciated in the Dream House. Personally, I detest kitchens that are just stacked floor to ceiling and wall to wall with cabinets. Open shelves provide storage but also give visual relief from boxy cabinets. In the Dream House, we have a ton of storage and plenty of upper cabinets on two other walls, so we certainly did not need them on the focal wall with the sink.

The deep drawers are a great solution for short people and for our aging population. As we grow older, it becomes unsafe to climb up on step stools. Our stability and equalibrium are more uncertain – deep drawers resolve that issue.

Here’s a link on how to retro-fit your existing drawers.

Getting organized seems to always be on my list of  “Things to Do” especially at the beginning of a new year. So when I came across this clever coverup for hiding a not-so-organized bulletin board, I just had to share it with all of you!

Monica at the CraftyNest is such an inspiration. How cute, creative and easy is this shutter-covered bulletin board?

She has a great step-by-step tutorial on the transformation on her blog along with many other crafty ideas.  I love how this idea helps tidy up a space which may not be so neat!

P.S. While you’re there make sure to check out her fun post on transforming paper lanterns with pom poms and silk flowers!

I hope you had a wonderful Labor Day weekend – and now that the holiday is over, it’s fall as far as I am concerned. Can you even believe it’s September?

You’ll see TDH header illustration has changed – I like to keep things seasonal. This is my fall girl – I have a Christmas and winter one that we will change out as the season rolls around.

My thanks to Wordpress guru Cathy at Desperately Seeking Wordpress - she’s helping me update the blog!

Back to school . . . three dreaded words for kids but music to moms’ ears!

It’s hard to believe that many children will be heading back to school in just TWO weeks! Whatever happened to school starting back up after Labor Day?

Real Simple magazine and Pottery Barn Kids are teaming up to help make the transition into the new school year simple and easy!

Check out your local PBK for details.

Hi All,

Sorry for the lack of posts last week. I had out-of-town guests in for my husband’s 50th birthday party I threw for him on Saturday. (It was a great time!)

In getting ready for our guests I put away all the flannel sheets and got out the spring/summer ones. In our guest room I use sheets from Vera Wang that I bought at Kohl’s. The “SimplyVera” sheets  are 100% Egyptian cotton. I bought them because they have a beautiful cuff of lavender silk along the edge of the pillow cases and the flat sheet. The lavender coordinates beautifully with the wall color.

While in theory the sheets are beautiful, in reality  they are a nightmare! Coming off the winter where I was using “wash and wear” flannel sheets, I am in sheet shock with my seasonal 100% cotton sheets. The ones on our bed are 100% organic cotton and they fair no better than Vera’s. WRINKLES, WRINKLES, WRINKLES! Why don’t they put just a bit of polyester into the sheets to prevent the wrinkles?

I can’t believe that Vera Wang would put her name on products that are not very user friendly.  If I was putting my name on these sheets, I would have taken them home and used them. Maybe I’m in the minority but I do not have time to IRON SHEETS. (Perhaps the “real wives” of TV fame have maids or house keepers do the tedious task but at my house, I AM the maid!)

After nearly two hours of trying to iron the wrinkles out of the sheets, I added Downy’s Wrinkle Releaser to my shopping list. It’s amazing how the tedious task of ironing jogged my memory as to how I dealt with the wrinkles last year. Not that the wrinkle releaser takes care of the wrinkles completely, but it cuts down on the amount of ironing I have to do.

I’m curious – what kind of sheets do you use? How do you deal with the wrinkle issues of 100% Egyptian cotton?

True Confession: I am not a naturally organized person. I often say “I’m a decorator/stager NOT an organizer”. I’m about 90% right brain and 10% left brain.

It’s curious to me the way my mind works – I can go into a room that needs decorating/design/staging help and I can break it down into steps and phases and know exactly what needs to be done. I create a plan and we move forward. However, if I walk into a room that’s clutter chaos and it is overwhelming. I shut down. I just have no idea where to start or how to break things down into smaller “chunks” that are managable. Thankfully there are people who are experts where I fall short.

If you’re a reader of The Devine Home, you know that we have been going through a kitchen remodel and, in the middle of that, I had a flood in my studio/office caused by ice damning on the roof. My studio/office was already a kind of storage space for few things from the kitchen/dining room. The flood was just icing on the cake. Piles of paper were now here, there and everywhere. It was a jungle so I HAD to call in professionals to help me tame the clutter.

Have you ever worked with professional organizers? The closest I’ve ever gotten was my sisters/mom who are very organized. I never have been the organized person. I was the kid who had clothes all over my bedroom floor when I was a teen and my parents just closed the door on the “disaster area”.  I was a bit apprehensive to have others over to see my messy studio.  Would there be judgment?

The ladies of Organizing 4 U came to my rescue. What would have taken me all day (and even then I doubt it would have been organized) took the three of us 3.5 hours to do. Muffy and JoEllen helped me stay focused. They went through piles of paperwork and stacked like with like. We pitched things I didn’t need and moved items (like my wedding photos) out of my studio and to a more appropriate location. (During the last three months of the remodel, my studio became a kind of dumping ground. That had to stop.)

Once we had piles the O4U Team created categories and made file folders for paperwork. They created a simple system to help me stay organized.  It was well worth the $100/hour – it saved me HOURS of frustration and resulted in a much better end product than I could have achieved on my own.

So here’s a shot of the “after” of my desk area (we built it into the closet). I’m looking forward to being able to put the finishing decorating touches on my new studio and will post photos when it’s all done!

If you are a subscriber to my weekly newsletter (subscribe here), you no doubt read about the give away I was doing exclusively for my subscribers (more than 500 of you!).

I encouraged you to post your comments on the blog for chances to win a wonderful organizational tool for collecting all your important documents. The booklet, from my friends at Organizing 4 U, is an amazing resource! If you didn’t win, you can purchase one here. I seriously think every home should have this booklet so all your important documents can be easily located in case of emergency, death or the unexpected.

I’m excited to annoucement that the winner of the give away is: ALANA GREENE of Alpharetta, Georgia.  Full disclosure: Alana is my sister but there was no favoritism in the random drawing. She had 8 entries of 35 for the give away, so it was the luck of the draw.

Thanks to everyone who posted. I’ll have another give away soon . . . this one will also be posted on the blog.

I was recently talking to our painter and she told us we were not storing our paint correctly. She said it should be stored someplace where you have a relatively steady, moderate temperature.  Our paint is in the garage on the shelves the previous owners set it up.

Because our garage isn’t insulated, it gets extremely hot and cold. She said the changes in temperature will breakdown the latex in the paint and ruin it.

Instead of storing paint in the garage, she suggests  storing it in an area like our basement where the temperature stays relatively steady and moderate.

She loved that  my husband put labels on each can which tells us in which room or area of the hose we used it.  This will make it easy for touch ups when needed.

So, take a tip from a pro and store your paint in the right conditions to keep it in perfect paint condition!