Clean Apartment = Clear Mind

Whenever I feel like I am in a funk, or I just need to get a new vibe going, there are a few things that will help me out without fail.

• Cleaning
• Organizing
• Sprucing up the apartment

I am still in the process of cleaning up and re-organizing around the apartment.  Between getting ready for the holidays, traveling, and then returning after the holidays, the apartment was a total disaster.  MVP and I never quite see eye to eye on this sort of thing.  He's fine to let things go for a few days...just keep looking for what you may need back in your suitcase...wait until the weekend to take the decorations down and put them away.

Me?  Not so much.  I want to unpack and put things away immediately.  I can't wait until the morning to take out the trash if I know the garbage is full.  Pack up those Christmas decorations and put them away well before the ball drops on New Year's Eve.

But something I have found we DO tend to be on the same page about is sprucing up the apartment.

After getting TWO new large kitchen appliances for Christmas, I was going to do some shuffling and rearranging to find a place for everything.  Sometime over the summer, I had bought a buffet/cabinet for the dining room to give me some additional storage for things we didn't need daily, but still wanted quick access to.  MVP was thrilled to assemble that piece of furniture.  Kidding.  He wasn't a big fan of mine after he spent half a day on that project.

All of my cookbooks and food-related books were in that cabinet.  They needed someplace else to call home.....but where to put them.....

This sounds like, A VERY GOOD REASON TO GO TO IKEA!!!  Really ANY reason is a good reason to go to Ikea in my book, but that's just me.

Yes, those are our Mickey ears from Disney with our names embroidered on them.  The top shelf just looked a little naked, so the dang Mickey ears are living there until I can find something better.

We ended up with this red bookshelf.  I love that it is a nice accent color, and something a little different, but still not too "out there."  It also fit neatly back in a corner, so it wasn't really taking up any additional space, just fit neatly into space we weren't using.

A trip to Target the following day (Ikea AND Target in the same weekend?!?!  Living the dream, that's me!) had me absolutely ecstatic.  I had been thinking for awhile how I would love a nice serving tray to put on top of the ottoman in the living room.  Sturdy enough that you could rest a drink on it if you wanted.  And don't you know I found a perfect red one....on CLEARANCE!

Can you tell that red is a favorite accent color?

During that same trip to Target I ran into a coworker at my current job, a coworker from a previous job, my old roomie L, and one of my fellow Cookie Party contestants and her adorable family (actually, I just noticed that one of the photos you can see on the buffet next to the red bookshelf is from her wedding.) Who knew that a trip to target could be so eventful??

There is still work to be done at the apartment and some things I would like to organize a little better.  But having things neat actually keeps me calm and makes my mind feel clearer.  When the apartment is messy, I can actually FEEL my stress level shoot way up.

A place for everything and everything in its place.....  anyone else feel that same way?

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