Organize It!

Its the New Year...that means a lot of folks (including me) are looking to CLEAN OUT THE CLUTTER and get their houses & spaces organized.  I don't know about you but clutter not only clutters my house but it clutters my brain...makes me feel a bit crazy.  I have been known to have huge mini meltdowns when there is too much clutter..whether its on my kitchen table, my closet, my craftroom, wherever.  And then I ATTACK...I will dump everything and go full steam ahead to clean and organize it until it makes me happy again. 

And once you get an organization system in place you have to keep at it and keep adjusting.

Because your needs change over time and you find out what works and doesn't work.

So I linked some of my reorganized projects I did last year below AS WELL as some ideas I've loved and use myself from the web.

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I cleaned and decluttered a lot of areas last year so most of the big spaces have been done.

My craft room is always a continuing work in progress because new stuff is always coming in.

You can see pictures of my craft room HERE.

So this year I hope to get my basement in order (after the burst pipe flooding) and Riley's bedroom re-do. Finish my basement stairs and painting of those walls.  And to finish up my laundry room finally!

Those are the BIG projects for this year and I will be sharing those and the smaller ones along the way too!

I redid my linen closet  & it still looks GOOD amazingly because I found a system that worked well for me....see it HERE!

I also attacked my pantry which is always a place that I'm working on....it still looks pretty good thankfully...see it HERE.

And I did random drawers in my house including the Homework Drawer and my side table drawers in my bedroom.

I redid the vanity in my bathroom and it looks the same...next on my mission is my hubby's vanity!

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More Great Organizational Ideas on the Web:

I love great INEXPENSIVE ways to organize my home...most of these ideas are easy on the wallet but make a huge impact on that war against clutter!

Car Garage

This is a great idea for so MANY things! For cars and other small toys, small displayed items and

in a craft room. Would be great for all those bottles of glitters, flocks and paints!

And made from shoe racks...how cool is that.

Pot Lid Storage {via Pinterest}

Great idea for storing those pot lids if you are short on space or just need a new way to store them.

The insides of cabinet doors hold a lot of useful-out-of-the-way space....these are hung small white 3M hooks.  Inexpensive & useful!

Baseball Hat Organizing

My son has a lot of hats...I mean A LOT!  And I've tried many ways to store them and none have worked well...aka he doesn't utilize the system well which means its the wrong system. So when I saw this on Pinterest I knew I had to try it because you just easily slide the hat on even if its not a snapback hat..I think I will need 3 hangers and a bunch of shower hooks LOL.

Scarf Holder

Alexa & I swear by these type of scarf hangers...we both have a lot of scarves and this keeps them organized easily and you can see what you have (mine are organized by color).  These are only $9.99 ...great price for a little organizational help.

Drawer Dividers

I find that I use a lot of those drawer dividers in my home. They can be pricey to purchase if you need a lot. So I buy them in batches and use what I have on hand till I can get more. So I love Jen's idea of using old cereal boxes to create your own, for whatever size you want and make them pretty. Great thrifty recycle :)

CD/DVD Organization

I LOVE LOVE this idea by Cassie...I hope to have a batch of time this year to do this (ahaha sureee)! We have so many DVD movies and they take up way too much space, they are always a mess and never in any kind of order.  This would make it much easier on everyone in my house.

Spice Clips 

via Pinterest

Great idea to use those spice clips (like these here) on the inside cabinet doors.

They can be used for so many OTHER things than just spices!

Over-the-Door Shoe Hangers

I love these..inexpensive, easy to use and good for soooo many things!  Take advantage of

that area behind your doors!  Use them for cleaning products, toys, fabric, tools, pantry supplies and of course shoes :)  I use two of them in my craft room for all my paper punches...see pic above. I prefer ones that have clear pockets like these here, but that's up to you of course!

Using Magnets & Metal Sheeting

via Pinterest

Use metal sheets (pre-cut or have cut) and adhere to inside of cupboards with a strong construction adhesive. You can find all kinds of hooks and jars that are magnetic to hold your goodies these days.

Great use of space! These sheets here are 12x12 & inexpensive.

Pinterest is a GREAT source for ideas on organizing your home, car and office.  And of course many bloggers come up with more and more great ideas every day.  I just shared a few of my favorites and some I employ myself in my my home. And I'm ALWAYS look for new ideas that will work for me.

That's what you have to do is find systems/products/ideas that WORK BEST for you. Because it can be beautifully organized but if its hard to keep up or not organized right, you will find yourselves back at Square One...and that's just no fun!

Any BIG ORGANIZATIONAL PROJECTS in your future??

Before & After Bathroom Vanity!

Ready for Mess-a-Mess #2?

This area under my vanity was semi-organized over a year ago but it wasn't working...at all.

Sometimes you organize and you realize after awhile its just not working for you and you

gotta rethink the plan.  And my next bathroom will have vanities with drawers and pull-outs...not these gigantic spaces inside...so much wasted space ugh.

There ya go...the messy fun...actually it wasn't too bad...just needed to purge and figure out a new system.  I'm a hair product addict lover and I have fine, straight as an arrow hair, so I'm ALWAYS on the lookout for products that strengthen, smooth, volumize my hair.  Which means I have LOTS of hair stuffs in my vanity..oy vey. 

First things first...empty, purge, trash and create piles of "KEEPS".

Wipe down cabinet really good and lay down my zebra contact paper (from Amazon.com) that matches my bedside table drawers HERE.  Getting it around the pipes was a total pain-in-the-bum but I'm anal and it just didn't look right without paper...so I cut and patched and it doesn't match 100% but at least its covered. 

Now me being anal and looking at it after a good week...I want to paint the pipes...bright white...they look so ugly right? LOL another chore for another day.

And here she is all finished up.  I purchased new bins from Target...the two basket weave bins and the 3-drawer bin.  The patterned bag with handles is my Thirty-One makeup bag that stores all the makeup I use everyday and is easy to pack when I'm traveling.

The bin on top of the drawers holds my two hairdryers. Why two? Well one really nice one is for me...the other is for drying the dogs when they're bathed LOL..a cheap hairdryer for that.

The bin on the far right holds all my hair products...sprays, volumizers, mousses, leave-in conditioners, you name it...but the taller bottles stay nicely in there and I can pull the whole bin out if needed.

The front open white bin holds products I use on a daily basis...lotions, hairspray, detanglers, my mousse.  Easy to see and grab.  In the very back is my Nail Bin and extra stuff like handsoaps (I buy in bulk on sale from Bath & Bodyworks) and cotton balls and Q-Tips.

The drawers aren't labeled...why...because its my vanity and no one goes in there or searches for anything.  I know what each drawer holds LOL.  The top drawer holds extra facial cleaning wipes, my Clarisonic and charger, makeup sponges, extra moisturizers.  Middle drawer holds makeup samples and other nail products that doesn't fit in my Nail Bin.  Bottom drawer holds extra makeup, eye shadows, bronzers and things I use seasonally.  I don't wear the same makeup in the fall/winter that I do in the summer when I'm tanner....so I switch it out of my makeup bag and its stored in that drawer neatly.

This is the top of my vanity...James' vanity is across from the shower so we each have our own.  I keep things on my counter but it has to be NEAT or it makes me crazy.  

So I have a clear square bin (from Target) that holds all my body sprays and perfumes.  If you've read my blog before you know my MAIN scent/perfume is CLEAN...love them & worn them for at least 12 years. They have different varieties and I have them all but my fave is always Cotton T-Shirt Clean...just depends on my mood. But I love them because they are fresh smelling and never overpowering...if I smell it all day I will be sick with a migraine..these don't do that to me.  I'm also a body spray addict but I only keep a few of my faves on the counter along with 2 travel sized ones I can quickly grab and stash in my bag.  See my brass face/makeup mirror?  I need a chrome face mirror to match the other chrome fixtures but you know what?  They aren't cheap and I've had this brass version for over 14 years and well...it just works..I probably should spray paint it huh? LOL!

My little clear lazy-susan is from Target too and it holds all my face products I'm currently using.

My medicine cabinet holds the rest trust me...it needs to be purged next so wait on that :)

But a container holds my cottonballs & Q-Tips and then my favorite Peter Thomas Roth Un-Wrinkle Peel Pads, moisturizers and serums.  I love that I can spin it around and it holds everything neatly.

I also lined both of my vanity drawers with my zebra contact paper.  This drawer holds extra makeup, makeup samples I'm trying out and my collection of lip balms and glosses. I cannot stand dry hands or lips...hence my love for all my many lotions and balms. So this clear organizer holds all kinds of lip glosses and balms that I can grab quickly when I'm in the bathroom....also all my eye creams are in here.  I'm slightly obsessive about wrinkles around my eyes...so anytime I'm in the bathroom I grab an eye cream and dot it around my eyes...probably 3 times a day.  Yeah I know...but I have such dry skin and its like my body never has enough moisture...so eye creams, lotions and lip balms are my saviors especially in the wintertime :)  

Shhhh Don't Judge!!

The other drawer is not that exciting...it just holds my brushes, mirror, hairdryer nozzles and a small bin of clips, hairbands and bobby pins.  Along the side are my scissors for trimming my bangs and split ends which I do monthly.

And last but not least...I added a kitchen sponge/mop holder (Target) to the inside of one of my cabinet doors.  It had suction cups but they slid right down the door ugh...so I fixed that with my 3M hooks quickly.  It holds my curling iron which I hate seeing on my counter...makes me crazy. So this solution worked well...the side of it is made for a sponge but I didn't care about that so much. My curling iron is large barreled so I had to make sure it fit through the hole and this was the only one that worked.  So I have an extra space for something...give me time and I will fill it :)

Done, diggety-dog, Done!  Now to do hubby's vanity which is actually not really that messy, just needs some organization.  Hubby asked if I was lining it with zebra contact paper too...duhhhh yessss...its gotta match and at least its brown and not HOT PINK ZEBRA! ;)

So sometimes the organization you start with stops working after awhile...then you have to figure out a new plan and see what works best for you.  More work yes..but in the end it is so much better!!!  It makes me happy to open the cupboard now and see tidiness...almost like I could squeal each time...but I won't...that may be over the top huh?

What have you reorganized lately?
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I'm entering this into the following fun Linky Parties:

Your Homebased Mom 
Suburbs Mama
A Bowl Full of Lemons
I Heart Organizing

Spray Fresh Out There!

Hahahahaha that's my pun on Stay Fresh...get it...lol...I know I'm so lame :)  This is another quick and fun project I did a bit ago and just getting to post it.  My family thinks I'm totally nuts but I like to COVER things to make them pretty...so if I want it to match the room or the bottle is ugly I will cover that baby up.  Quick, easy and simple to do....lemme show ya!

So I do believe in using natural products as much as I can....I use tiny bowls of baking soda in some rooms when needed.  But I'm sorry...I have a teen boy...and said teen boy has teen boy friends...and when they get in a bathroom.......well I don't have to go into details.  Let's just say its NOT fresh LOL!  And nothing helps in the moment other than these Glade Sprays.  BUT I'm not a huge fan of the bottle as they don't always match my color scheme in my bathrooms.  Hey I'm an artist, I like colors that GO well with each other...I cannot help it...shoot me :)

Side Note:  I also have these Poo-pourri Sprays in the bathrooms...the names are HYSTERICAL (this one is Doody Free, my personal fave is Call of the Wild though).  They are made with Essential Oils and smell really good.  My good friend Pat introduced us a few years ago...after some poo talk...don't ask, LOL!  And I'm a BIG believe in them lemme tell ya...I even have the travel ones cuz they DO work!  You spritz a few squirts in the toilet bowl BEFORE you go LOL and ta-da...reduced stinkage!   I have "Trap-a-Crap" which is in a camo wrapping in Riley's bathroom...hey I didn't name it...but it does make me giggle.  But he and his friends don't always use it...ugh!  Hence the need for the Glade Sprays in ALL the bathrooms just in case...nothing worse than a stinky bathroom.

How To:

Seriously simple, took me about 3-5 mins for each spray bottle and I used all things from my studio that I had on hand.  Cost: $0...gotta love that eh?

I'm a papercrafter...so I have LOTS of supplies on hand for these kinda things.  And I have a ton of older 12x12 scrapbook paper that I don't use and it was perfect for this project.  I picked paper that matched each of my bathrooms.   Just set the can on the paper, measure and cut to size.  I love & use regularly Scor-Tape (no need to cut it, and it doesn't gunk your scissors like other brands)...you just rip it to size and its double stick AND super strong.  Add a strip to each end of the paper you cut and peel off the backing on each one when you are ready..  Match up the bottle on the paper and wrap well.

Also in my stash are lots of Martha Stewart border punches.  I decided the paper was a little plain and needed a bit of decoration.  So I punched some trims for each one in two sizes and added it with more Scor-Tape.

So this is what I did to those Glade Spray bottles...aren't they pretty?  And they match my bathrooms now...I made more don't worry.  We have 5 bathrooms and EVERY bathroom has one now :)

Here is one all pretty on the commode tank in my powder room on the first floor.  Along with some fresh flowers from my garden, this little room is all set!

And if I did nothing but give you a few giggles with this posting...then I'm ok with that...that's how I ROLL :)