Design Build Love

Overhaul Craziness Continues

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Design Build Love

While I’m not trying to belabor the fact that I’m working more organization into our life, I do have to say that I have a few loose ends that I need to tie up before I can go full throttle into lifestyle organization. You see, we’ve been working on this…

this…

this….

all of these…

Projects-in-Progress

and quite a few other things! To be honest, while I’m completely enjoying all of the DIY projects and I absolutely cannot wait to share them with y’all, I am also very eager to start some of the organization/streamlining stuff too!

In fact, we have a big announcement and challenge to debut on March 1st! I can’t wait to share and I think it will be a lot of fun! I’ll just keep you guessing until then… Winking smile

Anyways, so stay tuned! I’ll be back starting tomorrow with some awesome DIY projects and soon after, I’ll debut my answers to how the heck I’m getting it all together here.

WHAT HAVE Y’ALL BEEN WORKING ON? ANYONE ELSE ON THE ORGANIZATIONAL BANDWAGON?

Posted in DIY, Get Organized, Life | 4 Comments

Design Inspiration: Linen Closet

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Design Build Love

As you know, I’ve been on a bit of a reorganizing/reworking rampage lately, and our hall linen closet just might be the next victim. I’ve rethought our use of five different spaces to ultimately decide what this closet should hold, and I’ve scoured the web to make sure I’ve fully thought out my plan.

I’ve found linen closet inspiration abundant, but few that really fit what I’m looking for. Of all the amazing inspiration out there, these seem to best fit the bill…

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All closet inspiration photos can be found on my Pinterest “Closets” board! If you’re looking for more inspiration, feel free to check out all of my Pinterest boards here.

It probably seems like I might be all over the place for closet inspiration, but I promise you, I’m not! Here are my takeaways:

I like a very uniform, minimalist look
I want to “container-ize” the items in the closet as much as possible
Vacuum storage would be a “plus”
A happy dose of color and pattern is always appreciated
Doors act as great additional storage and are sometimes forgotten

HOW DO YOU GUYS USE YOUR LINEN CLOSETS? ANY FAVORITE USES/SUGGESTIONS WORTH SHARING?

Posted in Closets, Get Inspired, Get Organized, Pinspiration | 5 Comments

Thinking and Rethinking Has Consumed Me

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Design Build Love

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been consumed with a slough of awesome, fun, and affordable projects I’d like to do around the house. All this is great until… you become overwhelmed by all of the project options and then you just can’t manage to decide what projects you want to take on first. Apparently, our laundry room overhaul has left me feeling creative, ambitious, and excited!

Project-Collage

Since I’ve become so “motivated,” I’ve decided that it would best to step back and take a look at our home holistically, and filter through all of the ideas, projects, and plans to create a prioritized plan with which to approach my to-do’s. Sounds like a good plan, right? I think so!

Now you’re probably wondering how I’m going to do this effectively, so here’s what I’ve got…

list project ideas
approximate project costs
develop broad, big-picture goals for our home (yearly)
detail short-term, smaller goals (aka- weekly, monthly, etc.)
plan larger home purchases we hope to make
create over-arching budget for projects

I don’t know, and maybe it’s just me, but I think law school might have ruined me… I tend to overthink information on occasion! But, in all seriousness, this “list” of projects will include more than just DIY, you can certainly expect some organization plans that involve personal finances and lifestyle efficiency. I’ve always been a fairly organized and efficient person, but I truly believe this is now essential to my DIY project planning.

ANY FEEDBACK ON MY PROCESS? HAVE YOU EVER BEEN SO OVERWHELMED BY IDEAS AND INSPIRATION THAT YOU HAVE TO STEP BACK AND CREATE A “PLAN?” ANY INPUT/RECOMMENDATIONS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!

Posted in DIY, Get Organized, Technical Stuff | 10 Comments

Event: Learn How to Make Your Home Energy Efficient

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Design Build Love

I was recently contacted about an upcoming event in the Sacramento area and asked if I could share the event on our blog. Since the event involved a topic true to my heart, energy efficiency, I happily obliged!

Valley Vision is a Sacramento-area nonprofit working to increase awareness of programs to increase home energy efficiency. On February 23rd from 7-8:30PM they are hosting a free community event for homeowners at Arthur F. Turner Library in West Sacramento.

At this event, homeowners will:

Find out how much electricity your household appliances really use. Yolo Energy Watch will demonstrate how to use a watt meter and how you can borrow one from your library.
Learn about Pacific Gas & Electric’s home energy programs.
Hear about rebates and incentives. Energy Upgrade California has resources to help you make your home more energy efficient.

This event is sponsored by the Yolo County Library System in partnership with Yolo Energy Watch, Pacific Gas & Electric Company, and Energy Upgrade California. You can read about their event in Davis, CA here.

For more about Valley Vision, you can visit their website here.

While I understand that this is an event primarily of local-interest, there are bound to be similar events in your area, so if you are interested in learning about any of these topics, I would recommend doing a quick Google search to see what you can find in your area!

~Ashley

(I received no compensation for sharing this event… I just thought y’all might enjoy, after all, an informed homeowner, is a happy homeowner!)

Posted in Events, Get Inspired, Technical Stuff | 2 Comments

Get Organized: Stop Receiving Credit Card Offers

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Design Build Love

Today I am taking care of some housekeeping things… you know, those things that actually keep Casa Meyer running, like paying bills, filtering mail… and oh ya… FINALLY signing Eric up to stop receiving those pesky, all-too-often, credit card offers! We are an extremely budget conscious couple and only have one credit card, and this credit card is specifically for getting flyer miles! Yup, we use it for specific things only and immediately pay it off (credit card companies might hate us for that).

Credit Card Offers

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Needless to say, Eric’s credit card offers that seem to bombard our mail and wear out our shredder are completely annoying! So, keeping in mind our mission to get organized and reduce “un-necessities,” I took the initiative today to OPT-OUT Eric from all of the credit card mailing lists. You see, years ago, when this opt-out thing came into existence, my entire family opted-out together… kind’a like a holistic family cleansing, but this was long before Eric came along and long after I’d remember how to do it.

So, when I was preparing to shred yet another credit card offer, I noticed that Opt-Out information printed at the bottom of the offer! I took it as a sign, and followed the instructions to clear our mailbox of this pesky (and potentially dangerous - hello identity theft!) paper stock.

How do you do it, you ask? Here’s how!!!

You can call (888) 567-8688 or go online to OptOutPrescreen.com

In case you’re a worry wart (like me) and aren’t sure that I’m giving you legit information, feel free to check out the Federal Trade Commission’s website for all the details!

After you complete the process, it tells you that it can take a couple months to completely stop receiving the offers, but seriously… I FEEL LIKE DOING A HAPPY DANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope this is helpful to others too!

~Ashley

Posted in Cool Things, Get Organized | 3 Comments

Love Printables

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Design Build Love

In honor of Valentine’s Day, I thought I would share some fun printables! Smile I whipped these up using two phrases that mean a lot to us. The first “You had me at hello” is the title of Kenny Chesney’s song that we selected for our first dance at our wedding. The second, “The love of a lifetime, is what I offer you,” is song lyrics from an underground country band from California. Both are songs that we believe represent how we came to be as a couple and where we see our love going, and there’s nothing better than celebrating those things!

Love-Birds

Lifetime-Love

Both 8×10 prints can be downloaded water-mark free, for free, by clicking below:

I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine’s Day, but remember… this is just a fun, commercial holiday, and it’s important that you show love, respect, and honor to your significant other year-round.

xoxo,
Ashley