Winter Storage

Here we go with part two of our outerwear clean up.  

The other day when we did the wardrobes, I left one pair of mitts, a hat and a winter jacket for everyone just in case April takes a turn on us.

  

I put winter boots in our footwear storage bin.  Ski pants (and evenutally jackets) get stored in a cedar chest.

Mitts, hats and scarves get stored here.

I threw the clean laundry from the other day on top.

Today we will organize whatever space you use to store your winter gear over the summer.  Grab your timer and a give away bag!

I set my timer for 15 minutes.  I pulled everything out of the bench.  Under the clean stuff are these bags (home made gift bags Corinna gave my kids presents in once) which I use to separate each kid's stuff.

Storage bags

Stuff I washed

I made one pile for each person, switching sizes down to smaller kids if possible.

Remember to be practical.  How many hats can one kid really wear?  Or mitts?  

Here is my give away pile.

I put the adult stuff in the bottom of the bench, filled one bag per kid and then stuck them in the bench in order of age.  When it is time to put away the last mitts and hat, I can just pop them in each person's bag easily.

So, why the extra 15 minutes you ask?

It always seems there are a few little fixes that need to happen.  Whether you mend a mitt or clean some soiled boots, maybe sew a button or two back on a jacket, use those last few minutes to finish up details that are tempting to just leave for Fall...in 5 months you'll be glad you did.

Thanks for the comments everyone!  

Keep updating me on your progress and I'll keep popping your name in the draw!

Outerwear Closet

Welcome to Speedy Spring Pretty Organize!

Today's project is whatever area you use to hang outerwear.

Here is what you will need for this project:

-timer

-laundry basket

-vacuum

-damp cloth

-garbage bag

-give away box

In our house, we use wardrobes to store our outer gear.  Between the four kids, there is one for girls, one for boys.  I enlisted my 2 oldest to help with this job.  Now maybe you are thinking that I cheated by using extra labor.  Honestly, I could have done it more quickly myself, but I wanted them to take ownership of how they maintain their spaces.

Here is the process:

-I set the timer for 20 minutes.

-I had them put all winter jackets, ski pants, and mitts in the laundry basket.

-They put winter boots in our winter storage bin.

-I got them to hang everything that could be hung.

-They emptied their wardrobe bins of garbage and items that should not have been there.  

-They vacuumed the shelf and put bins and school bags in neatly.

-They removed all shoes and vacuumed the rug and floor of wardrobe.

-They wiped the floor out with a damp cloth including any mud on the doors.

-Shoes and rain boots went back in neatly.

-Any items that they had grown out of got put in the give away box.

Before

Before

After 20 minutes the timer went off and they were done.  I then used the remaining 10 minutes to load the outerwear from the laundry basket into the machine, and then later to unload it and rehang the jackets.  The ski pants and mitts I popped into our storage boxes which is where we will focus our time for our next project.

After

After

Your area will obviously look different than ours.  Perhaps you have a hall closet.  Or maybe you have hooks where you hang your stuff.  No matter the space, you can follow the same principles of hanging items, washing winter clothes, vacuuming up dirt, wiping out floors, and removing garbage and things that do not belong.

HAPPY ORGANIZING!!

Speedy Spring Pretty Organize

As I announced last week, for the month of April I am launching my Speedy Spring Pretty Organize.  I will do 2 projects per week, each lasting no longer than 30 minutes.  By the end of the month we will have 8 organized spaces for only 4 hours of work.

On Sunday evenings I will announce what the projects will be for that week.  Then on Mondays and Wednesdays I will post what I did in my house.

Whether you are organizing along with me or not, for every comment that you leave on the blog during the month of April (not on Facebook) I will enter your name in a draw for 

a twenty-five dollar gift card to HomeSense.

Get organized, then get prettified!!  How can you go wrong?

The winner will be announced on Sunday, April 29th.
(so, no more comments on the 30th :))

If you are doing the organizing along with me and you want to post a picture of your work in the comments, I'd love to see your results!!

PROJECTS THIS WEEK

~outerwear closet/hanging area~

~winter hat/mitt storage area~

Announcement

Spring Cleaning season is upon us!

And there is so much more I'd rather do.  Not to mention, reno mode is not really the best of times to decide to do a top to bottom clean up.  3 seconds after your multi hour scour...oh look, another layer of drywall dust everywhere.

Swell.

So!  Instead, next Sunday, April 1st I will be introducing my 

SPEEDY SPRING PRETTY ORGANIZE.

I will be walking you through 2 organizing projects each week in April.  Each project will take no longer than 30 minutes.  There will be a prize opportunity!  Oh how I love prizes!!

By month end, you will have the potential to have 8 spaces in your home organized without having committed more than 4 hours.

If this sounds good to you, check back on Sunday, April 1st to get full details and to hear about the first 2 projects.

Jones Design Company via fleuretica.com

Happy Spring Break Everyone!!

Joy!

I had the pleasure of working with Joy yesterday.  She is one busy lady with 4 sweet kiddos 5 and under.  She wanted me to help her sort out their rooms a bit.  The time had come for baby to move from her parents' room so the goal was for us to arrange a girl room and a boy room.  

Here you can see the fab loft bed Joy's husband built in order to get both girls together.

We moved it all the way against the wall to create a little space for a book shelf we stole from the boys' room.  

Before

After

We moved the dresser to the other side of the room and fit all the girls clothes into it with baskets on top for baby socks and shoes.

After

Before

 Joy is refinishing a cute desk which will live in the space where the dresser had been.

We moved a cupboard into the closet to create a spot for tidy toy storage.

After

Before

After a serious purge and sort, we ended up with 4 categories of toys and used bins from around the house to hold them which will make for easier clean up.

And now for the boys.

We used an empty filing cabinet from the basement for toy storage.

Before

After

Lego is loose in the bottom drawer so it is easy for the boys to sit on the floor and access it.  The top drawer has a bin for cars and a few larger toys.  The container on top holds all other toys.  Stuffies are literally stuffed in the corner of the closet. 

Keeping clean up for little ones basic and straight forward without too many sorting requirements, makes it much easier to train them to keep their rooms tidy.

Since we were able to empty the storage unit I switched up the dresser a bit.

Before

After

This little unit was also in the basement so I brought him up to store books.  Board books for little brother in the basket and big boy books hiding behind the door.

The chair moved into the empty space where the bookshelf had been that I brought into the girls' room.

On to the office area.

We sorted the papers on the upper shelf into file boxes.  The tool basket got switched for a prettier look.

Before

After

We found a container for pencils, set up a file box for "to do" items and sorted and purged random papers.

Before

After

We did some more sorting and purging through the boxes on the shelves and ta da!  

Before

After

I had a wonderful time working with Joy who is extremely creative and so sweet!  Huge thanks to her hubby for all the carrying, hanging and fixing.  

Springtime!

 I have such wonderful memories of my home growing up.  My mom is a fantastic seasonal decorator.  In the Fall she might find a remnant of fabric on sale and recover the toss cushions on the couch.  I remember a crocheted heart banner at Valentine's.  Living room rug down for winter, up for summer.  Springtime meant pussy willows and marsh marigolds placed around the house.

I love seasonal decor.  With all my stuff in storage, I've had to scale it down quite a bit but here are 3 quick, easy, cheap ideas.

ONE

Switch out blankets to move from cozy to airy.  I turned the pillow on my bed over to take it from the warm plaid look to Springy floral.

TWO

This subway art was a gift from my friend Colleen.  It is fun to change it up for every holiday.  The little jujubes are faux, but it would be just as easy to sprinkle real ones around.  I switch up the colours to match the holiday.

THREE

We all know how much flowers brighten a room.  It is easy to forget though and miss out on the daffodil and tulip season.  These guys were only $1.99 and are lasting beautifully.

HAPPY SPRING!!

Mrs. Meyer's

For the past many months, every trip to the States would include a run in to Walmart to stock up on my favourite hand soap.  

I am thrilled to announce you can now purchase Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day here in Canada at Canadian Tire.

I think the labels are adorable.  The products are also environmentally friendly.

You can also get spray cleaner.

And dish soap.

I bet you can guess which colour is my favourite. 

So far these are the only products and scents I've seen here but you can check out their website for a whole load of other great stuff and for details about how earth friendly they are.