Nowhere to hide

Warning: This post contains the dirtiest picture I've ever posted online.

The closets in this house have tons of built-ins. Cabinets, drawers and the closet itself times three. That's great in theory, but really when two people have so many places to throw junk and keep it hidden, things get ugly fast.

Case in point, our bedroom cabinet:

See what I'm saying? Dirrrty, Christina Aguilera style. The cabinet was were I kept yarn, clothes to be dry-cleaned or mended, craft supplies and our wedding photos.

After I took down the door and puttied up the holes left behind, I started by sanding the cabinets down since they were the same glossy blond that our hall trim and closets once were.

This wood is thirsty like whoa. So it took me about four coats to get a clean, fresh white.

Once it dried, it was time to repopulate the shelves! This time, in a more organized fashion. I used three woven baskets to hide things like belts, lotion, lint rollers, craft supplies and yarn. To spruce things up, I added some picture frames and flowers.

We've got our engagement photo, the CD case that holds our wedding photos (it's actually pretty, so I figure why not display it?) and a framed used Kleenex given to Hubs and I on our wedding day (we shared it while saying our vows and bawling and my parents' friends picked it up after the service (so, one of my first acts as a married lady was to litter. Not my finest moment.) and put it in an antique frame to give us at the reception. They wrote on the back, "May all your tears be tears of joy" and used a ceremony pogram as the backing. How sweet is that?).

These gladiolas and dark leaves are from our yard. I love the DRAMA. These flowers are the bitchy diva looking hawt and knowing it of our bedroom.

The best part of this project? It was free! I used paint I already had, baskets we already had and stole all those photos from our cluttered dresser. What beats a free project that adds punch to a room?

What's been your best free project?