Puzzles

I have two boys who love puzzles, but I hate all the boxes that come with them. So I cut the covers off, and pop them into a sharpie labeled ziploc bag. Toss them into a giant bin, and we are golden.

Week 5: Kitchen, Day 3

BEFORE:
AFTER:
Just a general pull everything out and start over job. I put the cans in order, placing extra ones down in the pull out pantry drawer. On some of the cans, I couldn't see the labels, even though I have that stand. So, I wrote what they were with maker on the top. I also recovered 2 of the over-sized Gladeware from the "to be recycled" zone, and used them to store all my cake decorating sprinkles. Right middle shelf.

BEFORE:
AFTER:
I organized the cans by expiration date, and wrote what they were on the top with a Sharpie. No more digging to find some Dark Red Kidney beans. Side note, I have 5 cans of pumpkin. Gotta do something about that.

Now no judging what we eat! No one in my family is overweight, so we must be doing SOMETHING right.

As days go by, I keep straying away from that scary corner cabinet. The one that goes back 6 feet into darkness. I need back up to tackle that one.

Week 5: Kitchen, Day 2

BEFORE:
AFTER:
I made a decision that Connor is too big for plastic cutlery, so I threw them all away. I also got rid of 4 plastic stir sticks that were broken or icky. Also tossed an old bottle opener. I then had this idea, the tray that holds the cutlery always slides to the back of the drawer, so I put the spare spices in the back to hold it in place. These spices are ones that I use to refill my spices in the pretty rack I have.

BEFORE:
AFTER:
Nothing too crazy here, just got rid of duplicate or expired cleaning supplies. Moved the Windex to the bathroom, where it gets used more.

BEFORE:
AFTER:
This drawer has always been a headache for me. I got rid of this huge paint brush thing that was for basting meats (never been used) along with a device for testing the temp of meat. Connor broke the "toaster tongs" while I was cleaning, took care of that problem. Moved the plastic forks to be with their friends in the cupboard containing disposable dishware.

BEFORE:
AFTER:
Folded the towels and wash rags (crazy idea, right?) Put towels on the left, wash clothes on the right and oven mitts in the center. My chem goggles behind the oven mitts. I use them for when I am cutting peppers. Seriously, it was an issue.

BEFORE:
AFTER:
Just a general cleaning job. Got rid of 2 little cookbooks, some decorate ice trays, vase, lids to ice cream buckets. Made space fro the new coffee grinder.

Whew.

SO, I purged out:

• 5 empty spice bottles
• All plastic kid cutlery
• 4 stir sticks
• Toaster Tongs
• Meat paint brush
• Meat thermometer
• Half dozen gross wash rags
• Expired cleaners
• Vase
• Cookbooks
• Random lids
• Over sized and unused Gladeware
  
• Several rouge half burnt birthday candles
  

Week 5: Kitchen

Day one of Kitchen duty.

BEFORE:
We have A LOT of plastic containers and A LOT of glassware. I have a problem with stealing glasses from bars. I know, it's bad, and I need to stop doing it. I can't control it. I wake up the next morning and there they are. It's awful, I know.

AFTER:

I took all the plastics out of the far left, and got rid of any that didn't have lids to match. Got rid of the sippy cups. Got rid of the scratched up gross plastics.

Top shelf of the middle, I got rid of 2 broken water bottles, combined disposable cutlery.

Far right, was pretty much done, since I just got my Fiestaware dishes. I also store my candy there. SHHHHH.....
These are all the broken plastics, or ones I don't use. Some oversize ones, and ones that I just have way too many to ever use. I am the PTA treasurer for Connor's school, and I like to hand out samples of the homemade laundry soap I make. So I will use those for that. The Glade ware gets a new life!

Week 5: Kitchen

This is the week I am dreading. The Kitchen. On the surface, things look all nice and orderly. It really is just the surface though. Every day, when Connor goes down for a "nap", I set a timer for 10 minutes, and clean the kitchen/living room area. Pretty much just unload dishwasher, pick up lunch stuff, wipe down the counters, and I'm done. So, since I do maintenance cleaning every day, on the outside it looks "good enough".

Every cupboard is full to the max, and dangerously has things piled inside. It is always an adventure when opening up some doors, you never know what will hit you!

Anyway, here is what my kitchen looks like on any average day. The counters aren't too cluttered, so you would never guess what lurks beneath. This project will take several days and posts to do, so hold on to your hats.

Week 4: Sun Room

On to organizing the Sun Room. This room just needed more cleaning than anything. And we are planning a massive Easter day party, so what better time than now!

BEFORE:
AFTER:
I took down the mirror down into the downstairs bathroom. I picked up the books. Connor has thousands of books, so I put 7 of them into the sell-room. The little table next to the chair is ready to go outside. It's my outdoor coffee table.

BEFORE:
AFTER:
Cleared off the pool table. There were random toys, tools, pictures, paint supplies, a coffee maker - you get the idea. Everything went to the basement. That must be why basement is one of the last zones to clean, as everything is making it's way down there!

There was a bunch of 12 packs of soda next to the fridge, and I put the INTO the fridge. Genius.

The liquor box got a SERIOUS upgrade. The cardboard box on top of the black fridge was what we used to haul our liquor to Winona when we moved here 5 years ago. It has just been a handy place to keep the bottles. But really, an eye sore. So, I replaced it with a green bin that was housing puzzles. (a problem for another day.)

BEFORE:
AFTER:
Just another shot of the cleaned up zone. You can see near the door, a shoe tray I recently bought to put our outdoor shoes on. I bought it at Menards for around $6, but now the Target Dollar Spot has super cute pink and green ones for $2.50.

BEFORE:
AFTER:
Put the extra kitchen chair BACK in the kitchen, and the back massage portion in the basement. Put the magazine rack back into Connor's room. So his books now have a storage area, instead of all over the floor of his bedroom.

So, in the end, I only got rid of 7 books, 3 pictures, the old liquor box, and boxes that held the sodas. Not much, but cleaning up the zone, and putting thing back were they belong helped this room out a ton. I did do a mini-make over not that long ago on the microwave cart in the room, HERE.

Week 3: Living Room

I started to work on the Living Room zone! This won't be too hard, as I try to keep it and clean and toy-free as possible.

BEFORE:
AFTER:
I removed a dead plant from the window, an extra pillow, several extra blankets, and the toys that made their way upstairs.

BEFORE:
AFTER:
There were two cubbies forming of DVD/PS3, so I condensed them into one, taking the extras into the closet shelf with the rest of the movies. In the top right cubby, I set our current Netflix movie along with a Mason jar full of shells. I took the hammer off the top. I then started in on the top left cubby. That basket is actually a trash can re-purposed into a bin for PS3 accessories and the like. The basket needed some help.
All the crap in the basket:
I didn't get rid of anything (except the paper 3D glasses and name tags). Mostly because once again, I don't know what the heck most of it is. I know John doesn't use that crazy headset, so I just took it down stairs to his desk.

This is the plastic bin full of stuff that belongs to the basement. I also took down a blanket and pillow that didn't fit in.
Not to much stuff, but really, I feel I was in good shape before tackling this room. It only took about an hour, plus I dusted while I went. And watched Sister Wives.

The John's Bathroom

I know John is anxiously awaiting to find out what I threw away from his bathroom. So, here it goes. NOTHING. I didn't throw away a single thing.

This is his "under the sink" zone. A half dozen full bottles of man soap, and a carrying case. And one lone roll of toilet paper. Everything there is something he is or will be using.
There is a scary corner in his bathroom. Right now, there is a rolled up large IKEA rug, toilet plunger and random plastic bags in it. The rug is from our old house, 5 years ago, and has not been unrolled. Maybe I could get rid of it, or use it. I'm not ready to make a decision yet. So there.
And here is the behind-the-mirror storage area. Just more stuff he actually uses. Well, maybe not the cologne, but who knows.
And here is ME! I know, you are probably thinking, "What is with the pink flowers and shower curtain?" They are all from our old house (I'm sensing a pattern) and since I NEVER use this bathroom, I don't think about it, and if John didn't like it, he knows where Target is.

Bathroom Organized

I want to make this clear, I am utterly aware of how bad the bathroom looks. I know that there is forest green sponge painting with rose wall paper. I know. I go in there several times a day. You should take a close look at the floor in there! Redecorating is NOT what this is about. That is a summer time project, decoration efforts and FUNDS are concentrated to living room/kitchen right now.

The Before:

The After:
You can't really see much of a difference, I just cleaned things up and out. I got rid of old make up, unused bath products, razors, and Con's little potty. Consolidated pill bottles and Band-Aid boxes, don't really need 3 boxes of Band-Aids open, when they can easily be made into one (one Diego, one Hello Kitty and one regular).

I had this idea, that everytime I need some pills, I have to pull out every bottle to find the right one, messing it all up and just tossing them back in. SO, I took a black Sharpie marker and wrote the name of the med on it. So I can just pull the bin out and peek in at the top.


The Befores:

The After:
I just got rid of the excess stuff on the counter, and got rid of junk underneath. Underneath is pretty much empty now, except for a bucket of cleaners and toilet paper. Behind the toilet paper is an old shower curtain liner, that I cut up in to 3 big strips and use as a drop cloth for painting. Seriously, works wonderfully.

And here is the bag of stuff I tossed (minus the plastic and glass containers that were able to be recycled). And because John reads the blog, I can't disclose EVERYTHING that was in the bag. But it was one of those standard Wal-mart bags, so you can get an idea of the quantity of stuff.



Week 2 of De-Cluttering has been a success, watch for an update on John's bathroom!

Week 2

Week 1 of de-cluttering the playroom pit went well.  I tossed out all sorts of broken, loud and sad toys.  I took about half away, and they are in their storage bins in a room Connor does not have access to.  And a bunch are in the pile of things to be sold.  Gotta nail down a garage sale date now.

Onward!

Week 2: Bathroom
I'm begining work on de-cluttering the bathroom.  I have made great strides in orgainzing the bathroom.  Awhile back I redid the whole closet to look like this:

And now it looks like this:

 Yikes, it got messy!

 WTF is going on here????  Seriously, I don't give my dogs baths (shhhh....) and I don't use pads.

Messy, Messy, Messy!

So, I am going to go through all those adorable pink/green/blue baskets, purge out old make up, and unused bathroom products.

And, I'll use my nice camera instead of BB to capture the transformation.

AND, I may do some tricks to Jbiz's bathroom, but that place is NASTY.