Thursday, November 17, 2011
Early Paparazzi
Business or Pleasure, Mr. Draper?
Are you a Mad Men fan? I hope so, but if you're not, I'll give you a little background on this awesome period TV series set in the 1960s. The show Mad Men is on AMC and it has won tons of Emmy's and the main character is Don Draper (Jon Hamm) who is super hot. Mad Men chronicles the life of advertising execs who were surprisingly slutty and alcohol soaked in both their business and personal lives. It's fantastic.
Since this is a period television show - completely set in the 1960s - it is important to both producers and viewers of the show to be historically accurate. All of the sets are filled with real vintage furniture and real stuff from the 60s - not many things are reproductions. Here is where I fit in to this Mad Men world...As you may know by now, I am an estate sale regular and I come across 1950s and 1960s stuff all the time in basements and living rooms of people wanting to liquidate their stuff. Well, I sell these great finds on Etsy.com in my shop called Affordable Adornment. I recently sold this piece:
And the lucky buyer was the Property Master for Season 5 of Mad Men in Los Angeles. Next time you see January Jones crying the blues about what a terrible ex-husband Jon Hamm was - she may be wiping her eyes with these vintage tissues!!! FOR REAL!
Since this is a period television show - completely set in the 1960s - it is important to both producers and viewers of the show to be historically accurate. All of the sets are filled with real vintage furniture and real stuff from the 60s - not many things are reproductions. Here is where I fit in to this Mad Men world...As you may know by now, I am an estate sale regular and I come across 1950s and 1960s stuff all the time in basements and living rooms of people wanting to liquidate their stuff. Well, I sell these great finds on Etsy.com in my shop called Affordable Adornment. I recently sold this piece:
And the lucky buyer was the Property Master for Season 5 of Mad Men in Los Angeles. Next time you see January Jones crying the blues about what a terrible ex-husband Jon Hamm was - she may be wiping her eyes with these vintage tissues!!! FOR REAL!
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Behind Closed Closet Doors
This week, my husband was out of town on business. When he is away, I end up watching television and doing projects into the wee hours of the night. Case in point: Tuesday night, I stumbled upon one of my guilty pleasures, the show Hoarders: Buried Alive. Well, I tuned in mid way thru one episode, then stayed tuned thru another episode and, what do you know, the next one, too. After a mini-marathon of shock and awe, I was moved and motivated to then clean my MBR closet until nearly 2am - which needed a straightening and a once over. I am lucky enough to have a good sized closet, but that just means it allows me to fill it and hold on to things that are no longer part of my wardrobe repertoire. Time to purge. It felt so good and there is a little high that comes from clearing floor space, emptying shelves and throwing things out.
Here are some tips to make your MBR closet look decent enough to keep the door open:
Unify your hangers. Choose a color and go with it. Get rid of all the junky wire things that come from the dry cleaner and rickety hangers that came from the department store. Target, dollar stores and any grocery store carry plastic hangers for around $2 for 13 hangers. Load up on one color and go home and unify the look. If you are fancy and can afford wood hangers, they look very sharp, as well.
Organize the way you want to shop in your closet. Some people like to organize by color, but my brain does not work that way. I hang just about everything because folding things always looks sloppy and unorganized. Sweatshirts, sweaters, jeans, t-shirts, tank tops, scarves, etc. all hung up on white hangers. It saves me from digging in my drawers for something wrinkled, as well. So, in my closet, I group like items and that also translates to seasons. T-shirts are together and sweaters are together. When I walk into my closet, I feel like I can shop for things to wear as opposed to digging or finding things.
Keep what's practical at hand. We used to keep our suitcases in the basement, but my husband travels so much for work that we now keep the suitcases in our closet. Which means I had to move out some things we don't use often, like an extra comforter, extra pillows, and empty shoe boxes. I made room for what we need by putting other things in more practical locations elsewhere in the house.
If you have extra space, put it to good use. I actually had enough room to organize my wrapping paper which is no longer in a dark corner of the closet leaning up against the wall (and more often falling down on the floor).
Add something beautiful. After all if you have a walk in closet, it is a room in itself. Why not treat it as such. Hang a beautiful full length mirror with a great frame. How about a cool waste basket for your tags and pocket trash. Why not a chandelier to bring a little glam in there and really make it look like a store you'd want to shop in. Add a small bench if you have space, or a narrow console table in the middle to act as an island for folding or pulling an outfit together.
Paint your closet a fun color. I know that painting your closet might be the last item on your to-do list, but it might make a big different. If you weren't daring with your bedroom wall color, this is your chance to do something bold or happy.
If you don't have a ton of space, and your closet is small, you can still do these things on a smaller scale. Still paint, still hang a pretty light fixture, still hang a mirror (on the back of the door), still add a trash basket, and still unify your hangers and organize your wardrobe! But, scale down your clothing selection. Keep the good stuff, keep the basics and the essentials, but get rid of the old trendy stuff, the red satin dress from that wedding last year, and cocktail dress you wore to so-and-so's birthday party...chances are the next function you go to will want a fresh new dress anyway!
Here are some tips to make your MBR closet look decent enough to keep the door open:
Unify your hangers. Choose a color and go with it. Get rid of all the junky wire things that come from the dry cleaner and rickety hangers that came from the department store. Target, dollar stores and any grocery store carry plastic hangers for around $2 for 13 hangers. Load up on one color and go home and unify the look. If you are fancy and can afford wood hangers, they look very sharp, as well.
Organize the way you want to shop in your closet. Some people like to organize by color, but my brain does not work that way. I hang just about everything because folding things always looks sloppy and unorganized. Sweatshirts, sweaters, jeans, t-shirts, tank tops, scarves, etc. all hung up on white hangers. It saves me from digging in my drawers for something wrinkled, as well. So, in my closet, I group like items and that also translates to seasons. T-shirts are together and sweaters are together. When I walk into my closet, I feel like I can shop for things to wear as opposed to digging or finding things.
Keep what's practical at hand. We used to keep our suitcases in the basement, but my husband travels so much for work that we now keep the suitcases in our closet. Which means I had to move out some things we don't use often, like an extra comforter, extra pillows, and empty shoe boxes. I made room for what we need by putting other things in more practical locations elsewhere in the house.
If you have extra space, put it to good use. I actually had enough room to organize my wrapping paper which is no longer in a dark corner of the closet leaning up against the wall (and more often falling down on the floor).
Add something beautiful. After all if you have a walk in closet, it is a room in itself. Why not treat it as such. Hang a beautiful full length mirror with a great frame. How about a cool waste basket for your tags and pocket trash. Why not a chandelier to bring a little glam in there and really make it look like a store you'd want to shop in. Add a small bench if you have space, or a narrow console table in the middle to act as an island for folding or pulling an outfit together.
Paint your closet a fun color. I know that painting your closet might be the last item on your to-do list, but it might make a big different. If you weren't daring with your bedroom wall color, this is your chance to do something bold or happy.
If you don't have a ton of space, and your closet is small, you can still do these things on a smaller scale. Still paint, still hang a pretty light fixture, still hang a mirror (on the back of the door), still add a trash basket, and still unify your hangers and organize your wardrobe! But, scale down your clothing selection. Keep the good stuff, keep the basics and the essentials, but get rid of the old trendy stuff, the red satin dress from that wedding last year, and cocktail dress you wore to so-and-so's birthday party...chances are the next function you go to will want a fresh new dress anyway!
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
I Caved In - I'm Tweeting
I'm embracing social media like you might embrace a stray dog - first, at an arms length, but kindly acknowledging it, taking it in until it finds a home in your heart and your routine. Since you can't ignore it (your kids won't let you) and it's not going anywhere you might as well give in. So, TWITTER can quit with the puppy dog eyes already, because I am now tweeting about Affordable Adornment. I'm tweeting about my thrift finds and estate sale rounds. Follow me if you want! I'd love it! Find me @AffordableAdorn.
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