organizing with jane

New Recipe #4: Chicken Cacciatore

2011-02-07T14:26:00.000-07:00

The votes are in: This recipe was a 4 out of 5 (5 being the best). Everyone but me thought it was a 4. I thought it was a 3, but that's probably because I was the cook. I also forgot the parsley, which would have at least made it look prettier. Oh well.

This is the last and final post with a recipe review. I'll move on to organization now.

New Recipe # 3:Home Made Macaroni and Cheese

2011-02-04T09:59:00.001-07:00

I thought this was yummy. I used mild cheddar instead of sharp and I think I would use sharp next time. I also didn't have any tomatoes, or enough of the gruyere but I loved the crusty top with the bread crumbs.

However...

This was not a favorite of the boys. They ate it but my husband said it should be more like a side than a main dish. They all ended up eating something else later on in the evening. This recipe makes a lot and I don't know if it will be good for leftovers because of the white sauce, but if you live close and you want to try it as a side for dinner tonight, you are welcome to come get some.

I guess the conclusion is that this would be good to bring to a pot luck dinner when there are a lot of other options for your plate.

The next new meal is not until Sunday. I will have all our children here and more opinions(actually I don't know if single college daughter will be home or not, but it is the Superbowl after all - no pressure).

New Recipe # 2:Stuffed Shells

2011-02-03T08:18:00.006-07:00

I don't want this to turn into a cooking blog, but here's a review on Wednesday's new recipe.

This recipe got better feedback than Tuesday's dinner. M - (22 yrs.) liked it a lot. M and K both thought the Italian sausage was a little too spicy but hamburger or chicken could replace the sausage if needed. My husband liked it too.

Another good thing about having dinner planned every night, is that we have some great conversations.

Printable Meal Planner - Plus New Recipe #1:Enchiladas

2011-02-02T11:17:00.005-07:00

I have made up a basic printable meal planner for menus and grocery lists. The link is on the sidebar. There are also some meal planner apps for iphone and ipad but most of the ones I saw didn't have very good ratings. Mealboard is the app that looks best to me...it had the best ratings but I haven't tried it.

Last night's enchilada dinner was not a smashing success. Those eating dinner last night included a 17 year old boy, my husband and two 22 year olds. They ate it but the reviews were iffy. K said she has had better, M and M said it wasn't substantial enough (the boys) and my husband said it needed sides, like rice and beans. I even added chicken to the recipe and I put lettuce and sour cream on top once they were served, but that wasn't enough. The vote was not to keep it in the rotation...the recipe was in the trash a few minutes later.

I'm starting to get worried about the rest of the week:)

The good news is, I have not spent any time this week thinking about what to make for dinner.

weekly menu

2011-02-01T09:02:00.001-07:00

So, I've not posted anything in nine months. The truth is, I ran our of things to de-clutter. That is to say, I ran out of rooms in the house to post about. So I'm not sure anyone will remember this blog; regardless, I feel the need to start up again. I've got a few more ideas. We'll see where this goes.

For the past few weeks I've begun (for the millionth time) to make up a weekly menu for my family. I have tried this before, but it never lasts for more than a month. I have recently found myself with several projects, commitments, and church responsibilities, all of which have compelled me to organize more than just my closets, drawers and clutter...my time needs organizing. The first step for me is to make a weekly menu. I can't believe the time it saves and I actually make dinners as opposed to not having a menu and winging it at 5:00 every night.

I'm trying a few new recipes. Here's my menu for this week:

Monday - Chicken Quesadillas

Tuesday - Enchiladas - I'm trying a new recipe from here. I've just come across this website and I have no idea if the recipes are any good, but I'm trying three of them this week. They just sounded good to me at the time. We'll see.

Wednesday - Three Cheese Stuffed Pasta Shells.

Thursday - Home made macaroni and cheese. I have not tried this recipe either but I love The Barefoot Contessa.

Friday - Make your own pizza - a family favorite.

Saturday - Leftovers - my boys don't really like leftovers, but we always have them and somebody needs to eat them. Plus, everyone is usually out doing their own thing on Saturday night.

Sunday - Chicken Cacciatore -

Pictures and reviews to come

Shoes

2010-04-06T21:30:00.002-06:00

This one is a hard one...what is it about shoes that I love so much? No matter how often I try to edit them, they seem to spread out and take control of my closet like morning glory in my flower beds. And like morning glory, they're hard to get rid of. But, because it's Spring or at least it's close (I can only hope) we can do some thinning to prepare our closet for the warm weather.

Take out all of your shoes.
Dust or vacuum the place they are kept.
If you haven't worn a pair of shoes in over a year, it's time to give them away.
If you don't have room in your closet for off season shoes, put them away in dust protected containers and either put them up high in your closet or if you keep out of season clothes somewhere else, move them there.
If you have shoes that need to be repaired or polished, put them in a pile and get that taken care of.
If there are shoes that are just too damaged to look good anymore, you should probably just throw them away.
Put the remaining shoes back. I've seen some closets where each pair of shoes are in a clear plastic shoe box. That's not practical for me. I think it looks great and very organized, but sometimes I end up trying several different pairs of shoes every day and I don't think I would take the time to put them all back in their own box. But if it will work for you, by all means go ahead and do it.
You should have more space now to keep your shoes organized inside your closet and not spilling out everywhere.

It's Time To Start De-cluttering Again

2010-01-08T07:59:00.008-07:00

I noticed in the stores that as soon as Christmas was over, organizing items were on the shelves everywhere. January is a great time to de-clutter as we accumulate more things and have more decorations during the holidays then probably any other time of the year. As much as I love Christmas, there is something nice about cleaning up the house and putting all the decorations back away again...well, I guess it's bitter sweet, but nice to get back to regular life again. This is the post for organizing Fall decorations but it is applicable for any holiday decorations.

Yesterday, I went through my closet to try and make room for the few new things I received for Christmas. It was more difficult to do this time because I had just recently gone through it, but I found a few things to take out like: a pair of frayed black jeans that both my daughters say don't look good on me, two skirts I bought while in Hong Kong three years ago but have never ever worn and a shirt I used to wear to the High School games when my daughter was cheering ( so sad to put this one away). Don't ask me why these things were still there, but it's a process, right? Anyway, I got back into the de-cluttering bug again. I realized that I really need some drawers in my closet and would love to have a closet makeover, but that will have to wait until the kids are out of college I'm afraid. In the meantime, it's nice just go through things again and straighten up the closet.

So whether you accumulated more toys or more clothes or want to organize the holiday decorations, pick one thing and work on getting that organized this next week.

I have a subscription to REAL SIMPLE magazing and love it. It gets me inspired everytime I read it, but there is also realsimple.com. Here is a link to that website that shows 31 ideas on how to makeover your closet. and a toyroom makeover.

December Break

2009-12-06T10:56:00.002-07:00

I am going to take a break from this blog through December and start up again in January...trying to stay organized through the holidays!

Toys

2009-11-09T20:49:00.001-07:00

As we're quickly approaching the Holiday season, it's a good time to go through the toys in your home. This is such a great time to help those in need by giving away the toys your children don't use any more and make room for new things that might be coming in. If you can, involve the children in the process of giving away their toys to those in need. It's a great character building experience for them to think of the needs of others and helps them look outward instead of inward.

Depending on what stage of life you are in, this may take a little bit more time for some and not quite so much time for others. If you are in the middle of a life with lots of toys, plan on a couple of days as you probably have toys in lots of areas in your home. If you have older children and can condense things, this assignment might not take as long.

The following is a simple way to organize and de-clutter the toys in your home:

Pick one area or closest or room where the toys are.
Group the toys in one of three categories:

Keep - Toys that are quality made, still working and have all the parts.
Throw away - Toys that are broken or are missing pieces.
Give away - Toys that still have all the parts, are not broken but which do not get played.

3. With the keep pile, group like toys together i.e. stuffed animals, puzzles, games, little pieces, big toys.

4. Buy bins to hold toys that do not have their own containers. These bins should be able to fit in a closet or on a shelf. I did a search for "toy storage" and found that most of the children's toy storage items, seem to me to add to the clutter. I think I prefer plastic bins or baskets or collapsible boxes that are not kid specific but that are the same size and shape and color to add to a closet or shelf.

look here for some examples: organize.com and containerstore.com

5. Try not to use the floor for storage of toys. Some toys are just too big to fit in a closet, but for the most part, the toys should be tucked away and off the floor.

Book Shelves

2009-10-27T08:39:00.002-06:00

I love to read. One of my favorite things to do is lock myself in the bathroom and soak in a hot tub while reading a great book. I can't imagine having a Kindle just because I also love the feel of books. I love how they smell, how they feel when you hold them and how they look when they are on display. I love walking around a bookstore and thumbing through books. There are always more books I want to read then I have time to read.

Having said that, I think bookshelves can get really cluttered and it's usually because there are too many books in them. If you're like me though, it's hard to de-clutter my books. It was only about six years ago that I finally gave away my college text books even though I hadn't cracked them in 25 years and most of them were obsolete. I guess I always think that someday I will read them again but there are just too many other books I want to read.
So here is what I have done and I hope it will help you.

Take all of your books and accessories off of your book shelf.
Wipe down the shelves.
Go through each of your books and decide which ones you can keep and which ones could be donated to the library or to a local charity.

The following are some things I have used to help me decide which books to keep and which ones to donate:

Is this a book I have read more then once? Will I realistically read it again? If not, donate it.
Is it a classic? Keep the classics
I keep the hardbound children's picture books.
I try to have some books for every level of reading so there is always something for anyone to read.
Is this book obsolete? Is it a current reference book or has the information become outdated?
Is it a good book? Sometimes you get a book and it is not what you think and you don't love it so there is no reason to keep it.
Could I find this book at the Library? I have learned to love how I can place a hold on books online from the library. It's wonderful. It's free. I don't have to go search it out at the library. They let me know through email when it's ready for me to pick up. If my library doesn't have it, they get it sent to my library for me.

4. Put back the books you want to keep. You may have different places in your home where you store books. Here are some ideas for arranging bookshelves in family or living room

From Martha Stewart. http://www.marthastewart.com/good-things/bookshelf-picture-displays
From Zimbio.com http://www.zimbio.com/Bookshelf+Ideas
From Potterybarn http://www.potterybarn.com/products/benchwright-bookcase/?pkey=cbookcases-shelves

Have fun and be creative.

Catch up

2009-10-26T00:01:00.002-06:00

Today, I'm going to catch up on the printable check list. I will post another assignment on Tuesday.

More Linen Closet

2009-10-20T01:00:00.012-06:00

One thing that is cheap and easy is to put a dryer sheet in the linen closet. That helps things to stay smelling fresh.

I have also found these scented shelf liners from The Container Store.

There is always the timeless sashet to put on shelfs and in drawers.

What to do next? Linen closets

2009-10-19T01:00:00.063-06:00

I am finding myself wondering what to post next. The rest of the bedrooms in the house can be de-cluttered by using the master bedroom posts and the same with the bathrooms. I think I'll tackle the linen closets next but be thinking of what else you would like to de-clutter. Some suggestions are: toy closets, basements, garage and office or there may be something else you would like to see on a post. Please feel free to comment and/or make a suggestion.

For now lets start with the linen closets.

These are relatively easy to de-clutter and not so time comsuming as the other rooms. When my linen closets are un-cluttered and organized, I find myself opening up the door just to look and enjoy it; crazy, I know, but so satisfying.

Take everything out of the linen closet.
wipe down and clean the shelves.
separate the things in the closet into one of three groups:

Keep - anything that you use regulary (within a year).
Give away - anything that is still in relatively good condition but that you have not used in a year (pay it forward).
Throw Away - anything that you haven't used in a year and is not in good enough condition to give away.

4. Put the thing in the keep pile back in your closet by organizing like items together.

I have said before that I really like to fold bath towels into thirds the long way, but when you are folding them to put them in a closet, I fold them first into thirds the long way and then in half and then half again. This is how they have them in the stores and it leaves no raw edges and a nice fold in the front.
Keep all the same color towels together.
I used to keep all the flat sheets together and all the fitted sheets together, but now I keep the sets together by size and have labeled the shelves for twin, queen, king, pillow cases etc. I don't have to do any searching at all.
Keep the extra blankets and extra pillows on the top shelf because that is usally the biggest shelf.
A laundry basket or a basket that hold smaller items will fit on the floor under the first shelf.

Stand back and see if it looks more organized and un-cluttered. Is there space for the things in your closet to breathe? Can you see clearly everything you use?

Printable checklist

2009-10-18T21:44:00.000-06:00

I was just wondering if anyone used the printable checklists? It would be great to know.

Thanks,

Master Bedroom - dressers, armoires and walls

2009-10-12T14:35:00.002-06:00

This last week was crazy for me so I appologize for the late post. Here we go.

By now your night stands and under the bed are clean. You have also taken everything off of the floor and off of the top of dressers. You have also taken some furniture out of the room for which there might not be enough room. What you have left to still go through are the insides of the dressers and armoire and to unclutter your walls.

These steps are simple but important because you might need to find some extra space for the keep pile you created in the previous assignment.

Take everything out of the dresser and/or armoire
Wipe out the drawers
Sort the items into one of three categories:

Throw Away - anything that is damaged or not in working condition.
Give Away - anything that is still in good condition but you haven't used in a year.
Keep - Things you have used within the year or that need to be filed away in a different place.

4. Put back or file away the things in your keep pile.

WALLS

The same thing applies with the walls in the bedroom that applies in the other rooms in the house. Please refer to this post when de-cluttering your walls.

Finally -To have an un-cluttered bedroom there should not be any piles of anything on the floor. The walls should have a few well placed pictures and the dressers should also have just one or two decorative items on it. There should not be too much furniture and it should feel like a place of refuge, not a place that stresses you out. It should be a place where you feel like you can sleep well.

Treat yourself to some fresh flowers and put them in your bedroom.

Quote

2009-10-05T10:22:00.000-06:00

I don't have the reference for this quote, sorry, but thought it was good.

"To have a family that is loving and supportive at all times is a blessing. To have a healthy, beautiful and happy environment in which to live with your family is to be blessed twice."

Master Bedroom - Furniture

2009-10-04T22:03:00.000-06:00

One thing that can make a room seem very cluttered is too much furniture. Do you have more then one dresser? Do you have too many chairs? Now that we've un-cluttered the night stands and under the bed (pieces of furniture that are necessary in a bedroom), we can turn our attention to other pieces of furniture that may or may not be necessary. This will depend largely on how big your bedroom is - something only you will be able to determine.

In order the be able to tell how much room there really is, I will often take everything out of the room so it's all off the floor. I don't take out the bed or real heavy furniture, but I will take everything off of the dressers and off the floor, including easily moved furniture. That way I can get a sense of how big the room really is and start with a clean slate. It also helps me be more disciplined with how much I want to allow back in the room and helps me think of other ways to arrange the furniture, if that is what needs to happen.
Vacuum the carpet or sweep the floor so you can really start clean.
Take a good look at the room. How does it look? Do you have room for everything to go back or are there some pieces of furniture that need to stay out? Do you like the look of the room without so much in there?
Once you've determined which pieces of furniture can go back you're probably left with a big mess in the hall. At this point we really haven't gone through the inside of the furniture still in the room or the furniture you've put back like the dresser or the armour. We will leave that for another day. Now is the time to go through the sorting process again with the items out in the hall.

As a reminder, here are the steps to sorting:

Throw Away - anything that is damaged or not in working condition.

Give Away - anything that is still in good condition but you haven't used in a year.

Keep - Things you have used within the year or that need to be filed away in a different place.

5. Hopefully, there will not be much left in the keep pile and it will be easy to find places for these items to return; however, we will be waiting to put these back until we have gone through the de-clutter steps for the inside of the dresser and armour etc. We will do this in our next assignment. This way, we might find more "real estate" with which to store the items in your keep pile. Be patient, the room will be finished soon.

Master Bedroom - under the bed

2009-10-02T17:30:00.002-06:00

If you have nothing under your bed, you can wait for the next assignment!

The goal is not to have anything under your bed at all. If you are living in a place that has absolutely no room for these items, I have some steps below that will help you de-clutter and organize them. But remember, as you go through this process of de-cluttering your home, you might find other places to store the things that are currently under your bed.

Take everything out from under the bed.
Sort the items into one of these categories:

Throw Away - anything that is damaged or not in working condition.
Give Away - anything that is still in good condition but you haven't used in a year.
Keep - Things you have used within the year or that need to be filed away.

3. Now you can go through the things that are in your keep pile and make some more decisions.

Are these things all the same item? For instance, Are they all off season clothing? If so, get some nice flat storage containers that will keep the dust off of them and that you can get to easily when it's time to use them. If you have to get to these things regularly, then wheels on the storage containers might be helpful.
If there are different categories of things in your keep pile, separate them into piles of like items. Now that you can see them in categories, are there places already assigned in your home where they could go?
If you have been thorough and have left only what you absolutely need, make sure you put them in containers so they will not collect dust while being stored.

This is the link for the storage box at the beginning of this post.

Master Bedroom Night Stands

2009-09-28T07:59:00.001-06:00

Today lets work on the night stands in our bedrooms. I love to read and usually read in bed at night; therefore, my nightstand gets covered with books and magazine I am currently reading. That makes it look cluttered and junky. So lets get them cleaned up today.

Take everything off of the night stand including the lamp.
Take everything out of the drawers if you have them.
Clean and wipe down the night stand.
Go through books and magazines and separate them into a couple of categories.

Books I have already read
Books I am currently reading
Magazines I have already read
Magazines I haven't read yet

Go through the paper on your night stand and separate it into a couple of categories

Papers to be filed
Papers to be thrown away
Put the books you have already read back on a bookshelf or bring back to the Library (One way to keep book clutter down is to get the books you read at the library and only keep for yourself the classics).
I only keep just one year of a magazine at a time, depending on which magazine it is. Some would say only keep six months. Everything is online now so keeping the magazines is really not necessary anyway. If there is something particular I like from a certain month, like a recipe, I rip out that page and put it in my recipe box or find it online and print it off.

Put back only the necessities like the lamp and an alarm clock.
Look at what you have left. Put back only one or two of the books you are reading.
If you have drawers in your night stand, you can put any of what doesn't fit on the night stand in those.
You might want to put a small bouqet of fresh flowers on your nighstand.

Fall Decorations

2009-09-23T09:46:00.003-06:00

I am diverting a little from the master bedroom today and will get back to that in a few days.

With the official start of fall yesterday, this is a great time to de-clutter your fall decorations. Every time I pull out any sort of decorations, I always think I should go through everything and get rid of the stuff I don't use anymore, so I did it today. I feel the same way about seasonal decorations as I do everything else....Less is More. Sometimes we can put out too many things because we feel like since we have them we should use them. That's not necessarily a good thing to do. If we use every single decoration we have accumulated over the last 10 or 20 years, it keeps your home feeling cluttered. Not only that, but it is so much more difficult and overwhelming to pull everything out and put it all back into storage again when the season is over.

Here are some steps to help you de-clutter your fall decorations:

Take all of your Fall decorations out of their storage containers.
Put out the decorations in your home where you want to use them this year, keeping in mind that "Less is More".
If there are broken or wornout decorations, throw them away.
What ever you have left, give away to someone else who could use it.
If you buy any new decorations this year, be sure to get rid of the some of your old decorations.
If your storage containers are falling apart and not functioning correctly, you might need to buy some new ones. Keep in mind that clear containers are easy to see inside so you probably won't need to label them. If you don't have clear containers, be sure to label each box so they will be easy to find next year when you need them.
When you put the decorations away for next year, keep like items together.

Imagine how wonderful it will feel and how much time you will save when you pull out the decorations for next year and they have already been organized and un-cluttered.

Master Bathroom Misc.

2009-09-21T21:28:00.004-06:00

Hopefully by now you have de-cluttered all the the drawers, cupboards and the counter top in the master bathroom. There are a few things still left to address.

Rugs:

Sometimes rugs are nice and sometimes they just make the floor look cluttered. It really depends on how big your bathroom is too. But for today, take them all out and see how it looks without any rugs on the floor. You might actually like not having to constantly adjust the rugs and wash them and it might make the room look bigger and less cluttered.

If you feel like you need to put rugs back, here are a few things to think about:

Are they stained and worn out?
Are they dirty and just need to be washed?
Do you need to purchase some new ones? (Don't buy the toilet rugs. If the tub is by the toilet in your bathroom the tub rug will do double duty for both the tub and the toilet. If your toilet is not by your tub, don't use one. I don't ever see the toilet rugs in any magazines. If you think about it, it's kind of gross anyway, especially if you have boys!)
Are they too small or too big for the floor?
Should you just have one big rug or do you need a couple of smaller ones?
If you need more than one rug, keep them all the same size, shape and color.
Wash them regularly.

Here is a $9.99 bath mat from IKEA. It's simple, inexpensive and probably easy to throw in the washing machine when needed.

This is also kind of cool from Target. No washing needed!

Here is a pricy one from PotteryBarn or a simple classic one on sale from Pottery Barn.

2. Hooks

I think a bathroom looks more organized when the towels are folded in thirds and hanging on a towel rack. I happen to have a bathroom where the only wall space for a towel rack is above the corner tub. It's very inconvenient for every day use and so I just have towels there for looks. For the towels we use every day, I have had to get some hooks because there is not another place to hang a towel rack. It doesn't look as neat, but it's more practical.

3. Walls

We will be doing the same thing we did with the kitchen walls but because the bathroom is so much smaller then the kitchen, we need to de-clutter even more. Keep thinking - "Less is more" . One nice picture is probably all the room you have for accessories on the wall. If you don't have much storage, you could use some simple shelves that can house extra things like washclothes neatly folded or rolled and a few extra jars of shower supplies that have been nicely arranged in some pretty containers. The point here is that you can't have too many extra things out in the open or it will start to look cluttered again.

4. Bathtub

Try to keep things off the edges of the bathtub. Again, less is more. You might want to try this for storage of bath items if you have a regular sized tub. Here is a much cheaper one from Wal-Mart. or here is a bamboo one.

I have a corner tub and there is a little bit more room for some accessories. A few candles or some nice containers with bath salts or soap are a nice aesthetic touch. But remember don't put a lot of things there.

A Discovery While De-Cluttering the Bathroom

2009-09-18T21:47:00.003-06:00

Tonight I was cleaning out my husband's side of the bathroom drawers. I needed some drawer organizers but it was too late to go to the store to get some and I was on a roll and didn't want to wait until morning. I started searching the house for some containers or something I could use. What I found were these:

Ziplock disposable food containers. They worked perfectly for what I needed and now I don't think I'll even go buy anything. Brilliant.

I also recently went on a search throughout my house to find a container to house my make-up brushes. In the past I have used glass containers, but they seem to show all the waterspots, dust and dirt etc. I found this candle holder that I think works well. It's unique and it doesn't show the dirt nearly as much.

Sometimes you just have to get creative.

Master Bathroom - cupboards, counters and drawers.

2009-09-16T23:01:00.003-06:00

Now that the bedroom closet is finished and un-cluttered, lets work on the master bathroom. Some bathrooms have plenty of storage and others don't have very much. Either way, we seem to use up the storage we have, whether it's a lot or a little. No matter what size of bathroom we have or how much storage we have, de-cluttering it will always make a bathroom look cleaner and feel better when we walk into it. I don't know what it is, but waking up in the morning to a clean and uncluttered bathroom seems to start the day off right.

One of the things I find difficult to keep clean is the bathroom counter. It's just a matter of putting things away when I'm finished getting ready for the day and it is a lot easier to do that when the drawers and cupboards are all un-cluttered and look organized and there is a place for everything. So we need to find a place for everything, which means getting rid of some things, well a lot of things.

Here we go:

Gather all of your hair product. Take it out of the shower, drawers and counter top and throw away anything that has expired or that you haven't used in a year or that smells funny.
Gather all of your make-up. Honestly go through all the foundation, lipstick and glosses, eyeshadows, mascara...everything and throw away anything you haven't used in a year. Make-up really does need to be current for sanitation sake.
Gather all of your lotions and moisturizers. Do the same thing with these as with the make-up and hair product.
Gather the rest of what is in your bathroom and group like items together. Once again, get rid of old broken, ragged, bleached out or expired things.
What you should have left is only what you use and hopefully you have a big bag of garbage ready to go out on garbage day.
Wipe out all the drawers and cupboards.
Wipe down the things you are going to put back away as well. That hairspray can get everywhere and it's nice to put things away after they've been cleaned.
Depending on how much counter space you have, keep only one or two things on the counter. These should be mostly decorative funtional things like a nice basket to keep your washcloths or a small clean container for toothbrushes or make-up brushes or cotton swabs. Everything else should be put away out of site.
Begin with what you use the most and put them away where they are easy to get to. Bathrooms are a really great place for drawer organizers, especially for make-up and things like fingernail polish.You can spend as much or as little as you want on these things. When we were first married and didn't have any money, I used shoe boxes and cut them to the size I wanted to create a way to separate my make-up from my hair accessories etc.

Next time I'll discuss things like towels, hooks, rugs and accesories on the walls.

Bedroom Closet Part II

2009-09-15T14:11:00.000-06:00

I just found another great website for storage containers for closets. One thing to think about when organizing your closets is to have containers for pieces of clothing that are not hangable...is that a word? Things like similar boxes and baskets are aestheically pleasing as well as functional.

Now that the children are back in school it is also a good time to go through and organize their closets. Depending on how old they are, it might be helpful for them to participate to some degree in the organizing.

Printable Condensed Checklist

2009-09-14T21:22:00.001-06:00

I am in the process of creating a condensed checklists to print off for each assignment. They will be listed on the right hand side of the blog for those who like to check things off.

Jewelry

2009-09-11T23:10:00.004-06:00

I was thinking today that jewelry is another thing that tends to get cluttered. Today's project should be a quick one, but still very satisfying.

The wooden jewelry box on the right is one that my husband bought me early in our marriage. I think it was for Valentines Day. I love the look of it and used it for all my jewelry until I got the one on the left. This is a leather one that I got when I started selling jewelry for my sister's company. I love the look of this one too but it was kind of expensive. While they are beautiful to look at they didn't seem to be very practicle for me. I don't have a dresser to keep them on and they just collected hairspray dust when I kept them on the bathroom counter. It was also hard for me to keep the necklaces from getting tangled and I would have to open them up and search for what I wanted which sometimes took a while.

This is what I use now. It is from Lillian Vernon and only $19.98. I saw it one day at my sister's house and decided to try it. I love it. It just hangs on the back of my door in the bathroom and I can see everything at a glance without having to search for it. It's not really pretty, but nothing ever gets tangled because each piece of jewelry has it's own space. It's kind of self organzing. I noticed on line that Lillian Vernon has a couple of different styles now.

Find all the mismatched pairs of earrings. If you only have one of the pair, you will never wear it again so it's time to get rid of it.
If you have quality pieces of jewelry that are broken, put them in a pile to get them repaired.
Get rid of the out of date costume jewelry. When styles come back into fashion, say 20-30 years later, it's never really exactly the same, is it, so you don't need to hang on to them. Just put the old costume jewelry in a dress up box for your children or give it to a charitable organization. You'll also want a few things for when they have an 80"s day at school. Who knew they would have an 8o's day?
Organize what is remaining so that it is easy to find and will not get tangled up with other pieces.
If you love what you have, you will wear it. If you don't, you won't and it doesn't need to take up valuable space.

Bedroom Closet

2009-09-09T11:32:00.004-06:00

With a new season quickly approaching, I thought this would be a good week to go through bedroom closets. It is a good time to evaluate what you wear and what is just taking up prime real estate.

I don't really have a lot of clothes, so I am able to keep off season clothes in my closest which helps me feel more organized about my closet. If you have to keep your clothes in two different places, maybe by the end of this exercise you will be able to condense into one closet, who knows?

Here are some hints for de-cluttering a closet without having to buy anything except hangers:

Go through every item of clothing you have and put them into one of the following three categories I discussed last week:

Keep pile - These are the clothes you wear regularly. In other words, if you wore it last fall and still like it, you can keep it.
Give away pile - These are the clothes that are still in good shape but either don't fit anymore, are out of style or you haven't worn since the last season came around. If an article of clothing is just taking up space and you haven't worn it for a year, believe me, you won't wear it again. Now that summer is almost over go through the summer stuff and if you didn't wear it once this summer, give it away. Again, this is a great time to pay it forward.
Throw away - If you are hanging on to a favorite t-shirt or pair of sweats or a even a dress shirt that has frayed edges, holes or has become misshapen, throw it away...you can do it. I know it's hard but it's time to let it go and you will love the space that getting rid of these clothes will give you.

Now having said all of that I have kept one very nice classic tweed suit for 25 years. My mom bought it for me for me around the time I got married. I can't remember if it was for the wedding day, or not but it really doesn't matter. It was well made, made of natural fibers and a classic cut. I actually pulled it out a couple of years ago when tweed became big again and squeezed into it without being able to zip up the skirt. The jacket covered that up so it's all good :) That is the ONLY thing I have kept. If you do have some nice well made classic pieces that were expensive, sometimes you can have them altered to update them. But mostly the trendy stuff should just be given away once it's out of style
Hopefully by now you have created some extra space and can start to organize. I like to organize my closet by color. For example, I have all my shirts together in one place with all the white shirts together and all the blue shirts together etc. For me it doesn't matter if they're t-shirts or a dressy shirt. I know if I need a white shirt, I can find them all in one place. I do the same with pants, dresses, skirts and jackets.
If you can't spend money right now on some nice wooden hangers, buy the plastic ones that are all the same color, they're really inexpensive at Wal-Mart. The point is that they all need to be the same style and color and not the wire hangers. Having clothes all on the same kind of hangers help it look more organized.
Last and final hint, or really rule: If you buy something new, you have to get rid of another item of clothing you already have. It works, I've tried it. That way you always have room in you closet so the clothes can breathe freely and are not stuffed together and it's always organized.

Now that you have gone through the clothes, you can go through the same process with your shoes and accessories. Then you can go through the kids closets!

Have fun and enjoy your un-cluttered closet.

Throwing away paper clutter

2009-09-08T14:55:00.000-06:00

I think I might have thrown away a check when I was cleaning out some paper clutter....remember to be careful when throwing away or shredding!

Kitchen Walls, Floors and Top of Cupboards

2009-09-07T18:04:00.001-06:00

For some, today will not take very long, for others, it might take a while.

1. Let's start with the tops of the cupboards.

Some cupboards don't have any space between them and the ceiling. If that is the case in your kitchen you can skip this step and move to the next step.

If you do have space on top of your cupboards to put things...don't. Take everything off including all plastic plants or vines dried flower arrangements and all accessories. I don't like anything on top of cupboards. I have tried, believe me. But no matter what I do, it always ends up just looking cluttered and too forced for real design. If you choose to put something on top of the cupboards anyway, please don't put any plastic plants up there. I don't care for real plants on top of cupboards either, plus it's too difficult to water, deadhead and prune and so they always end up looking shabby. Dried flower arrangements or wreaths were nice about 25 years ago but not really today.

If you want to put something up there realize that you don't have to fill every empty space. Only put a view accessories that are the right proportion for the cupboards and the room. A lot of times we tend to use things that are too small. It usually needs to be something really big. Or a row of plates hung on the wall that are all the same size. But really, if nothing is up there, it will feel less cluttered.

2. Now the walls:

Sometimes the walls can be cluttered too. Go through the same process with the walls as everything else.

Take everything off the walls.
Arrange items on the floor before you put them back on the wall. It saves you from making too many nail holes.
Remember the odd number rule: Group things in odd numbers unless you have all the same size and color of frames.
Hang items at eye level.
Remember the kitchen already has a lot visually going on with the cupboards and appliances and countertops. Adding too much to the walls will be distracting so be brave and just put back a few things on a blank wall.

3. Next the floors and window sills: - yes, floors and windows can be cluttered too.

Here's the thing. A table is really the only piece of furniture that should be on the floor in the kitchen, or at least around the kitchen table. You might have a plant (live one please) in the corner of the room or some kind of nice art sculpture, but everything else should be off the floor. You want room to walk around the table comfortably. Sometimes hutches are in kitchens. If you have room for one, that's okay. Having room for one means you have plenty of room between the hutch and the chair of the table when someone is sitting in it. Be sure to declutter the hutch too if you choose to keep it. Otherwise, you will be amazed at how much bigger your room will feel if you take out the hutch or book shelf or filing cabinet etc.

Take everything off of the window sills. I know it's a tempation to put items or plants in the window sill, but it usually just looks cluttered and keeps out the natural light coming from the window.

Pantry

2009-09-04T12:00:00.003-06:00

It's Friday and we have almost finished the kitchen woo hoo!; there is however, one more day we need to spend in the kitchen. I will post those instructions on Monday.

This brings up another point. I would like some feedback as to how often a post is beneficial. Is it too overwhelming to have something to do every day? Or would it be better to have something to do every other day or just once a week? Will anyone reading this either make a comment and give feedback or take the poll on the right hand side of the blog.

Thanks.

Back to work.

Friday - pantry

First of all let me say that my pantry does not look like these examples from The Container Store, but there are some things that are interesting about them. They all have great light, a step stool and clear containers. Look at them for inspiration, but be realistic too. So here we go.

Depending on your pantry, this project may take just a few minutes or a couple of hours. But you will have the weekend to work on it.

Again the steps are similar to the other projects.

1. Take everything out of the pantry.

2. Wipe down and clean out the shelves.

3. Throw away any food that has expired.

4. Group similar food items together.

5. As you begin to put food back into the pantry, think about what items you use the most and keep them at your eye level or at an easy reaching distance. The things you use only once or twice a year keep on the top shelf and so on.

6. Things like clear containers, lazy susan, extra hook-on shelves or staggered shelves are very helpful in organizing a pantry. A very popular place to get storage containers is at The Container Store. I have even found great things at Walmart or local places too. Just browsing through things will give you an idea of what and how far you want to go with this.

7. Even if you can't get fancy containers and organizers, just clearing out old food and organizing your pantry will give you a great feeling of accomplishment. You'll find yourself opening up the pantry just to look at it and smile.

Kitchen Countertops

2009-09-03T21:45:00.001-06:00

Today we will be de-cluttering the counter tops and it should be much easier then the cupboards and drawers. If you haven't finished all of the cupboards and drawers yet, just do one a day until it is finished, but be sure to finish.

Having an uncluttered counter really does make a difference in how a kitchen looks and feels. It's amazing how much more work space can be created by clearing off the counters too.

1. Take everything off of the counter top, including appliances, nick-nacks, homework papers, mail, soap containers, bowls of fruit, ipod speakers. Everything should be off but don't worry, some of the items will go back so stick with me.

2. Clean the counter with a clean cloth. If you have granite, I like to use this to keep the granite looking shiny but I've just recently discovered that Clorox wipes actually do a great job too. The old ones used to streak but for some reason the ones I've used lately don't.

3. Now comes the reward for the work of the last two days. Put all the appliances in a cupboard that will keep them easily accessible, if possible directly under the space where you use them. The appliances that are on top of the counter are the ones we use all the time, like the toaster and the Kitchen Aid. Since we will continue to be using these appliances regularly, we will be more likely to put them away if they are easy to retrieve as well as easy to put away.

4. This next step will be difficult to explain on a blog because every kitchen is designed differently, but this is the aesthetic or design part of what we do today. We will put back only one or two items back on the counter and only things that are pleasing for us to look at. Here are some things to consider:

When choosing what to put back on the counter, think in terms odd numbers. In other words, only use one item or maybe a group of three.
Choose something that makes you smile when you look at it. For instance, you could use a nice bowl you got as a gift or for your wedding and put some red apples in it. Another design tip is that a hint of red somewhere in a room is always aesthetically pleasing and red apples would do the trick.
If you bake a lot ( I do) then it might be practical to keep flour and sugar and maybe salt on top on the counter but put them in nice containers.
You might also choose to keep some wooden spoons and some whisks in a container by the stove top. They are easily accessible when cooking as long as you only keep utensils in there that you use and the container isn't too stuffed. I also keep a bottle of olive oil and vinegar next to my wooden spoons - that's three items and keeps the rule.
Instead of those things you might choose to keep a favorite cookbook out on a cookbook holder.
A bouquet of fresh flowers (only fresh).

The idea is that one or two things are fine but nothing else. Think of the cleared off counters as found real estate, you don't want to hide that prime real estate again.

In my house the kitchen counters are also the drop off place for everything, including, keys, purses, homework, mail etc. The fact is we have a life and live there so just get used to the idea that if your kitchen counters are the drop off place for clutter, it will be an ongoing process to keep it clear. Embrace it:)

Kitchen Cupboards and Drawers Continued

2009-09-02T22:11:00.000-06:00

Let's take another day to do a few more of the cupboards and drawers in the kitchen. It does take some time to get through this so we need to be sure we have cleared enough space for the items on top of the counters that need to be tucked away in a cupboard somewhere. We'll address the counter tops tomorrow.

The first time you de-clutter the kitchen will be the toughest. From here on out just maintaining won't take as long.

I realized today that I actually have adjustable shelves in my cupboards - hello! I have been in this home for six years and never adjusted the shelves. I finally adjusted a couple of shelves today to make room for some of my cookbooks that were too big to fit in the cupboard with the rest of the cookbooks. I have lived with cookbooks in two separate cupboards for six years because I didn't realize I could adjust the selves. Crazy.

Make sure if you have adjustable shelves, go ahead and adjust them so you can keep like items together:)

By the way, cookbooks are another item that seem to creep into the clutter category. If you haven't ever opened the cookbook you got for your wedding, it's time for you to put it in the give away pile.

The Kitchen Cupboards and Drawers

2009-09-01T07:32:00.001-06:00

Tuesday - the kitchen cupboards and drawers.

Today's project may take some time but it is worth it, believe me. This is a very important step because in a couple of days we will be tackling the counter tops and we need to find space to put away the things on the counter. If you want, you can just do a couple of cupboards and drawers today just to clear out some space and then do a drawer or cupboard a day until it's finished. Don't forget under the sink.

Do one drawer or cupboard at a time. Then when you're finished start another one if you have time.
Take everything out of the drawer or cupboard.
Clean out the inside with some cleanser.
This is a very important step...are you paying attention? Divide the items from the cupboard or drawer into one of three of the following piles:

Throw away - anything that is broken, doesn't work, is stained or ragged.

Keep - things you use regularly or at least have used in the last six months.

Give away - anything that someone else might benefit from using - pay it forward so to speak. This might be something that is aesthicaly not pleasing to you anymore but still usable or that you just don't ever use. There are so many people who benefit from second hand items that it's a shame to hold on to something we don't use if someone else could use it.

5. Only put the items in the keep pile if you have used them in the last six months. Be brutal, really...we probably only use 20% of the things in our house anyway.

If you have 25 different kinds of knives but only use three of them, put the others in the give away pile.
If you have four pots or bowls of the same size, put the other three in the give away pile.
If you have a gagillion Tupperware or plastic food storage containers that may or may not have lids to them, keep only one or two of each size and either put the rest in the throw away or give away pile.
If you have a lot of mismatched mugs or cups and glasses, keep only the ones that you have a complete set for and give the rest away. It will look so much more organized once you put them back in the cupboard if they all match.

6. Now that you've divided everything into piles, take the time right now to bag up the garbage and throw it away. Then put the give away items in a bag and put it directly into your car. Do this so the next time you are running errands, you can drop it off to Deseret Industries or to another charitable organization. Or you can put the bag in the garage until the MS society calls for a pick up. The key is to actually give it away and not let it become clutter in your storage area.

7. Put the items from the keep pile back in the drawer or cupboard. If you are dealing with a drawer, dividers are very helpful. Group like items together.

8. Stand back and enjoy how it looks.

As you de-clutter, what are some other things that seems to accumulate in the drawers and cupboards?

Any question? post them in the comment section.

This week - The Kitchen

2009-08-30T16:43:00.000-06:00

I thought I would spend this week giving suggestions about how to un-clutter the kitchen and then at the end of the week, my kitchen (because it's a continual process) and maybe someone else's will be less cluttered.

Monday - the refrigerator.

1. Take everything off the front and top of the fridge. I mean it...all pictures, magnets and children's art work and cereal boxes. I will discuss what to do with the them later, but for now just do it. Then wipe it down with a clean cloth, stand back and look how wonderful it looks. Already the kitchen should look cleaner and it probably only took about one minute to do.

2. Now take everything out of the fridge and wipe down the inside of it. Throw away all moldy, expired or stinky food stuffs. Put all the good food back in the fridge.

3. Do the same thing with the freezer. Cleaning the inside of the refrigerator should take about 30 minutes if you work fast.

4. Get a bulletin board, magnet board or something that is framed so you can put the photos and the artwork on it instead of the refrigerator. The purpose of the frame is that it will keep things confined to one space and seem more like artwork instead of junk and clutter on the fridge. Hang it next to the door coming in from the garage, or if you have a kitchen desk hang it above that. Hang it on your pantry door if it fits.

The key to this is that you limit the photos and other stuff to only that which will fit in the framed space and keep it from creeping back onto the fridge. Oh...don't let the pictures and artwork hang outside of the frame either. You can rotate these as time goes on.

5. If you had cereal boxes on the top of the fridge, be patient. By the end of the week there should be a place cleared for them somewhere in the pantry or behind a closed cupboard door.

This shouldn't take very much time at all and the kitchen is now one step closer to being clutter free.