Coffee Bar Update!

You can see my original coffee bar post HERE. I haven't fixed my menu board yet after discovering the Oops!

However, One day I was looking around pinterest and such for inspiration for mug and supply storage. I knew I loved this idea...

It didn't lead me to the original poster so If you know who this is let me know!

I LOVE the 3 teared look for supplies! I even have a few little bowls just like that so I was excited. I decided I would look around local thrifty antique type shops for something with a bit of character. I hadn't stumbled upon the perfect piece though and I was growing impatient. Okay really, I had hardly looked. But I wanted something NOW! Ha, just so typical me. So I began pondering ways I could make the look myself! Hey, if I can make it myself for free... WHY NOT?!

I then saw this idea... 

Image from somewhere on This Site

I love the cups on the platter! Actually I love the everything in the picture. I knew I had a platter I hardly used too! So my wheels got spinning... 

I had also seen people make layered trays and cake stands by gluing inexpensive pieces together. So I thought maybe I could find something cheap in a store and make it.. 

I decided for now I'd grab my platter and then keep looking. So off to my kitchen I went to grab that bugger. I opened my cupboard to see my cake stand sitting on top of my platter. 

DUH!!!

Seriously, I should have thought of that. I took the two pieces but did NOT glue them together. My cake stand sat firmly on top and since it is the only platter and only cake stand I own I wanted to be able to use them when needed. 

The results..

Now, I will keep my eyes out for the the perfect piece so these pieces can easily be used for entertaining or Birthday cakes. This cake stand is special to me and I would hate for it to take a beating. However, for now this works great! I'm sure when we move (hopefully in the next few months..) The whole space will be entirely different anyway! 

Seriously, look around before you spend any money. You might just score some great storage. :) 

Love!

Annie

A Creative Wife

Oops!

Well even the best projects goof. 

Last week I showed you my coffee bar I've been working on. See it HERE.

I made and wrote out a fabulous menu board. 

I liked the idea of dry erase for easy changes. However, my choice of placement or materials did not account for the steam from my coffee pot. 

Haha! 

OOPS! 

Well, Sometimes we try and flop. I think this was a flop. 

I either need to move the coffee pot, move the menu, or choose different materials. 

This might be a project for after the move to see what kind of space I have. 

Don't get beat up when a project goes wrong learn to laugh and move on! 

I want to hear your projects gone wrong. I might even show a few on the blog! 

e-mail me your best story @ acreativewife@gmail.com ! 

Love,

A Creative Wife

Coffee Bar

I love everything about coffee, hot chocolate, and tea.

My coffee bar is still a bit of a work in progress as I find the perfect things for it. However, I wanted to show you it today because I just finished creating a menu board! 

I know my images are not the greatest quality. It was tricky to get a good image with the glare from our windows and with our dinky camera. Good thing we are saving for a new camera! 

My coffee bar is in my dining room. My kitchen is small and there just wasn't room for it all! But it turned out to be the best choice. When we have company over everyone can easily help themselves to their favorite beverage! When we have big get togethers this also gets used as a buffet! 

I used a dresser we didn't have room for in our bedrooms. 

Then there is a collection of things necessary for the best cup of yummy goodness you can dream up! 

I had a few things I was using to store mugs out here too but I haven't found the perfect thing quite yet so they are back in the kitchen for now.

I made this dry erase menu board using a large picture frame.

Once again the picture just does not do this justice. 

Also, I need to get some more colorful markers! 

We have coffee, teas, hot chocolates, and goodies!

Now come on over for a good cup! 

All our goodies are stored in one of the drawers

The two main parts of my coffee bar are my fancy coffee maker and my electric tea kettle! 

You can read about the coffee maker HERE

I will update when I find the perfect mug storage! 

Enjoy your coffee! 

Love,

A Creative Wife

Sneaky Hidden Cords

There is one thing I can't stand is a tangle of cords.

They always look cluttered, messy, and can really throw off the look of a decorated space! 

My little office has ONE outlet. That is a pain in it's self. I stole this little power strip from elsewhere in the house. But it looked so messy even on it's shelf. I needed it easy to access as some things need swapped out and I hate climbing behind furniture to plug in a curling iron! 

My solution? 

I had one of these that was broken and held together with tape. So I cut the the front (which was hanging on  for dear life by one piece) and created this guy... 

I bet you know where I am going with this... 

Taadaaaah! Sneaky Hidden Cords! 

Do you have a creative way to hide your cords? :) 

It's not perfect yet... They are still throwing a party around the lamp base. No worries, we shall bust that party soon enough. :) 

Be Creative! 

A Creative Wife

Makeover reveal!

It's time for revel of the office/studio/craft room/creative Room (A good name for the room is pending...) Any ideas? Hmm...

Normally I would have painted the walls in makeover, but since our house is on the market I decided leaving it neutral was the best decision. Also, the Vanity desk has plans for it's own makeover! YAY.

You can see the before of the room HERE but those who have been here know there is a whole history of this space. It has been squeezed into the corner of the living room, mixed in with the dining room, Switched between both our little bedrooms, and packed away completely. I was really tired of moving it around trying to make something work which really just did not. So I decided to go all out to make the room work for me! 

A bit of splurge furniture shopping and some fun accessories from local thrifty stores and I have a functional pretty space! 

When you walk into my room you see...

and...

A new cute but functional chair is still on my list for this space. 

My new desk is FABULOUS. 

This is a gorgeous refurbished writing table from For the Love of Fur. Jennifer was SUPER nice and did a fabulous job painting this piece. I found this piece on their page and fell in love before I realized they were 60 miles from me! That is a long way to go pick up a table that wouldn't even fit in our car. However, it was meant to be because her fabulous hubby was working in my town! He delivered right to my garage. That is some great service. I feel I should add that you should not expect delivery that it just worked out perfectly for us this time. I HIGHLY recommend them! 

Next I bought my pretty bookshelf from Target. 

This gave me some much needed storage. I am thinking if I have a bigger space I will be getting a second one for all our books that are in storage for the future move! 

That purple cube on the floor I use for recycling paper. With my coupons, paper dolls, notes, and lists I have a lot of papers that I hated to just throw away and it was a pain to carry tiny scraps to the kitchen. Okay, I am VERY clumsy and may have dropped them. Anyway, this is perfect and cute way to recycle! It was found in the Wal-mart office area on clearance months ago. 

My hubby got me this FABULOUS and fancy TV! It is the Vizio 32" Smart TV. It connects to Wifi so I can listen to pandora or watch netflix right on it. I really enjoy having a TV in my space because I do a lot of projects that I can do while I watch shows. My husband is a gamer and always taking over our living room.

I love him to pieces but we are home together A LOT. We have come to realize how much we each need our own time. So now I have a place to work, play, or hang out with friends and not be in each other's "bubbles" every minute. 

These Closet Maid fabric drawers give SO much storage. I bought them online trying to match the colors of the decor. My purple drawers came in more of a maroon and I am trying to not let it bug me.. ha! 

I created labels from scrap book paper and ribbons or tape. I plan to laminate them soon though. 

I actually have some empty drawers. SO MUCH STORAGE! 

Now, the less pretty but still necessary storage and items are stashed behind to door! 

I label everything so the hubby, my friends, or just me, can easily find what we are looking for. 

These are my new curtains and I really love them they are PERFECT and are also from Wal-mart. 

Here is the Vanity corner. You can see Part one of it's tour HERE.

Here is the little decor close ups from around the room.. 

This is a painting I painted for a class a couple semesters ago. 

Who doesn't love pretty lights? 

Thanks for looking at how I created a pretty and functional space in a small room! 

Thanks to my wonderful hubby for putting together my shelves and being okay with me taking over our only spare bedroom... again. He really is the best.

In future posts I will go into detail on some storage organization! 

Love,

A Creative Wife

Creative Space BEFORE.

Here is my room before the makeover.