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Clean & Organize

A picture of hot tea packets organized.

How To Organize Hot Tea

March 31, 2020

One little known fact about me, is that I love hot tea. It's such a soothing way to unwind, to enjoy with breakfast, an afternoon snack or after dinner before bed. And it pairs exceptionally well with scones... Growing up, my mom was always a big lover of hot tea, and she passed that love onto me. Because we both love it so much, our collection of hot tea flavors seems to grow regularly. And as the collection grows, so does the need for additional storage for all those tea boxes.  Today, I'm sharing how to organize hot tea. The struggle can be real when you have a cabinet overflowing with tea boxes, leaving little room for organization or anything else! A few months ago my mom ...

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Tagged with: pantry6 Comments

A picture of the kitchen sink and the cabinet underneath it.

Organizing Under The Kitchen Sink

March 10, 2020

I've mentioned before how little storage space our home has, and how it's one of my major house goals this year to get our house better organized to make everyday life less stressful. The first project I decided to tackle, was organizing under the kitchen sink. Not only was it super easy, but just having this small space cleaned up, with everything having a place, has already made this cabinet of our kitchen more enjoyable.  But can a cabinet under the kitchen sink really make my kitchen more enjoyable? You bet! It's so nice knowing exactly where everything is, goes and where I can easily direct Todd to, as he searches for something. We have a running joke in the house that he ...

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Tagged with: kitchen5 Comments

A picture of a living room with open shelves.

How I Store Fall Decor

November 21, 2019

As we switch seasons and start decorating for Christmas, I thought it might be helpful to share how I store fall decor. Over the years, I've really narrowed down my fall decorations, but there's still items I like to keep and use.  Admittedly, I like to use our everyday items, but just add in a few fall touches here and there, while also adding in real tree branches. But with that said, I do have some faux pumpkins,  stems, a collection of leaves I love, and a few glass vases I store each year.  While my storage method may not be ground breaking, it's working very well for us, and I know exactly where to find our decor items, and that they'll be in good shape from ...

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5 Comments

How To Organize Desk Drawers... The Cheap Way by The Wood Grain Cottage

How To Organize Desk Drawers

April 5, 2017

We're back to the office today, and I'm sharing all about how to organize desk drawers. I desperately needed the desk and drawer space, but I wanted the space to work for me, not against me. In the past, it seems like my drawers always stay organized at first, but over time things slide out of place as the drawers open and close, or as new items are added. It was time to find a solution that would work for the long term.  And let me preface this by saying, that I'm not one of those people who need every single space to be gorgeous and "magazine worthy". That's definitely not the case here, I just want the space to remain organized and tidy. The cheaper I can accomplish that, ...

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Tagged with: office2 Comments

How I Organize My Spices by The Wood Grain Cottage

How I Organize My Spices

April 11, 2016

Today's post is yet another "helpful post". It's not necessarily filled with beautiful, jaw dropping pictures, but rather the simplified take on exactly how I organize my spices. In comparison to blog land with most people creating fancy labels, removing the "ugly" items and adding a whole lot of staging, my take is, well, simple.  I find myself leaning more and more to this as I do projects and decorate our home. I'm not sure what it's all about, but I just know I want one thing, and that's simplicity. That doesn't mean simple can't be beautiful, but it also doesn't mean every entire space, nook and cranny in our home has to be completely decked out just "because of the blog". I'm ...

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Tagged with: kitchen, pantry6 Comments

How To Organize Baking Canisters For Your Pantry by The Wood Grain Cottage

How I Organize Our Baking Canisters

November 17, 2015

The pantry... it's a room I'm in and out of all day long, and up until a few days ago, I had the biggest mess! Today, it's all about how I organize our baking canisters! There are several things I've never really shared on the blog, but I am allergic to gluten. Thank goodness I am not Celiac, but I have a really hard time with gluten. When I made the switch about a year ago, our pantry underwent a big clean out. I gave away so much food... and I started fresh with ingredients I could eat without issue.  One of the hardest things I've had to learn new since eating gluten free, is the baking. Gone are the days where I have one big canister holding flour. Now, I have specific ...

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Tagged with: kitchen, pantry12 Comments

Wood Crate with Galvanized Metal Ends

November 19, 2014

Oh man! I am so excited to share today's project! Not only is it really super cute, but it's extremely functional. It's one of those projects... I big puffy heart, love them! As you all know, I've been busy working on our office. Not only have I been trying to make things prettier, but I definitely need to get things organized. For starters, there's the normal household bills and office supplies, but we also have a farm, so managing everything for that and then with the addition of the blog and all those crafting/ DIYing supplies, it all adds up quickly. Storage was key... but I didn't want just anything. I needed something pretty to keep me motivated & in check when it came to ...

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15 Comments

My #HappiMess Home Party

September 30, 2014

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Delta via Mode Media.  The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Delta. For my full disclosure policy, see here. Remember a while back when I told you how excited I was to be participating in the Delta Faucet #HappiMess campaign? Well, today I'm back to share the party I hosted for my family. Not only am I excited to be participating in a campaign that actually encourages us to truly live in our homes (& make messes), but I get to be apart of something that finds beauty in the everyday mess. It's a part of life, so why hide it? We're not always picture perfect pristine, ...

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20 Comments

Let’s Make A #HappiMess!

August 29, 2014

Home. We live there. I mean, really live there. We make messes... and things aren't always perfect and pristine... Really, when are things perfect or pristine? But does that make it any less special? Just because we have dirt on our floors, or a sticky mess on our countertops, doesn't mean we're any less special. It doesn't mean we're bad housekeepers or messy people, it simply means we live, truly live. I know with my blog, many of you get the "how does she do it?". You send me e-mails asking for my best cleaning tips, or how I keep everything so orderly and tidy all the time. Because of that, I showed you just how messy we can be. It's more often than not, that I have a can of paint, a ...

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1 Comment

Scrap Wood File Folders

July 16, 2014

Hi there! It's been a bit quiet around here since I've been at Haven, my first blogging conference! I had such a blast meeting all of my favorite bloggers and attending classes to help this place grow! And I guess Atlanta wasn't ready for me to leave as scheduled, because our flight ended up cancelled at the last minute and my mom, aunt and I stuck around for another day until we got a new flight. It was fun, but I am so unbelievably happy to be home! Before I left, Anthony and I worked on a few projects for the office. You may have heard me complain about the lack of organization in there, so I couldn't wait to build a few new things to help make life easier. And because there's nothing ...

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Tagged with: office10 Comments

DIY Recipe Box

May 1, 2014

Happy Thursday to ya! And since today is Thursday, April from House by Hoff and Jen from Migonis Home are joining forces with me to bring you a project that you can create for $30 or less! This month I'm sharing my DIY recipe box. And even though it's really simple, it's so full of heart. My heart. I've had this sweet spot for cooking and recipes and homemaking since I was a little girl. It's who I am. You see, this life is truly about the little things. Like little boxes full of family history. Boxes full of love and laughter and memories. Boxes full of things to absolutely cherish. That's what I'm sharing today...  Here's how we made it, and the supplies we used: Please ...

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Tagged with: $30 thursday, budget, pantry22 Comments

How To Clean & Restore an Old Cutting Board

April 23, 2014

A few months back I was at an estate sale and ran into a thick butcher block cutting board. It was dirty. And gross. And I almost didn't take it because it looked absolutely disgusting. But, I do have a deep love for cutting boards... I also knew I could restore it back to its former beauty, so today I'm showing you how to do just that. Here's how to clean & restore an old cutting board that's definitely seen better days... Here's what it looked like before... yuck and double yuck! Here's how I cleaned it up... Please note: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which allows us to make a small commission from your purchase, but your purchase price stays the ...

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27 Comments

DIY Ribbon Caddy

March 21, 2014

I haven't posted an office update in a bit, but Anthony and I have been busy working on it and adding as much organization that we can... This DIY ribbon caddy is the perfect solution for organizing my ribbon. Before, I'd just toss it in a basket and then forget about it. I wanted something that would be pretty enough to sit out, and big enough to hold several rolls of ribbon and store a few extra rolls too. Here's what we came up with: I'm completely in love with the result! After sketching what I wanted, Anthony and I got to work!  The overall dimension is: 17" long x 5" tall x 5" deep. We started by drilling the holes for the ends. Anthony found the center for each ...

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18 Comments

Galvanized Metal & Wood Wall Organizer

January 13, 2014

Our office needs some serious organization. I've done what I can with what we have, but it's time to start focusing on things to help make the office more efficient. My first thought was a giant wall organizer. I drew a sketch of what I wanted, then enrolled Anthony to help bring it to life. I love the combination of metal and wood and this galvanized metal & wood wall organizer doesn't disappoint. I couldn't be any happier with how it turned out, and I'm in organizing heaven already! Here's how we made it: We started with a normal piece of galvanized sheet metal. It measures 32 1/2" wide x 42" long. Then we made a frame out of pine 1" x 2"s. And Anthony ...

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38 Comments

DIY Laundry Room Crates

July 12, 2013

Our laundry room is now one project closer to being done! Yes! Last weekend Anthony had a spare second, so I begged him to do a project for me. Turns out, he might not be immune to my begging after all. Either that, or he was sick of hearing me talk about laundry room crates. Remember the plan? Well, we're steadily making progress because today it looks like this: Here's how we made those lovely crates: First, we started with the dimensions for the crates, which are custom to our laundry room pedestal. 2 are 15 1/2" wide x 16 1/2" long x 16" tall and 1 is 15" wide x 16 1/2" long x 16" tall. Anthony first started  by making the ends... And cut all the ...

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Tagged with: laundry room33 Comments

DIY Numbered Tags

June 24, 2013

I've wanted to make numbered clay tags for a good while now. It seems like everywhere I look, they keep popping up. They're just that cute. So, this weekend I set out to make my own. First, I tried to use the ever popular salt clay recipe, but I didn't like the outcome and ended up buying my own polymer clay at the craft store. Because I tried both methods, I thought you might like to see the outcome of  both... and to see the better choice if you want to make your own! To start, I used my Silhouette to cut out the numbers on card stock. Then I made the salt dough recipe. The directions said to mix 1/4 cup of flour, 1/8 cup of salt and about 1/4 cup of water, or until ...

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31 Comments

Hanging Ironing Board Rack

May 15, 2013

I'm all about making my life easier. And my ironing board situation was doing anything but that. Every time I needed to iron, I would have to pull it out of the very back of our guest bedroom closet and move it to the kitchen, which is just about in the middle from the laundry room and guest room. You see, Mr. Iron didn't want to make the looong trek to the guest room and the ironing board was too stubborn to live in the laundry room. Meeting in the middle worked for them. Lately though, they've both decided to live in the same room. And, logically, it's the laundry room! Yes, I finally got my act together and made a hook rack  for the laundry room so that I could hang my ...

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Tagged with: laundry room24 Comments

Kitchen Drink Station

January 29, 2013

The hubby recently acquired a Keurig single cup brewer for his birthday. Originally, I wasn't too excited about moving my Kitchen Aid mixer in order to make room for his new brew. But, after I saw how excited he was to use it everyday, I knew that I could move my mixer back and forth between uses. Even though it's heavy. That, my friends, is called love! :) And since I was willing to make him feel extra special, why not take it to the next level and convert the empty space into a drink station? Plus, we just happen to have the perfect place to pull it off. I knew one of the first things our drink station would need was a mug tree. And, lucky for me, I found one for $1.50 at ...

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Tagged with: kitchen4 Comments

I’m Shayna… The small town Colorado girl who’s obsessed with home and everything that entails! I’m a creative, a decorator, a day dreamer, a huge fan of scones and I’m passionate about loving where I live and making a home.

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This past weekend we hit our 2021 house project go This past weekend we hit our 2021 house project goals HARD! With all the bedroom trim done (hallelujah!), we’ll be painting and installing closet doors next! 👏🏻  I always look forward to crossing projects off the list... and finishing our trim has been on there waaaay too long! 😵  #thewoodgraincottage #thewgc #houseremodel #kitchenshelves
Oh those beautiful, twinkling lights... they’re Oh those beautiful, twinkling lights... they’re my favorite! On the blog I’m joining several bloggers and we’re all sharing our night home tours!  If you love the warm twinkle of Christmas lights, you’ll love these beautiful tours! 🎄🌟  #thewoodgraincottage #thewgc #christmastree #christmasdecor #christmasstockings #christmasnightstour #christmasatnight
Our red, white and gold Christmas home tour is on Our red, white and gold Christmas home tour is on the blog! 🎄🌟  This year has been such a fun and special time with the addition of our sweet Ania. She makes us even more excited for Christmas than normal and adding her stocking with ours made my momma heart burst. ❤️  See more of our home on the blog, and be sure to visit all the other beautiful homes on the tour as well!  #thewoodgraincottage #thewgc #christmasdecor #christmashometour #christmastree #christmasdecorations #christmas #christmashome
Next week I’m sharing our Christmas home tour, b Next week I’m sharing our Christmas home tour, but in the meantime, I’ve been spreading Christmas cheer throughout the house! On the blog, I’m sharing my favorite, simple decorating ideas you can incorporate into your home... with the items you already own!  They’re guaranteed to help you add a festive touch to your home! 🎄🌟  #thewoodgraincottage #thewgc #christmasdecor #christmasdecorating #christmasdecorations #easychristmasdecor #christmas
Current mood: Sitting by the Christmas tree lookin Current mood: Sitting by the Christmas tree looking at those pretty twinkling lights! It’s my favorite thing about having the tree up!  #thewoodgraincottage #thewgc #christmasdecor #christmastree #christmastreelights #redchristmasdecor
Happy Thanksgiving! Wishing you a wonderful day ce Happy Thanksgiving! Wishing you a wonderful day celebrating everything we have to be grateful for! My list is long and may I never forget how blessed I am!  #thewoodgraincottage #thewgc #thanksgivingdecor #thanksgivingtable #thanksgivingtablescape
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