...because home doesn't happen overnight.
02.09.11 / Charge!

I’m feeling a bit warrior-ish today.  Our new old dog {it’s a long story} decided to wake me up by dropping a deuce in our bedroom this morning.  Yeah, the bedroom that we’ve been making over. You know that one? Well, the dog gave it her own version of a makeover.  And wouldn’t you know today would be the day the windows were frozen shut?  Picture me at 6:30 this morning, barely awake, scrubbing dog poop out of a rug and carpet without adequate ventilation.  The jute rug is now drying in the tub while I’m contemplating a headboard change.

Notice how the prohibition symbol adds some rounded lines to the rectangular headboard, and the white really pops against the bare wood.  Just kidding.  I gotta laugh or I’m gonna cry.

As I forge ahead, I thought I’d show you where we charge our cell phones every night.  Are you following me?  I know it’s a stretch…charging ahead in poop-ridden battle…charging cell phones. Sometimes being creative comes across as crazy.  Anyway, here’s the console that lives in our open kitchen/dining area.

The left-hand drawer acts as a charging station for our cell phones.

Um, yes, that’s my Razr.  The young kids at work like to tease me about it.  It takes me 5 minutes to text ‘ok.’  To charge our phones, I use a double-headed extension cord that’s kept under wraps with some painter’s tape and then snaked up and over the back of the drawer so it can be plugged in.  The cord is thin enough to allow the drawer to close properly.

I hide the wire and outlet with baskets that hold table linens.

The right-hand drawer houses a phone book, local map and a folder of school contact info for my kindergartener.  To keep things tidy, I never keep more than one phone book on hand at a time. Most times, we look up phone numbers and addresses online anyway, but I like to have something handy in case the internet is down {which happens more than you’d think} or the electricity is out.

This charging station in disguise works well for us.  It’s located right next to the small hallway where we come in from the garage.  So, as soon as we enter, the phones go in the drawer.  On our way out of the house, they’re easy to pick up and throw in our pocket/purse.  Gotta love form + function.  Do you have a creative or ingenious place to charge your electronics?  I’d love to know about it!

Okay, I feel a little better now.  Thanks for listening, um, reading.  I’m off to battle.  Charge!

FYI – Please keep Handy Hubby in your thoughts today.  I’m pretty sure he left for work this morning wondering whether or not to return.

images:  all Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

37 Comments

09.February.2011

Ewww, sorry to hear about the unfortunate incident. I did the same thing (charging station, not poop) with a little two door buffet we have. I bought it because it had one long drawer on top, enough room for our laptop. I have seeing that thing lying around with the charge cord plugged in and draped across the floor where one of my boys can trip over it. It happened just like that on Sunday, 3 year old wearing cowboy boots takes a nasty fall…not pretty.

Can’t wait to see about the headboard. Curious why you’re anxious to change it. Do tell!

Stay warm,
Renae in Nebraska

09.February.2011

I admire people that can sleep that far away from their cell phones! I use mine as my alarm and I charge it on the nightstand…in not nearly as attractive conditions as your charging set up. I may have to remedy that, but I don’t think I could ever leave it in another room!

As for the dog poop…hope your day gets better and at least we can all feel better to know that your house isn’t always perfect! ;-)

09.February.2011

I’m crying for you right now. Seriously. Dog poop + no ventilation = TORTURE.

But, YAY for your cell phone solution! What a great idea!

09.February.2011

Renae – Oh, that was supposed to be a joke…the whole changing up the headboard idea. Sorry. This is why I will never be a comedian.

09.February.2011

not fun! our pup’s been on antibiotics for 2 weeks, so I can certainly relate. yuck!

like the charging station you came up with, though! it’s a growing problem for us, between phones, kid gadgets, and laptops, we could devote a whole *room* in our house just to chargers.

would it seem totally unsympathetic to be hoping for pictures of the new/old dog? ;)

09.February.2011

What a bummer about the doggie mess in your beautiful master room! So sorry! Plus, add in the windows being frozen shut and I’m sure it doubled your yuck!

Love the charging station! So organized and streamlined and hidden! Perfect! I must brainstorm some thing like that around here….thanks for the inspiration!

~ Ali

09.February.2011

Love the inspiration of the charging station, but sorry about the poop. I bought a charging station and we are still trying to find just the right place for it and the right size extenion cord to fit 4 plugs and fit into the charging station itself. I’ll find one soon I’m sure and then I will blog about it. ;-) Hope the rest of your day smells like roses. ;-) LOL!!!

09.February.2011

what a great charging station! no one can tell that your hallway console is a the communication hub of the entire home. brilliant.

also, bummer about the poop! that bedroom looks nothing like a “dumping ground” so that dog must be crazy. it’s a beautiful room.

09.February.2011

I totally ‘get’ your humor. Occasionally it makes me snort instead of laugh.

And ooooh, charging stations- the things dreams are made of. Yours is- perfect. And that one, thin single cord down the back? Can’t do much better than that! Unfortunately a charging station for us is waaaaay down my list. I’m still trying to plug away at painting the walls. Ooof. I love my husband- but he’s not so handy like yours. The most ‘help’ I get is from his seated position on the couch when he says, “I think you missed a spot”.

09.February.2011

Keeping your cell phones in one consistent place is good fire safety too! That way you are not scrambling to find them, you can just grab them on the way out and call 911 from a safe location.

09.February.2011

Oh, you make me laugh. I love your sense of humor. So sorry about the dog pooping in your bedroom! Honestly, I think I would shed a few tears.

09.February.2011

Ugh, nothing worse than the smell of dog poop in the morning – or the middle of the night. One of our dogs got sick in the middle of the night a few months ago and we have full length storm windows which do not open. Blurg.

Love the charging station idea. I still have a Razr too, but only till tomorrow! Then my brand spanking new iPhone (which I will probably hate) goes live! We don’t have a charging station, boo.

09.February.2011

I want to get a charging station. Well…make one. I’ve been thinking about it but haven’t done anything yet. Btw, if you ever do change your headboard, can I have? tehe. I love it. I’m doing my bedroom gray & yellow, lol. Actually, I have added this headboard to my inspiration list!

09.February.2011

I relate to the dog poop mess, have cats that leave gifts all the time-yuck! You are funny, thanks for the laughs. Thank you for sharing how you charge your phones, very clever. Always looking for good ideas to stay organzied.

Oh, we can totally empathize with you! The sewer drain in our basement backed up 10-15 gallons of raw yuck at 1:30 a.m. the third weekend we owned our house–that was only a couple of weeks ago. The smell is still fresh in our minds, although thankfully no longer so in our basement. You’re right. You just have to move forward.

Your home is very beautiful. I think I could talk my wife into a similar phone-charging setup. She hates those desktop caddies. Thanks for the idea. :D

09.February.2011

Sorry about the poop! :[ Thanks for taking care of her, and just think, it could’ve been worse, she could’ve peed in your bed in the middle of the night! And I would’ve cried too, or just yelled a lot.

09.February.2011

I am so glad your not changing your head board I love it, it is so creative and goes so great with your new barn door!

09.February.2011

I love the idea of the phones being charged in a drawer and out of sight. Once we find nightstands for our bedroom, the goal is to put a hole in the back of the drawer for this same purpose. Glad to see that it actually does work! Hope your day gets better!

09.February.2011

I love the charging station and I love your creativity. I’m just wondering… what can’t you do? You are very inspirational and I’m so glad I’m following your blog. Keep the great ideas coming!

09.February.2011

I feel for you, I’m a little edgy myself today. Not b/c of dog crap, just normal everyday crap. Hope your rug turns out ok. As far as the charging of phones/electronics, don’t get me started!!

09.February.2011

Love this idea! I actually went shopping today to try to find a charging station. I wasn’t able to find anything I liked…maybe it was meant to be, this gives me great inspiration! Thanks for sharing!

09.February.2011

I had a similar experience with poop on the floor recently, except for it was my now potty training 2 year old who did the big no no. The things we do for the ones we love!

Anyhow…. your blog inspires me everyday. I love seeing your ideas, love your style and as I’ve already told you I could live in your house, without changing a thing. Keep up the good work and posts, :)

09.February.2011

The joys of fur people! I’ve sooooo been there. Imagine being pregnant (8 months) during the summer and coming home from a long day at work to more than a couple mini-mountains because the dogs got sick due to a change in dog food! This was 5 years ago and I remember it like it was yesterday :)

09.February.2011

Oooh – I feel for you. A couple weeks ago we had a similar incident with our dog on our bed. Wait – on our dry clean only really expensive at least we have had it six years duvet. It still needs to go to the dry cleaner and I am contemplating a master bedroom change.

We use our cell phones as alarms and they charge on our nightstand.

09.February.2011

Lillian – I’m not a very good cook if that makes you feel any better.

09.February.2011

Ew! Not a great wake up call. I like the charging station, maybe I could rig something like that up in the bedroom. I have to sleep next to my phone because that’s when 95% of my mommies go into labor!

09.February.2011

This post had me laughing out loud. But in all seriousness, I love the charging station. Great idea!

09.February.2011

Love the cell phone draw idea!! Totally gonna do that!

10.February.2011

Ohh sorry. I feel your pain! LOve the ideas.

10.February.2011

I had a similar cat poop incident this morning too! I love the sliding door idea.

10.February.2011

I had a similar poo story a few weeks ago. I smelled something horrible in the middle of the night and as I got up to turn the light on, I stepped in one of the piles (we have a big dog). My husband slept through the entire thing…..imagine that. :) Lights on…horrible smell and windows frozen shut.

Where did you find that table that you keep your electronics in?

10.February.2011

Sarah – The console table was a clearanced Target.com find. Someday I’d like to replace it because it’s kind of wobbly. I definitely can’t put anything heavy on it.

11.February.2011

I love your creative charging station, I’m like some of the other commenters and I pathetically charge mine on my nightstand. I need a creative and tidy charging “station” like yours…could a weekend project be on the horizon?! :)

12.February.2011

Do you know that when you leave your charger connected to the socket like that, even if there’s no phone connected to the charger it still drains power and increases your electricity bill?

13.February.2011

THAT BED!!! i felt in love with…

14.February.2011

Blue – That’s a very good point! If I remember, I’ll start unplugging it in the morning when I take my phone off the charger.

15.February.2011

Poop as a wake up call, not fun at all. Maybe its a good thing I havent given in and gotten a dog yet. I love your charging station, though knowing me I would forget my charged phone in the drawer so instead i keep a charger in my purse and take it with me to work.