Adding on Rooms DIY fabulous UPDATE

I saw THE COOLEST thing on RachaelRayShow.com.  Don't laugh. You watch her show, too; don't deny it...

One of her gurus did some armoire makeovers that were amazing! Check out the videos here and here.  

They transformed basic armoires into several creative things:

a home office (I had seen the IKEA version of this, but it was cool to see them using an existing piece of furniture, especially to keep stuff out of landfills when folks upgrade their TV to a flat screen)

a murphy bed for guests in a living room or a child's room (holy crap! We can raise several kids in just a couple of rooms someday!  Whoo hoo!)

a changing station for a nursery (heck, with the space we've got, that will be the entire nursery)

and even a bar for keeping and serving drinks at a party.  

I also thought it would be cool to turn an armoire into a few other things:

a game room (room to store games, a fold out table, maybe a dartboard at the back)

a laundry room (minus the washer and dryer, obviously, but a nice way to disguise laundry room clutter and a fold-down ironing board)

or even a bowling alley, complete with a fold-out lanes and snack bar!

I was just kidding about that last one.  Mostly. 

I would love to hear your ideas or even what you have already used an armoire or similar furniture for.  Brag away!

Rules to Live By #1: Make recycling your best friend. Let the trashcan tag along.

I know it sounds ridiculously simple, but I've found that unless I am constantly reminding myself to recycle and THROW CRAP AWAY, it just doesn't get done.

I dig taking care of the planet like we've been called to do, and am grateful that the City of Atlanta makes is super-easy on us to recycle glass, some plastics, cans, paper, etc. I've gotten to where I usually think before I toss something in the trash, "is this recyclable?" But I also know that sometimes I just have to toss things in the nearest trashcan to keep my sanity. It's a delicate balance.

When I'm purging the nooks and crannies of our little apartment on a regular basis, I feel more able to think carefully about what can be recycled, freecycled, donated, or used more effectively. And I don't beat myself up for not turning used Kleenexes into art or powering our Honda Civic using sludge from the bottom of the garbage disposal.

So, my advice is, find what purging and disposal methods work for you AND DO THEM. Like I said, it's painfully obvious... but we all need to hear it sometimes.