My Little Secret...

I have a little secret. And it's under my sink.....

For years I have carried a handled organizing tub around from bathroom to bathroom to clean. It was filled with a ton of cleaning products, most of which, I didn't even use.

Then I smartened up and decided to put one small basket in each bathroom, under the sink, and eliminate products that aren't necessary.

Small. Simple. Clean.

No more carrying that tub of cleaning stuff up and down the stairs.
Not to mention the toilet brush! (Enter BIG yucky face here.)


In each basket, in each bathroom:
- A roll of Paper Towels
- Glass Cleaner
- Tub Cleaner
- Toilet Bowl Cleaner
- Disinfecting Wipes

(My Bathroom)

 (Upstairs Bathroom)

 (Guest Bathroom)


And beside each basket, under each sink, is a toilet brush!

Why on earth has it not occurred to me to do this years ago???? (I have no idea.)
I DO know that it's a lot easier cleaning my bathrooms now!!!

Happy Scrubbing!

10/10 Challenge

I have a feeling that the challenge of purging 100 THINGS can be a little overwhelming for some. That's understandable!
(Remember that I took several days just removing things from my closet. Then another couple of days to get it 'put back together' and organized. )
It's certainly not a 10 minute project.... but wait... this is! Let this be an encouragement to you because this is something EVERYONE can do!

10/10 CHALLENGE
(10 Minutes/10 Things)
Do you think you can purge 10 THINGS in 10 Minutes?

Here's how:
1. Pick your designated spot to sort/organize. It can be a pantry, under the bed, computer cabinet, sock drawer... wherever you feel a space that is getting cluttered and needs THINGS removed.

2. Make sure it is a small space. I doubt you can clean out your entire attic or basement in 10 minutes. The purpose of the 10/10 CHALLENGE is to finish, be effective and be encouraged.

3. Gather anything you need to complete this project. Cleaning supplies, organizational things, a box for your 10 THINGS, trash can, etc. Since you only have 10 minutes, you don't want to waste that precious time trying to find a basket for shoes or a folder for paper, etc.

4. Set a timer for 10 MINUTES. No, I'm serious. If you don't set a timer, you won't finish in 10 Minutes.

5. GO! Clean, sort, organize and purge your little heart out for 10 MINUTES. Keep your eye on the time so you aren't surprised when the timer goes off. 10 MINUTES is NOT a lot of time and it will fly by. Keep focused on your project for the entire 10 MINUTES.

Here's My 10/10 CHALLENGE:
1. I chose our mud-room closet. It's the closet right by the garage door- how we enter the house daily. The mud-closet holds our shoes we most regularly wear, our current coats and my long cleaning things (broom, mop, swiffer, etc.) It is also where Reese keeps her book bag and where we have our winter accessories (hats, gloves, scarves, etc.)
Needless to say, this little closet gets A LOT of use everyday. And it is in constant disarray. Enter the 10/10. :)

2. It is a small closet so I knew I could fix it a little in 10 Minutes.

3. I grabbed a trash can, a vacuum, a box for my 10 THINGS, and a magic eraser.

4. I set my timer on my stove right around the corner.

5. GO!

I pulled the shoes rack out and removed some shoes that don't belong in the closet.

I vacuumed the floor and wiped the walls down- lots of shoe marks gone!

I replaced the shoe rack and some shoes.

I removed some coats that we hadn't worn all winter to donate. And organized the other coats.(Hung them properly, arranged them- short in the front, long in the back.)

I removed the black rack, to the left on the floor,  that was pretty much useless in this space.

I organized the scarves on the scarf hanger.

I went through each teal basket, on the top shelf, to sort out missing or too small gloves. We each have our own basket for winter hats and gloves.

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!

(That was my timer.)

And here is my closet now....

My 10 THINGS:

Black rack

4 Pairs of shoes (taken upstairs to be put away in kids rooms)

1 Pair of my shoes (to donate)

2 Pair of shoes put away in my closet

3 Pairs of gloves that were too small (to donate)

2 Sunday School papers that were crushed in the back (trash)

4 Coats removed to be put away in my closet

3 Coats to be put away upstairs

2 Coats (to donate)

You will be surprised at what you can get done in such a short amount of time! And by getting ride of/ removing just a few things and a little organization you can clear up that troubled, cluttered spot!

100 THINGS +

So..... remember my '100 THINGS Challenge' from just a week ago?

Well, I'm here to tell you my progress!

Let's look back, shall we?

Remember this upstairs, hallway closet? (The one that is being turned into a toy closet?)

In this picture, it is storing our summer clothes and lots of other, well.... stuff (and junk).

And do you remember this closet? (This was our master bedroom closet.)

 Full of only winter clothes....

So I starting purging things that I didn't 

LOVE, NEED, or USE.

(Read about my purging questions here.)

IT. WAS. AWESOME.

I felt so good getting rid of that stuff!

In fact, when the Hubs got home, he wanted in on the action.

(OK, really, the conversation went like this...

Me- Babe, I'm trying to get rid of 100 things out of our closet. Do you think you could part with 50 things?

Him- Yeah, I'm not emotionally attached to anything in there.

Me- OK, well I think I'm getting ready to reach 100 THINGS on my own. Do you think you want to try for 100?

Him- Sure.) 

I later found out that there were a few items he was a little attached to. But who doesn't have their favorite pair of jeans and t-shirt?

I also found out that I was the one to purge for him. No problem there, I was on a roll.

A couple of days later I was finished. I had the Man of the house take the 8 boxes of clothes down to the basement.

And if you were to walk in our closet right now, this is what you would see........

OK, I know you are saying, "Lindsey, it still looks full."

Yes, I know. But keep in mind that I combined TWO closets.

And, it's organized.

And, I have proof that I got rid of a bunch of stuff.

Here's my LIST:

My Clothes:

65 shirts

11 skirts

5 belts

10 pairs of shoes

3 purses

7 jeans

3 dress pants

8 t-shirts

4 shorts

7 carpi's

13 sweaters

9 dresses

2 robes

5 coats

7 p.j. pants

MY GRAND TOTAL: 159

Joel's Clothes:

21 Polo's

12 sweaters

14 dress shirts

5 ties

17 t-shirts

2 shorts

2  4 suits (He thought the jacket and pants should be counted separately. I reminded him this was not a competition- wink, wink.)

2 sports coats

1 dress pants

4 belts

1 sweatshirt

2 hats

2 jeans

3 p.j. pants

1 running pants

HIS GRAND TOTAL: 91

I WIN!!!!!!

We did it! :)

Together purging 250 THINGS!

Now, down to the nitty-gritty...

HIS side:

Top Shelf- Sweatshirts, Short Sleeved T-Shirts, Long Sleeved T-Shirts

Top Hanging- Sweaters, Long Sleeved Polo Shirts, Short-Sleeved Polo Shirts

Bottom Hanging- Dress Shirts, Work Shirts, Ties

MIDDLE:

(Top to bottom)

My Summer Pants/Shorts

My Jeans/ Winter Pants

The '3 black tubs' is my new laundry system. I did laundry over the weekend, and so far, so good!

Into the top tub goes RED and WHITES

Into the middle tub goes DARKS

Into the bottom tub goes Sanitary wash (undies, socks, towels, etc.) 

The tubs have handles. So, when the tub gets full, I take it to the laundry. Wash, dry, return (in tub) and put away.

MY Side:

Top Shelf- Long Sleeved T-Shirts, Short-Sleeved T-Shirts, Sweatshirts

Top Hanging- Cami's and Tanks, all other Shirts (grouped by color)

Bottom Hanging- Sweaters, Dress Jackets, Skirts

Now, if you turn to look behind you (if you were in my closet) you'll see the 'other' side...

TOP Shelf:

Joel's Summer shorts/pants, Jeans, Brown/Tan Dress Pants, Gray/Black Dress Pants

HANGING:

(left to right)

Joel's Suits and hanging pants, Our Jackets, My Dresses, My long Skirts, My Hanging Pants

continue on...

Scarves, Belts, Extra Hangers

(And below, my jewelry cabinet that is screaming

"PAINT ME!!!!")

To the left of all of that...

SHOES

In an attempt to have more floor space, I got rid of the previous laundry 'system'...

(enter great back tubs!)

And, I got the ironing board off the floor...

So, I still have some fun ideas.

I have great envisions of really cute baskets lining the top of the shelves.

New Curtains?

A rug?

(and the list goes on...)

Just remember, your closet will never be completely done. As you use things daily, get rid of things, buy new things, seasons changing, you share a closet.... all of these things can quickly upset your clean closet.

 You need to constantly keep it organized!

3 Purging Questions

If you are removing 100 THINGS with me, I wanted to help encourage the purging process.
(If you missed that challenge, read HERE.)

Three simple words to remember... LOVE, NEED, USE.

Let me explain...

LOVE- Ask yourself, "Do I love this?".
If your answer is "No, I do not love this." Then why keep it? Now, I don't mean it has to be a shirt you love so much that you wear if every other day. But, if it's something you don't really like, or maybe that cute summer dress that doesn't really like you, then why allow it to hang in your closet or sit on your shelves only to take up precious space?

NEED- Ask yourself, "Do I need this?"
In my personal 100 ITEM purge, I asked myself, "Do I really need 18 pairs of jeans?" Obviously, no. It sounds ridiculous that I even had 18 pairs of denim!

USE- Ask yourself, "Have I worn/used this in the last year?"
A year is a long time! 365 opportunities and if that faded red sweater didn't make the cut this year, chances are, you're not going to wear it next winter!
Or what about that crock pot? No, not your two newer ones but the 5th one that you inherited or that was given to you as a gift? Ask yourself if you really need 5 crock pots.

Happy purging!

100 Things

I recently read a story about a woman that removes 100 items from her home every year or so.

"So once a year, and sometimes twice if I feel the house is getting cluttered, I do a “100 Things” project on a weekend.
It’s quite simple: I must find 100 things to get rid of in some way."

This came at a great time for me. Remember one of my New Year's goals was to clean out the upstairs hall closet and make it a toy closet? I was in the midst of taking our off-season clothes from the hall closet and putting them in our bedroom closet. (Along with the current season clothes.)

(This is our upstairs hall closet)

There is a severe problem reason that we needed two closets for clothes. Too MANY!

For years we had put our off-season clothes in huge containers. Twice a year, I would pack up the off-season clothes, my husband would carry the HUGE containers to the basement, bring up the stored clothes and I would un-pack them.
(shew.... exhausting just thinking about doing that 2 times a year!)
Then I decided to keep them hung, in the hall closet, for easier switching during season change. Yes, that was a good idea, in terms of ease of transportation, but it also allowed us the 'freedom' to keep and purchase even more clothes.

So, here comes the part that I have been feeling soooo overwhelmed with STUFF.
I feel this way anytime I visit my basement, too.
My desire is to live life minimally. I have tried to slim down 'things' in general.
Realizing what we do have, rather than complaining about what we don't is humbling and satisfying. And it brings on a heart of giving- more on that another day!

So, my solution to minimizing my closet.... (drum-roll please).... 
we are getting rid of 100 THINGS just in our closet! Ta-da!

(Here's one side of our closet- with just the current season clothes)

It doesn't seem that hard right? RIGHT! That's what I thought!! So, you'll do it with me????
You may not have a busting-at-the-seems-closet like me, but maybe you can collect 100 THINGS somewhere else. Or in your entire home combined?
As you go about your daily business today, take a look around at all that you have been blessed with and see if you can spot some things that are cluttering your potential to organization!
Then, if you decide to join me, take this week and search for the items you'd like to remove. Keep a tally so you know when you've reached 100 THINGS.
A week from today, I'll report on my 100 THINGS to get rid of and we'll see how I did!

Mini Spring-Clean Week #3

Okay, the first Spring Clean project was in the kitchen this week.

Small change here, but sometimes the baby steps make you feel just as organized as the big steps!

My Mom's Jelly Cabinet

(a.k.a. my cookbook cabinet)

It's kinda sad that I need an entire cabinet to keep cookbooks. 

I really tried to thin them down some, but it was difficult. (Key word tried.) 

Before

After

Any suggestions for all of those old Taste of Home magazines? 

On my to-do list (when it's warmer outside) is to paint this cabinet!

The second cleaning project this week was in our bathroom....

During

(My usual: yank it all out, wipe it all down, purge the un-needed and replace what you need and use.)

My hubby was excited he got his 'own' drawer!

(I purged extra of my 'junk' to make it happen.) 

I also put all of our things (in our individual drawers) into baskets. When you are getting ready, just pull the basket to the counter and then when you are finished, it's easy to just have to put one thing back in the drawer- the basket!

Okay, okay.... I needed two baskets in my drawer.

Then the top, shared drawer...

Our night-time regiment of things.

(And yes, we brush our teeth more often than just at night.)

This picture reminds me of an argument many years ago...

If you have a little argument in your marriage,

remember it's not worth it and you can always find a solution!!!!!

Here is a picture of one of our solutions....

Did you notice?

TWO separate toothpaste tubes. Both squeezed, COMPLETELY different.

This solved one of our early frustrations when we were first married. 

We have been happily not sharing toothpaste, in the same drawer, for almost 8 years!

Okay, back to cleaning :)

Under one sink:

Feminine products (in drawers), trash can and cleaning supplies for the bathroom.

And under the other sink:

A basket of my hair 'stuff' and our towels.

(Yes, I have more than 2 towels. The others were pre-occupied in the dryer when I took this picture!)

And behind the basket of hair 'stuff', containers that I don't need everyday.

Cotton balls and nail polishes.

Mini Spring-Clean Week #2

I did a few more things, of my usual 'Spring Cleaning', to help myself out the week of the actual 'Spring Cleaning'.

Here's what I did:

Upper Cabinets Re-Organize

The first upper cabinet is where I store my cake decorating accessories. I also keep my party paper products up there. All things that I don't use on a daily, or even weekly, basis.

Before (It always looks worse when you document it with a picture!)

After

Top Shelf: Paper plates and napkin

Middle Shelf: Cupcake tree, icing tips and other decorating tools, sprinkles, food colorings

Bottom: Disposable cups, cake carrier, cake turn table and cupcake liners

Another great idea I saw on Pinterest...

Putting your cupcake liners in clear containers so they are stored and organized. I purchased the plastic-handled containers at Target in the dollar section.

My mini cupcake liners fit in a canning jar I had on hand.

I put them all on my no-slip cake turn table so I can easily spin it around to see all my liners.

The second upper cabinet wasn't a huge cleaning deal, but I wiped it out and re-organized a little...

Before:

After:

Kitchen Table Area

I purchased a new rug for under our kitchen table.

Here are my steps for cleaning in preparation for the new rug...

1. Remove table, chairs and old rug

2. Sweep and scrub floor under the old rug

3. Wipe table and chairs down

4. Place new rug in it's spot

5. Replace table - Hit your head on the light fixture as you are putting the table back, see dust fly and then clean the light fixture.

6. Get a big sheet and have a 'reading tent' before bedtime. 

7. Put chairs back

8. See if you can go a week without anyone spilling something on your new rug! ;)

Spring Cleaning

You might be saying, "Seriously? It's still winter."
My response, "I can't help it!"
I get the Christmas decor down and I'm itching to clean.

I thought I'd start my actual 'Spring Cleaning List' early with a few little things from my Crazy Spring Cleaning Week.

If you'd like to work along with me, I'll try to post every week of what I have been working on so that you can get a head start too! Don't worry, it'll be light easy things that can easily be added to your everyday things that you already clean/organize/put-away/cook, etc.

Jewelry Cleaning
I cleaned out my jewelry cabinet and it has been
much more fun picking out jewelry for the day!

Before:

During:

After (jewerly to add to the get rid of pile):

Coffee Stash
I received a few free coffee samples in the mail one day last week. When I put them away, I realized the cabinet that had all our coffee/hot chocolate/tea needed to be re-organized.

Before:

(Hot drinks are much better with fun mugs! Get ones like these here!)

During:

(Take it all out, wipe it down, put most of it back.)

After:

Coffee Stash turned Spice Stash

When I cleaned out the 'Coffee Stash' I found some cinnamon that needed to be in the Spice Stash Cabinet. Well, that needed re-organizing too!

Before:

After:

(Sometimes you forget you can move your cabinet shelves to help re-organize!)

Spice Stash turned Potholder Drawer
When I was moving the shelves in the Spice Stash Cabinet, I had to use my jar-opener-gripper-thing-so-you-don't-get-blisters to remove the shelve pegs. So when I put the gripper-thing back into the drawer, yep, that needed cleaned out too. (This is the point at which I didn't let myself open anymore cabinets so that I could get out of the kitchen!)
Before:

After:

(The green thing on the bottom right is the grippy-thing I was talking about)

And to think it all started with free samples!