The Organized Homemaker #6: Baking/Spice Cabinet

 After a slight delay I'm back to organizing. Again, I'm working in the kitchen. I tackled one of my most used areas...the baking/spice cabinet. Come and take a look. 

Here is the before shot.

My main issues with this cabinet was gaining access to my spices. As you can see the containers were stacked. Not only did I need to sort through the spice containers, but in many cases I had to move the oil bottles out of the way. It was a major pain!

Not only that, but many items were no longer labeled correctly and some that were labeled were starting to have the labels come off. It was time for an update. 

I emptied the cabinet, removed labels and washed all of the containers. 

As I was filling containers I added instructions on the underside of the lid, if needed. 

This was the solution for the spices. 

I am in love! At first I purchased two racks. After they were up I asked Chuck if he thought two more would work. I was able to have a space for all of the spices plus to add my baking sprinkles. Seriously, I can't say love, love, love enough.

I keep oils, vinegar and vanilla in these glass bottles. Sometime there would be oil on the bottle that would end up in the bottom of the cabinet. In order to prevent that from happening I placed them in a plastic bin. It will be much easier to wash out the bin instead of the entire bottom of the cabinet. 

Here is the complete, finished cabinet.  It may sound silly, but it brings me joy to open this cabinet. Everything has a place, everything is labeled and I'm super happy. I only wish I had done this sooner!

I'm enjoying working toward an organized home. I've set a goal to have the inside of my home completely organized and deep cleaned by the end of March. I feel like this a goal I can reach without added stress. Check back next week to see that are I tackle next. 

Wendi 

The Organized Home #5: Kitchen Cabinets & Drawers

 Another week and another organized area. This time I'm in the kitchen. I tackled the cabinets and drawers. Come on in and see what I've been being doing. 

Let's start in the cabinet that houses dishes and water bottles. 

My main focus was the top shelf. The water bottles were driving me crazy! You see I am not tall and I have to pull over the stool to reach this top shelf. Even with the stool I was still reaching as I shuffled the water bottles around to get the one I wanted. 

I saw a water bottle organizer and was hopeful that it would work. 

It works great! My short girl hack is that I will use tongs to help me reach items. Now that the bottles aren't stacked behind each other I can easily reach the bottles with my famous tongs.  *smile* My family likes to tease me about using them. But, hey, whatever works, right? 

Some the spaces only need a wipe out and then to have items straightened. 

It's crazy how many crumbs end up in drawers that only have clean items put into them.

At this point I'd reached the feeling of , "I made a mess, and now I have to clean it up stage." I'm sure we can all relate. *smile*

This is the cabinet that received the most decluttering and rearranging. If I had my way all of the plastic storage containers would be out of here. Now, hubby disagrees. I get his point, as he worries about breakage as he transports leftovers to and from work. 

I did move the glass storage bowls to make them more accessible. I also got rid of some containers that I was no longer using. 

Chrissy from One Season to the Next recently wrote a decluttering post where she mentioned her junk drawer.  Not a junk drawer, but a junk area! 

This area becomes the drop zone for anything and everything. Hum, like a toothbrush. Yikes! It needed to have the batteries removed and of course ended up in the junk area!

I took the time to put things back into their proper home and threw out a bunch of "junk." I'd like to say it will stay this way, but I'd be lying. I am going to try to be intentional about giving this area a reset more often. 

In the end these are the items that didn't make the cut. They have been bagged and will make their way to the donation center this week. 

There is one cabinet that I didn't touch. It's the baking/spice cabinet. It's getting a nice makeover and I will share that in a later post. 

I'm enjoying working toward an organized home. I'll be back next week to share the next area I tackle.

Wendi 

An Organized Home #4: Here, There, and Everywhere

Another week and another organized area or two or more. Since I've been snowed in and now that we are having windchills close to -25 it seems like a good time to wipe some organizing task off my list.

This closet is in our third bedroom. As I've been organizing other areas it had become a catch all. Things I knew that needed a new home, but the question was where. 

Shelf by shelf things were taken down, sorted and a home was found for every thing. Yes, every thing in the above pictures now has a place. Nothing was shifted to another area to be delt with later. 

 Chuck said, "Oh, you're doing an order of operation." I said no, just good home keeping! Women were keeping organized homes well before the business world put a name to it. *smile*

I don't know about you, but I really don't everyone who passes through my home to see all of my storage. The solution was to add a curtain. 

I know that a closet door would be idea. Years ago when desk top computers were the thing, this space was used as a small office space. Hence, no door. 

Also in this room is this cube shelf. It holds a variety of items. 

Things were put in their proper place and labels were made for the photo boxes. These boxes hold craft/sewing items. 

A curtain was also added to this area. The jury is still out as to if this will stay. We're not sure if it will be a hinderance since this area is accessed often. We'll see. 

Not every space needs a complete over haul. Some times the organization works, it's the execution that is the issue. *smile*  

This space only needed to be straightened. 

This space is under the sink in the bath. 

I was able to move a bunch of things to the closet. I cut my hair several years ago and there were things like hot rollers, regular rollers, and bun wraps. Things I no longer use. To the left of the drawer unit are items that Chuck uses that were in a drawer. 

Megan had all of her things in one drawer of the vanity. She is a young woman and really needed more space. Chuck was fine with his items moving here. They are extras, so he doesn't need to access them daily. 

This is another space where the organizational system works. I needed to only put the items back into the their proper space. 

Same thing with this drawer. I had thrown new items into the drawer without taking the time put them away properly. 

After taking care of these spaces I can see that our weakness is not necessarily having a place for every thing, but actually putting things in their place neatly. 

I'm enjoying working toward an organized home. I'll be back next week to share the next place I tackle.

Wendi 

An Organized Home #3: Laundry Area

Another week and another area organized. This time we're in my laundry area. This space is in my garage. The thing about a laundry in the garage is that it's hard to keep clean. Dirty cars in and out,

plus a ton of projects take place in this space.

With that said, it doesn't mean I don't want this area to be clean, organized, and pretty.  Right after Christmas I mentioned that we (meaning Chuck!) had to repair the dryer. That started this whole project. 

I took one look at the mess left after the dryer was pulled out and knew that I was going to clean, which lead to a reset of the entire area. 

  

I started at the top and worked my way down. Every thing was taken off of the top of the cabinets. The containers were cleaned and labeled. 

 

Like I said I wanted this area to be pretty. Well, as pretty as a space in a garage can be. Honestly, the containers and stuff on top of the cabinets was anything but pretty.  The solution was to purchase some fabric and make a curtain to cover this area. 

The curtain serves two purposes. It hides the stored items and it will cut down and the dust and dirt. Is it perfect? No. Does it serve its purpose? Yes. 

Next it was time to tackle the inside of the cabinets. 

Once I had removed all of the items I decided to use some peel and stick wallpaper I had on hand to add to the back of the cabinets. 

I love how it turned out!

Next I purged and organized the items returning to the cabinets. Even Megan said, "Wow!' when she opened the cabinet. 

Here is the area complete.

Now, let me be honest... I live in a working home. So this is a picture a few minutes after the finished picture. 

You'll notice the empty hangers

that have been gathered from the closets. The cardboard box for donations. I hate it in this location, but I live in a small home and this is the best place for it. You know, real life. Oh, and most days the laundry baskets are in use and sitting on the floor in front of the washer and dryer. 

There is a ton of disillusion on social media of perfection. I want my spaces to be pretty and organized, but honestly a perfect space every second is not realistic when you actually use your home. It's a great reminder for myself, as I sometimes play the comparison game when watching YouTube or viewing social media. It's great to glean ideas, as long as we realize we have working homes. *smile*

I'm enjoying working toward an organized home. I'll be back next week to share the next space I tackle.

Wendi 

An Organized Home #2: Living Room Closet

Another week and another area organized. I think everyone is excited about this project. Years ago we put shelves to the side of the closet to hold games.  As Megan has grown the games have been downsized. We only had a handful left and honestly we weren't playing them much. 

 

I removed my novels from the top shelf and moved the games to that area. Sorry, no pictures of that as it's a tight space that doesn't photograph well.  Anyway, that cleared up space on the shelves. 

As you know I watch my great-nephew. A little guy in the house means toys. I gathered up some containers to sort them. I then had no place to store them. They ended up either hanging out in our third bedroom or in the garage. Frankly, we were all tired of the toys containers being in the way. 

The perfect solution was to store the toys in this closet. I had some unutilized space, plus it's in the room where we spend most of our time.

Is it just me or does it seem like things go from bad to worse while cleaning and organizing?

Ben is two (official 31 months) and has a speech delay. He is barely putting two words together. A therapist comes to my home each Friday. One of the things she recommended is to limit toys. I have a small amount of toys that are out everyday and then I store the rest away. I pull out bins for specific play and then rotate a small amount of toys to stay out all the time. 

I had most of the bins on hand. I did have to purchase four bins to replace the ones on this shelf. These held some home decor and will be relocated. 

Although I will encourage him to have permission to open the closet to retrieve toys I know that two years old often get into things they shouldn't. *smile*

I put things I definitely don't want him into on this shelf. Books (he is rough), puzzles, craft items and some toys that didn't fit elsewhere. 

The rest of the toys are on bins on the side shelf. 

There are only a few things that wouldn't fit in here. A shopping cart, car, and two balls. I will continue to store those in our third bedroom. 

I've extremely pleased with how this turned out. The bonus is that I was able to move out some toys he's outgrown to store in the barn. 

I'm looking forward to having an organized home. I'll be back next week to share the next area I tackle. 

Wendi

An Organized Home #1: Seasonal Decor Shed

As I was contemplating where to begin my organizing it made sense to start with this shed since I was putting away the Christmas decor. 

Before I show you the inside, let me tell you the story of how I ended up my own space to store seasonal decor. One day Megan and I had to run to big box hardware store and as we entered the store there was a flatbed cart with a large box and a yellow clearance sticker. I looked and saw that it was a storage shed kit.

The box was unopened but very dirty. It had grass clippings all over the box. It looked like someone had purchased it and let it sit outside before returning the item. The shed retails for about $500 and I was able to purchase it for $100!

I made a quick call to Chuck and when he said, "Buy it!"  I immediately checked out and don't know how, but with the help of two guys I was able to stuff the box into my van. I was so excited about this deal that I left without purchasing what I had gone to buy. 

I'm not sure who was more excited about this, Chuck or myself. He was happy to have me get my stuff out of his barn!

Let's take a peek inside. 

All of the Christmas decor is to one side. The other side has seasonal decor, seasonal clothing and some home decor I rotate. The tricycle is only inside for the winter and behind it is seeding starting items and some plant containers. Oh, and there are also two kitchen chairs stored in there. We generally only use those when we host Christmas. 

I has looked last year at ordering labels for my containers. The cost was going to be too much. I had been thinking about how to label them and came up with printing the label on plain printer paper and then using contact paper to attach them. 

Some labels are more detailed than others. I only use clear storage containers, so the need for detailed labels are only needed if there is a variety of items in the container. 

As I decluttered last year I went through all of the seasonal decor bins as I decorated. 

I downsized to only four wreaths for front door. I didn't label these as I take out the needed wreath and place the previous wreath into that container. They have clear lids, which makes it easy to see what is in each one. 

Well, that was a ton of words to say I decluttered, organized and labeled my decor bins. Ha! In all seriousness, I am super pleased with how this turned out. 

I'm looking forward to having an organized home. I'll be back next week to share the next area I tackle. 

Wendi