Some of the Best Things in Life are Mistakes: Organization Challenge

Showing posts with label Organization Challenge. Show all posts

Time to Straighten the Playroom!

Today was one of those rare times that I had the house to myself! I was supposed to go the oncologist for a checkup at 3:30 so Aaron brought the two youngest kids to his mom's house for her to watch them while he worked. My oldest daughter was at school. Right before I left my house to head to the hospital for the appointment, the nurse called to reschedule for another day. Since Aaron was already gone with the kids, I had the house to myself!

I decided to make the most of my time. I looked around the house and saw that the playroom was a disaster! (Yes, those "before" pictures are real. The kids have really been slobs lately!) Since the kids weren't there to distract me, it was a great time to straighten up in there and throw out broken toys and donate unused toys to the church nursery. It is so much easier to do that when the kids aren't there making the decisions about whether they can separate from every single toy. I was so excited to finally throw out all of those old McDonald's Happy Meal toys!

You can read my original post about how we turned our dining room into a playroom here.

Some of you may be looking at the "after" pictures and thinking, "that is still a lot of clutter." Well, it is. I have to cut it down in shifts. If I take away too many toys at once, they will notice. The changes I made today are subtle enough that they will enjoy the neatness of it without noticing that things are missing.

I didn't touch the large closets against the wall because Sydney and I just recently organized those together. You can read my post about organizing those beasts here.

Some tips for you if you decide to take on your playroom:

1. Make sure the kids are not home. They will try and distract you from your mission.

2. Devote at least an hour to the project. Turn on the TV or radio to make the best of the time.

3. Bring a garbage bag or three.

4. Have a vacuum with extensions handy, you will need them. There will be food in every possible crevice.

5. Use Sterlite boxes or totes to keep things contained. I especially love Thirty-One products.

30 Days to Organization- Day 9

Day 9 of The 30 Days to Organization Challenge is supposed to be organizing my car. I keep putting it off so I have decided to skip it and move on to the rest of the challenge tomorrow. It is just too cold and wet out to be bothered with organizing and vacuuming my minivan. I know, excuses, excuses!

Messy Front Seat

Even Messier Back Seat

Maybe when the spring comes I will be more motivated! The car really needs to be cleaned out, dusted and vacuumed. I will post pictures when I actually get around to it. Now on to day 10!

Check out the original blog post where I have linked up the first 8 days of the challenge.

Organization Challenge Day 8- Sinks, Sinks, Sinks

Our little townhouse has limited space but we are fortunate to have three bathrooms. We have full bathrooms in our master bedroom and in the kids' room. We have a half bathroom downstairs. With three bathrooms, we have three sinks that attract clutter underneath. Today's organization challenge was to clean and organize the cabinets under all three sinks:

Master Bathroom Cabinet Before and After

Downstairs Bathroom Cabinet Before and After

Kids Bathroom Cabinet Before and After

It actually took less time than I thought it would to complete today's project. It only took one garbage bag to clear out the clutter underneath all three sinks. It was such a sense of accomplishment when I finished.

Click here to see the original Organization Challenge post.

Organization Challenge- Day 7 Jewelry Boxes

This was an easy day for me. I don't have a lot of jewelry. Most of the jewelry that I have, I don't even wear much. I used to wear jewelry more when I was working. I was a teacher for 12 years and I used to put on a nice necklace to go with my outfit. I am not saying that stay at home moms can't wear jewelry but it is not for me. My two little ones love to pull on long necklaces and try to eat the beads.

Jewelry Box Before

You may be wondering why I don't have too many earrings. The answer to that is back in 1989. My little brother pulled my enormous 80's style hoops out of my ears and ripped holes in both my lobes. He claims to have no recollection of this incident. To this day I can not wear heavy earrings or the hole will rip through. I also can't wear really small earrings because they fall right through the hole.

Jewelry Box After

I don't own a lot of "good" jewelry. The only piece of monetary value is my engagement/wedding ring and that never leaves my finger. The rest of it is costume type jewelry. I decided to throw away many of the faded or "green" pieces and I gave some of the "too" gaudy pieces to my mother. If you know my mother, you know that she always matches her jewelry to her outfits.

I made use of the bottom section for some of the lesser used pieces

You can read about the organization challenge in this blog post.

30 Days to Organization- Day 6 Diaper Bags

The Old Diaper Bag

Day 6 of the Organization Challenge was to clean out the diaper bags. I had this black and pink diaper bag from Carters and it just wasn't cutting it. It was too small to handle everything I needed for the two babies. So I decided to get a bigger diaper bag.

My new diaper bag

I ordered this bag from Thirty-One. A friend of mine sells Thirty One bags and I got this at a party and I love it! I am going through a personalization phase so I love that this bag is monogrammed.

The bag is now nicely organized and has plenty of room to hold Lucas and Ella's coats when they take them off. I saved the changing pad from the old diaper bag since this new bag didn't come with one.

Sydney asked if this post was about her and when
I said no she jumped into the picture.

The bag has lots of outside pockets. The side pockets are perfect for holding bottles and sippy cups. When I am done with the diaper bag phase of life, these pockets will still come in handy if I use the bag for a beach bag or other fun things.

Since I have two babies in separate nurseries at church on Sundays, I have a small separate diaper bag for Lucas. My new diaper bag has so much room that I can carry the little bag inside it until we get to church. My mom bought these cute zipper pulls for their bags so that the nursery workers know that the bags belong to us.

Organization Challenge Day 5- Bagging the Bags

Day 5 of my organization challenge was to organize my purses. For me, the inside of my purses weren't too bad, it was the number of purses that was a problem. So I decided to "bag" the bags. I kept these six bags:

When I cleaned out these bags, I found some things in the tiny pockets. I found 7 lipsticks, three dollars and an Epi Pen.

I decided to giveaway and sell the rest of the bags:

I gave this bag to my niece. She didn't want the others.

I sold this bag

I sold this bag

I think that Day 5 was a huge success. I gained more room in my closet by slimming down my purse collection. My niece got a "new to her" bag. I made some money by selling some of the bags.

30 Days to Organization- Day 4

I know. I know. This is turning out to be the 30 week challenge instead of the 30 day challenge. I get it- I am a little behind. OK- a lot behind!

I have completed Day 4 of the challenge. You can read the the original 30 Days to Organization post here. Day 4's assignment was the laundry room. I have more of a laundry nook here in our little townhouse. You can read about the size of our home in this blog post.

Our laundry nook is located in the upstairs hallway right outside the bedrooms. Growing up our laundry room was in the basement so I always associate laundry with the long trek down to the ~~dungeon~~ basement. It is nice to have the washer and dryer right outside the rooms where the laundry is generated and where it is folded and put away. No stairs to climb!

For the challenge I cleaned off the top of the dryer that was covered in socks that were looking for mates. Both the washer and the dryer needed a good wipe down both inside and out. I made room on the shelf to store the laundry baskets when they weren't being used.

It was a small project but I still feel a sense of accomplishment. Plus the house seems bigger with the laundry baskets stored on the shelf instead of on the floor in the hallway.

Organization Challenge Day 3- YUCK!

You can read about my 30 Day Organization Challenge in this blog post. You can read about Day 1 in this blog post. You can read about Day 2 in this blog post.

I completed Day 3 this afternoon. Day 3's assignment was to clean and organize the fridge/freezer. This time I kept my "assistant" in her high chair and let her supervise the job!

Here is the before picture. I decided that it might be best to wait until this little "helper" was in his crib for a nap before I started the clean out.

I took out each drawer and shelf and wiped them out completely. They were so disgusting!!!! Yuck!!!! I am so glad that I included the fridge in this challenge.

This is all of the expired food that I found in the fridge. Yuck!!!!

This is the finished project!! All clean and organized!!

Organization Challenge Day 2- Out of the Closet!

You can read about my 30 Day Organization Challenge in this blog post. You can read about Day 1 in this blog post.

I completed Day 2 this morning. Day 2's assignment was to organize the closets in the playroom. As you can see in this picture

It is not always easy working with an assistant. She is so curious. That stockpile of toilet paper was just too tempting for her.

The closet on the left is Aaron's closet. It contains some of his tools and the overflow small kitchen appliances that don't fit in the kitchen cabinets. It doesn't look too bad.

The middle closet was organized last week. You can see all of the before and after pictures in this blog post.

The closet on the right is for large toys overflow, extra blankets and my toilet paper and paper towel stockpile. You can see my assistant hard at work.

Cheaters Never Prosper! Day 1

I challenged myself and any readers that want to join me to a 30 Day Organization Challenge. When I wrote the challenge, I cheated a bit. I made the first day an easy one. I knew that organizing under our beds would be quick and simple. There is really only one bed. The babies are in cribs and there is nothing under them and Sydney has a bunk bed so there is nothing to organize there. That leaves the bed in the master bedroom.

Our bed is a king size so there is tons of room to hide things away under there. I started by removing the things that had made there way under the bed. I found a pair of Crocs, a stray throw pillow, a ball, a Woody from Toy Story doll and some lost socks. So that is where all of the missing socks go!

I then started vacuuming all of the dust that had built up under there. I guess I missed a sock because the vacuum suddenly lost all suction. There seems to be a sock stuck in the vacuum hose. I tried a wire coat hanger and a broom handle but I can't get the sock out!

Now I have to wait for Aaron to get home to see if he can get the sock out. I hope that it doesn't mean that we need to buy a new hose or even a new vacuum. I guess that I can declare Day 1 as a failure. That is what I get for cheating!

30 Days to Organization

This is my 30 Day challenge to get my home organized. Depending on the size of your home, you may need more or less than 30 days to complete your own challenge.

1. under beds

2. closets in playroom

8. under bathroom sinks

9. car

10. coat closet

11. kitchen cabinets

12. lingerie drawer