counter clutter.

The bathroom counter. Easily one of the most clutter-prone places in my household (other than the dining room table). Lotion, contact solution, toothpaste, my retainer (yeah, I still wear it, don't judge), hairbands, hairspray, you name it...it's laying around. So gross. We have a cute little linen closet, but the problem is that I want the things I use the most to be more accessible. 

Here's what it looked like before: 

I saw a shelf on Pinterest with tin pails sitting on it, which was originally what I was going for. But when I found this little 3-pegged beauty at Hobby Lobby (purchased with a 40% off coupon), I knew those pails could do so much more.

The little apothecary bottle was 99 cents at Michael's, and is filled with buttons. I don't know about you, but buttons end up everywhere in my house...so this was a good way to corral them. The shell was actually my first gift from Patrick. He found it for me on the beach in Jamaica, where we met (on a mission trip in college). 

I think he already liked me ;) 

Now the counter looks like this: 

Ahhhh, a clutter-free bathroom counter. So nice and easy to clean.

This bathroom still needs loads of work, though. We plan to replace the faucets and knobs (ASAP) with oil-rubbed bronze ones, which will then match the soap dispensers and clock I have in here and tie into the rustic-y look we're going for with the house as a whole. I would eventually like to replace the counters as well, but that involves more cash than my other projects...so it won't be anytime soon. They'll look better with the new paint, anyway, so I can wait.  :)  

We actually have the paint for the walls (see? they're the weird pinky-beige color, ew). The new paint is called Morning Fog by Olympic (you get it at Lowe's). I find it very refreshing and calming. Here's a pic of my shower curtain that it will match. It has a light aqua, grey, and white design. I got it at Target.  

This bathroom is attached to our master bedroom, which has similar colors. Can you tell I really like blue? 

Since we have a SUPER busy couple weeks coming up with Christmas and New Year's, I'm not sure when the painting will get done. Hopefully sooner rather than later! In the meantime, I'm working on making a craft area in our basement... I know, it sounds super dorky, but our house is currently littered with scrapbook paper, canvases, paint, and glitter. Gotta have somewhere to let the creative juices flow, right?

Speaking of crafts, I made a couple things as gifts, but I obviously can't post them on here til next week in case it ruins the surprise. I really like how they turned out though :)  Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!