Final Week

Here we are in week four...only one hour of organizing away from the big prize draw!!

Our last two projects will be:

~office/desk tidy

~the fridge

See you tomorrow!

Wardrobe

Today I tackled my wardrobe.  

Goals:

~Move sweaters from other locations of my bedroom into the wardrobe.

~Give bathing suits a bigger box.

~Make room for new swim towel.

~Purge.

~General tidy.

First I grabbed sweaters that I was storing in my closet, moved them to the wardrobe and instead put turtlenecks on the closet shelf.

Before

After

Next, I went through all my sweaters, purged a few, and then sorted them into piles for winter, cardigan, summer, etc..  You can sort according to categories that make sense to you.  I put them all on the top 2 shelves of the wardrobe.  If you have limited space, store off season sweaters in a box in your closet or under your bed.

Before

After

I wanted to use a pretty box I had to store swim suits and cover ups as they were overflowing out of their turquoise basket.  I also have a fab Hudson Bay swim towel that has been sitting on a bench in my room since Christmas so I wanted to make space to store it as well.

I used the now empty turquoise basket to store small purses.

After

Before

I decided to hang purses with long straps on the doors.

It's easy to get lazy and just toss clothes into spots that are the most convenient, but then I find that I forget where I've put something and end up not wearing it for awhile until I discover it hiding under a purse or whatever.  The extra second it takes to put it back on its pile helps me to wear it more often, and also helps me to realize which sweaters I am not ever wearing and really should be purging.

Before

After

Happy Organizing!

Bathroom Drawer

 This top drawer of the dresser in our bathroom is full of my stuff.

I have lots of organizers and for the most part it's not so bad in there but every so often it needs a little tidy.

What I wanted to focus on for this project was getting rid of stuff I will never use.  I have a hard time with waste.  But the truth is, whether it sits in my drawer for 6 years unused or sits in the garbage dump, either way, it is wasted.  

If you have toiletries that you know you really will not use, the goal today is to either donate them (if they are new), pass them on to a friend who might love that scented lotion that gives you hives, or, as a last resort, throw them out.

So, with timer set, I split my drawer into 3 sections and got sorting.

I was able to clear out a bunch of elastics and hair stuff that actually belonged to the kids.  I also took out one of the hair sprays and left it on my dresser so I will use it up...I am terrible at starting a new bottle before the old one is gone.

Before

After

The middle bins got a little tidy and items that did not really belong got moved.

Before

After

I sorted through the make up and organized a bit.  This clear plastic organizer is from Ikea and I love it!  Beside the hairspray I also left out some furniture pads which Dino and I were supposed to put on the legs of the dresser weeks ago.  

Before

After

After 25 minutes I was done and while putting some nail polishes away in the second drawer, I noticed that it was breaking apart.  So I ended up emptying it out, getting Dino to fix it, and then replacing everything - so it got a little tidy up as well. 

Before

After

Guess what did not feel wasteful to throw away?  This ridiculous motion sickness bracelet did not work and as far as I am concerned, is complete MALARKY!  

Not to mention it looks like some sort of Jane Fonda work out gear.

Have fun pretty organizing your toiletries space!

Speedy Spring Pretty Organize Week Three

We're half way there guys!  

2 hours gone, 4 spaces pretty organized.

Many names in the hat.

We are enjoying the updated areas around our home and so far things have been maintained.  

For week three we are moving to the personal stuff.  

~bathroom drawer

~my wardrobe

Now you may have a cupboard rather than a drawer in your bathroom and a dresser rather than a wardrobe...but basically, it's my make up area and sweaters.

See you tomorrow!

Nightmare Cupboard

This is our candy cupboard.  

Want a closer look?

Yah, I know.  Yikers.

The problem?

Bag upon bag of candy that belongs to a specific kid.  I want to just have general bins we dump it all into but they want to keep some of their treats separate.  Of course I can't blame them, which is why I end up with multiple bags flung up there in a general state of disaster.

The solution?

Dollarama.  

A jar for every one of us (except hubby...who does not have a sweet tooth) and a couple of general storage bins.

Process:

~Grab garbage bag.

~Set timer.

~Label storage.

~Sort!

~Purge!

The upper shelf in the cupboard held crackers.  I decided that was silly since we use crackers often and I cannot reach up there.  I switched them to a lower cupboard and instead put jello and ice cream cones up top.  This also left me more space for the general chocolate storage bin.  I love that the handles make these bins easier to grab down.

Before

After

I really need a mini egg now.

Nightmare Drawer

Gah.

This drawer drives me wacko.  I mean, I don't expect perfection, but surely the kids could do a smidge better than this?

In considering my strategy for making the art drawer less chaotic, I also had to take into account the cupboard below it where we keep play-doh and a few other art supplies.  

Art Cupboard

Art Drawer

There is a 2 drawer storage unit in the cupboard behind the large pad of paper that I thought I might be able to use to coral a bit of the clutter from the drawer.

So, I got my timer, garbage bag, and give away bag and got to work.

When I started emptying the drawer, this is what I found.  

Under the garbage and colouring books...a big ol' load of pens, pencils, pencil crayons and markers.  But we had a pencil crayon container and a pencil case for crayons.  Another zip up bag was supposed to store markers...so what I realized was that our system was not working because it was too complicated.  And really not necessary.  

I grabbed all the colouring stuff and put it in one of the big drawers from the cupboard.  Now the kids can just grab it and bring it right up to the counter when they need it.  Clean up will be easy because there won't be any sorting.

The other issue seemed to be that we had way too many pens and pencils.  I cannot tell you where they all came from, but look how many I was able to take out of the drawer.  

With the main problems solved, the rest was easy.  I purged some items that the kids never used and got rid of a shopping bag full of garbage.

I sorted items like stamps and stickers and gave them each a container.  I put the pens and pencils in their own box but if I find that it's not working, I will just put them in with the colouring implements as well.

Cupboard After

Drawer After

As I said at the beginning, I don't expect perfection and I do not imagine that it will look exactly like this all the time.  But keeping some general sense of order in here so that the kids can have find what they need when they are working on homework or doing a craft just makes sense.  I gave them a tour of the new space when they arrived home from school so that they can take responsibility for ensuring that things get put back in their place.

What drawer causes nightmares at your house??

Nightmare Week

This week we are gonna tackle the nightmares.  First drawer, then cupboard.  You know, those spaces in your home that just do NOT stay organized and end up driving you nutso?

 In our house that's the art drawer and the candy cupboard.  

So start thinking about which areas you will choose in your house and then consider WHY they are a nightmare.  Chances are something is not working quite right or they would not be so hard to keep tidy.

~Is there just too much stuff?

~Do you need to sort more efficiently?

~Is your sorting too specific?

~Does your whole family know the system of organization that you are using?

~Do you need to give in on something?
~Do you need to buy/find some different storage containers?

 Realizing why things are not working will help you to be able to figure out a strategy to improve your space during the 30 minute clean.


Happy Easter Everyone!!
And before I go I want to leave a big shout out to my sister-in-law Heather, who took last week's inspiration shot and created gorgeous similar arrangements for our family's celebrations this weekend.  

Big ARG to the fuzziness...I had forgotten my camera and my blackberry did not do justice.  
Link us a better picture in the comments Heather!!