Maximizing Space: What Changing a Closet Door Can Do
Where to start
When we moved into our house two years ago, the room we had chosen for our teenage daughter had dark walls and a hole where a closet door used to be. From the look of the hole in the wall, one would think the closet was extremely small; however, we discovered the closet ran the length of the wall. Reaching the back of the closet was a challenge with the single existing opening. Maximizing space through adding double doors allowed us to utilize all of our daughter’s closet area.
A starting hole in the wall. Gathering material
In order to maximize the available space we needed to brainstorm ways to expand this space. Adding double doors seemed to meet our needs. Our upstairs has slanted ceilings. The slant of the ceilings impacted the height of standard closet doors. We determined that a height of six feet would allow our daughter to access the top shelf of her closet as well as the rack that holds her clothes.
In order to accommodate the height of the closet doors, we purchased solid wooden doors that could be cut down to the correct size. In addition to the wooden doors, we needed to purchase the appropriate trim for the door. To save on material costs, we shopped for these doors at Southeastern Salvage. When trying to budget for a remodel project, look for local supply stores that are not your typical box store. ReStore is a store created by Habitat for Humanity that carries overstocks or materials leftover from large construction sites. Stores such as Southeastern Salvage or ReStore could save you money. Just remember, you may have to be patient when shopping for your materials.
We used wooden doors for the expansion. Finishing touches
We used the same paint colors we have used throughout the house to finish the doors: White Dove for the interior walls and Simply White for the trim. Both colors are from Benjamin Moore.
I love Purdy paint brushes. (as an Amazon Associate, I am eligible to earn commission on any viable links) Adding double doors to this space allows our daughter to access all the items within her closet. She is able to see what clothing options she has on hand instead of being regulated to half a visual. Maximizing space lends help to organization and decluttering habits as well. Visually, I feel the double doors are a more appealing feature. Let me know in the comments what you think!
You can check out other DIY projects in our current home, here. I would love for you to follow along with us on this home remodel journey.
The finished product Healthy Snack Ideas
When making choices that are healthier for you, I’m surprised at how much (or maybe I should say how often) food you should eat. It is best to keep your body fueled every 3 hours. That could add up to six meals a day: 3 meals and 3 snacks. Read along for ways to add healthy snack ideas to your day.
Quick and Easy Healthy Snack Ideas
I did not think that I would like hummus. In fact, I really only like one flavor thus far – roasted red pepper hummus but the single serve containers of hummus with some sliced or chopped veggies are an ideal snack. Another quick and easy snack is the Lesser Evil popcorn. (As an Amazon Associate, I may earn commission on any viable links. This is at no extra cost to you.) This popcorn is AH-mazing! It tastes wonderful and is popped using coconut oil. My kids make fun of me because I am a firm believer that coconut oil can do anything. Another quick and easy snack idea – fruit! Dark berries are really good for you but I think you can’t go wrong with fruit in general.
High in Protien Healthy Snack Ideas
Costco carries a great protien bar put out by Genius Gourmet. Their peanut butter and chocolate bar is my favorite. 000 Greek Yogurt by Oikos is also a great source of protein. Both of these snacks are super quick to grab and go! Including a bit of protein with every meal/snack is important to staying healthy.
Something Sweet
I LOVE sweets and cutting out sugar makes my sweet tooth ache! Lily’s Chocolate Bars are my salvation. (as an Amazon Associate, I may earn commission from any viable links at no extra cost to you) My favorite kind is any that have sea salt in them. Lily’s Chocolate Bars use stevia and erythritol to sweeten its bars. Lily’s Chocolate also produces chocolate chips for baking.
Another great sweets idea is smoothies. I love a good protein smoothie. One of my favorites I call the Big Mama. I got the recipe from the Trim Healthy Mama book and it calls the recipe Big Boy smoothie. For some reason I could only remember Big Mama and it’s stuck! Ha! Place one cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk in a blender. Add in a scoop of whey protein, Stevia to sweeten, a dash of vanilla, a cup of ice, a dash of salt, and a few frozen strawberries. Blend to the consistency you like. This hits the sweet spot for me! You can find the exact recipe here.
If you are trying to make healthier choices in your food selections, I hope these healthy snack ideas have been beneficial. This year I am focusing on making healthier choices myself and have shared some healthy habits I am working to implement in a blog post, here. Check it out and as always, please let me know what you think! Here’s to healthy eating!
3 Levels of Date Night
Date night can be such an exciting time. It can also cause anxiety or stress in long term relationships. Date nights should not stop once one is in a committed relationship. In fact, as a married individual, I propose 3 levels of date night.
A while back I heard a man speak of advice he was given regarding date nights. He passed the information along and I took a shine to it and have incorporated his advice into mine and my husband’s date nights. His advice? Take your spouse on a date every other week; a weekend away every other month; and a week vacation every other year. Why is this important? Relationships, even seasonsed married ones, take time to grow and develop. To be in a marriage relationship, is to be a farmer tending the soil of your hearts. Read along as I give further explanation to the 3 levels of date night.
1. Local Date Night
Local date nights mean just that – they are local. I found a great blog post that gives some creative ideas for date nights in my neck of the woods (Birmingham, AL).
Oftentimes, mine and Jeff’s local date nights simply include a dinner out to a new or an old, favorite restaurant. For this reason, I love the above referenced blog posts that provides a variety of local date night ideas. I am definitely going to be using some of these ideas!
2. Weekend Date Night
The next level of date night is: every other month, spend a weekend away together. You can stay somewhere local or travel a little distance but the point is to get away from your daily distractions and spend time in special lodgings to enjoy one another. I recently found this beautiful weekender set on Amazon that would make packing for getaways so much fun! (As an Amazon Associate, I may earn commission on any viable links. This comes at no extra costs to you.)
A weekend away gives you a chance to not only enjoy one another’s company but to also rest and relax. Got a location or activity that you know your kids will not like? Save it for your weekend date nights. Honestly, on our last weekend getaway, Jeff and I did not do a whole lot of anything. We went to bed early and got some much needed rest. It was a good time together and our destination was only about a 3 and half hour drive from our house.
3. Vacation Date Night
The final level of date night is the Vacation Date Night. Every other year, take a vacation with just your spouse. This may sound scary, especially if you have small children, but you can implement this date night as you see fit. Why is this level important? Because if your marriage is successful, it will be the longest relationship you have and your spouse will be the one person who is most often in your life. While you have your relationship with your children, they will grow up, move away, and start families of their own. You and your spouse can maintain your relationship by getting away together for a vacation. A week is an ideal time period; however, work out what you can. Give yourself some grace. If your children are too small or finances are tight, you can spread out your vacations to a few years apart.
In full disclosure, this last level has been rare for my husband and I; however, this past summer in celebration of our 20th anniversary, we went on a 10 day vacation and it was wonderful. We savored the time we had together. We were reminded of why we picked each other and why we fell in love.
A word of advice…
Now, if while you have read this blog, you have thought, “How is this possible? Surely she doesn’t keep this kind of date night schedule?” OR, “That might work for her but my spouse doesn’t plan anything.” To answer both lines of thought: 1. We do not strictly adhere to the schedule of these levels of date night but we have implemented all three levels. 2. In our relationship, I am more of a planner. I could spend time bemoaning my husband’s lack of planning date nights or I could: communicate to him that date nights are important to me; appreciate that planning and organization are my strong skill sets; and take notice of the other contributions my husband makes to our relationship.
Each relationship is unique but incorporating these 3 levels of date night into ours has proven beneficial. Please let me know if you have tried these various levels.
3 Easy and Nutritous Breakfast Ideas
We all know breakfast is an important start to your day but sometimes knowing what to make leaves one stumped. Here are three easy and nutritous breakfast ideas to get your day going!
Eggs and bacon
Eggs and bacon are about as easy as it gets. Why is this considered a nutritious breakfast? It includes fats and protein. Our bodies need fats, protiens, and carbohydrates in a healthy balance. Consuming fats and protiens together in a balanced amount allows your body to take in nutrients and maintain a safe blood glucose level while keeping your body satisfied for the three hour time block between meals. I like my eggs fried and for convenience, I cook my bacon in the oven.
I learned from Martha Stewart a few years ago how to cook bacon in the oven. Lining a baking sheet with aluminum foil, place your bacon on the baking sheet in a cold oven and set the oven to 425 degrees. After 25 minutes, your bacon is ready!
THM Pancakes
Trim Healthy Mama pancakes are an amazingly wonderful, nutritous meal. As I have shared in a previous post, Trim Healthy Mama is a program that works to balance your blood glucose level in order to help with weight loss or maintaining a healthy weight.
Trim Healthy Mama has multiple offerings in print including an introductory book to their program as well as cookbooks with great recipes to incorporate into your meal plans. Here is the recipe for these energizing pancakes that are made with protein and carbohydrates as the main macronutrients. Combining these macronutrients creates a meal that provides energy for your day. For a sweetner, I use Stevia in my meals that call for a sugar substitute. Here is one type of stevia that can be ordered from Amazon. (As an Amazon Associate, I am eligible to earn commission on any viable link. This is at no cost to you.) Trim Healthy Mama also sells its own type of sweetner.
Sweet Potatoes with Avocado, Egg, and Cottage Cheese
Oh my goodness, I discovered this magnificent breakfast recipe by following Trim Healthy Mama on Instagram. This meal is considered a “crossover” meaning it has all three macronutrients involved. While a crossover meal will not help you lose weight, it can be a great idea for maintaining a healthy weight balance. For me, this meal is a choice that keeps me interested in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. It is delicous! You can see how easy it is to make in the video below.
Well there you have it! Three easy and nutritous breakfast ideas to get your day going in a healthy way. What are your go-to nutritous breakfast recipes? I would love to hear from you!
Decluttering: Tips for Removing Excess
Any casual viewing of Storage Wars or Hoarders reveals that many of us have an issue with clutter. Decluttering can be an effective way to remove excess from our lives. Removing the excess just may help clear our minds and bring peace. Below are a few of my decluttering tips for removing excess.
A bedroom shows off its beauty when kept clean through decluttering. 1. Designate zones in your house.
A Bowl Full of Lemons really helped me designate specific areas or “zones” of my home. Having listed and designated spaces in your home allows you to tackle one area at a time for decluttering. Sometimes getting rid of all clutter feels overwhelming. Focusing only on one zone feels more manageable.
In addition to decluttering one zone at a time, Go Clean Co. taught me to work an area from left to right. I have 18 zones in my home (front porch, hallways, living room, kid 1 room, kitchen, half bath, commons area, pantry, primary bedroom, primary bathroom, kid 2 room, kid 3 room, dining room, back porch, stairwell, laundry, kids’ bathroom, and garage). As I go through a zone to declutter, I can work in that space from left to right, pulling all items out to see if they are still needed or wanted.
Go Clean Co is an educational follow. 2. Kon Mari it.
If you have never heard of the Kon Mari method, check this article out. I am not gonna lie, for me, tackling the entire Kon Mari method is overwhelming; however, I have taken her advice of touching an item and seeing how your spirit responds as a guide for eliminating clutter. At first, that advice may seem odd but give it a try. When you are decluttering a space, handle each item. Your body has some type of response whether it is negative, meh, or a joyful response. Keep only what sparks joy.
As your pile of decluttered items grows, determine if you will throw them away or donate them. I place my donated items in large bags with handles in order to set them in my car to drop off at my charity of choice.
3. Create a challenge for yourself.
I have created a challenge for myself (I first learned of it from Instagram) on decluttering that I have been working on for six months! The challenge was only supposed to last for one month – ha! For each day of the month, get rid of the corresponding number of items. For example, on day 1, you get rid of 1 item and on day 31, you get rid of 31 items. When you have gone through days 1-31, a total of 497 items will be eliminated from your home. I am currently on day 30 and have 7 of the 30 needed items to throw out. This has definitely been a challenge for me! I thought it would be much easier than it has been but I can tell a big difference in my home when there are close to 500 items of clutter no longer clogging up my home!
For other tips or insight into keeping your home clean, you can read a related previous post here. Have fun decluttering!
