Organization

June 14, 2017 By Amber Oliver Leave a Comment

Laundry Room Ideas: A Small Laundry Room Makeover

When we were house hunting, one of our must haves was a laundry room. While this seems like a basic need, I was surprised how many houses we came across that didn’t have a laundry room! I knew I didn’t want to drag laundry from inside the house to the garage so we were pleased when we found what ended up being our first home. Before we moved in, a small laundry room was added just off the kitchen. It’s a small room but has a door to shut when the machines are running and we were able to fit new stackable machines in there. Below are ways we maximized this tiny space in our small laundry room makeover.

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June 2, 2017 By Amber Oliver Leave a Comment

Kitchen Organization Labels – Free vinyl kitchen labels!

I sometimes grow strange attachments to things. There are times I’d rather hold onto or hoard something than use it. I do this with office supplies (soooo many cute notebooks) and I also do it with vinyl! I think one of my aversions to using it is the fear of messing it up and wasting it! I know I’m not alone in this fear! I even go so far as to save all my scrap vinyl in hopes I can use them someday! Well I finally came up with a project to use up those scrap pieces: DIY kitchen organization labels!

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August 15, 2016 By Amber Oliver 2 Comments

DIY Pen Organizer

This post is sponsored by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.

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June 20, 2016 By Amber Oliver 1 Comment

Garage Organization

This blog has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #GarageCleanUp #CollectiveBias

4th of July weekend is almost here and our backyard is no stranger to guests. I’ve shared several projects lately about how we are preparing our back yard for outdoor get-togethers. I added a DIY fabric curtain for shade from the sun and we built an amazing farmhouse table that seats 10. One chore we have to do every week is mowing the lawn. We get notes on our door all the time from lawn care companies offering to provide this service for us, but Eric and I both enjoy mowing the yard and tending our flower beds. Our garage had become a catch all and most of our lawn care equipment is piled around different parts of the garage. We also want to start parking our cars in the garage. We used the Rubbermaid® FastTrack® Garage Organization System from The Home Depot to finally get our garage organized!

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May 23, 2016 By Amber Oliver 25 Comments

One Room Challenge: Office Reveal

My office is done! I’ve spent the past few weeks cleaning, organizing, and customizing my home office. In my true fashion, all of the projects have been DIYs! The first week of the One Room Challenge I shared an Introduction with my plan, some inspiration, and before photos of the space. The 2nd week I shared my first project: a DIY Peg Board. I used a huge picture frame and added a peg backing so I could organize many of my craft tools. The 3rd week of the challenge coincided with a high stress time in our home: my husband lost his job. I put the challenge on hold that week. Week 4 it was back to business and I shared more office organization and the fabric backed bookcases I customized. Week 5 was my second favorite project: my DIY acrylic calendar! Going into this project I knew I wanted a large wall calendar to organize my ideas and projects. I did a round up of wall calendar ideas and came across a chic lucite calendar on Etsy but it cost over $1,000! For about $30 I was able to do a knock off version. The very last project was the icing on the cake: a DIY FLORAL FABRIC WALL! It completed the room perfectly! Here is my home office reveal:

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May 6, 2016 By Amber Oliver 5 Comments

One Room Challenge: Week 5 – DIY Acrylic Calendar

Is it really week 5 of the One Room Challenge?! Time has seriously flown by these past few weeks. I kinda hate when people say “I’m really busy” (because we all are!) but I really have been! Blogging consistently (and working full time!) is no joke – especially when you are actually creating the content you share. This week I’m sharing another update to my home office – a DIY acrylic calendar! I was planning on doing a gallery wall (and I still may) but this DIY acrylic calendar stole the show.

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April 28, 2016 By Amber Oliver 6 Comments

One Room Challenge: Week 4 – Organization (DIY Fabric backed bookshelf)

If you’ve been following along here on the blog and through Instagram and Facebook, you may have noticed I didn’t get a post up in time for Week 3! Our family had a few issues, and that took precedence over my office makeover and the One Room Challenge. Luckily, I am back at it this week and wanted to share a quick update about how it’s going in my home office. Week 1 I shared a bit about my plans and some inspiration for the room. Week 2 I shared the first project we completed: my DIY peg board! This week I was able to expand the storage in this room and customized some bookshelves. I found the best deal on bookcases at Walmart and wanted to make a DIY Fabric backed bookshelf! The 5-shelf bookcase is less than $30 (!!!!) and the shorter, 3-shelf bookcase is less than $20. Talk about a bargain! I’ve had the 5 shelf one for several years and decided to add on the shorter shelf next to it so I could put a TV on top. We recently got a new TV in the living room, so the old one got a new home in my office! #NetflixAndCraft. I may add on a 3rd bookcase (another 5 shelf one) on the far left, but I may put a chair in that space. Still deciding! The main point here is you can never have enough storage space! I wanted to customize them a bit since the plain white was a bit bland. I measured the backing and used spray glue to attach fabric on the back to get a DIY Fabric backed bookshelf. If you get the shelves new, this would be much easier to apply before attaching the back, but I was able to add it pretty easily regardless.

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March 17, 2016 By Amber Oliver 4 Comments

Wall Calendar Inspiration

Are you a paper planner or have you converted to using a digital day book? I use a mix of both. I like to have my appointments on my iPhone and Outlook calendar so Siri can remind me and I can see it when I’m at work. However, when it comes to planning I’m a big picture kinda gal. As I began planning for the One Room Challenge, I decided I really wanted to have a BIG wall calendar. I want something large that will help me plan my blog posts and serve as a reminder for my business goals. Where do you turn to for inspiration? Pinterest of course! I rounded up some pretty awesome wall calendar ideas and I’ve linked them below for you!

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January 7, 2016 By Amber Oliver Leave a Comment

How To Fit A Workout Into Your Workday

I’m struggling ya’ll. I feel like I’m constantly making excuses about getting exercise. Sometimes, it’s medical reasons (I have a recurrent disc herniation that I had surgery to fix in 2010 that still hurts) but most of the time it’s because I’m LAZY. If I do have a free evening, I’d rather spend time at home or blogging (#priorities). Unfortunately, that is a terrible idea. We all know the benefits to regular exercise so why can’t we make time for it? I realized there was NO WAY morning workouts would work for me. I tried; really! I went to AM Yoga- I have zero patience for Namaste at 6am so I spent the day grumpy. I also tried Shaun T’s FOCUS T25 and seriously couldn’t convince myself to get up just 25 minutes earlier (even though this is an amazing workout program!). After months of feeling frustrated with myself, I talked with a coworker who goes to the downtown YMCA on lunch. I decided to try it, and working out on my lunch break is the best thing ever! I’ve gotten a lot of questions about how I workout at lunch and I have to say – packing my gym bag is the most important thing. Making sure I have everything I need ensures I not only get to the gym that day, but I can get in a good workout and get back to work within an hour. The trick is planning ahead! Today, I’m sharing what I pack in my gym bag.
what i pack in my gym bag / amber oliver …

November 3, 2015 By Amber Oliver Leave a Comment

How To Pack A Carry On

I have a special guest post today from my dear friend Meggie of Organized Life Design. She was one of my first friends when I moved to Houston and we’ve had tons of fun over the past few years. She’s married to a great guy, Salvatore, and they have an adorable baby girl Sophia. She started her business this year and she’s already doing great things! We took a trip together to Seattle a few weeks ago and I was panicking about packing my bag – I really wanted to avoid an extra $50 charge from the airline to check a bag but it’s cold in Seattle and I needed lots of layers + multiple outfits/shoes for the conference we were attending. It’s a good thing one of my closest friends is a professional organizer! She gave me some great packing tips on how to pack a carry on and I asked her to share those with you today. Meet Meggie!

Thank you airlines for adding baggage fees (not really) as it has motivated me to confine to only carry-ons! But how in the h-e-double-hockey-sticks do you pack for 4 days in winter weather in one suitcase?? I’m so glad you asked. First thing’s first – what’s the weather where you’re going? Use it in terms you can understand i.e. I’m from Texas so anything below 70 is COLD. Therefore, I need a coat when < 60 degrees. I know some who could push the 50 mark with just a vest – brrr.
1. Three nights only requires one set of pjs (extra top if you sweat like a linebacker, but turn off the heat or keep temperature low while you’re sleeping).
2. Pack one outfit per day with one extra top. I’d make that two extra if you have messy little ones traveling with you. If you absorb one piece of advice take this: wear neutrals so that your pieces can mix and match. Then you can re-wear or change up what you packed. This especially goes for your jewelry and shoe options. If you’re a brown gal – don’t try wearing black pumps and vice versa.
3. Toiletries can dominate half a suitcase but let’s be real for a second; do you NEED all of it? Do a major edit and take out duplicates – same goes for what might already be in your purse or other carry-on. Think makeup, eye drops, medicines, etc. Are you staying at someone’s house or a hotel? Blow-dryer is probably a given and you may ask about curling iron or straightener.
4. Wear your bulk – your coat or jacket and scarf. If you’re coming from hot to cold you may be carrying until you get there but it will save you lots of packing real estate. Airport rule makers are usually tolerant of you carrying in your arms. If anyone questions you just put it all on and tell them you’re heading for the arctic on a mission to save the polar bears.
5. Shoes! If you’re taking boots – wear them. You only need one pair of heels (if you need those at all) and one pair of flats. Going back to the neutrals advice – your flats should match ALL your outfits. Same goes for heels and boots.

If you’ve ever had an airline lose your bag **cough*United*cough** then you know how awful it is to deal with. So not only are you avoiding the baggage fee but you save yourself the hassle if the airline has an off day. Then you won’t land in Wisconsin for a same day wedding without your dress up clothes (a story for another day…)

Thanks Meg for posting today. Be sure to follow along with her on Instagram and like her Facebook page for updates and tips about organizing your life! If you are in the Houston area and need some help in your home or business be sure to contact her!

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