Organizing Jobs Lasting Longer Than Thirty Minutes

I would have loved to have organized my pantry during April's 30 minute projects, but, I figured it would take 30 x ummmm, a lot of minutes.

Disaster.  I know.  

But Dino finished a second storage room in our basement so the plan was to move rarely used items down there, and then organize the pantry in our dining room to be a lot more user friendly.

So I bought some Dollarama bins.

Then I took everything that we still want, but don't often use, downstairs.

Then I started sorting.  

I had been keeping serving trays stacked in the bottom of my china cabinet.  It was not efficient at all so I really wanted to get them out of there and store them in the dining room pantry as well.

  

I used an old office file holder and a bread cutting board to stand them on my shelf.

It was fun to put stuff in bins...so much more easily accessible than stuff had been.  

How do you like my Sleeping With the Enemy-esque can shelf? 

Still lots of room in the basement pantry.

And completely enjoying the dining room pantry now.

Well worth the time it took!

After

Before

I have decided to designate May as DIY month.  
I will post a new project for each Sunday in the month.
Get your spray paint ready!

The Evolution of a Storage Room

Once upon a time...

My basement storage room (northwest corner) looked like this:

Then this:

Followed by this:

This:

And this:

Walls up and cement ready was a huge accomplishment.

Floor!

Framed:

Mudded:

Painted walls, painted floor, baseboards, shelves:

Fantastic!

 My super cute work bench.

And now our 2nd floor hallway is a hallway again!

It is amazing to look at the top picture and then see the reality of the finished storage room.  Dino has done wonders and continues to work non stop to finish the entire basement.  I can't wait to show you what else he's been up to.

And the Winner Is...

Thank you all so much for your fun comments during the month of April.  I hope that you are feeling organized in a few more spaces now.

And the winner of the Speedy Spring Pretty Organize is...

Congratulations!

Your prize will be delivered to you shortly.

Be sure to check the blog this week to see some basement updates!

The Fridge

I hate the fridge.

H. A. T. E.

Okay...let's back up.  THIS fridge I love.

Look how suuweeeet he is with his retro vibe!  My parents got him for us when we moved to our current home.  I had seen him in a flyer and had to do some serious pestering at Home Depot to get him delivered to my door.

THIS is the fridge I hate.

Inside

Door

I am the person who leaves things all moldy in there until my husband finally throws them out.

However, today I grabbed a pail of soapy water and a cloth, set my timer and got started.  I emptied it one shelf at a time and wiped it out.  

I got rid of anything gross or old.

 I tried to categorize a bit and keep similar items together.  In our family we make the next day's lunches as soon as the kids arrive home from school so I often have 3 lunch kits in there.  I planned for extra space while I was cleaning the top shelf out.

Before

After

There wasn't that much to sort on the door but I emptied everything and wiped it out.

It actually took awhile and I went 5 minutes overtime.

Door Before

Door After

I guess the freezer will have to wait.

And that concludes our 8 organizing sessions.  I hope you have felt encouraged to tackle some of your spaces that needed a little face lift.  

Looking forward to announcing a winner on Sunday night!

Office Tidy

It is great to have both a desk and table in my office but it is also easy to let them get covered with piles of stuff.  And yes, the point of having two work spaces is to use them both, however, every so often I need to do a little tidy so that they don't end up piled any higher.

Table Before

Desk Before

I was worried that both spaces were too much for 30 minutes but I decided that if I really focussed, I could manage it.  The problem with an office tidy is that it is really easy to get distracted with projects and to-do lists and such so my goal was to only do the task at hand.

I started with the table.

I cleared out some gift bags that we brought home from a gala the other night.  My pile of 40th birthday cards got put in my special card box.  I had a little pile of papers and magazines that needed filing.

Before

After

Moving on to the desk, I had a quick look through all the papers on top, kept what needs to be done right away under the paper weight, threw some out and filed the rest.  I have file folders for projects or tasks that are coming up soon as well as to-do's that are not a rush.  I flipped through the files and removed items that were out of date.  

Before

After

On the other side of the desk I tidied my little turquoise organizer.

Before

After

When you tackle your space try to keep your focus on getting everything into its place.  This is not the time to actually DO the many little jobs that most of us have piled up (call the doctor, pay the bills, choose the summer camp).  This is the time to organize them so that you can come back to them later and none will be forgotten or get overlooked.  

Before

After

Okay, confession.  It pushed me 5 minutes over the limit but I did a quick drawer tidy as well.

If you never use it, get rid of it.  Keep often used items in front where you can reach them easily.

Before

After

I hope that a little office organize will help you to work more efficiently in your space!