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??

Baring It All!

SHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.....

I have a dirty little secret to share.

I'm so ashamed.

Well not really <ha> but it did bother me and its one of those things that 

NEVER got put on the "list".

My bedside table drawer...look with fingers over your eyes ok?

Everything was just thrown in there...it hurt hubby's eyes to look at it.

Ok Ready?

Thar' she is folks in all her glory!  Old clipped recipes, old lotions, medicines, nail stuff, cords, you name it.

Messy, messy, messy...phew now that I shared my dirty secret

its time to deal with it right?

First things first...empty it out..sort out trash and make new piles.

Then wipe down drawer well and clean everything up.

I got myself some snazzy brown zebra contact paper at Amazon.com...two rolls for a great price.

Y'all KNOW how I love my zebra stuff :)

My Target lacks in good selection of contact paper but Amazon has TONS of cute styles.

Look at that paper in all her glory...BEAUTIMOUS!!!

It makes me giddy :)

And drawer is all sorted, cleaned and unnecessary items removed.

Yes we have a landline phone in the bedroom...everyone should just in case...but more

importantly it is intercommed to 3 other phones on each level of my house.

Ya know...so I can yell at people when I need em ;)

And a pic of me and Alexa when she was little and a Precious Moments the kids bought me

for Mother's Day one year...ya know special things.

And the DIY Petite Tray I made HERE.

What did I keep:

Pens & paper for all my random notes I scribble at night.

Lotions..I hate dry hands & I apply it all the time and I like variety people.

My solitaire game...I like to play some nights when I wake up & can't sleep.

Nail stuff, vaseline for lips and some old notes/bookmarks that my daughter made when she was young.  Granted they should be in a scrapbook but I like to take them out & read them on occasion :)
I only put in 2 small organizers...I actually keep a planner/notebook in this drawer for ideas and blog ideas...but it was downstairs when I took photos. So I needed to leave space for that.

Much better now...we can all breathe a HUGE sigh of relief...heehee.

Well now hubby can...he'd come over and see that mess and sigh & shake his head.

I won't show you HIS garage though...hmmmppppfffffffttttt!

Here is that area in all its glory now.

I am a magazine addict reader and there were 3 stacks about 15 magazines high.

I refused to take a picture..it was that embarrassing.  But I put stickies in my magazines for pages I want pictures of or tear outs so they tend to pile up quickly.

But its all better now too....phew....glad that's done with!

Next up....my bathroom vanity...it was organized but it just didn't work well for me.

So I changed it up and made it pretty along the way.

Stay tuned........

New Bedroom!

 Boy's Bedroom

Hi all!  I have been prepping and searching and shopping for all the new goodies for my son's new bedroom.  He's 15 and 6'3....so his tiny twin bed doesn't really suit him anymore LOL.  He looks like a giant sleeping in a dwarf's bed I tell ya!  So the time has come to change up things..sigh..hard to do when he's still your baby.

So his current bedroom is upstairs with a twin bed, tall dresser and a dresser/hutch combine.  The furniture is all solid wood in a dark cherry color which we love but will probably sell as we have no use for it (Craigs List is calling)  He is a history buff so when we moved in 7 years ago we painted his room in a khaki and slate blue color and wallpapered one wall with civil war map wallpaper.  Was really cute...then...now he's ready for a big boy change.  So because he has to have a Queen bed now we have to move him to the basement.  His room is too small with a double closet and double window to fit everything.  So he will move into the guest bedroom and we will move the guest bedroom to our playroom/media room that never gets used down there.  So a big switcheroo.  His old bedroom will become my new office...its right across from my studio..so I will have a place to get messy in my studio and a place to sit and do blogwork, paperwork and the like.

The guest room is a soft terra-cotta color...not really suitable for my son.  So below is how it will all look.

The color scheme is charcoal gray, soft gray, black,white and pops of maroon (Redskin maroon that is).  Much more grown up and masculine and things that he could take with him to college and the like.

-Queen Bed and Dresser are from Ikea's "Hemnes" line (all in black/brown)
-the bookshelf is from Ikea's "Expedit" line and we already own it (we have some bins for lower shelves that will hold his t-shirts, socks and such..the upper shelves will be for books & displays)
-we will add the $50 desk addition to the far side of the Expedit for a desk as well/we already own a desk chair in gray
-Bedding is from PB Teen's NFL line..his will be charcoal gray with the Redskins motif of course (we are HUGE Redskins fans in this house)
-table lamp is from Ikea as well and I love that it adjusts up and down (only $19.99)
-may get him a pendant lamp to hang from ceiling as well...around $40
-Sherwin Williams gray tones on wall...one wall will be dark and the rest will be dove gray as there is only one high window in the room since its in our finished basement.
-and a couple Redskin pillows thrown in the mix for color
-the carpet in the room is cream so the background behind the pics above..well that's the 8x10 rug I'm ordering to go in room.

I also got some poster frames on sale at Michaels for him to put his sports posters & pennants on.  He's going to love it I know!!

I like to create theme boards like this...allows me to really play with colors, scale and furniture.  PLUS it helps my husband visualize it all...he's not so good at that...so I'm here to help =)  And you gotta love Ikea for affordable furniture and accessories.  We were able to get Riley all new things for not a huge investment and he's not hard on his stuff so it will last awhile.

This weekend is the finalization of Alexa's room changes as well....so stay tuned for actual "BEFORE & AFTER" photos of that too!

Any big re-dos of rooms in your homes coming up??