Kids' Closets - 31 Day Challenge update

Today I'm summing up days 7-13 of the 31 day challenge I've taken on to get our home organized! Here's the link again: 31 Days to an organized home.  The main focus will be on day 13 - the kids' closets - because days 7-12 are mostly advice on defining clutter, what to keep and what not to keep.

Day 7 - DIY pocket organizer - this is a good idea, but I am not good at sewing yet. Maybe this will be a good project when I get better, but until then, I think I'll be on the lookout for a good deal on a shoe holder that hangs on the door.

Day 8 - Defining clutter - one quote that I really liked in this section was "Have nothing in your houses that you don't know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." William Morris  This has helped me the past few days as I've been going through "stuff" and trying to decide what to keep and what to get rid of.

Day 9 - Permission to let go and to keep. She gives a great summary of  things that we tend to hold on to that maybe we should let go of and she also talks about not feeling bad about keeping things that inspire and delight you. It was a good read!

Day 10 - Sometimes you just have to live with it. I LOVED this one! Sometimes life gets busy... and crazy... and messy... and that's OK!

Day 11 - Kids socks - this was talking about getting all the same kind of socks so you don't have to hunt for the matches. Great idea! I don't think I'll throw away all of the kids' current socks... but going forward I'm definitely loving this idea.

Day 12 - Kids' clothes, rule of 3 - this section basically talked about only keeping 3 (or whatever # you choose) of each kind of clothing item (3 t-shirts, 3 polos, 3 pair of jeans, etc.). I didn't go through my kids clothes and do this as far as choosing a specific number... BUT, I did go through and pull out all of the clothes that no longer fit either of them or are out of season so that when we're picking out clothes, we're not having to sort through the ones that aren't even an option. Those are going to be stored for now... YAY.

 Overflowing

I may have had to sit on the lid and it may be bulging, but its on!

Day 13 - Kids closet inspiration - and I was inspired! Here are the closets "after". I didn't remember to do a "before" and I wasn't going to mess it up again just for a picture! :)  I think there are still a few things I want to change/add, but this is a vast improvement from their previous state.

Connor and Dylan's closet (all of those empty hangers used to be full of clothes - and there are more behind the door. It looks MUCH better now.)

Shelves from Home Depot inside 1 side. They're not beautiful... but they're inside a closet... and they were under $15!

 A reading nook on the other side. They LOVE this!

Sam's closet.

More shelves from Home Depot on 1 side.  (The other side is just storage bins so no pic.)

Reorganized the changing table, too, with baskets.

I went ahead and did the linen closet in their bathroom, too. I think linen closets are Day 26, but I had the time which is rare... so I took advantage. :)

There is a large pile of stuff that needs to leave my house now - very happy about that! Some we will give away, and other stuff I'm saving for a yard sale.

31 day challenge update... and a poem for the scatterbrain mom!

First, let me start by giving an update on the 31 day challenge to get organized, then we can get to the poem. The coat closet was day 2 and it's complete (as well as the master closet). Days 3-6 I'm going to clump together in 1 post because there isn't much of an update! (Here is the link again for the blog I'm following to do this: 31 days to an organized home.)

Day 3 - 3 basket tip - This was basically a tip to give items a home that easily get piled up and cause disorganization. The suggestion was for the laundry room - like a basket for dry-clean and hand-wash clothes, a basket for items to mend, and a basket for items to donate. Well, we don't dry-clean or hand-wash anything... I try to avoid clothes that require this type of care.  I know - sad - but true. If something needs to be mended, I usually do it right then and put it back up so I don't really need a basket for this either. And, when I go through stuff and make a pile to donate... it's not gonna fit in a little basket. BUT... I definitely need baskets for other stuff. The example she gave in the blog was simply that... an example. I can definitely find other ways to use this tip around our house and I definitely plan to use it. Our dining room catches everything and usually gets piled up very quickly. So I think I will do 3 baskets in there. Still just trying to think of what I'll label them. Plus, I need to buy baskets. So this day is currently on hold.

Day 4 - How to apply contact paper - I have never used contact paper and I don't really plan to; but if I ever have a need, I will definitely refer back to this day of the blog. She has it down to an art. :)

Days 5 and 6 - Pantries and Kitchen - I was a little discouraged when I read this one. Her pantries and kitchen are immaculate... and big! I have an extremely small pantry and very limited cabinet space so there is only so much I can do in these 2 areas. I feel as though I have as much fit into my kitchen spaces as possible and they don't look too horrid... so I'm not doing much of anything in these areas.

OK, now, onto the story about this poem...

I have a dear friend who has been teaching me a little here and there about quilting.  I was over at her house and she was teaching me to "meander".  It was not all that easy at first, but I could see it getting easier with practice. Anyway, I started thinking about meandering and thought... this is how I feel like my days go! No real direction some days and lots of twists and turns. This is why I do so many organization projects and notebooks and lists (refer to my blog - I yam what I yam). I am in a constant search to find ways to organize our home and our lives. I am a scatterbrain and desperately NEED these things to keep myself on track, but a lot of days, I'm not on track even with all of these things!

So, I wrote this poem to all the scatterbrain moms out there like me. (Just remember this poem is written in good fun and I was smiling as I wrote it.) :)  Feel free to add on another verse! :)

Where is my mind? Where did it go?

These kids have hidden it around here somewhere, I know.

Is it under the couch or perhaps the bed?

We need a lost and found for the contents of my head.

I’m scattered beyond measure.

How do I make it through the day?

The Lord must be with me

Is all I know to say.

Lord, please give me the skills

To organize this home.

For if I continue in this pattern

I will only meander, wander, and roam.

31 day challenge - getting organized!

I saw this blog... on pinterest ofcourse... 31 days to an organized home. I thought, oh, I know how to organize... its just finding time to do it that is the problem.  But I checked it out anyway thinking, "I can add on my pointers in the comment section."  Bahahahahahaha! I read this blog and realized - I am NOT organized! This lady has got it together! So, I am taking on the challenge! I know I will probably miss a day here and there because that's just the way it goes around here. But, I am still going to do each day... in order... and promise myself not to get ahead of myself. I will ONLY do 1 of the days each day.

OK, I already broke that promise a little bit today, but it was for good reason! :)

Day 1 is basically just an introductory day explaining the good reasons for staying organized... which I loved! So since I was motivated to get started I went on to Day 2 - the coat closet. Well, as I was doing that one, it kind of bled over into our master closet so I really did both of those today (see, promise broken).

Here is our coat closet before:



I know... NOT organized. You can't tell too much, but, first of all it's a VERY small closet. For some reason all of our closets are small. (Mental note - next house - bigger closets!)  Anyway, there is luggage all in the floor stacked up. You would have to pull it all out to find the one you're looking for.  Also in the floor is a ship wheel. Seems kind of odd, but the boys room has a nautical theme and we're going to hang it on their wall... eventually. There are A LOT of coats, most of them we never wear. On top, extra rolls of paper towels, and a bunch of little odds and ends.

So, I started with the coats and only left the ones in there that we wear often. Some I put in the donate pile and some I moved to our master closet - which is why I needed to go ahead and do that one, too.) :)  I put all of the paper towel rolls and put them on the shelf over our washer and dryer where I keep cleaners. I also took out all of the odds and ends (most of which can be donated). I took out all of the luggage and put the smallest pieces inside the larger pieces and put those up on top. The thing hanging on the inside of the closet I like so I kept it there. It has art project "stuff" in it. I put a container on the top shelf for gloves. The last thing I did is put all of our shoes in the closet. I had not thought of doing this before until I read the "31 days..." blog, but it makes great sense and it saves me room in our master closet (which is also SMALL).

Here is the coat closet now:

Here is the master closet now:

There is still more room on the top shelf if I need to store anything else.

Here are the bags of stuff to donate!

Most of this is from the master closet, but there are a few things from the coat closet. The luggage bag is full of stuff, too.

Day 2: coat closet - Check!

Putting order in the chaos (or some more appropriate Greek word)

I can remember in many sermons pastors trying to describe a certain passage of scripture and saying that there isn't a word in the English language that can truly portray what the author was saying. That the Greek doesn't accurately translate into English. Well, that's a little how I feel when I'm trying to describe raising 3 children all under the age of 5. I can use the word busy or chaotic or crazy... but surely there is a Greek word that paints a better picture!

Don't get me wrong... I LOVE it! I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world. It's just that sometimes, I feel a little... well... overwhelmed.  I love for there to be order and organization. I used to be pretty OCD about it and, even still, on some days I can feel the OCD creeping up. But, I have found there is no better therapy for that than loving my children and loving to see the joy on their faces as they are making memories.  Memory making for young children can be VERY messy!

Still, I do need to feel some sense of order and organization. Otherwise, I have found that I don't get much accomplished. After all, raising children is just one of my jobs and I need to get other things done, too. I am easily distracted and it helps me tremendously to have a plan or list or something. So... I made a notebook. I mean, what a simple thing and it makes me oh so happy! In case I ever wonder later in my life how I managed everything when all the boys were very little... I thought I would chronicle the notebook - because its a huge help!

Here is the notebook:

In it, I have:

A calendar where I keep track of birthdays, holidays, special events, etc. I don't use this as my daily calendar. We have one up on the wall in the kitchen where I detail what everyone has going on a certain day. That way I know my hubby will take a peak at it every now and then. But, this one is just nice for a snapshot view:

Daily schedules... I have one for each day detailing our usual activities we need to get done for the day. This isn't something we never veer from. Things come up all the time (like fun play dates or even just a need for us to get out of the house) and I have to maintain flexibility, but this is just a good guide for our day. Like I said, I'm easily distracted so it helps me if there's something to keep me on track.

For each day of the week I usually have some sort of theme for that day.  For us, Monday is kitchen day. I like to make several meals that day and refrigerate them for later in the week.  It doesn't always work out that I get to do it, but I love it when I do! It makes dinner prep for the rest of the week a breeze! Tuesday is the day we go to our school group (24 weeks out of the year) and we also run errands that day. Wednesday used to be laundry day, but since I've started hanging clothes to dry, I do a load a day now. So, Wednesday is now for cleaning the bedrooms and bathrooms. Thursday is "office" day. I use this day for meal planning, couponing, finance planning, lesson planning, or whatever else needs to be done in the office.  Friday is another cleaning day. I vacuum, dust downstairs, and sweep/mop downstairs. Saturdays change every week depending on what we have going on. If there isn't anything planned, we do a special project. Sunday is our day of worship and rest.

Also, our daily schedules sometimes change with the seasons. For instance, in the fall I schedule time for Christmas prep activities (shopping, wrapping, decorating, etc.) and in the spring I schedule time for decluttering and yard sale/consignment prep. Here's a dalily schedule page:

School... Here I like to keep special project ideas, art/craft ideas, articles, lesson planning sheets, etc.

Meal planning - I detail out what I'm going to cook for the week and if I'm trying a new recipe I put that in this section, too.

Other sections in the notebook include:

• Extracurricular activities - where I put their baseball schedules, etc.
• Prayer requests/ Praises - for our family to pray for and give thanks.
• Goals - this one is empty right now, but I've been thinking of listing and tracking goals we have.
• Family worship - for family bible study/devotional ideas.
• Expense planning - for receipts or bills we need to pay or keep track of.
• Coupons

That's about it for the notebook. It gives a little order to this crazy (or whatever Greek word goes best here), joyful, happy, wonderful life!

Spring cleaning... in January!

OK, I know Spring cleaning is supposed to be reserved for, well, the spring... but I thought, what better way to start the year than with everything cleaned out and organized?? Everything has a way of getting cluttered and stacked up and stashed in a drawer throughout the year and you end up with closets you're afraid to open without something falling on you and drawers you can't open!

This is going to be a pretty long process because I can't do it all at one time. I can only invest an hour or less a day so I am trying to focus on one room, or one closet, or one piece of furniture to go through per day.

I started with a new bookcase (well, new to us anyway... it was given to us by a dear friend). We didn't have one and Chris wasn't convinced that we needed one, but I insisted anyway. After I finished pulling out all of the books from all of my "hiding" places around the house and had them stacked in the living room to organize on the bookshelf, I think Chris was convinced! :)  He said, "where did all of these come from???" Bahahahaha... I guess I'm pretty good at finding places to stash things.

Next I had the boys go through all of the toys in their room and we picked ones that they don't play with all that often to take down to the basement. I'm not getting rid of them, but I'm putting them away for now and the plan is to pull them out in 6 months or so and switch them for any toys they may have become bored with. They tend to get excited to see toys they haven't played with in a while. While we were going through their room, we also cleaned out drawers and their closet. I am still slowly working on Sam's room. His closet has just been a place to put things I don't know what to do with.

Next was our closet. I had to put away flip flops and sandals and other warm weather items. They had taken over the floor in our closet.  I did it when Chris was at work and after he came home and went upstairs to change, he came back down and said, "Hey, did you know there's carpet in our closet??"  Smarty britches...

I still have to go through our night stands, dresser, and armoir in our room and all of the drawers in our living room tables... but I am already feeling decluttered! If anyone were to come over, no one would notice anything different (except the bookshelf), but I know there is less of a mess in drawers and closets and if I want to find something, I may just be able to do so! I love it!!