Happy Holidays!

Starting January 1st we will be kicking off a new year new you series with healthy diet, recipes and free workouts!

Project update

Well I've been busy! In the past six days I've re-organized:
1) Rian's closet
2) My master bathroom
3) My half of my "shared" office (I have two offices, one for personal & one for business). My personal office has been a disaster catch all since before I was pregnant with Rian! I'm still working on this space to perfect & beautify it, but as you can see, it's vastly improved! It took me days to empty my files (and bags & bags of shredded paper)!

Rian's Closet Before

After

Master Bath Before

After

Shared Office Before

After

  sorry, I didn't vacuum the floor yet! But I will tomorrow ;-)

I'm still working on labeling and perfecting these bins - I'm still in the "sorting" stage but I wanted to post the pics for now...

 Master Closet...

I am still working on my master bedroom closet, I'm chipping away at it daily. I'll post these pics tomorrow. I love my closet and the more I organize it, the more I want to live in it! So for me, I've really been overjoyed with my projects because they make me excited to work on these projects and add creativity and make them more beautiful and more liveable!

Closet Project

Scarlett's Closet Before:

 

Scarlett's Closet After:

The great thing about doing this closet, I had everything around my house! Except for the three flowerpots (I plan on painting an S and O and an S on each one).  I am also going to replace the baskets on the top shelf with more colorful baskets that are the same size - those should be here by Friday, they are closetmaid from Amazon.

This project only took me 45 mins.  Once I emptied everything out of the closet, I made the following piles:
Keep
Donate
Recycle
Trash

Then I moved my bookcase back in and started sorting the books and putting them back, then the shoe caddy and the baskets up top.  Her clothes were already organized (I try to stay on top of that). The biggest task on this closet was what to throw away.  What I have learned is that you must get rid of everything immediately.  I take the trash & recycling directly to the bin, put the donation bag in my car and reorganize my "keeps" in a appealing way.

Blogs I have found extremely helpful are:

iheartorganizing

abowlfulloflemons

theidearoom

All of these blogs are excellent and a great source of ideas & inspiration!

My Organizing Project Update

It has been 2 weeks since I started my organizing project and I couldn't be happier! My life is seriously easier! In fact, I saved about $300 last week in groceries alone (because of my new organized refrigerator)! Now that is worth it right there.

So far I've completed my mudroom/laundry room and my kitchen.  What I've learned thus far is I'm pretty organized, I just have clutter.  So the biggest challenge for me is to purge.  I've done great these past two weeks.  I've donated, gone to Consignment and hit the dump. I love consignment because I make money there!  So here is my to do list for this coming week:

1st floor closet
Scarlett's closets
Rian's closet
Master BR Closet
Basement Gym Closet

If I can complete these I will be in very good shape! Today we are taking a family trip to Ikea, I can hardly wait! We have our shopping list and I am ready to see what awaits me - so excited!

Before our trip I have to make protein pumpkin pancakes for the family, go for my Hill Run, shower and then we are out the door.

Here are some updates from last weeks tasks:
 

 I added labels to each drawer in my fridge

 and on the sides of the fridge

 and on the doors

Here is my Spice Cabinet BEFORE:

and AFTER:

so much easier! I put my tea that used to be on the 2nd shelf on the 3rd shelf, added a two tier lazy susan (that was already there) to the 2nd shelf (I labeled each spot so I know what spices are what) and bought at Bed Bath & Beyond (with my 20% coupon) this awesome spice rack that hold 18 bottles.  I already had the 3 tier spice rack.  It's now much more functional and makes me happy when I'm cooking.

So when I get home from Ikea I'm going to figure out what to do with this hall closet.

On the top right there used to be games, but yesterday (before I took pictures) I moved the games to our LR table - emptied the whole thing out and put the games in, much more complete now - so I opened up some good space in the top of the closet.

Here is the problem the bottom of the closet! This is where we keep 3 vacuum cleaners! Well two vacuum and one steam cleaner.  I need to get rid of this stacked shoe rack.  I put it in yesterday for shoes but realized I don't need it for shoes b/c our shoes go in the mudroom, so I'll relocate it to Scarlett's closet when I get there this week.  What I'd like to do with this closet (after I make my huzb empty out his 500 coats) is make a two tier rod instead of having one long one. We will see what IKEA has to help me with this predicament.

 Something can also be done here, maybe an over the door organizer, we'll see what I find.





Wish me luck

An Organized Life

For as long as I can remember my New Years Resolution has always been: be more organized! I'm a Virgo so it's in my blood. I've got the label maker, the pretty baskets, the contact paper, the creativity... What I've been lacking is the time and the motivation to begin.

I've got two kids who are 2 and 3 years old

 Two Dogs who are old!

A husband, house to clean and busy life to maintain.  I know you all can relate!

Lately my desire to purge and re-organize has out done any excuse I can invent. I've thrown in the towel and begun my arduous journey toward utter and complete organization. My goal - and it's a big one - is to do it by Dec 31!

Why now? Well, the best way to start a weight loss plan is to be organized, be prepared, have all of your ducks in a row.  What better way to start the new year than with a new you.  If your house is in order, your life will feel more in order, more in control! How much easier will it be for you to plan out your meals if your kitchen is in perfect working order, if you have a running inventory of everything inside your pantry, cabinets, refrigerator and freezer? Well, that is what I did. 

I started out with my:


Pantry/mud room/laundry room (it's one big room)

BEFORE:

So far, I have completed my laundry room/pantry/mudroom! This room took me an ENTIRE week to do! But as you will see, the after pictures are well worth the time invested. You may wonder how on earth I had the time to do it? I woke up at 4:30 every morning and got started.  I had my plan of action laid out and I just purged, boxed, packed, donated and tried to make a sensible plan of how I wanted my space to look. Every spare minute I could find, I used to work and improve my space.  

Here is how my laundry room looks now: AFTER

 

The most important thing here was to clear the clutter. I got this GREAT roller caddy for the kids crafts at Michaels. Labeled each drawer for their specific task, i.e., coloring books, stickers, paints, paper, crayons... and wa-la it's perfect! 

 Next I labeled and assigned a bin for each family member.

 

Clean slate - I just got rid of the clutter! So much prettier, I actually WANT to do laundry now!

I found this beautiful contact paper at Marshall's and went to town. Love the finished look. It's actually pretty now! Then I decided since it was so visible it had to be pretty to the eye. So I reorganized each shelf.  Don't know if you can see it but the bottom right is where we store the dog food and the pull for the lid is a dog head - love that!

Laundry Cabinets Before:

Bottom Shelf Before:

 

AFTER:

Everything is containerized - now I just have to label each one. I don't really need to because they are in clear plastic and I can see what's in each one, but I think it looks prettier with nice labels and I love to make pretty things! Notice the piggy bank here.  I got this idea from Pinterest - BRILLIANT! I will use the extra money for something for the kiddos. In case you are wondering, I got all of these containers (clear and white) at Walmart $1.99 & $3.50. The white ones with the handles are excellent for grabbing what I need and then sliding them right back into place! That is the key - putting it all back into it's proper place! Everything should have a "home" that is why using these containers is so vital to successful organizing!

  

Bottom shelf of my laundry cabinet.  Again I got two empty laundry baskets - these will be used for mine & my husbands clothes in one and the kids clothes in the other. I still need to label them.  The bottom shelf is all of the dog towels and dog blankets and extra table clothes - will label those as well ;-)


KITCHEN PANTRY BEFORE:

DURING: The key here is to get it all out and start with a clean slate. Go through everything and don't be afraid to TOSS or DONATE what you don't want/eat! Make room for what you do eat.

KITCHEN PANTRY AFTER:

KITCHEN CABINETS BEFORE:

Don't be afraid to move things around - make it work for you. I had to re-work this cabinet a few times before it felt right.  I wanted the kids foods/snacks all in one place.

AFTER:

COOKING CABINET BEFORE: 

AFTER:

CORNER CABINET BEFORE:

 

AFTER:

REFRIGERATOR AFTER:

I still have to line the pull out drawers! I ran out of refrigerator liner paper.  I bought all that Marshall's had so I have to wait a few days for them to restock ;-) And I just may make some pretty labels for the condiments in the door - why not?!

FREEZER AFTER:

Everything here is labeled! I can't tell you how much easier it is to have a dedicated shelf for each thing.  Bread, Leftovers, Fruit, Veggies, Kids Food, Meats/Fish, Grains. I used file folders to separate each food, so there is a folder between the salmon and the sole and so on...

SPICE CABINET BEFORE:

SPICE CABINET AFTER:

 
And that is the laundry room and kitchen! Now I'm off to feed the kids and get ready for my workout! Today is Trap-Bar Dead Lift day - ouch! After my workout I will walk for an hour to get rid of the built up lactic acid in my muscles - it's fantastic.  Then back home to organize the 1st floor hall closet!

Please feel free to share your ideas here and to post any questions or comments!

xoxoxxo,

Tracey