Showing posts with label organization. Show all posts
Showing posts with label organization. Show all posts

1/6/11

Under The Sink

I'm taking the Challenge today!
Are you?
"Organizing Under Your
 Kitchen Sink"
____________

Okay, so here is my
BEFORE


First of all, I've been thinking to myself... WHY must they make it so ugly down there under the sink?! Seriously. Couldn't they have made like a little cute cabinet inside the cabinet to house all of the ugly stuff... the garbage disposal is a serious eye sore! And let's not even start on those obnoxious pipes! I was actually considering today, to buy some material to cover those things.

What do you recommend??
_______________

Now, on to my transformation...
I found this perfect container at WalMart today for $5.00.


I love it! It has a lid AND a handle! I can now store all of my everyday cleaners in it and carry it around the house with me while I clean.


See these soaps? Well, I have a little bit of a LOVE for soaps! This picture actually has a little story that goes with it... a SECRET, actually! I promise to share it with you soon! :)


Lovin' it! :)


Finally...
AFTER!


much better, yeah?

Don't forget to link up your progress at our
(remember, I will choose a number randomly at the
 end of the month... the more you link up,
the better your chances are of winning!)
and
Join the 21 day challenge too!

LeT's GeT OrGaNizEd!! 

1/5/11

Organizing SMALL spaces... makes a BIG difference!

How's everyone doing in our
I've had tons of fun so far and accomplished alot too!

Today, I decided I would go on a little excursion around my house and organize a few small spaces. I donated, threw away, and straightened! I always love to see a small space clean, tidy, and organized!
___________________
 playroom books & movies
___________________
my scrapbook paper
______________
office caddy
_______________
 the kid's craft shelf 
_____________
office bookshelf

master bedroom closet shelves
(empty!)

Even if you just have time to do some small spaces in your home, go for it! Sometimes I know I only have an hour while the boys are at preschool, so I just start somewhere. Today only took about 1 1/2 hours to organize, disinfect, and throw/donate!
not bad.
 not bad at all.
____________
*have you been linking up your progress?*

YOUR junk drawers!

Lots of great junk drawers transformations linked up over the past few days... I wanted to feature some of them! :)
_____________

I'm loving the wooden organizer tray from Crafty Hearts, Warm Home.

_________________

Simple Silly Life used little baskets to separate her "junk". (I wonder if she really uses ALL those bag clips... hee hee!)

_______________

Envirocraftiness found a gift certificate tucked away in her junk drawer that she had forgotten she had! ScorE!!

________________

CoBabe in Suburbia used this plastic tray to organize her drawer. It had been tucked away in a closet for years! YAY!

__________________

Avery and Winslow used school pencil boxes to organize her junk drawer... I love it!

_____________

Rose Vine Creations organized 5 drawers in one day! One of the "after" pictures, is an empty drawer! That makes my heart SMILE!!

_________________

The Blue Shutter House used these cute wire trays to organize!
_______________

A Very Dandoislion Life made major improvements to her junk drawer! Lovin' those school pencil boxes!!

______________

Lolly Jane Boutique cleaned out her junk drawer in less than 5 minutes!

______________

Pinkapotamus took her junk drawer from this...

 to this!

Good job EVERYONE on cleaning out those
junk drawers!!
_____________

Now, for the WINNER of our junk drawer vinyl liner!
...out of 20 comments...
the lucky winner (via Random.Org) is
#6

10 min. are you serious!!!!?? I am jealous I think I spent an hour on my dang drawer.
But I am glad I have clean drawers :)
1/1/11 7:22 PM

*contact me at sassy.sites@hotmail.com
to get your FREE vinyl drawer liner!

** be on the look out for MANY more**
Operation Organization
GIVEAWAYS
coming up SOON!!

1/4/11

Operation KITCHEN Organization!

How often do you actually take everything out of your kitchen cabinets and disinfect the surface of each cabinet. Let's not even think about that... ewww! Today is a new start!! We are going to take everything OUT of kitchen cabinets, organize, throw, donate, disinfect, and put back. It sounds overwhelming, doesn't it? Give yourself a good couple of  hours days! Put the kids down for naps and just GO FOR IT! :) Once you get going, it goes pretty fast! I promise.
(I honestly can't believe that I am going to be putting my
entire messy kitchen on the internet for ALL to see!) Here we go!!
grab the Lysol!
______________
silverware drawer:
(forgot to catch a before pic)
take everything out and put in the dishwasher
 (even the tray)
disinfect drawer
throw away and donate!
put everything back
done!
(can you believe that my 4 year old actually uses ALL those medicine droppers!)
______________
 tupperware drawers:
(BEFORE)
stack everything onto the counter
put tops with bottoms
throw everything that doesn't have a match
disinfect the drawer
everything gets put back neatly!
done!
_____________
spice cabinet:
take everything out
(for someone who doesn't cook, I sure have alot of spices!)
throw things that are expired/not used
disinfect the shelves
organize shelves according to uses
-baking shelf
-spice shelf
-everyday used items shelf
done!
_______________
medicine cabinet:
(BEFORE)
 everything out and put onto the counter
throw expired medicines
wash sticky cough syrup bottles off
disinfect the shelf
organize by uses
-cold/allergy
-pain
-everyday used items
done!

_____________
odds and ends cabinet:
take everything out
throw/donate
disinfect the shelf
put everything back
done!
______________
utensil drawer:
everything OUT!
throw/donate!
disinfect
put everything back
 the corn cob skewers go into a ziplock
done!
______________
pots and pans cabinet:
take everything out
donate!
disinfect
 put everything back
done!
( doing this project made me realize that I am
 LONG overdue for some new cookware!)
________________
plates and bowls cabinet:
take everything out
get rid!
disinfect the cabinet
put everything back
done!
_________________

Seriously, this was soooo refreshing! I would consider myself an "organized person" before I even began this process. But going through this, I realized that I am not as organized as I thought I was. My goal is to KEEP IT THIS WAY!! :)
_________
*I did NOT do this in just one day... :)

Next week: The Fridge!


Photobucket

The Basics of Tossing!

"...disorganization and clutter are
among the biggest causes of stress!"

Photobucket

*The following article is from Frugal Living.
(this article makes me SMILE!)

At times, all of us spend money on items that we don't end up using. Most of us spend a lot of money on these things. For some of us, it is exercise equipment; for others it might be clothes, toys, kitchen gadgets or tools. We keep them because we would feel guilty if we got rid of them. "I mean, Do you know how much that is worth?" or "What if I get rid of it only to discover that I need it?"

Why are you punishing yourself by keeping something that is cluttering your life? Stress is one of the biggest problems that Americans face today and disorganization and clutter are among the biggest causes of stress. If you bought something you don't use, face it. You made a mistake. Don't make an even bigger one by keeping it. Get rid of it and move on. Donate it to someone who can use it and relieve you and your family of the stress of living with it. Learn from your mistakes and try to evaluate better whether you actually need something before you spend money.

1.Do you have more than one of some utility item? Keep your favorite or best one and toss the rest. Many people keep four potato peelers, three strainers and five 9x13 pans. If this is you, do you often prepare meals for 50 or more people? No? Toss it!

2.Food stuff - Wow, food is a big one. I think it's because we think of all those starving people in some third world country. If you don't need it (unless you are ready to box it up and send it to them), toss it. If there are bugs on food items, if cans are swollen, or if items are past the expiration dates, then toss them. Staring at them every time you open the pantry isn't going to cure botulism. (Did she say bugs? Yech!!) If you have more items then your family can eat in a year then use them before you buy more or donate them to a food bank. If you want to use it, but didn't realize you have 17 cans of beets and 12 cans of pie filling, you need a better pantry organization system.

3.Are you really ever going to make that craft or sewing project? Toss it.

4.Why save 25 empty mayo jars when you only use two a year?

5.If you are saving a magazine that is dated from the last millennium or even last year and haven't read it do you honestly think you're going to ever read it? Those hair styles aren't popular anymore and not many people even remember Commodore 64 computers.

6.The same goes for newspapers. If you didn't get yesterday's paper read, what makes you think you are going to read last week's? Time marches on and collecting newspapers can get you in hot water with the fire marshall.

7.Why are you keeping it if it is torn, stained, too small or outdated? Get rid of it. The moth balls just make your house smell funny.

8.How many Tshirts can you wear in a week? Why do you have 30 stuffed in your closet? How about pants, dresses, and pajamas?

9.Do I really need 5 pairs of brown loafers? Enough said.

10.Do your children play with the same half dozen favorite toys every day while the rest lay buried in the toy chest? Why are you saving the rest? Toss them! (But not in front of the kids. They will never consent to giving up anything!) If there are things they don't play with but you think they still like, put them in a box for a few months and trade them out with some of the other stuff when they get bored with what they have. Don't be a pack rat. If you have 12 boxes like this, keep tossing.

11.Do you really think that when your son is 35 years old, he will get a thrill out of looking at every school paper he ever did, especially the ones where he wrote the letter "D" a hundred and one times? Keep the highlights if you like, but if it takes more than a small box, keep tossing. _______________________

Do you need to update your progress
 of your Operation Organization?
Go HERE.
-also-
Tomorrow is the last day to enter the giveaway for a
 new and sassy junk drawer liner. Any color! :)
Go HERE.

1/3/11

6 TIPS for Getting Organized!

...just checking in to see how your organizing is going?

Photobucket

How many trash bags have you gotten rid of? How many boxes have you donated? Does your craft room look like this yet? Does this craft room even exist in real life? NOPE!
_____________

I just found this wonderful site with 6 Tips for Getting Organized. Simple Mom explains it perfectly and takes you step by step through your organizing.

1. Think about the "why" behind the "what"
tackle the reason BEHIND the clutter, not just the clutter!

2. Involve other people
tackling an organizing project with your husband and kids is more fun!

3. Don't wait for perfection
you don't need fancy, expensive equipment to get organized!

4. If in doubt, throw it out
my favorite! :)

5. Expect organization to be a part of your life
managing a home means organizing it regularly!

6. Use helpful resources
use magazines, blogs, and books to give you tips along the way!

_____________________
Don't forget to be
linking up your progress!!
GO HERE!

12/31/10

Operation Organization!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
I've been dying to share our new party with you!!
I would like to introduce you to my New Year 2011 PARTY...
Operation Organization!
{sassy style}

Photobucket
 ......................
You might remember my post from the night of Christmas?
If you ask anyone who knows me really well, my favorite thing to do is... to throw things away! I actually have a philosophy:
"If it hasn't been touched, used, or needed in 3 months, throw it away or donate it!"

To me, 3 months seems to be the perfect amount of time to know if you will miss something that could been thrown or donated.
.............. 
Okay, so on to the PAR-TAY! 

 The rules:
1. pick a room(s) that needs organized
2. take a picture of the "before"
3. Link up your before picture at the
Sassy Sites Operation Organization party!
.................
So, this is how it's going to work.
I will keep this link up going the whole month of January! Link up every time you make progress on this room. For instance, day one you will link up your "before picture". Day two, three, four five, link up your progress, etc!
 Yipee!

AND THERE'S A GIVEAWAY!
... at the end of the month, I'm going to put everyone into a drawing and a winner will be chosen via Random.Org.
The more times you organize and LINK UP,
the better your chances of winning!
and the more rooms you organize and link up,
the better your chances of winning THIS!
(this is one of my most favorite books!)
 ..............
I want to see your progress,
so link up your Operation Organization,
so we can follow along with you!
Grab a button, so everyone can join the fun!
Photobucket

Link up starts January 1st and
ends February 1st!
..........................
REMEMBER:
You can link up as many
rooms/spaces as you would like!
____________

12/26/10

Everything but the tree...

is down and packed away! 
.............
Okay, there are a few things you should know about me...

I've been known to:
take down holiday decorations the night that the holiday is over! I love it! The moment we walk in the door from Trick or Treating with the kids, the candy goes into the community candy bucket, the costumes go into a box, and all the decor is packed away neatly into the attic. I am a happy mom tonight! The moment we got home from our family Christmas party at my mom's house, I started taking Christmas decorations down, putting stuff away, and filling up the trash can with goodness!


I've been known to:
throw things away. It's actually a little bit exciting to me to throw something in the trash. Whether it be a piece of junk mail or even my husband's registration tags for his truck (that look like junk mail) oops, I throw it!  I give myself 3 rules... have you NEEDED it in the last 3 months? have you USED it in the last 3 months? have you TOUCHED it in the last 3 months? If you answered NO to any or all of these questions...throw it away!  This year, I pulled 6 Christmas buckets down from the attic. My goal is to put back only three!

I've been known to:
not get attached to material things. I sometimes buy something from a garage sale and then end up selling it at my next garage sale a few months down the road. I even buy things full price and end up giving it away to my sister. I love things for a short amount of time and then I move on. I go through my kid's room at least once a week and we always find lots to donate! I love change, I guess.

I've been known to:
go to people's homes and help them organize, just for the fun of it. Organizing is one of those things that I can't describe. It makes me feel, not only clean, but it's almost like a powerful feeling. I get such JOY from organizing things. Buckets, baskets, and labels make me vveeerrry happy! Normally, if someone has 3 or more of the same thing, I ask them to pick their favorite one and donate the rest. Who needs 7 pot holders?!!

I hope you all had a very MERRY Christmas!
Now, time to take down the tree! :)
.................

9/3/10

Clean Your House in 10 Minutes (or less)

"RING! RING!"
"hello?"
"HI! This is your mother in law calling to
let you know that we are in your neighborhood
and we are going to stop by!"

______________________


How to "FAKE" clean your house in 10 minutes or less...
Stephanie from Binkies and Briefcases shows us her secrets on how she tidies up her house when unexpected visitors will be
coming in 10 minutes!

*****1. Put dirty dishes in the dishwasher, but don't turn it on if someone is coming over soon- it's noisy and having a clean sink and no running dishwasher gives the impression that you keep your sink clean (which I am totally guilty of not doing, like, AT ALL)
2. Wipe down the counters in the kitchen and main bathroom with baby wipes. Baby wipes are cheaper than disinfecting wipes like Lysol and Clorox and they don't leave a chemical smell that says "I just cleaned up because you were coming over" (of course my house always smells like diapers anyway, so I doubt anyone would be able to tell the difference)
3. Squirt toothpaste in the toilet and swirl it around with the toilet brush. I know this sounds bizarre, but toothpaste is made for cleaning the enamel on your teeth and your porcelain toilet isn't that much different. Plus, again it does not leave a chemical smell, just the impression that you keep your bathroom clean like that all the time. (which of course I totally do. um, not.)
4. Throw any other clutter that is in the bathroom (potty chair, step stool, bath toys, etc) into the tub and pull the shower curtain closed
5. Close all of the bedroom doors.
6. Throw the toys that have scattered all over the living room into a plastic bin.
7. Spray Febreze or Oust.

______________________________

About.com says there are 3 simple rules:
Eliminate-Get rid of anything that looks or smells like trash, and empty all trash cans.
Organize-Straighten couch pillows, counter tops, and make the bed.
Hide-Store in the garage or closets, anything that doesn't belong in plain site.

Great tips!
Happy Labor Day Weekend...
and may you have LOTS of company!