Pantry Organization and Buying In Bulk Continued...

As you all are well aware, our kitchen is tiny.

We don't have a pantry, and have creatively used the back of our basement door as a makeshift pantry for a few everyday items.

I've also mentioned how I love buying in bulk as it saves time and money.

But with the lack of storage in our kitchen, we had to get creative on where to store our excess items.

So I put Mr. Free to work.

In our unfinished basement, we had a lot of open area underneath our stair case. I always wanted to at least put a wall up so we could have an actual laundry room.

But instead of just a wall, we decided to build a wall of shelves!

Tons of storage!

Mr. Free finished it last week and we've begun organizing all of our pantry items.

One of these days I'd like to paint the shelves and make them all pretty, but in the meantime, they are highly functional.

Here they are:

There are also shelves on the other side, in the laundry area that holds our excess linens, toiletries and laundry supplies.

But that's another blog post....

Living in a small space forces creativity, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

A Piece of History

As you are well aware, about a month ago Mr. Free and I bought our cute little shoebox home from my grandfather.

My Grandma and Grandpa built this home in 1961.

My mom and uncles for the most part grew up in this home.

A couple of weeks ago while at lunch with my Grandpa, he gave me this:

I added the stars to blur out our street name....surely you understand...

Isn't that pretty cool?

We have a pretty good chunk o' land for being in the 'burbs!

I love how old and weathered the paper is.

I'm trying to figure out a spot to display this in our home.

It is just way to cool to just file away.

Got my iphone 4...

And I love it.

As my readers are well aware, the Free household is on a pretty tight budget. You know, with me a teacher as the main breadwinner, and Mr. Free finishing up college and I'm in grad school as well..... you get the picture.

Mr. Free and I knew we really wanted to jump on the iphone wagon when we watched the keynote speech about them.

So.... what did we do? Frantically run around our house finding things to sell via Craigslist so we can buy them.

And we did.

What have I loved so far?

The camera and video camera by far. They are so much better quality than I am used to with a phone and it is always with me. Love it.

I also love that you are never bored if you have an iphone. Waiting at the DMV? You can check facebook!

Nice.

I also love the way the voicemail and text messages are set up. It is just so easy to use.

What about the 'deathgrip'?

So far Mr. Free and I haven't had any issues with dropped calls. We of course will take Steve Jobs offer of free bumpers, but so far we haven't had any problems!

There's an App for that.....

So far I've only downloaded a few apps since I just got it. So far, here's what I would recommend:

Facebook....duh (free)

Red Laser (free) allows you to scan barcodes of items to see what the lowest price is in your area

Craigsphone (free) Craigslist on your phone....

Happy Hour (free) tells you the various Happy Hours going on in your area at any given time. We aren't really drinkers but love ourselves some cheap food...

And my favorite so far, Camera Bag ($1.99) This app allows you to edit your photos with various filters. I used the 'CrossColor' filter for the photo of my iphone above. I think it is worth the $1.99 charge.

So that's about it.

If you have an iphone or smartphone, what apps would you recommend?

I'm obviously just getting my toes wet....

Home Tour: Office/Sewing Room/Otis' Room

Here's the next room on the tour.
It is lovingly referred to as 'Otis' room'. Our charming orangy tabby.

Professionally, I will call it 'the office' as that sounds so much more grown-up.

Here are the pics:

That pet bed is massive! It holds all 3 of our furbabies....they snuggle their and sleep together. It is adorable.

I love these houndstooth file folders....given to me from a dear friend!

This is the sewing table we got at the thrift for $19 and painted. I love the way it turned out!

The mirror was my great-grandmother's and the frames are various pictures of Mr. Free and I or places we have visited.

See Otis?

Isn't he a cutie?

Hope you all are having a fabulous week!

Home Tour: The Bathroom Before and After

As I mentioned yesterday, the blog got the addition of some tabs at the top.

One of the tabs is pictures of our lil' shoebox home.

As I'm going around an taking pictures of these spaces, I figured a dedicated blog post was in order!

The first space I took pics of was the bathroom.

Here is the before:

And the After:

New shower curtain (Target)

New bath mats (Target)

Painted vanity white

New brushed hardware and faucet

New light fixture

Organized linen closet

Hung new artwork

Mr. Free got this 'Curiosity Cola' at World Market. He knows I love unique bottles for vases, so he brought this one home! I love it!

This painting of Mr. Free was done by a good friend of his at school. It's definitely quirky!

This is our only bathroom, so it has to be fully functional, yet pretty for guests.

Any thoughts?

Put it on my tab

Well, I finally figured out the ol' tab feature on blogspot.

You should be able to see them above.

They are still a work in progress, but just wanted to bring your attention to the new addition on the page.

Any thoughts? Any tabs I should add?

xoxo, Jenny Free

Farmer's Market

This morning I ventured to the Farmer's Market.

It was packed.

Which made my locavore heart pitter patter.

Here are the goodies I came home with:

See that gross looking tomato? The farmer said that the 'bad looking' ones actually taste the best. He told me to compare a 'bad one' and a 'good one' and report back next week.

And I shall.

This is our neighbor's homemade baklava. She lives 3 houses down and has a booth of homemade goodies at the Farmer's Market. It is amazing. And only $1.25.

Total, I spent $9.25 for everything.

3 tomatoes

2 candy onions

1 green pepper

1 squash

6 peaches

1 heavenly slice of baklava

I went to SuperTarget later and priced the same items.

Excluding baklava.

I saved $1.50 overall.

And none of my produce has pesticides, herbicides, etc.

And I put money right into the Farmer's pockets.

I love the Farmer's Market.

I love old books

When my grandma passed away a few years ago, she left me her wonderful classic book collection.

I love them.

I use them as decoration all over my home.

I think they look intelligent and classy, plus if you are bored you've got reading materials!

(And I'm a teacher....gotta promote literacy people!)

She left me a big collection of the 'Classics to Grow On' series from the 1940's.

They contain classic poetry, classic novels and plays.

She also left me some old Mark Twain and Nancy Drew books. These are probably about 40-50 years old I would guess.

Whenever I hit the thrifts, I always check for classic older books and have found a couple of great ones:

That title just makes me laugh....it's from the 60's. I'm gettin' closer to 30, so I guess I better read up!

But I don't always decorate with old books. (Though new don't have quite the same charm)

Here is our end table in the living room:

Gotta love these classics....: )

And yes, I love my quirky wire pig.

Free Headboard Redux

So, my style has changed a bit since picking out my furniture 4 years ago.

Back then, I wanted a *romantic* bedroom.

Wrought iron bed, creams and lots of red.

*Swoon*

Now?

Of course I want a romantic bedroom, but not so traditional looking.

I got to thinkin' yesterday about ways to make our bed look a like more funky.

Here it is:

First, our bedding is a bit different since it is summer.

We use our light brown blanket for summer, since it's lighter.

Next, I took this quilt I got on clearance at Target a couple of years and draped it over our existing wrought iron headboard.

I bought the quilt because the reverse side is red and I use it draped over our couch at Christmas.

So there ya go.

No sewing, no ironing, just draping.

The look of an upholstered headboard, but can easily, easily be changed in about 1 second.

What do you think?

P.S. The "After" photos are using the CameraBag app.....I love it!

I should have taken the pics in the morning though...with a little more natural light!

A New Blog I Love....

Last night I stumbled upon the blog White Waxflower.

Her style is amazing....I absolutely love it.

Here's some pics of her place:

Isn't it gorgeous?! Totally love her style....

Plus I learned a couple of tips:

* I loved her photos....she said she uses her iphone with the CameraBag app ($1.99). I totally downloaded it onto Mr. Free's iphone last night.

* The site Vintage Printables.

It is a site of vintage prints that are public domain so anyone can print them, frame them and use them in your home!

Just wanted to pass along the blog love.....any new blogs you've found to share??

P.S. Thanks for the comments on the last post....it was good to hear from some readers!

*Sigh*

Do you ever have days that you just kinda feel a little blue?

That is me today. And yesterday.

The weather here isn't helping either. (Rainy)

Or the fact that our banking account got all messed up and now our checking account is red.

That should be resolved by tomorrow....but still....

What do I normally do when I feel a little blue?

Retail therapy.

What can't you do when you when your checking account is in the negatives?

Retail therapy.

Sigh.

Luckily, my mom took me to get some much needed Starbucks (after fretting all night that half of our hard-earned and saved money was gone!) and then we headed to Target.

Bad day to not have any money.

All of their outdoor furniture was 75% off.....and if it was a display model? An extra 30%.

Crazy huh?

I did spot something that I couldn't leave without. (Thanks mom for the loan...: )

I love Dwell Studio.

I've loved these tablecloths since they first came out. ($19.99)

But I patiently waited.

Today....they were $4.98. Nice.

I snagged two.

One for the table down in our basement (which will be a game table)

and another to recover the cushy tops of our ottomans in the basement.

I was bummed they were out of the rectangular ones, but I think I can make the circular ones work.

Anyways..... I'm starting to wonder if anyone even reads this anymore. The last 3 posts....zero comments.

If you read this....please drop a comment...even to say 'hello'. I want to know I'm not wasting my incredible typing skills on nothing.... : )

Laundry Room Design Board

As I've mentioned, Mr. Free is helping me build an actual laundry room in the basement.

I've been thinking about how I'd like to decorate it and make my dreaded chore a LOT more cheery.

Here is what I've come up with.

Let me break it down.

1. This is the infamous 'Silver Sage' by Restoration Hardware. I haven't decided yet whether to buy the color I want, or pray that an 'oops' paint is close enough. But, I'd like to do this color on the shelving and walls.

2. This is a gorgeous, modern pendant from Ikea retailing for just $29.99. We don't live near an IKEA, but hope to find something similar....

3. This adorable wall decal is from Etsy for only $9.50. I'd like to put it right over the washer/dryer.

4. This beautiful fabric is from JoAnn's Better Homes and Gardens line of fabric. I'm wanting to do one wall all in fabric like this. It's a bit pricey at $14.99/yd. I'm hoping to find something similar for a bit less $$$.

5. This is 'Smoked Oyster' from Valspar. We will be painting our whole entire basement floors this color. Isn't it pretty? Has some gray and tan to it!

6. Definitely need some cute accessories...like this adorable vintage laundry detergent tin.

7. I'll want something cushy under my feet whilst slaving away....we already own this rug from Urban Outfitters so we will just repurpose it!

Alright, what do you think????

A Picture Perfect Weekend.

Yesterday while chilling at home, Mr. Free informs me I have 30 minutes to pack a bag.

I was quite confused....Mr. Free isn't usually the "surprise" type.

I did what he asked and before I knew it, we were having a picture perfect weekend.

Mr. Free has been involved in a men's bible study and they all surprised their wives with a weekend getaway.

Here it is in pics:

Disclaimer: all of the above images are from Google Image....I forgot to take my own pics!!!

I've been bummed that a vacation just isn't in the budget this year. This is exactly what I needed to recharge my batteries.

The best part?

Spending quality time with my amazing husband.

I hope you all have an amazing 4th of July!