Organization is key

This summer was my favorite.  It was the first summer since having Lilli and Scarlett that I was able to really relax and enjoy the long days and nights.  When they were babies and toddlers the summers were harder because being a mom at home was tougher than being a teacher at school most days! But I guess the ages of 4 and 7 created the magic combination.  The girls slept in (or at least let ME sleep in!) and stayed up late.  We did crafts and went to the pool and played LOTS at home.  I won't lie, they spent too time on their IPads.  But it gave us all some sanity and that screen time has already dropped since we are back at school this fall.

The point of all of this is to say I finally accomplished some mini goals I have had around the house since we moved in almost 3 years ago.  I tried to really focus on organizing our spaces and making them more efficient.  I trashed tons of junk and sold the rest at yard sales.

I started in our kitchen with our craft closet.  I use this space for any of the painting, playdohing, magic sanding and coloring that the girls do in the kitchen.  Even though we have a playroom, I don't trust Scarlett upstairs with scissors.  We also use this space for some random paper goods like napkins and ziploc bags and batteries and party games. It was driving me crazy that it was all mixed together!

Just look at this hot mess of fun.

I had to take everything out first.  Needed to see what I was working with.

I immediately started questioning my life decisions.  And sent pictures to my friends as an SOS.  No one showed up.

I spy a little girl on an Ipad...otherwise every counter is covered in junk.

 I worked for a good hour trashing and organizing.  I pulled any items that I didn't want the girls to get into, like superglue and lighters.  How did we dodge a bullet thus far without Scarlett burning the house down I will never know.    I started in this closet because I knew that I had baskets and some cute containers on hand.  Because that's the most important thing, cute organizers.  Here is the finished closet! 

Surprisingly it still looks like this a month later!  The baskets up top have ugly stuff in them.

 

Pretend they say "create", "color" and "paint" because that is what they will once my girl Beth comes over and writes them in her pretty handwriting.  

What I noticed when cleaning out that closet was that I needed my own space for MY crafts.  Like sewing and painting with big girl paints.  Sometimes I get around to doing that.  So I moved to our cabinet by the fridge.  I found more goodies there.

Found some familiar names in here!

If it is hand written in Granny Margaret or my Granny's cookbooks, it is ALWAYS worth trying.

So many cookbooks.  And I don't even use them, I just look it up on pinterest.  Shame.

I pulled my pretty cookbooks out and put them on display in the island.  But now this has a section for all the letters and cards I never write and send.  And it has a place for my DSLR that I never get out and use.  

I wish it always looked like this, but unfortunately this is our "catch all" space. 

 A few days later I tackled the pantry!  I am embarrassed to admit I threw away food from 2012.  We didn't even live in this house in 2012.  It wasn't messy but it wasn't organized like I wanted it to be.  Fixed that!

Everything we eat is processed and packaged.  Don't hate.

After the pantry came the cleaning closet.  Also known as the closet under the stairs that we threw stuff in.  I had some brooms in there. And three vacuums.  For someone who hates cleaning floors I have lots of vacuum cleaners.  I had cleaning products all over the house and I wanted them all in one spot.

Blank space.  So I asked Jason to install a shelf and some hooks for me that I already had.  He is also going to install the light fixture.

 This one is my favorite space yet!

I just love it so very much.  We still have access to the space under the bottom half of the stairs.

The over the door organizer is also handy to use on vacation/cruise for your hair and beauty stuff where space is limited!

I also organized the girl's closets, but no pictures of that.  Jason loves efficiency so he was super excited to come home and find these spaces!!  I like feeling accomplished and crossing these projects off my list!