Perfecting Imperfection

I can't believe we are in week 9 of this!  I tackled a flat surface this week and took some before and after pics to share but I also cleaned up a lot of the places I'd already organized that were not staying as neat as they were when I had done them.


I'm not done because I really do want to create somewhat of a command center here but I started by just cleaning everything off and getting rid of all the single mittens and random papers that had collected.



Simple, neat and clean...I'm hoping it will stay that way for a little while, at least.

This week I did something that has been bugging me for WEEKS!  I went through these boxes and reclaimed the space under my counter.


When Danika's birthday rolled around, we decided to have some family and their kids at the house and then have a party with my niece (because her birthday is the end of January, too) at my SIL's the next day.  We were all still getting over colds and I wasn't in the mood to really clean and organize everything to get ready for the party.  So, I threw all the random stuff laying around into these boxes and didn't touch them for over a month.  I wasn't able to put the normal stuff I store under this counter under it because the boxes were taking up all the space.  I finally got frustrated enough with my kitchen feeling even smaller than it is and decided it was time to purge the stuff in the boxes.  I contemplated just throwing them all away because I hadn't missed anything in them but I decided I had better just check in case there was something that found its way in there that was important.

The end result?  One box and everything else the way it belongs.


I feel a LOT better now that that is done.  I feel a lot less guilty about spending way too much time on my new project now - Project Life!

I thought I would share last week's page with you . . . it's the first page that is complete because I'm still waiting on my free pics from Snapfish for the other pages.

Here it is:



I also surprised myself with coming up with a way to be a little ahead in my journaling while I wait for the pictures to get here.  I printed out my "cart" from Snapfish and cut the little pictures, that are on their way, out.  Then I taped then into an extra calendar I had laying around!



Now, I can start writing out my journal entries before the pictures get here so that I can (hopefully) catch up soon!

I'm linking up over at orgjunkie.com - head on over for some awesome inspiring organization stories!  She also has a link for a free ebook on house cleaning to get you ready for that spring cleaning!!!  Even though we are still seeing the white stuff out there - spring is on it's way!

Before

After

Before

After

This week I was busy.  VERY busy and I'm still not feeling great - which meant that I couldn't take on one of the bigger projects on my To Do List.  What I did do was organize my online clutter.  I started by taking care of all of those emails that can't bring myself to delete for some reason or another - responding to those that need responses and even unsubscribing to a few newsletters here and there.

In fact, I unsubscribed a lot this week.  I hit my Google Reader hard and really looked at the blogs I read and the ones that I only followed because I wanted the follow back...yes, I'm guilty of that!  Honestly, though, I use FeedSquares to read my blogs and I LOVE it...but seeing that number climb and climb (85 unread, 146 unread, 238 unread) makes me feel crappy and over whelmed.  So...I cut down the number of blogs I subscribe to in hopes that I won't have that sinking feeling I get when the number is too big to tackle.

In doing all of that I realized something about myself...I try to do too much.  I don't stick with one thing.  I don't give myself time to really try something out and see if it works before abandoning it.   I'm not very good at following through.  I plan on really thinking about this discover and trying to come up with the one thing I want to try and ignore the rest for a while.  It might be the whole grocery thing...or maybe I'll get back to Flylady - I haven't given up on that, yet!!!  I'll keep you posted, though!

I did head out to Staples today and bought some awesome organizing supplies for next week's project!  I can't wait to get started!!!  :)

I'm getting organized with Organizing Junkie!

Before - yes...there is the top of a dresser under there!

You won't see half of this stuff in the after because I THREW IT AWAY!!!

Ahhh ~ isn't that better?

Top - cords, next - misc., next - deodorant and samples, last - hair stuff.

I LOVE my Caboodle.  I even organized the inside of it...but didn't take a picture.  :)

There you have it.  My last minute organizing project for this week.  You know what?  Having a clean dresser really really makes me want to attack the rest of my bedroom today!  I just might make the time to head up there and try going through some other areas!  :)

Oh ~ and Org Junkie did give us some thoughts to ponder...I thought I would mention one reason I want to get organized...actually, here's my top 5.

1) I feel more peaceful when the house is organized

2) I HATE not knowing where things are and spending more than 2 minutes looking for something.

3) I want to lead a more simple life with less stuff - if that is possible with 4 kids - and organizing will help me to really think about what I need and what is just taking up space.

4) I want my husband to feel relaxed when he is home and less clutter and a happy wife will help that to happen.

5) I want to be proud of my house...not frantic that someone is going to stop by unannounced and think, "How can she live like this?"  (Even though it isn't that bad and I'm probably the only one who thinks that - everyone else is thinking, "How does she do this?"  I get that a lot!)

Can't wait to see the other organizing projects this week!  Head on over to orgjunkie.com and check them out, too!

I've been getting organized with Org Junkie's 52 WEEKS of Organizing!  Head on over to add your organization stories and get inspired by others!

I have to make this one short but sweet because I am in crisis cleaning mode for a little get together we are having for my daughter's birthday party tomorrow!  We are having 2 parties - one here tomorrow that will have more kids than the other. . . but also my parents and sister.  Then we are having one at my SIL's because her daughter's birthday is Monday and we will celebrate both together with DH's family.  :)

Anyway - this week I tackled my bathroom.

When we bought our house, it was perfect for a family of 3 or even 4. . . we had no idea that we were going to become a family of 6 as quickly as we did.  (In all honesty, a family of 6 wasn't part of our plan at all - but here we are with 4 children).  Even though the house seemed to have enough room for us when we bought it. . . I always hated my bathroom.  I still hate my bathroom.  There is next to no storage and it is UGLY!!!  I did the best I could with what I had to work with.  I will say ~ that the little organizing that I did do to make the bathroom look just a little more picked up has made me start to look into ways to brighten it up and add some color I actually like!  Don't be surprised if you see some painting in my 52 Weeks once the weather warms up.  :)

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

Before starting this project, I headed to the dollar store to see what kind of baskets they had.  I was mainly looking for one to corral all of the cleaning supplies.  I picked up that one and the one with the TP in it.  I also snagged the green ones that have cotton swabs and toothpaste stored in them.  :)

The little 4 bottled thing was an old desk organizer that I had hanging around - decided that I would try sticking our flossers and nail clippers in them so that they always have a place to go and aren't getting lost or falling all over the place!

Have a great week!

This week's project was one of the 2 China Closets I have in my dining room.  This one is built into the wall and we use it as book shelves/storage shelves.  We used it as a China Closet until my mother-in-law bought us her mother-in-law's dining room set that had a China Closet with it.  That China Closet is on my list, too...but I figured I would start with this one.  I was planning on organizing my pantry this week ~ but started this instead, so I went with it.

Here is my before picture:

BEFORE

AFTER

 Head on over to I'm an Organizing Junkie and find lots of other organizing ideas, projects and pictures!

At the beginning of January, I decided that I needed to work on meal planning and getting our grocery budget into some kind of shape.  I read a few books.  I read a few blogs.  I started doing some research.

The first thing I discovered is that I plan meals ALL wrong.  I still haven't totally fixed this, yet because it is going to take a little while but I'm in the process of creating a bit of a stockpile so that I can meal plan from my pantry and buy items when they are on sale.

I also discovered that being a bit more organized when it comes to the things I need to help plan meals will make it a heck of a lot easier and therefore something I'm not dreading every Saturday (because Saturday is menu planning day here).

Okay - so this week I worked on getting a binder together to help me be more organized when it came to cooking and meal planning.  It's nothing spectacular - but it has already been a big help.  I don't know why I didn't do this sooner.

Oh wait ~ I did....just not in a way that made as much sense.

Here is my old system:




The next step was to divide the recipes.  I divided them by meal instead of ingredient at first.  I have a Breakfast tab.




 Then I added a tab for Soups and Stews and a tab for Desserts.

I still use cook books - I have a few that I have been trying out and adding meals to my "Meals We Like" section as I try them.  I've really been working on meals that are budget friendly.  I've been thrilled with how this has been going the last two weeks!  The funny thing is, we haven't eaten out or cooked any store bought frozen dinners for 2 weeks and we have eaten really well!  Plus, we have leftovers and there is food in my freezer and on the shelves of my pantry.  I'm also on budget for the month!

I truly believe that being organized when it comes to grocery shopping and menu planning is going to be a huge help!

I'm not sure what I'll be working on this coming week - but I'm thinking of sticking to the menu planning and cooking theme and maybe tackling my pantry and freezer...maybe!

Can't wait to see what you all did this week!

Do you read I'm an Organizing Junkie?  I do.  I'm usually inspired by what I read and when I read about her 52 Week Challenge I decided to download the worksheet and give it a shot.


Here are today's questions about the challenge:

The full view - notice the crap piled on the top...that was the worst.

Giant pile of stuff.  :(

That top shelf is suppose to be mine...

These shelves actually aren't too bad!

This bottom shelf is a huge problem because what ever I put on it the twins pull off and throw on the floor - which is why it's all shoved back on there.

Then, of course, the toy box part is just filled with random toys.  The door  cracked so it's been missing for a while.

Here is the finished product - not a huge change but enough that I don't cringe when looking at it!

Organized top shelf - I put the sled away and just stacked stuff neater.  I also got rid of anything that didn't belong there.

I put some supplies in a plastic shoe box and straightened up this shelf - now it's mine and looks so much better!

I really didn't touch these shelves...I still think they look okay.  hehehe

To solve my problem with babies pulling things off these shelves, I added bins with some of Nate and Danika's small toys and the big plastic one with Danika's "art" supplies.  They haven't touched them!  Danika also just has to grab the bin to sit at the table and draw/color!

All I did here was take the little stuff out and put it in those bins.  I feel better because I can see  everything in there!  :)