Week 3: Linen Closet

Our linen closet needed help.  Big help.  It was so bad, I'm afraid to even post before pictures.  But I will because I know there are people like me out there who have ugly, cluttered, completely disorganized closets too.  Basically our linen closet housed towels, sheets (most of them poorly folded), extra pillows, blankets, cleaning supplies, rags, extra toilet paper, baby bathtubs, potty seats...and about 3 years worth of toilet paper wrappers.  There was stuff in there that I forgot we had.  God, this is embarrassing.  Okay here we go. 

Before

Ack!  Sorry you had to see that.  Looking at it now, I can't believe I took so long to clean it all up.  As you can see, I couldn't even stand in there, let alone see the floor.  To organize it, I pulled everything out and organized them into piles: towels, sheets (according to bed size), beach towels, blankets, cleaning supplies, rags, trash, and 'attic'.  I bought 6 stacking baskets to house the towels and most of the sheets.  I wish I had at least 2 more of those baskets actually, so next time I go to Target, I'll probably pick some more up. 

 Towels got put away along the edge of the wall, and sheets along the back.  The wooden bin on the floor now holds all of my cleaning rags.  There's a spot next to the rags for the bucket (lovingly known as our puke bucket). 

Cleaning products got put away into a big bin with a lid.  Other miscellaneous items are also placed on the shelves.  I turned the mirror around so I can actually use it if I need it. 

Pillows, extra blankets/comforters are organized and on the top shelf.

So there you have it!  And it's stayed clean for over a week now!  Hopefully I won't let it get back to the "Land of The Lost" again.  On to the next!

Week 2: Pantry Organization

Well I'm already behind on my goal of completing one home project a week.  This time, my excuse was sickness.  At least one of us was sick everyday for the last two weeks.  We're not all 100%, but life is back to normal enough to finally get back to this blog. 


This week, I organized our pantry.  We're blessed that our little house has the potential of having good closet space - we just need to utilize that space correctly.  So my first step in utilizing storage space was with the kitchen pantry.  It didn't turn out the way I had envisioned, but it gave me some ideas for other parts of the house that need help.  


Alright, so here's my before picture. The outside.  Not so bad. 

The inside.  Yikes!  Obviously way overdue for some TLO (tender loving organization).

I started by taking everything out and throwing away expired items.  Then my helper and I organized what was left into six bins.

 

 The final result

It's better, but I'm not quite in love yet.  I'm thinking of adding some paper to the shelves to look something like this...

....but that seems like a lot of work and I have too many other things around this house that need my attention.  So we shall see if I get motivated to tackle that one!

A Work In-Progress

While I'm working on this week's project (pantry organization!), I wanted to talk about something that I've been working on for a little while: My daughter's "big girl room".  Right now, her room is perfect for a baby, but it doesn't quite fit the four-year-old that she is today.  She loves fairies, so I'm playing around with a fairy-themed room, using one of her favorite puzzles as my inspiration. 


This is her room now:

Lots of pink pink pink!  Her "new" room will have a twin bed, a dresser without a changing pad, and the glider will be retired to the attic. 


And here is my inspiration: Melissa and Doug floor puzzle

Her wall color will be "lemon grass green", kind of like the lawn behind the fairies in the puzzle, and I found an adorable wall sticky that says, "I believe in fairies" 


Other accents that I'm hoping to incorporate are:
"floating" fairies

Fairy growth chart

purple gazebo over her bed

New toy storage:

I've got all these great ideas but I can't decide on the right bedding.  I'll keep you updated on my progress.  I can't wait to have it finished and unveil it to my daughter!