fall flora.

Y'all need to know that I've never been a big seasonal decorator. I think I've just always avoided it because I don't want my decor to be cheesy and ridonkulous. In my opinion, the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear - not by letting Snoopy take over my front yard. But now that our casita is just BEGGING for some seasonal lovin', I decided to bite the bullet and take baby steps toward creating a classically simple, fall feeling. Baby steps.

Baby step numero uno. Create a festively fall wreath.

Check.

I have been somewhat "okay" with the idea of placing a themed wreath on our front door for quite some time now, but I just couldn't find the right one. Everything I saw was a glittery ghost explosion, and I was wanting the wreath to be predominantly natural and simple. I was also hoping to find a good wreath "base" that I could then re-accessorize for each season.

Enter JoAnn's.

I really just went in to see if they had an idea that I could knock off, but I came out with all the supplies I could ever desire for my fabulous fall wreath! I started off by grabbing up this grapevine wreath for a mere 400 pennies. I absolutely loved how terribly natural it was.

I then figured I could snag up some fall-colored berries to accessorize the wreath, thereby creating a natural-looking, simple fall decoration to our front door. I found these guys at three dollars per stem, not including my 40% off coupons:

Once I had all of my supplies, I literally spent 30 seconds sticking the berries through the grapevines in an aesthetically pleasing arrangement:

As I just stuck the berries through the vines, there were some stem wires hanging out of the wreath:

I didn't want to cut the stems in case I wanted to repurpose them at a later date, so I just tucked them up through the vines as well!

My final step was to create a hanging mechanism for the wreath. I used some floral wire I had on hand to loop the wreath...

...and then created another loop that could be hung around the pre-existing nail on our front door:

All that was left to do was hang it on the door!

I absolutely love how my tiny little baby step towards seasonal decorating turned out! It's perfectly natural and oh so simple. I also love that it took me a total of five minutes and less than $15 to create! My plan is to remove the berries and replace them with either some ornaments or painted pine cones for the Christmas season. Oh how I love a multi-purpose piece!

How are y'all decorating for fall?

laundry room lovin', phase one.

Truth: when we first looked at our little casita, Mr. Spouse, our realtor and I spent a solid ten minutes trying to locate the laundry room. As I spend a good chunk of my weekend doing laundry and nothing smells better than a Bounce dryer sheet, a big factor for me in our prospective house was that the laundry room be rockin'. No more stackable machines for me, no sir. You would think, then, that if it took us ten whole minutes to even find the laundry room, it would be quite pitiful and not up to par. Ar contrar.

The reason we couldn't find the laundry room was because the room was in fact located in the master bathroom. My initial reaction: for serious? My current feelings on the location of the laundry room: pure genius. I mean, I don't have to lug Mr. Spouse and my clothes a single yard in order to bring them back to dewey freshness. I literally pull them directly from the hamper I threw them in, toss them into the machine, wash, rinse, and repeat. Fabulicious.

The previous owners were even more ingenious to install wire shelving across the entire laundry closet for maximum storage - I think they want to be best friends with me, I just know it. So as soon as I saw those shelves, I knew they must be occupied with these:

{via}

I thought these wire baskets would be the perfect laundry room storage solution - efficiently controlling the stain removers, dryer sheets, and bulk, general cleaning supplies I wanted to keep in our laundry room. Therefore, Mr. Spouse effectively bought out the entire stock of these baskets from Amazon weeks before we moved. {If you were trying to buy the same baskets in mid-May, my deepest apologies for selfishly clearing Amazon out - I just HAD to have them, though...}

Once all the baskets were loaded and shelved, we had a wonderfully compartmentalized laundry room:

Compartmentalized and contained? Yes. Attractive? Negatron.

While I loved having all of my cleaning supplies contained and easy to retrieve, I hated the visual clutter created in the space. U-G-L-Y, you ain't got no alibi.

I decided to line the baskets with some pretty paper to mask the contents and create a bit more unity in the room. I found this fabulous wrapping paper at The Container Store and knew it was perfect for my project:

Further, after using my teacher discount and a gift card, the paper was zilcho dolares. Even better.

With my paper now purchased, I measured the dimensions of my baskets:

I then cut two sizes of papers - one for the front and back of the basket and one for the sides. Once the papers were cut, I also laminated them to prevent tears and water damage {I know you're shocked to hear I found an excuse to laminate...}:

With the papers trimmed and laminated, I simply had to slide them into each side of the basket to create the perfectly lined basket!

The lamination made the paper sturdy enough to hold itself up, flush with the side of the basket.

Holy laundry love, Batman.

I love the uniformity and visual cleanliness created by the basket liners!

With the first step down, my next job is to create labels for my now not-so-see-through-but-totally-worth-the-opacity baskets...

...as well as labels for my detergent and bleach. I'm seeing some mod podge in my future.

How do y'all organize your laundry room?