Spray Paint + Old Curtains = New Laundry Hampers

Remember these beauties filled with our unmentionables that I shared with you a while back (in this post actually)!

WELLLL. Way back, when it was still spray paint season, I took these laundry baskets out back and sprayed the sh*t out of them. But not just because I felt like it, but because we needed a more color-coded way of dealing with our laundry.  

And so using the paint I had, I came up with a little system. A white bin (for bleachables), a cream one (for non-bleachable whites/lights), I left one of the blue ones bright blue (for brights) and a dark blue one (for darks). And TA DA! Oh how I love spray paint!

But that still left me with the unsolved issue of visible unmentionables. And my first liner attempt had been a total fail (king sized pillow cases). And I didn't actually want to spend any money on making linings, and my fabric collection failed to provide any viable options. So I got a little more creative, and pulled out the old curtains that we had from our last apartment. And since I knew we wouldn't need them all again since we don't have enough windows for them, I decided to make basket liners out of them. Well, out of two of them (we have ten - we had a lot of windows in our last place). Here's what I basically did.

As per usual, I just started figuring it out. First, I realized I could make 2 liners from each curtain, so I chopped them in half and cut the tops off. Then I ironed them, and stitched them together. It was a bit difficult to manage the seam exposure, because you want it to be internal for the body of the liner, but external on the top, so that when you roll it over the edge, the seam is hidden underneath. But whateves. After the first one, the other three were a breeze. And it probably only took about an hour and a half to finish them. 

And since my description on how to make the liners is less than helpful, here's a little step by step tutorial I just found online that's similar to the process I went through. I should also mention, that Patches did help with this project. She totally identified a loose sting and tried to remove it!

My total budget for this project was zero dollars, and I spent zero dollars, so it's a super big win! And I'm totally loving the transformation of these baskets! Yay for spray paint and old curtains!

Magnetic Paint! - What the What!

Well, I've survived my first week back at work, post-holiday, and I thought why not start this month off with an office blog! Remember how over the last couple of months, I've been sharing the little renovations (like this one and this one) that I've had done in my work office. And though there hasn't been any huge changes (maybe the massive tv is a huge change), the office feels totally different. Can you find all the changes?

There have probably been about 15 mini changes, but they've all made a difference in how I work. The magnetic knife strips mean I can now hang big panels and stacks of documents clipped together on one wall. 

And on the other two walls, under my shelves and above my monitor, I can now hang reference documents that I use all the time. Of course, all you see is a bunch of blank paper, and that's because of the magic of photoshop and the desire to keep my work work confidential (though you totally know I'd love to show you what I'm working on!).

But back to hanging those reference docs up, it's made possible through the magic of magnetic primer! This one to be exact!

And because it's a primer, you can paint whatever colour you want on top, but it does go on black!

Now let me just say, that I like the ability to hang things and it's super useful to have a magnetic wall, but it's not a perfect science this paint, it's not super magnetic. Like you can't throw a magnet at it and have them stick (trust me, co-workers have tried). But also this paint is incredibly stinky! LIKE SUPER STINKY! Like worse than being "dutch oven'd" by your loved one after a Mexican fiesta. And it lingers. It's really bad. So this is not a project you want to do in the afternoon, because I'm pretty sure the fumes would slowly kill you while you slept that night (just joking, at least I hope). And it's not something to be used in a confined area without a serious ventilation source. Do you get my point! This stuff smells crazy toxic! 

And honestly, for the little bit of magnetic force it provides, I'm not sure it's worth it. SHHH, don't tell anyone I work with that I think this, because I begged for us to try this product. If doing it again, I would probably just get more magnetic strips, they are easier to install, don't smell and provide more force. But that's just my opinion. And I do like being able to hang things in different arrangements and it does give me that freedom. 

And I'm totally almost done my office. Now all I need is do get some more paper organizers, so that I have a shelfscape and add the text that I want for above my knife strips. Because I've already bought a couple of cute desk organizers (oh how I love colour!), so I'll soon be done.