Entirely Smitten

Clutter-Free Ways to Save Your Children's Artwork!

{Clutter-Free Challenge} Day 23

Time Needed: 45 minutes - 2 hours

Physical Rating: Light Duty

Emotional Rating: MINIMAL!!!

Please trust me when I say this one will be easy- no hard decisions to make at all!

 

As a mother of three truly artsy kiddos, I used to struggle with what to do with everything they made.  No parent ever feels good about throwing out their child's artwork, but who has the room to store everything they've ever made?  By the time my oldest was 6 we had boxes and files and drawers full of her stuff.  It was borderline obscene how much artwork we had.  Then one day I decided to face my demons head on.  Get rid of it all?!!  No way!  I wasn't that brave, but I did spend about an hour snapping photos of all the art.  I saved a few really awesome pieces and put the rest in the trash GUILT-FREE! 

 

What did I do with the photos?  Did you see my hard drive stats?!  Lol.  Seriously though, I created an artwork folder on my desktop and categorized it by artist and further broke it down by what age the art was made. 

 

Here's one of my favorites, made by Aislin when she was 3 1/2. 

(You might want to click on it to see all the details.)

Things to check out...

• The Cake - see the cake on the lower right-hand side with the single candle on it?  See how the top is round and the layers of frosting mimic the curve?!  WOW! 
• Caleb- Seriously how sweet is that drawing?
• The Eggsack - I'm sure if a psychologist got their hands on this they'd point out that because I am small and located conveniently under an eggsack that there are some issues there, but I find it absolutely hilarious.  Somewhat disturbing though, is the knife-looking object just to the left of Aislin along with a headstone looking object next to Caleb and flowers everywhere...?  Ummmm... on second thought, let's call that psychologist!
• The Title - When I asked Aislin who the drawing was for she said "It's for everyone.  Just write: 'To Everyone: I made wonderful pictures.  Love, Aislin' ok, mom?"

 

Here's another good one:

Let's just call this one a butterfly...  Hahahahahaah. 

 

Here's a font that she doodled on the back of an envelope when she was 6.

Adorable right?!

 

Here's one from Caleb's first day at pre-school:

"Me Caleb"  and his drawing is of "A Monster"  A little bit of a warning to his teachers?!

 

"What do you see?"

Caleb, my future psychoanalyst!  (I see a Storm Trooper helmet, by the way... what do you think that means?)

 

 

So now what?  All the art just sits on your computer forever? 

NOPE.  C'mon, you know me better than that!

Use a photo service to create art gallery books!  You can create a yearly book with all of your children's art in it, or create separate books for each child each year, or save all your artwork photos and make a book for each kiddo on a certain milestone- maybe their 16th birthday?  (A great time to embarrass them with it and secretly impress them!)

Here are some options for creating photobooks:

Picaboo - I'm seriously obsessed with Picaboo.  Ever since my sister Jena recommended it, I've been hooked.  Every year we make photo memory books for our parents for Christmas and we keep one for ourselves as well.

What I like:

• Super easy to use - Just download their free software and start creating projects.  I like that once you upload photos into the program they are always available.
• Extremely Customizable - Choose the type of book you want, layout style of the pages, backgrounds, etc.  Everything is available right from their dashboard.  Awesome backgrounds to choose from, fonts, photo editing right within the program... seriously amazing.  
• High Quality - Looks like a book you would buy in a bookstore.  You can choose to have a custom photo cover, or a canvas frame cover, or even real leather if you're feeling fancy!
• Great Price - Although the prices seem the same as other sites, I have NEVER paid full price for my books.  They are always offering a "Buy one, get one" deal or 30% off, or free shipping.  

I can't rave about them enough!  If for some reason you want to look around, there are many others to choose from:

  Inkubook is a company devoted to preserving memories with photobooks.  The photobooks start at $9.95 for a 20-page soft cover book.  They also do wall calendars!

Snapfish - I get mixed reviews from friends on Snapfish... some rave and some RANT!  I have never used them so I cannot speak from experience, but they are another resource here.

Shutterfly - Their prices are a bit higher than Snapfish and Picaboo, but I've heard only good things about them and they always seem to have good deals :)  I have only used them for prints ONCE and they were great!

Lulu - What's different here is that you can publish and sell your work!  Maybe your child is trying to raise money for a charity like my little friend Ella from "Ella's Ipads" or maybe you have great recipes and you'd like to create and sell your own Recipe Book, or maybe you are a photographer and you'd like to create and sell a coffee table book... Lulu is definitely the way to go :) 

 

Whichever company you go with, the end result will be priceless!  How much would you love to have a photobook of all the silly art you made and poems you wrote and love notes your parents found?  Your kiddos will thank you for it.   I'd love to hear about it.  I'd also LOVE to see some hilarious artwork made by your kiddos/grandbabies/ nieces and nephews!!!  Aren't you glad I didn't pressure you to toughen up and throw it all out?!  I would never.  Not on this one anyway!

End The Kitchen Calamity (Part 3)

{Clutter-Free Challenge} Day 22

Purge and Organize Small Appliances and Bakeware

 

Time Needed: 15 -25 minutes

Physical Rating: Light Duty

Emotional Rating: Possible Attachment Anxiety

 

This is our small appliance cabinet which is located to the right of our stove.  This is another cabinet I never really cared for.  We raised the shelf up really high to store our grill tools and to leave space at the bottom for our appliances.  I wanted to create shelving for the appliances as well, but no matter how I configured the space something was always going to be tucked behind something else anyway, so why bother? 

 

Here's where we keep our bakeware - cookie sheets, muffin tins, cake pans, etc.  Seems logical, but it's not really convenient.  If you haven't noticed, digging for things is my least favorite thing to do, and by the end of this challenge I have hope that my house will be a dig-free zone!

 

Drum roll please...

After moving all of my food items to the pantry, the cabinet over the microwave was left blissfully vacant.  It now houses our Ninja food processor/blender, (which I'm totally in love with and use CONSTANTLY),  Hello Kitty waffle maker (Of course we love that!), mini pie maker, and our hot sandwich grill.  I didn't purge any of my appliances, because I truly use them all the time, but if you have some "as seen on TV" stuff collecting dust- TOSS IT!  You'll notice that a mixer is not pictured.  My stand mixer AND my hand mixer kicked the bucket on Thanksgiving and I still haven't replaced them - my right bicep, tricep, and forearm are totally beach-ready!

 

Once the appliances were moved, we had plenty of space in the cabinet for our bakeware.  I lowered the shelf to a height that would allow for the griddle to fit, but still leave space at the top for muffin tins and cake pans.  To separate the space below, Hubs created a divider with some square trim and dowels that we had on hand.

 

Here's a close up of the divider.  As you can see he cut two identical lengths of the square trim, carefully drilled holes into both pieces, and inserted the dowels with a dab of Gorilla Wood Glue.  Then he secured it into place with a brad nailer.  So easy!

 

I'm super excited about this little project.  Before, with the cabinet storage being so cluttered and the fact that we make pancakes and waffles almost daily, the griddle basically just came to live on our counter top.  I'm so glad that part of my life is over!!!  I'm really starting to feel this overhaul come together.  Maybe it's this amazing weather.  Maybe it's the de-cluttering.  Maybe it's both.  Whatever it is, I feel FANTASTIC! 

Happy de-cluttering!

Declutter Your Computer

{Clutter-Free Challenge} Day 21

 

Time Needed: 45 minutes - 2 hours

Physical Rating: Minimal

Emotional Rating: HARD

The only reason I marked the emotional rating as hard was this project seems really daunting, miserable, and thankless.  In actuality, it is none of those things!  This project is mostly painless and you will feel great having done it :)  So, let's get at it!

 

No joke, this is my desktop...I'm pretty sure I'm a computer's worst nightmare.  Between my 12.5 MP camera and my "snap a million photos every day" attitude, I can really hog up some serious memory.  It doesn't help that when it comes to photo organization I'm a complete slob.  Sometimes it can take me hours to find a specific photo that I'm looking for because the album titles are misleading and there's no rhyme or reason to how they're kept- some on the desktop, some in a folder, some in a folder within a folder within a folder.  Today, I will put an end to it all!

 

As you can see, my C drive has seen better days.  I decided to start really slow by just taking care of the desktop, then working my way to other locations.  Here was my to do list:

1. Delete all unnecessary items on the desktop.
2. Create a "Photos" folder on the desktop.
3. Within the new "Photos" folder create a folder for each member of the family and another titled "events."
4. Create a "Home Videos" folder on the desktop.
5. Within the "Home Videos" folder, create a folder for each child and another titled "events."
6. Slowly sift through all the random photos and folders of photos, placing each item where it should go. 
7. When you encounter crummy photos or duplicates, just delete them.
8. When finished, empty the Recycling Bin.

 

Personally, unless a photo is from a significant event, I file it according to who is in the photo.  In addition to each family member having their own folder, I also have a folder marked "Kids" and "Mixed Family" to store photos of my kids and my extended family with my family. 

There are so many different ways to sort photos- chronologically, by season, by event, by uploaded batch from the camera, by who is in the photo, etc.  There are also a TON of programs that will do this for you.  I've been experimenting with Picasa for the last couple of months.  It's a free program that allows you to organize, edit, and share your photos quickly and easily.  So far I like it, but because my computer was jam packed with photos, it was overwhelming to try to use.  Now that I have purged my crappy and useless and duplicate photos and streamlined what was left, I may find that I like it much better.

 

Here is my desktop after!  It looks much better, but did I make a dent on the amount of hard drive space I was sucking up?

 

Not as much as I would have liked.  Unsatisfied with the result I went back into some of my folders and deleted some more photos.  It took a LOT for me to delete the amount that I did.  I will admit that I was very wimpy.  I didn't delete very many candids unless they were totally crappy photos.  I did however limit myself to ONE photo from every posed photo series.  I mean really... how many photos do I need of my child standing in front of a sunflower?

 

YAY!  I was able to free up over 20 GB in pictures alone!  Let's see what I can do about clearing out some old files and documents that are no longer relevant...

Pretty darn good for DOCUMENTS!  I'm already noticing a difference in my computer.  No more pop-ups telling me that I'm using too much memory :)  Do you have my computer purge beat?  How many GB did you free up?

Organize your Entryway!

{Clutter-Free Challenge} Day 20!

 

Time Needed: 15-45 minutes

Physical Rating: Light Duty

Emotional Rating: Minimal

 

This is our mudroom.  If you don't know the story about this little number, take a peek here... you might be surprised to find out how it was made :)  Although we created this mudroom with our specific needs in mind, there were certain things we just didn't account for...

 

Like for instance, the ridiculous amount of shoes our daughters have!  There is just no need for this many shoes to be stored in our mudroom.

 

It's easy to imagine the frustrations caused by this many shoes packed into those drawers.  Like, "I can't find my other shoe!"  and "Mama, how come I have two left shoes of these?" and "Ummm, these don't fit me." all of which I've had the pleasure of hearing from my children and typically it's 38 seconds before the bus is due to arrive.

Here's my solution:

First off I purged everything that needed to go.  Then I chose a few pairs of shoes for each child that could remain in the drawers and sent the rest to the kids' bedrooms.  Because we are a "no shoes on in the house" kind of family, the kids are programmed to take their shoes off at the door and place them in the mudroom, so the shoes will undoubtedly pile up again.  To try to prevent it, I added "bring shoes upstairs" to the kid's chores on Fridays.  They are pretty good about chores, so I'm sure it'll work out great :)

 

I have to say that I'm super excited about spring.  No more big, bulky coats to store inside the little closet part and no more hats, mittens, and scarves spilling over in the baskets on the shelves!  Also since all the shoes now fit inside of the drawers, the cubbies are available for backpacks, lunchbags, and other "quick-grab" items for getting ready in the morning.

For the most part, I love my mudroom area.  If you are able to do something similar just make sure to look at everything realistically.  Will you have enough space for everyone's bare essentials?  What about storage for guests' items?  If you are only going to create enough storage for in-season items, where will you store the items that are out of season?  Just food for thought :)

You don't need an actual mudroom to have a mudroom area.  Check out these great ways to store all of your catch-all items!

 

I love this simple mudroom bench with hooks from Ellmania.  The colorful, clustered coat hooks are so fun!

 

You know I love me some IKEA!

 

Although this doesn't take care of coats, I love the command center with the bench and baskets.  It looks GREAT! 

 

Not Martha was coveting the j-me shoe rack and decided to make her own version.  Isn't it AWESOME?!

 

Thea's Mania really knows how to make a mudroom feel colorful and happy!  Her blog is so fun to peruse since she is such a color genius.  Be sure to use google translator though ;)

 

Real Simple converts a small coat closet into a super organized mudroom area.   Lovely :)

 

This one is my FAVORITE.  Country Living never disappoints.  Two cupboards for storage with a cute, little bench between for putting on shoes.  Perfectly executed!

 

Had I not already built a mudroom, this would have been the project that I splurged on.  Is it normal that mudrooms make me giddy?!

 

 

 

 

Organize Your Makeup and Beauty Tools

{Clutter-Free Challenge} Day 19

 

Time Needed: 20 minutes - 1 hour

Physical Rating: Minimal

Emotional Rating: Possible Attachment Anxiety

Ugh.

So here is my makeup clutter.  Yes, that is a full-size reusable shopping bag.  I have a little bit to purge I guess!  The theme for this project is the same as all the others: purge then organize.  Remember, just because you spent a bazillion dollars on a product does not mean you should keep it.  If you hate it, or it doesn't work, or it expired before you even used it, DUMP it :)  The money you spent on those products is gone and keeping the clutter around is an attempt to atone for the purchase.  Throwing it away will do more than just remove clutter from your space, it will make you think twice the next time you go to make a hasty purchase.

 

Ta-da!

I found this over-the-door organizer months ago at Marshall's.  It was on clearance for $7.99!  It couldn't have worked out more perfectly for this job!  I purged the makeup that I hated and/or never wore and I was still left with a generous collection.  What I love about this method of organizing cosmetics is the clutter-proof factor.  Each step of my makeup routine has its own pocket so as soon as I'm finished with a product it goes right back into its own spot.  I have had cosmetic cases and bags before, but being the incredibly lazy/rushed person that I am, I would unconsciously decide that putting things away as I went was too time consuming and I would leave it all out on my sink or just dump it all into my makeup bag with the fantasy that I would "put everything away later."  LIES! 

I've had this organization system in place for 2 weeks and not once have I left a single product out after applying my makeup!  That's a miracle for me.

Here's how it's organized:

Row 1:

• Primer
• Liquid Foundations
• Concealer, Contouring, Brow filler
• Mineral Foundations

Row 2:

• Bronzer
• Mattifying Powder, Highlighting
• Finishing Powder
• Lipsticks, Lip Glosses, Lip Balms, Lip Pencils

Row 3:

• Eye Liner Pencils, Liquid Liners
• Mascaras
• Blushes
• Eye Shadow Compacts

Row 4:

• Makeup Sponges
• Disposable Liquid Eyeliner Applicators
• Disposable Mascara Wands
• Disposable Lipgloss Brushes

Row 5:

• Brushes
• Eye Makeup Remover, Brush Cleaner
• Cotton Rounds
• Setting Mist

 

Ok, so I know that's a lot of stuff, but I don't wear it all at once!  Certain occasions call for different types of products.  Also, as far as the disposable applicators go: I'm not an environment ruiner, I swear!  There are only two items in my house that we use disposable for and that's toilet paper and my make up applicators.  Here's why I use disposable: I pay good money for safe, natural makeup so I want to make sure it lasts as long as possible.  I hate having to throw out a $30 tube of mascara because it dried out or because it became contaminated with whatever disgusting germs happened to be on my eyes one day.  Disposable makeup applicators are a small investment that will save you money in the long run.  Visit Qosmedix for good quality disposable makeup applicators for next to nothing!

 

1. Lips and Eyes Ultimate Cosmetics Organizer $29.99
2. Over-The-Door shoe organizer $10.99
3. Clear Cosmetic Tray $14.99
4. ASKER container $5.99 each and hooks $3.99/ 5 pack
5. Bamboo Space Saving Desk Organizer $27.67
6. Nifty Cosmetic Organizing Carousel $23.64
7. BEKVAM spice rack $3.99

 

My Hair Tool Storage

My mom saved a ton of office mailboxes that her company was going to throw away.  I used some in my craft room, but there were still a bunch left over.  Because they are made of metal mesh, they are perfect for storing not-quite-cooled hair tools.  I installed a coat hook for my blow dryer because it was too fat to fit in a mailbox.  It's the hair tool I use the most so it's actually a bonus that it's so handy.

Where to buy:

Wire Mesh Wall File - $16.94

Wall Hook - $4.54

 

Of all the projects we've done so far, this is the one that I've appreciated the most.  I can honestly say that my life has improved because of this one little task.  The time that I've saved goes without saying and the lack of stress when I'm getting ready is PRICELESS!  I hope you enjoy this one as much as I do!

 

Clearing Out Your Linen Closet

{Clutter-Free Challenge} Day 18

 

Time Needed: 30-45 minutes

Physical Rating: Light Duty

Emotional Rating: Possible Attachment Anxiety

Just for the record, I feel like this clutter photo more than makes up for my lack of photos yesterday!So here is our linen closet.  I've always really hated this closet.  It's way too deep to be functional and becomes a dumping ground rather quickly.  Eventually I plan to fix that, but for today I'm all about de-cluttering.

 

Step 1: Dump and Sort!

As always, I recommend the dump and sort method because you are less likely to fill your beautiful, empty space with the stuff you don't love.  There should be 3 piles, "Keep," "Donate," and "Trash."  Be sensible about what you keep.  Each bed only needs two sheet sets to rotate between.  If you have seasonal sheets only keep out the sets which are in season to avoid a jam packed linen closet.  Donate items that are in good condition but that you no longer care for or have found to be superfluous.  Trash any items that are ripped or stained.  (You can also donate these items to animal shelters, as they are ALWAYS needed!)

Step 2: Organize!

I think the most frustrating part of this process is folding the fitted sheet.  Here's a photo tutorial on how to fold a fitted sheet perfectly:

1. Folding the sheet lengthwise, match the inside corner seems together and tuck one side into the other as shown.  2. Fold the bottom up until the sides are squared as shown.  3. Bring the new bottom edge up to meet the top and gently smooth the sheet side to side.  4. Fold one side in to about the halfway mark.  5. And the other side.  6. Close both sides like a book and ta-da!

 

Repeat with the top sheet.  To get the top sheet to match the fitted sheet: Fold in half lengthwise, then width-wise.  Then fold in half lengthwise twice.  This will bring you to step 3 above and you can finish the same way!

 

Once the flat and fitted sheet have been folded as described, they should fit perfectly side by side in a pillowcase!

 

Fold over the rest of the pillowcase and you'll be left with this all-in-one set.  When sheets need to be changed you can just reach in and grab a fresh set.  No hunting for matches!

WOW!

After purging the junk and creating my grab-and-go sheet sets, my linen closet feels so much better.  From top to bottom: 2 sets of guest sheets, master bedroom 2 sets, 3 crib sheets and 2 twin sets, spare blankets (I kept more than I wanted to, but my kids are huge on fort building.)

 

Holy moly!  Is that the floor I see?  No way!

What I purged:

• 12 misfit pillowcases
• 9 fitted sheets (various sizes)
• 5 flat sheets (various sizes)
• 2 blankets
• 1 bedskirt
• 1 crib set with bumpers, etc

I have to admit I was slightly horrified at how much clutter was in there.  It's not like I was saving it all because I was attached to it or because I thought we needed it.  I was just straight up oblivious to the amount of crap that was in there.  Scary.  There isn't a day that goes by where I don't thank myself for committing to this!

Managing Your Media Items

{Clutter-Free Challenge} Day 17

 

Time Needed: 20 minutes - 1 hour

Physical Rating: Light - Medium

Emotional Rating: Possible Attachment Anxiety

 

Ok, first off I'm going full disclosure here: We do not own a TV... or a DVD Player, or video game consoles.  Before you jump on the "Jill's a total freak" bandwagon, you should know that we had all of those things to the MAX.  We had the biggest/best flat screen TV money could buy.  We had all the video game consoles and we had a Blu-Ray player.  Then we realized that none of those things had any kind of a positive impact on our lives and we got rid of it all.  That being said, I remember the clutter that came along with all of these items and it plagued me on a daily basis.  Don't worry though, there's help :)

 

Media items are one of the most socially acceptable forms of clutter.  Nobody thinks you're a hoarder if you have 2,000 DVDs.  In fact, some people are envious.  But I'm here to remind you, that it's just stuff and collecting for the sake of collecting is in fact hoarding.  I'm not saying this from a "Holier than thou" standpoint because I don't have these items in my life, I'm saying it as a person who has lived through the DVD/Video game clutter and is still left wondering how I got out alive.  Sit down and take a good, hard look at your DVD collection.  Could you blindly grab one on movie night and be pleased with your choice?  Could you land on an absolute favorite if you were given ten tries?  A DVD collection is not supposed to be every movie ever made, it's supposed to be made up of your favorites that are watched on a regular basis.  Any movies that are iffy truly need to be purged. 

 

Once you purge what you don't love, assess what you have remaining and consider storage options.  Since this project doesn't apply to me and I don't have any before and afters of my own to share, I'll redeem myself with this round up of some seriously awesome ways to store your media items :D

1.   96 Disc Holder on Amazon $13.99 - Great for those DVDS!  I would use each color for a different category- Kids Movies, Comedies, Dramas, Thrillers, etc.  These would take up WAY less room than all those DVD cases, not too mention way better looking! 
2. Space Saving CD/DVD Storage System from Brookstone $39.99 - I Love the whole concept of this one.  Open it up, all your DVD's are right there with a list of where to find each one.  Very classy design as well. 
3. Decorative DVD Storage Suitcase from MMDesigns $79.95 - holds up to 325 DVDs!
4. 3 Hole-Punched CD Insert Pages on Amazon $24.37 - One pack holds 400 discs.  Can be used with any standard 3-ring binder.  Each category can have their own binder!
5. Leather Bound DVD Storage Binder set of 6 from Amazon $69.99 - Holds up to 288 Dvds.  I love how fancy these are!
6. 100 Pack CD Sleeves from Amazon $3.85 and KVARNVIK box with lid IKEA $7.99 - together should be able to store 100+ discs
7. Clear Acrylic DVD Storage with Color Coded Sleeves from The Container Store $24.99 - This one is pure awesome!  Comes with 60 double sided sleeves in 6 colors for easy categorizing!

 

I'm suddenly sad that I no longer have DVDs to store!!!  Which option is your favorite?

 

End The Kitchen Calamity (Part 2)

{Clutter-Free Challenge} Day 16

Silverware and Small Kitchen Gadgets

 

Time Needed: 15-25 minutes

Physical Rating: Minimal

Emotional Rating: Possible Attachment Anxiety

 This one is pretty easy and follows the same idea as some of our other projects- "pull out the junk, organize what's left."  When it comes to silverware there probably won't be an issue, but those gadgets might be a different story.  Just remember, if you don't use it regularly there's no reason to keep it around.  Doesn't matter what you spent on it, who bought it for you, or how many things you could do with it- if you don't use it regularly it has to go.  That should free up space for everything you do need.

Take a peek at my silverware and small gadget drawers.  I'm sure you saw the problem with this right away, but it took a few years of aggravation for it to finally click with me... Why on earth am I using the big drawer for the small amount of silverware and the little drawer for the massive collection of gadgets?!  I noticed that if I stored the silverware horizontally within the small drawer they would fit perfectly leaving extra room for knives in the back.  That would then free up the big drawer for my little gadgets :)

 

I informed Hubs of the plan and he went right to work on it (at 11:30 pm after a full night at work no less!)  He used scrap wood fastened together like a ladder to create dividers within the drawer.  Nothing fancy, but I'm PUMPED about how great it came out!

 

I also wanted wood dividers within the gadget drawer, but apparently Hubs wanted to sleep...?  (He acts like it's... oh god it IS 1 am!!!)  I popped the silverware tray back in and it actually worked out well for my gadgets.  I will more than likely build wooden dividers of some sort, but for now this will work out great :)

 

What a difference!  More functional and easier on the eyes!!!  I know I say this every day, but I'm really getting addicted to de-cluttering.  I really thought the novelty would have worn off by now, but I find myself being annoyed when I have to pull myself away from my projects!  It also explains why I've been averaging 5 hours of sleep each night!  I'll tell you what, the projects themselves are a breeze... late night blogging?  Not so much!  I love doing it though and I know you guys appreciate it so I'm going to keep on keeping on!

 

End the Kitchen Calamity (Part 1)

{Clutter-Free Challenge} Day 15

Pantry and Food Cabinets

Time Needed: 45 minutes - 2 hours

Physical Rating: Light-Medium

Emotional Rating: Minimal

 

The kitchen is one of the most clutter prone areas in a home.  Getting to the root of the kitchen clutter is harder than you'd think.  Most people casually blame their lack of storage space as the cause for their clutter, but in reality that's just not true.  The solution to kitchen clutter is not more storage, it's smarter storage. 

 

My Pantry HELL :)

This is our so-called pantry.  (Please note the reusable bags at the bottom.  A whole lot of good they do me in there!)  You can't tell from the photo, but this closet is pretty deep and could store a lot more food if the unnecessary junk was removed.

 

This is the cabinet over my microwave.  As you can see I use it to store baking supplies.  Being a whopping 5'4" tall, this cabinet has become the bane of my existence over the last few years.  By moving these items to the pantry, they will be within arm's reach as opposed to arm + tippy toes + wooden spoon's reach!

 

These are my 3 food cabinets, all of which are loathed with every fiber of my being:

I absolutely hate them!  The size and shape of them, the awkward placement within the kitchen itself, ugh!  My plan is to move everything I can into the pantry so that I can have open shelving for dishes only in the kitchen.  (If you follow me on Pinterest you know I've been fantasizing about this for a VERY long time.)

 

After dumping the junk that we don't like or has expired or that we will never use, I realized that we don't even need that much storage for the items we do like and eat!  (Yes that IS Halloween candy!  We aren't huge on candy around these parts. Cookies?  Well that's a different story!)

YAY!

From top to bottom:

• Baking supplies (within reach!!!) 
• Pasta, Rice, Beans, Sauces, Eggs (Yep, NOT refrigerated... the perks of backyard chickens!)
• Snacks, Chips, Crackers, Breakfast items
• fruits and veggies in baskets (for lots of info on the best plastic-free ways to store fruits and veggies, check out Washington's Green Grocer)
• bread machine and flower bulbs

 

As you can see, I love glass jars.  I like to use chalkboard paint on them to create labels for what's inside each jar.  I have a bit of catching up to do it seems!  For a how-to on that click here :)

 

I think my favorite part of moving everything into the pantry is the fact that my children will no longer have a reason to climb all over my counters.  (It won't actually stop them from climbing on them, they just won't have a reason to do it anymore!)  I used an extra paper tray from my craft room to store all their favorite breakfast items right within their reach.

Success!

Aside from our bread and cereal, I was able to relocate EVERYTHING!  I plan on reworking the pantry a bit to truly maximize space so that I can finally have my open shelving!  So close I can taste it :D

Send Your Sock Basket Packing!

{Clutter-Free Challenge} Day 14

 

Time Needed: 15 minutes - 2 HOURS!!!

Physical Rating: Minimal

Emotional Rating: Minimal

 

I'm pretty sure everyone has one of these bad boys and I think I speak for all of us when I say that they are a HUGE time-sucker.  Our sock basket is actually a drawer that is kept under my bed.  Why?  Because when I used to keep them in a basket they would taunt me every time I walked by, so keeping them in a drawer under my bed made me feel like a smooth criminal.  As they say, "Out of sight, out of mind."  Well, 'tis time to rectify the problem, and let's all agree: a sock basket is a PROBLEM and not a SOLUTION!

There are so many ways to solve this problem:

• Start over- junk your current socks and purchase a distinctive sock style for each member of the family.  (I have fantasized about doing this, but my girls love to wear socks that coordinate with their outfits.)  This one certainly makes matching socks quick and painless, but it doesn't do anything for the missing sock problem.

• Mesh laundry bags- these are usually used for lingerie and other delicate items, but can certainly be used for socks.  Just don't overload the bags or they won't dry thoroughly.  If you are opting for this one, definitely get each member of your family their own bag.  They can toss their dirty socks in the bag each day and when it's time to do the laundry you won't have to worry about finding matches to wash or sorting them and matching them afterward.  Just wash and dry the bags of socks with your other laundry then distribute the bags to their owners! :) 

• Attached at the ankle- You can use temporary methods of attaching the socks- safety pins, clothespins, and "sock keepers" or you can create a permanent way to attach the socks- hook & eye clasps, metal snaps, velcro, buttons, etc.  As soon as the socks are removed, the wearer can attach them and toss them into the hamper where they will remain attached during the entire cleaning process!  No more sorting and matching, just put them away!

 

  Here I used metal snaps to attach a pair.  I like how quick and easy this one is.

 

 

See?  So easy!  You can see how you won't feel the snap on your skin because it has such a low profile.

 

Hook & Eye is definitely another option.  These go on the outside of the sock so there's no chance of feeling it.  They're also really small, so by positioning the hooks on the inside ankle of the sock you won't see them at all when they are being worn.

 

As you can see, I went with the attachment option.  If those don't hold up, the mesh bags are my back up plan.  Anything is better than a sock basket though!