Organizational challenge: The Kitchen

Welcome to week number two! How did everyone survive week one? I haven't seen any photos.. If you are embarking on the challenge with me, I'de love to see your progress!

Let's take a peek in what I've done to our kitchen.

Aside from the remodel (I am going to cover that in a different post), I did re organize my cupboards.

My cupboard space nearly doubled from the house we used to live in, it is nice to have some that look "empty" simple because they don't HAVE to be full!

These are the shelves on either side of the kitchen sink:

It took a little convincing to get Jimmy to go along with the open shelving concept, (and painting the insides was a PAIN) but I LOVE it! and I am so thankful that I stuck to my guns! Unloading the dishwasher is a breeze. I can see everything, and I enjoy the look of them, our eclectic stash of pickle jar glasses, wedding glasses and coffee cups!

Above, you see the Dishwasher and the stuff I keep near it is basically all "A" items, but more specifically A items are on the lowest shelf, B in the middle and C Items up high. This seriously makes unloading the dishwasher complete in a FLASH! 

Then there is our coffee station:

I have my cute "T" cups and our leaky tea pot up high ("C" Items), the coffee, tea and mugs on the middle shelf ("B" Items), and the K-cups, straws and sugar on the lower shelf which are our everyday "a" items! 

The Keurig is  below, along with my Scentsy. I keep the glass pitcher full of water to eliminate having to move the reservoir every time it runs out; plus - the pitcher was a "C" item, that I loved, and now has become an "A" item! 

Some of you might remember me complaining via facebook about how hard it was to make the sippy cups look pretty on my open shelves... I wasn't liking more baskets and they obviously couldn't sit out... so they live in one of three places: James' hand, the dishwasher or the dishdrainer. it is what it is, and we always have access to them! 

just keepin' it real!

I keep hand soap and some lotion by the sink, too! 

The lower cabinets on this half of the kitchen look something like this:

Animal things & Cleaners

Vases, lightbulbs, fire extinguisher

Trashbags & dishwasher soap!

The drawers look like this:

James' "parental guidance needed" activities & Apron

Dish towels and rags ( I really miss the big, deep drawer I had for towels at the old house)

and... the junk drawer. :)

Lets look at the other half of the kitchen...

The peninsula is a gather place of EVERYTHING... I'm working on what to do about this "drop zone"...

On the counter, I've got a jar of pacifiers, the dog training spray bottle, olive oil, spices and the microwave. All A items.

The upper cupboards all have food, so I consider those "Pantry" and will address them in a later post.

The lower cabinets, however are as follows:

Griddle and tupperwear

Pots....

...and pans!

And the misc. small appliances!

The drawers look something like this:

This is next to the fridge... On the fridge I have our monthly church schedule and my meal plan so I can easily see what needs to be done, on the front of the fridge I hang our family's calendar so I know who needs to be where, when! Not the prettiest system, but it works for me! (I get my calendars off of Pintrest by searching for "free printable 2015 calendar").

This little nook is just above the stove, I couldn't find a practical use for it, so its just decorative! 

 I think thats about it.. I love that nearly everything has a "HOME" when I get back from Walmart it is nice to be able just put everything in it's place! 

That's my kitchen!

~paige

7 Week Organizational Challenge : Week One Recap

Good Saturday Morning! 

I have been working overtime this week in an effort to encourage YOU that it can be done! From now on, I will be a week ahead of each of you. This will provide photo proof that the tasks can be completed and give you some ideas of how to do it! (that's my hope anyways!)

So as week one, the master bedroom, comes to a close, here is my progress! It was quite the task seeing as this room has been totally ignored since we moved in. It was the catch all, the place no one else saw and so I kept telling myself it didn't need painted, or organized; that it didn't matter. Man oh man! what a difference having a completed, organized, relaxing bedroom makes! 

Jimmy insisted that we should paint it and complete it, just as we have the rest of the mail level of our home. I cannot take all the credit for this room, because he worked VERY hard to get it al ready for me to organize and decorate, and I appreciate his work VERY much! 

This was our room when the day care was still here:

The single light on the wall was the ONLY lighting in the room. It was SO dark.

I kid you not, this is what our room has looked like since we moved in... 

I'm embarrassed as I type... 

That heater, ugh... pain in the behind! It is radiant heat, which I can live with, but this thing was SO inconsistent! We woke up multiple nights with it being 79+ degrees in our room.  And if I turned it off, it took a full 24 hours to not be hot to the touch.  Bye Bye heater! 

Here is my mirror propped up on an [unpacked] suitcase, and our disasters of closets.

Our headboard was too big for this room without some adjustments, so for now we don't have one. I hate that. I have a plan of what I am going to do, but am searching for JUST the right item..

For some reason I had myself convinced that our bed could NOT go under the window (where the heater used to be) but upon my husband thinking otherwise, we tried it and I love it! 

Mid closet clean out! 

hard at work...

And boy did that hard work pay off! Check out our FINISHED (aside from the future headboard) Master bedroom! 

I just want to go curl up on my bed as I look at these pictures! I am in love! 

I really like the accent wall behind the bed.

I took to heart what the January calendar says about getting rid of anything you don't find useful or beautiful. 

The basket on top of my dresser hold those misc. things that collect and make your dresser look messy. (heating pad, change jar, chapstick etc.)

Jimmy's dresser houses some photos and my jewelry box and my neckless & earring organizer hang above it. 

Don't our closets look so much better? 

Lets take a peek inside! :D

Focusing on the "A, B &C" zones really helped me to organize the closets! 

Now jimmy's Tshirts and Flannels are easy to access, dress shirts a lower, still easy for sunday mornings and the misc. stuff and my skirt hangers are on the other side!

Here is my side before...

And after! I have my boxes of special things i've collected over the year and my heels up top, pants on the left, and all my shirts organized by style/ sleeve length. and then my boots and shoes are below!

All clean! All organized! :) 

~paige

Scarf Organization

My scarf collection has always been an organizational issue for me:

I have tried the "shower curtain rings on the hanger" trick and it failed, they always slid to one side or another and the mass of scarves I own made for a VERY bulky hanger in the closet.

My next attempt was a scarf hanger made of a bunch of little circles for each scarf to rest in. Aside from the same issue of bulk, it also snagged some of my scarves and was just a pain. 

So I always settle for them all over the house, on our door, in the closet, in my dress, on the entry way hooks, in the car, on the counter. basically where ever they land is where they live. 

It's a pain! 

Until I found THIS:

   

I am pretty sure its a rack for thread, but when I saw it , it just screamed SCARF ORGANIZATION!! So I mounted it on the wall behind our bedroom door, And in a matter of minutes, my scarves went from this:

To this! 

Now we can access the other necessities on the door rack (belts, tanks, etc.)

And I can easily see all my scarves and easily access them! 

I'm not positive, but I would venture to say I will wear a bigger variety of my scarves now too, since they are easier to get to and not piled on top of one another! 

So, if you are like me and have a growing scarf collection scarf addiction, keep you eyes peeled for one of these thread racks! 

~paige