Maybe The Only DIY Post I'll Ever Make

PROBLEM

I wanted a beautiful mirrored tray for our coffee table but had trouble (a LOT of trouble) finding one that I liked.

SOLUTION

(In use for 4+ years at the time of this writing.)

I'm the first to admit that the "perfect" solution isn't usually the most budget-friendly.

I'm also the first to admit that while I like to roll up my sleeves and do things myself, I also know when to call in a professional. The biggest thing most preachers of the DIY gospel fail to mention is "that just because you can, doesn't mean you should."

So this might be the one and only true "look! I made this" post you'll EVER get from me.

You can thank me later.

Back in 2017 we got a new coffee table and I wanted some sort of tray to go in the middle.

I looked and looked. Everything was the wrong size or the wrong material or the wrong style. I must have tried a half dozen options and they all -- no matter the design -- felt like "too much". I wanted something sleek. Something mirrored. (I've touched on my love of mirror in the past.) Something minimal. And I did not want to pay a gazillion dollars for it.

It was then that I remembered seeing flat circular mirrors in craft stores. I have also seen them used by caterers and in another host of applications. I thought "what about one of those... but it would need to go ON something". And after a little googling around, I came up with this...

Behold!

A 14" round mirror on a 16" pizza pan!

Yup. It was that simple.

I stuck some felt furniture pads on the bottom after a couple months of use and realizing that it was slightly scratching our glass coffee table. But after those were put in place we've had zero issues. I've spilled stuff on it and been able to clean it up easily (even if the pan did discolor slightly when I didn't get *ALL* the moisture up evidently).

So that's it.

A simple, relatively inexpensive and dead easy solution.

And four years later it is still going strong!

What more could you ask for?

Until next time,

Jill

P.S. The champagne bucket? It holds remotes.

RESOURCES

14" Round Mirror

16" Pizza Pan

Felt Furniture Pads

Wine Glass as Small Vase

A Sweet Hello & A Useful Goodbye (i.e. Solutions for The High-Traffic Entryway)

THE PROBLEM

We're all familiar with the challenges that entryways present. They need to be highly functional giving a home to keys, shoes, and all the bits and bobs of daily life while gracefully handling the elements from outside that get dragged in. But they are also the first and last things we see during our comings and goings. I like to believe that they require a spirit of love and service. As if to say, "Here, give me your things. Sit down. Take off your shoes and take a breath." So in this home, I set out to create just that.

THE SOLUTION

(In use for 5+ months at the time of this writing.)

I don't know about you but there are certain things that I am drawn to on Pinterest and Instagram. For me it's pantries, closets and entryways. The mix of function and beauty captivates me in the way that someone who does not paint can be drawn in by a beautiful work of art. I have an appreciation for the pretty picture but then my mind turns to how it was created -- the eye, the technique, and the skill required.

And while organization comes so naturally to me that it borders on compulsion, design does not. In recent years because of a growing interest and then in anticipation of moving into this our first home, I have devoured design books and online content in hopes that a small amount of what I have consumed will "stick". And in all of this I have to confess: entryways seemed the most approachable. I quickly began to realize that they seemed...almost formulaic. Nearly all of the entryways I liked best had the same basic components. Sure, the individual design choices were different but the same building blocks were all there. And in that realization the mystery of how to do it myself vanished. Here's how I see it...

A Table

Preferably as wide as your space can handle. Depth is less of a concern. Bonus points for a piece with a drawer or drawers. But I caution against more than one row of drawers. Just remember that if you like rooms that have a light and airy feel a honking piece of furniture is not going to get you there. (See my note on "A Universal Law" at the end.)

A Mirror

As close to the width of your table as possible. Mirrors can get expensive fast but go as big as you can afford and no, it's not just for checking your appearance as you head out the door. Mirrors bounce light around the room and make walls melt away. Not only are mirrors beautiful they are heavy-lifters in the design department. You won't be sorry. Also, given that tables are usually box-shaped, for this purpose I'm partial to mirrors that are round or at least have some some sort of curve.

A Place for Keys

It doesn't really matter what kind of vessel this is except to say that it should be able to withstand the wear and tear of your keys (and save your table from said abuse). I once tried to use what I thought was a reasonably thick alabaster bowl for this purpose and quickly realized what a bad decision that was. The one you see in the pictures was a cheap find at one of those "antique" stores that is as filled with treasures as it is with multiples of the exact same pice of bakeware that your grandma used. (Mine is Revere Ware and I think I gave something like $8 for it 14 years ago.)

A Place for Shoes

We're a shoeless household so the first thing we do is kick off shoes at the door. And while I'm fine with shoes "living" in proximity to the door, I should note that I only allow 3 pairs out in the open. Boots are relegated to the hall closet nearby and all other shoes live in the closet. Be honest, how many pairs of shoes do you really need to have readily accessible? Take them back to your closet. It's good exercise and your space will thank you by looking considerably nicer.

A Place for "Quick-Grab" Items

These are of course different for everyone. For us its masks (duh!), gum, mints, tissues, sunglasses, and earbuds. Small bottles of Purell, wipes, and lotion are just a few steps away on the back of the hall closet door which I wrote about recently. Make this space work hard for you. Make it serve you. Make it be useful to you.

A Place for The Outgoing

Amazon returns, in-store returns, mail for the mailbox, and all the other miscellaneous stuff that sits by the door ready for action also needs a place. For us, sometimes thats on the bench and sometimes in the basket on the bottom shelf and sometimes it's on the floor. I try really hard for it not to be the floor but ya know, #life.

BONUS ITEMS:

I'm calling them bonus items because I'm 36 and this is the first time in my life that my entryway allowed these luxuries. I've got to say that they make ALL the difference but to my mind they are still luxuries.

A Place to Sit

To take off your shoes, to put the thing that might otherwise get put on the floor, you get the idea.

A Lamp

Just like mirrors, lamps are magical. They immediately impart warmth and a sense of place. I have this one on a smart outlet timer. It is set to turn on before we wake up and cast some warm light in the house to get going by and turn itself off once the sun is up. It then turns itself back on in the early evening and stays on until our usual bedtime. So basically, except for the late night hours, it is working to keep the light on for you.

Something Green

At some point in my late twenties I "realized" that I could buy flowers for myself. That I didn't need someone to buy them for me. And pretty quickly that turned from "can" to "should". Cut flowers of nearly any type (but especially my favorite -- white tulips) make me so happy and they immediately add a breath of life to a space. Ilse Crawford pioneered the concept that all five senses should be engaged in a space. And to poorly paraphrase one of her major tenants, every space needs something living and that is usually accomplished via plant material or the dancing of a flame. But don't take my word for it. Read her book. It's fascinating. The point being that something green makes for a sweet hello every time you see it.

FINAL THOUGHTS: SCALE & A UNIVERSAL LAW

Scale

Of all the simple tenants of design that I have picked up, an appreciation for scale might just be the most important. The offense I see over and over again is an excess use of "smalls". All the cute things at Target? 95% of them are "smalls". The rug in your room that none of your furniture actually fits on? Too small. Smalls are addictive. They speak to us. They are relatively inexpensive and feel like a victory. But once we get them home and start to incorporate them into our spaces they are just. too. small! Adding insult to injury, they make our entire space feel smaller than it actually is. And once we have collected a mass of things that are all small that space starts to feel cluttered. Because it is!

I'm not an interior designer and there are lots of great resources out there. I encourage you to do some reading, but whether you are planning a space or just buying a new lamp, for the love of all things holy please carefully consider whether what you are buying is large enough to accomplish what you're after. Odds are, you need to size up.

A Universal Law

Lastly, it may surprise you to learn that I am NOT a physicist. And yet, I have tested hundreds of times over the simple theory that flat surfaces collect stuff and that drawers get filled with stuff.

"Stuff", if unchecked, will consume the entire space it is allowed.

This simple concept guides every single design decision I make. It is true that I tend toward more minimal design. But that is mostly the result of carefully considering what would happen if a piece gets "maxed out" and filled up. My assumption is that a piece will get maxed out eventually so I intentionally make selections that constrain that inevitability. Simple but I have to say that tiny shift in thinking has made a world of difference.

Until next time,

Jill

RESOURCES

Console Table

36" Round Mirror

Marble Tray

22" Lamp

Smart Timer for Lamp

Basket

Rugs

Bench (HomeGoods)

Side Table

Boot Tray

The Sexy & The Practical About Storing Dry Goods

THE PROBLEM

Dry goods are a double-edged sword. On the one hand they are so easily put into beautiful containers and lined up like neat little soldiers. On the other, there's almost always leftover that doesn't fit into the container and accessing the content of those containers can be a struggle depending on the design.

THE SOLUTION

(In use for 5+ months at the time of this writing.)

First, a word on labels. I understand the organizational magic one feels that they possess while holding a label-maker. It's a powerful drug. But for some, an uncontrollable urge takes over and they find themselves with a compulsion to label anything and everything. I'm sure there's an applicable parable about a bird who built its own beautiful birdcage or something, but I'm here to beg you to just put down your label-maker. Women of the internet, raise your right hand and repeat after me: "I will only label when it is truly necessary. If I and everyone in my household is able to accurately discern what something is without a label, it is not necessary and I will not label it." Good. For now, I'll leave labeling where things belong to your own good discretion. But I'm watching and offenders will be held to account.

Now, with that off my chest let's talk about dry goods...and their assorted companions.

It feels like in recent months (years?) the internet has been taken over by pictures of tidy containers filled with all the things. And listen, I'm here to tell you that nobody loves a beautiful pantry more than me. NOBODY. Yet, I am often left wondering if the owners of those containers actually use the things in them. No matter how beautiful a container or how orderly it sits on a shelf, if it's difficult to use or maintain it just doesn't fly in my world. I demand containers that are not only attractive but practical. Will I be scooping something out of it? Then I better be able to get my scoop AND my hand (which ya know...does the scooping) in there. Will it hold one thing this week and something different the next? Then it had better be easy to clean and the seals better hold up. The number of products which fail to meet those criteria alone is staggering. And for my money, if in doubt then you can always consult the amazing folks of America's Test Kitchen who do downright incredible work product testing. I have never had one of their recommended products fail me. Ever.

So, how did I go about making my selections? Honestly...it's a bit embarrassing. It's embarrassing because if I tell you you're going to see how truly obsessive I can be about finding the right solution to the problem. I do a crazy amount of research. I do it because I enjoy it but also because I believe in buying quality once and not junk repeatedly. So since this is a safe space I'm going to tell you how I went about it.

The first thing I did was consult America's Test Kitchen (ATK) on their recommended storage solutions for food and dry goods. Their highest rated plastic storage is the Rubbermaid Brilliance line which comes in a wide range of sizes and configurations. They are stain and odor resistant and lightweight. Basically, if they were good enough for ATK then they were good enough for me. (Worth noting: I do NOT put these in the microwave or dishwasher. Maybe you can but I don't. I use the also ATK-recommended OXO Good Grips glass containers for food storage or things that will be microwaved ever since reading this: Study: You May Be Eating A Credit Card's Worth of Plastic Each Week. I report, you decide.)

Now that I knew what product I was shopping for, I needed to get real about what I was trying to store. And to be honest, I think a lot of us don't go about it this way. For example, we decide we need something to put flour into, we see a product that indicates it stores flour, we assume it will be a good solution, but then are surprised when our 5lb bag of flour DOES NOT ACTUALLY FIT into the container we have selected. And if you're like me, you then get annoyed because you suddenly need some place to put the extra flour and this feels like a step back instead of a step forward. So, we start with what actually needs to be stored. And because we're dealing with containers I started taking a look at the volume of the things I know our household keeps on hand. That includes the basic baking/cooking staples but also things like pretzel crisps, Triscuits, etc. I'd like to tell you that I took the time to figure out the volume of all of these things before I shopped for containers but even I'm not crazy enough for that.

What I did do is quickly realize that buying a set of these Rubbermaid Brilliance containers was a loosing proposition. It was for me (and very likely for you, too) far more economical to buy the sizes I truly needed individually than to buy a set littered with sizes I almost certainly wouldn't need and that would eat up valuable real estate in a cabinet somewhere. And to be completely candid, I'm not even sure I knew that was an option. It turns out that places like Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, etc. usually do sell a limited number of sizes individually in their stores. But more importantly (!) ALL the sizes are available online. And I do mean *ALL THE SIZES*. Ask me how I know. Go ahead. Ask. This is where it gets embarrassing...

With only a handful of exceptions (mostly the really small containers I knew there was no way would meet my needs) I ordered them. All of them. On Amazon. To be fair, I was living in Manhattan at that time and walking into a store in the middle of a pandemic, just to peruse containers wasn't really an option. At least that's what I tell myself.

And THAT is how I figured out that a 16C container is what's required to hold a 5 lb. bag of flour. And before you go and say that I could have Googled how many cups of flour are in a 5 lb. bag (the answer is 15), I actually did do that. The problem is that while that works for flour, it doesn't work for nearly anything else... like pasta and pretzel chips, and you know... anything else in my house.

If being an organizational freak has taught me anything it's that most great solutions have emerged from trial and error. So you won't be surprised to learn that I ordered multiples of tons of different sizes, figured out what worked, and returned what didn't (and was unused...obviously). If it's helpful, I'm leaving a cheat sheet below under RESOURCES of what container I used for what. The best part? We've been using this set-up for 5+ months and its working so so well. Things interchange easily, wash up well, and it has made pantry staples a breeze.

A FINAL WORD ON THE OTHER THINGS SHOWN

I wanted to write about dry goods storage but let me quickly address the other things you see in the pictures.

- The two white bins on the top shelves store what I would loosely call "backstock". No, there's not messy half bags of flour but there are on-line spares (which I wrote about recently) and tangential supplies like the oils and waxes for cutting boards which are stored nearby. (All Boos, all day by the way!)

- The lazy susans in my upper cabinets are all 9". A standard upper cabinet is 12" deep but once you account for the trim and space for the turntable to spin, a 9" size is what fits most comfortably.

- I keep my cooking oils in individual bottles, each is 24 oz. and labeled with what they are and their smoke point. (That's the temperature you see listed.)

RESOURCES

America' Test Kitchen (Equipment Reviews)

Rubbermaid Brilliance (Plastic)

OXO Good Grips (Glass)

White Bins

9" Lazy Susan

Oil Bottles

Boos Cutting Board Oil

SIZE GUIDE

19.9C/4.7L (2) Boxes of Shells Pasta, (2) Boxes of Farfalle Pasta

16C/ 3.7L 5 lb. of Flour, 8 lb. of Sugar, (1) Bag of Tortilla Chips

12C/ 2.8L 4 lb. of Almonds, 14oz (1 Party Size Bag) of Pretzel Crisps,

8.1C/ 1.9L (2) Boxes of Spaghetti

7.8C/ 1.8L 1lb.(1 Box) of Brown Sugar with Room to Spare, 2 lb. of Confectioner's Sugar

6.6C/ 1.5L (1) Box of Crackers, (1) Box of Triscuits, (1) Large Bag of Granola