It’s hard to take a progress shot. I kept waiting until I fixed one more thing, until it got to the point where I realized I had to suck it up and just take the progress pictures! Here’s what I’ve managed to get done in this space so far.
Before
After
What I Did
Bought that matching soap dispenser.
Bought a tray to put all the items on. (Except that aromatherapy candle.)
Printed a light blue “Keep Calm and Carry On” poster and framed it above the toilet. I love it!
Towels were moved from the shower rod and put on a behind-the-door hanger out of sight. Much cleaner and now guests have somewhere to put their towel as well.
Installed a little drying rack we had above the towel rack for when I do laundry.
Removed the ancient electric toothbrush taking up so much space and went with a manual brush.
Completely reorganized the drawers and they look epic. Sorry, no pictures at the moment!
Still Need To Do
Use the empty space on the right to put a hand towel holder. Still hunting for the right one.
New towels, as the current are threading apart. Still can’t decide a color. Light blue?
New rug. This one is gross and blends into the wood floor. I’m set on a big fluffy white one!
Before
After
The bathroom closet is still a far way from finished. I added bins and removed about three trash bags worth of junk to donate. Still trying to figure out the vanity shelf. I’d like to add some sort of decoration to it and I need more clear containers. The laundry shelf is okay, but I’d like another one of those white baskets to put the laundry supplies in. The top shelf had junk on it and now it has everything for a visitor — air mattress, extra sheets, and the machine to blow up the mattress. I’d like to replace those huge, clear containers with white baskets.
The medicine shelf is not pictured, but I’ve managed to put everything out of sight. Maybe I’ll add a picture of that in the next progress post!
Scent: The first thing I noticed about my first Essie polish purchase — the smell was much stronger than OPI. I can stand OPI quite well but this I actually had to take a breather from. It actually smelled worse than my nail polish remover, which I thought always smelled worse than actual polish!
Application: The formula is watery, which actually has many benefits but caught me off guard. It took me three coats to get an average opacity on the white and I didn’t want to do more because I was afraid it would be too heavy. I should’ve gone for four or even five coats. I’m used to OPI, which has a thick consistency and therefore dries slower and tends to absorb imprints easily. This goes on thinly, dries fast, and allows itself to build up. It also makes for easy cleaning around the nail after painting, because the coats were so thin there were no big globs on my cuticles. Now that I know how to use it right, I can get a more opaque effect next time!
Color: This is the perfect white, just as I thought. It’s not in your face, white-out color like my White Tip by Sally Hansen but it still makes a statement without pink undertones. Unlike most whites I’ve tried it’s not thick and hard to paint on — it’s watery. The white is more of a natural finish that you could use for a more realistic french tip. With a top coat it looks classy.
Price: At around $8, I was kind of put off by the price. I usually invest in OPI for the same price, which isn’t sold in drug stores. I always thought Essie a drug store brand, so when I saw it was the same price as OPI I kind of cringed. While I ended up loving it and can justify the price in my mind, I still think they should knock a dollar or two off. By the way, I was able to purchase this on eBay for a price I felt better about. I’d check out eBay before buying in-store!
Final Thoughts
Aside from the strong smell and price tag, I’m loving Marshmallow by Essie. It’s the perfect shade for a french manicure and a white statement nail. It goes on thin, which makes for easy cleaning, drying, and building of its opacity. Definitely a staple in my collection!
This blog entry was posted in Beauty on Oct 12 2011.
I came across a blog entry a few weeks ago that made an argument for having less clothes because you’d do less laundry. I nodded in approval. That makes sense, right? But I also considered that having less clothes also meant you’d have to do laundry more frequently.
So which is better? I soon found out.
The dryers in my apartment building have gone rogue and management can’t keep up with fixing them, so I decided it was time for my first coin laundry experience. I went in with my bag and…major shocker for simple-minded me!
Oh, if only it was this empty that day...
People were using two, three, even four jumbo sized dryers that could each fit three people inside.
I saw a handful of people that were folding their clothes out of the dyer from the time I came in, and an hour later when I left they were still folding.
I counted one lady putting eleven large garbage bags of clothes into the washers.
One woman folded what seemed like enough towels to restock Bed Bath & Beyond in every color.
I helped one poor woman carrying a baby get the clothes back into her car because the bins were too heavy for her to lift.
One woman was folding jeans for half an hour. I’ll leave the number of jeans to your imagination.
I went in there to wash a week (maybe even two weeks) of clothes from Josh and me and our bed sheet set. I took up two of the smallest washers — one for whites and one for darks. I threw everything in a jumbo dryer, which didn’t even fill up a third of the way, and then folded to leave. I was in there for about an hour total and spent under $5. The bigger, high efficiency washers are four times more expensive than the smallest washers, by the way, and since I was able to dry all of my clothes in one jumbo dryer I actually saved a ton of money compared to doing it in my laundry room back at the apartment.
The other people there were, I think, monthly washers. I can only speculate that they leave all those clothes on the floor (there’s no hamper that fits five to ten garbage bags of clothes) and then once a month pack it up in the car and spend a lot of money to clean it all.
If you have a ton of clothes it’s easy to put off doing laundry. But wouldn’t you rather have to do laundry once a week and only spend an hour doing it, rather than spend an entire day and tons of money at once to get it done? It just seems so much simpler to me to have less and wash less!
More Laundry Stress-Saving Tips
You’re probably using too much detergent.Especially Americans. I saw one lady pour about two whole cups of bleach into her white load of laundry. Unless you’re hiking in your clothes every day or work construction, a gentle wash with a little bit of detergent is all it takes to get them fresh.
Wash gently, unless otherwise indicated. Read your labels and you may be surprised. Most clothes are supposed to go through the gentle cycle both in the washer and dryer. The only whites I have that recommend hot water are my bedsheets, but I do them in a cold gentle cycle as well. This saves energy, time, and also saves a lot of premature wear on your clothes.
Re-wear clothes. Those jeans you wore to class for three hours aren’t dirty, and neither is that dress you wore to dinner. Washing clothes when they aren’t even soiled is totally overrated. I re-wear my clothes until they’re dirty and it saves me tons of time and money. If you’re super stingy you can refresh clothes with the iron’s steam setting.
Buy clear detergent. I don’t understand why companies put dye into a cleaner. Buying a clear and gentle detergent is safer for the environment, your clothes, and your skin. So why not? Some people are addicted to scents but there are some that are wonderfully lightly scented. Or mist your clothes with Febreeze after washing!
Fold your clothes. If you throw clean clothes around they wrinkle to the point of being unwearable and you either don’t wear it or toss it right back into the laundry basket. How many of us break out the ironing board? Just avoid the headache by folding directly after it comes out of the dryer!
Laundry is my least favorite chore, so I really go all out on anything that makes it easier for me to deal with. Do you have any laundry tips to add? Let me know!
Trying to organize my apartment has lead me to some knowledge along the way. I’d like to share! Here are some ways I’ve learned how to pull together a space not only to be organized, but so that it looks pleasing to the eye.
Place identical items together
A quick away to make a space look well thought out is to put all identical items next to each other. This looks especially nice in closets and display cases because it’s easy to do with bins and baskets. Here are some examples. Notice that identical bins, cases, and baskets are placed in a row.
Group items together
This tip is best for items stored in drawers or even a vanity table. Group similar items together in and give them their own space. Really, any space where you’re forced to place a lot of items can benefit from this. The organization helps you remember where things are. Plus, it looks nice!
Out of sight, out of mind
Unless I have to, I prefer to keep most items hidden away while at the same time using both of the above tips. This keeps your place looking clean even if your drawers are stuffed full. To which I suggest you try to empty them!
