Mudroom Makeover:: Wrapping Paper & Ribbon Storage

Hi friends!

Thanks for all your kind comments on our mudroom makeover!

I know how inconsequential decorating and fluffing the nest really are in the scheme of life, 

but I have to admit that getting my house organized helps me to buy less by knowing what I have on hand and makes our homelife run more smoothly which in turn reduces stress.  These are all good things that don't change the world but make our home a bit happier.  

I am not tidy by nature and have to really work at keeping up with my house.  My head starts to feel kooky when every room in our house is a disaster - does yours?  I am always looking for ways to reduce the chaos and finding a place for the things in our home is part of that goal.  

You know, the ol' "a place for everything, and everything in it's place"??  Yeee-ah, that's not going to happen in this house.  

How about, instead:

Out of clutter, find simplicity.

-Albert Einstein

Yes, that's more my style.

The mudroom already had unfinished built-in shelves and I used the back of this area to store wrapping paper that was stuck in the back of the foyer coat closet....not an ideal location!  I wish I had an area like this when my kids were little and going to birthday parties constantly!  While I don't need access to these supplies all the time, they needed to find a home, and putting them on the wall is a fun and colorful way to store them.  

{Added bonuses:  the wrapping paper doesn't get smushed and destroyed, and actually seeing all the ribbon I've accumulated might help me to stop buying anymore for a while!}

This was my inspiration photo:

{source unknown}

I had what I THOUGHT was an epiphany while in Walmart one day:

to use cafe rods that come with brackets to hold the wrapping paper.  They are cheap ($1.97 each) but only available in ORB so I took them home and spraypainted them white.  About halfway through painting them I realized this great idea was not my own - deep in the recesses of my brain I pulled out the memory of having seen this exact project (all the way down to painting the rods) at the fabulous blog

33 Shades of Green. 

Has this ever happened to you - you think you have a ingenious idea only to discover that it's been done before??  Or like me discover that not only has it been done before, you actually read about it, forgot about it, and then thought the idea came out of your own brain???  Is it my age or do I have too many projects I want to try?  Hmmmm.

At any rate, Alissa's blog is full of creative ideas for the home and also has lots of yummy recipes - I highly recommend a visit if you haven't been there before! 

Here are my rods about to get sprayed....

along with the brackets and screws.

Alissa's version is a rack made with an empty frame, but I screwed the brackets right into the wall.  

I figured out how far to space the brackets based on the lengths of wrapping paper I had on hand.  I had one really long roll (the Target supersized roll - it lasts forever!)  The other rolls were regular-sized so I didn't space the brackets as far apart.  

A level was a must for this project.

 I discovered through trial and error that the brackets that came with the cafe rods didn't extend far enough from the wall to place spools of ribbon on, so I rifled through my box of window hardware I've accumulated over the years and found brackets that extended a little further out.

I also put up a hook for hanging gift bags and stored tissue paper, gift cards, stationery, and even more ribbon (it's a problem, okay???)  on the shelves.  Nothing fancy but at least I have access to all this stuff when I need them (and I'm not running to CVS because I can't find them shoved in a drawer somewhere!)

If you're like me and have overstuffed closets that stress you out, I hope you're inspired to find a home for even one thing.  It's amazing how a little organization can lift your spirits and make your home run a little better.  Happy you, happy home!

And happy weekend!