Custom Garage Organizer on a Budget

Recently as I was browsing on Pinterest I was inspired to organize our garage.  Most of the garage organization systems that are out there are pretty expensive.  So I showed my hubby a few budget friendly ideas and the next day we were at the Home Depot buying parts to build our own garage organizer system.  For the most part the pictures can speak for themselves. But I will note a few comments along the way.

Before getting organized we did park our cars in the garage, but it was a challenge opening the doors!

We started by gutting the left side of our garage... which ended up making the driveway look like a  rather fun yard sale.  I had to post a sign at the front that read "Not for Sale, Garage Cleaning Day".

If you are wondering how we get all of that in our garage plus our two cars... It's because our garage is extra deep.

Back by the water heater you can see our woodworking bench that my husband built.  The chop saw is attached to it.  Every time we cut a piece of wood in the garage the saw dust flies everywhere.  As we cleaned out the garage, my hubby decided to put wheels on it so we could roll it out to the driveway from now on when anything needs to be cut.  This will keep the garage much cleaner! 

The addition of the wheels makes this so much more useful!  Now our drill press is attached to the bench too.

We started our DIY wall organizer by marking all of the studs in the wall and mounting a frame to them. 

Once the frame was built, Jim painted it and then started mounting shelves.  I wanted wire shelving so dust would not sit on the shelves.

We added a section of peg board for miscellaneous small items.

A few smaller shelves and hooks hold gardening supplies and other items.

My favorite part of our organizer is these next shelves that we made from vinyl rain gutters.  They are perfect for holding cans of spray paint, tubes of caulking and other small items.  Love them!!! 

Hanging our ladders and other items at the front of the garage freed up so much floor space!

We have allot of wood trim and molding that needs to be stored flat. It used to be on the floor (always in the way), now it is up out of the way on the shelves.

We can now park both of our cars in the garage and get out of our vehicles without stumbling and tripping on things.  It is wonderful!  I love being organized!!!

Until next time,

Diana

Vacation - Monterey Bay, California

Having never been to Monterey, California before we didn't know what to expect when we arrived.  The first place we stopped was the Fisherman's Wharf.  We decided to walk down the wharf (pier) just to see what it was about. Fisherman's Wharf is just that.  Where the fishing boats come in and out and where a couple of fish companies sell their fresh fish and seafood (wholesale and to the public).  

I love sushi, but don't necessarily like seeing the fish with their heads still on!

I knew that the Monterey Bay is known for being one of the most active areas for sea-life on the California coast.  After first seeing tons of sea lions at Santa Cruz, I was hopeful that we would see more sea life in Monterey too. While we were walking down the wharf pier we saw a few sea otters playing around.  One in particular was very close to us... He kept swimming under the pier to get muscles and then he would swim out into the open, flip to his back, then crack them open and eat them.  It was such a neat experience to watch him doing his thing and he didn't seem to care that we along with many other tourists watched on (snapped photos, videos and such).

After fishermans wharf we decided to drive around and see what else we could find.  I was happy we came across Cannery Row. This was obviously the happening area of Monterey.  Tons of cute shops, restaurants and touristy places to see and at the end was the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium.

I don't ususally get into pictures, as I am the one taking them.  But my hubby got me to get into a few.  So you will rarely ever see me, but here I am, on vacation, hair up, visor on, dorky sweater tied around the middle... and of all things, enjoying an ice cream.  But hey, it was vacation :)

There was a stunning bay view from outside one of the restaurants on Cannery Row.  The water was so clear that you could see straight through it to the rocks and sea-life below.

I'm fascinated by sea life and have never been to an aquarium before.  We had heard that the Monterey Bay Aquarium was one of the best so we decided to go inside.  

We saw several amazing sea creatures.  Some I could have never imagined.  Check out this next one... It looks like a plant but is actually some kind of seahorse.

I had heard from several people that the jellyfish exhibit was amazing.  I'm not sure I would have every wanted to see a jellyfish exhibit, but after seeing it, I can admit it was one of the prettiest things I've ever seen.  I was surprised how many kinds there are.  As long as there is a very thick piece of plexiglass between me and the jellyfish, they are absolutely amazing!  However, I wouldn't want to encounter them in the ocean!!!  Yikes :)

Some of the jellyfish looked like alien space ships with lights on.

Then we saw these polka dot jellyfish.  God's beautiful decorations... So much design in each and every little detail, even on jellyfish... Simply amazing!

These pictures are just a sampling of all that we saw at the aquarium. If you ever get a chance to go to Monterey, I do recommend visiting the aquarium.  I grew up near the ocean and have been to Sea World many times... but at the aquarium we got to see so many things we had never seen before.  It was a wonderful experience! As was our entire day in Monterey...

Road Trip - Santa Cruz Beach, California

After the prior day of river rafting on the Rogue River in Oregon. Which there aren't any pictures of since cameras don't go well with being on the river (basically, I don't own a waterproof one).  We drove for most of the day to arrive late afternoon in Santa Cruz, California.  Santa Cruz is a beach town on the Central California coast, about an hour South of San Francisco.  

On our drive, I surprised my husband with a late lunch at one of his favorite places.  Fuddruckers - Home of the Worlds Greatest Hamburgers.  That is what their logo says and I completely agree.  I found only one Fudds on our entire trip route, in the San Francisco Bay area.  So I had pre-planned this stop en-route.  We only get to eat at Fudds a couple of times a year since we don't have one too close to home.  So, Jim was very happily surprised!  Note: if you ever go to one, they have the BEST most amazing Turkey Burger!  

About an hour after lunch we arrived in Santa Cruz and decided to check out the famous Beach Boardwalk and the Pier.

I kept hearing sea lions making noise under the pier.  I was leaning over the end of the pier hoping to see one when my hubby saw large openings in the center of the pier where we could look down and see dozens of sea lions hanging out.  Shortly thereafter we found a staircase that led down to a small dock where we were able to get up close with many of them.  It was amazing to be so close and they had no fear of all of the people near them.

I was standing about five feet from the sea lions to take this next picture.  The sea lion with it's nose it the air seemed to be posing for us (or more likely enjoying the ocean breeze)...

We saw this amazing sand art next to the pier.  The sofa was life size.  Entire families would sit on it and take photos.  Then the artist would repair any damage to the sand couch between sittings.

After exploring the boardwalk, walking down the pier and taking tons of pictures, we found a restaurant and got some clam chowder (my favorite soup) to go.  We headed to Marina, California (about a 35 minute drive, to the central Monterey Bay area) to check in to our hotel for the evening.  Relaxing in a comfy bed and eating chowder was the perfect end to our day!

Next stop... Monterey and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Until next time :)

Road Trip - My Visit to "Pretty In Paint"

While on our road trip there was a new store that I'd been dying to see located in Oregon.  I'd planned to see it as my first official stop on the trip (after a day and a half of driving)...  

The store is called "Pretty in Paint".  I've been following both the Pretty in Paint FB page and blog for quite awhile now.  I enjoyed reading about and following pictures of the stores transformation since Mindy first announced that she was going to be opening a store. Pretty in Paint is located at 305 N. Bartlett Street, in Medford, Oregon.  

I love the store so much that I wanted to share it with all of you.

After driving for a day and a half I knew I had finally arrived in Oregon once I saw this logging truck.  

Yay, that meant that in about half an hour I would finally get to see "Pretty in Paint" in person :)

Let me first say, Pretty in Paint is my dream store... I could spend all day in there and never get bored!!!  There is so much pretty stuff and several pieces I would have loved to bring home.  Here is a tour of all the pretties... I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.  Major eye candy!!!  Enjoy.

The store had several beautiful chandeliers and lighting options.  I especially enjoyed the chandeliers made from wine barrels.  Each one was a unique piece of art!

There were many hand painted signs throughout the store.  I liked so many of them I struggled to decide which one I needed to take home with me.  I'm happy to say that I ended up with two of them.

There was actually another that I wanted, but it was a bit too large for the car since we had a weeks worth of road trip still and our luggage filled up the back.

Mindy, the store owner, seen working at the counter in the background is such a sweetheart! Although I had never met her before, by the time I left her store, I felt like we were old friends. 

If you are ever in Oregon and get a chance to go through Medford, make sure you visit this beautiful store.  For more information on Pretty in Paint and the store hours, you can visit the Pretty in Paint Facebook page for all of the details.  Make sure to "like" the page while you are there.  I love that they post photo updates of new items in the store.

Until next time,
Happy decorating!

Diana

P.S. - More road trip to come soon :)

If you missed the Part One of our road trip you can see it by clicking HERE.