Summer Cleaning: kitchen counters

One of my weekly goals last week was to thoroughly clean my kitchen counters, as well as clean out the toaster oven and toaster. This really was not a tough project and actually didn't even take me very long!

After I cleaned the toaster oven and cleaned out the toaster (yuck!), I moved on to scrubbing down the counters and washing a few items, like two unused canisters, my utensil canister, my spice rack, the knife block, etc.

It was so nice to have everything so neat and clean! We've lived here for nearly one year now, so the kitchen was definitely due for a good, thorough scrubbing.

Starting next week, I am going to dive headfirst into spring summer cleaning our home! Because I work in the schools as a substitute (which is sporadic, at best), spring cleaning is not feasible for me. Instead, I'm going to deep clean our home during June and July this summer. My approach has been inspired by Crystal at Money Saving Mom.com and while I don't care for cleaning, I am looking forward to attacking this project day-by-day. Look for more details next week!

Organizing my clothing: lots of purging!

One of my weekly goals this week was to go through all of my clothes. I wanted to see if I need any tank tops since they are on sale for only $3 at Target this week, and we are planning a trip to La Crosse on Friday.

The first part of this task was to actually get to my box of clothes in the back of our walk-in closet. As you can see from the picture above, that's no easy task! On the right side of our closet, we hang all of our hanging clothes. On the left side, we store our empty totes and tubs (our condo has no storage space). Our off-season clothes are also stored on the left side, in the back (of course!).

I managed to get the box out of the closet (without hurting myself!) and then I proceeded to lay out all of my clothes, both summer and winter.

I spent the next 45 minutes trying on virtually every piece of clothing that I currently own. I think 75% of my clothing didn't fit anymore!

This is what I ended up keeping. (I also had a few pairs of sweatpants and pajama pants that didn't make it into the picture.) The end result is essentially that I am okay with shirts, but I only have two pairs of regular pants that work for me (one pair of jeans and one pair of khakis) and ZERO pairs of shorts for this summer. Oops. I think I need to hit the clearance racks and thrift stores!

This tub is overflowing with items that don't fit or are too worn. I haven't decided yet what I am going to do with them...I may donate them, but I'd like to try consignment if I can. I'm considering taking the tub to Plato's Closet in La Crosse to see what they will buy.

After all that, half of my dresser is empty now! I'm okay with that, though...I'd rather have fewer clothes that fit rather than overflowing drawers of clothes that I don't like and that don't fit!

Organizing the filing cabinet

One of my major goals for 2012 was to organize our two drawer filing cabinet. This was no easy feat - but I am happy to report that it is done!

In order to overhaul the filing cabinet, I resolve to work on a few files each week until the project was done. I truly think that this approach is what helped me get this project done. If I had told myself to go in the second bedroom and organize the filing cabinet in one afternoon, it never would have happened! It would have been so overwhelming that I would have avoided it at all costs!

Instead, I chose to work on just a few files per week (as part of my weekly goals). I typically spent less than one hour each week on this project and I completed it in about eight weeks!

We already a lot (and I mean A LOT) of files in the cabinet and they simply needed to be cleaned out and organized. In the process, I was able to throw away and shred many papers. I relocated other papers to more appropriate folders.

Because we are self-employed and have a housing allowance (because my husband is clergy), it is imperative that we keep solid records of our bills and receipts. When I reorganized the filing cabinet, I separated our utility bills, receipts and other paperwork - now I can find any paper in a matter of seconds!

If you have any other questions about my organizational system in the filing cabinet, please ask in the comments section!

Declutter: the bathroom closet

The finished product

One of my goals this week was to declutter, clean out and organize our bathroom closet. We moved in to this condo eight months ago and while I did organize the closet at that time, I didn't do as thorough of a job as I could have done! After eight months, it was getting to the point where I didn't even know exactly what I had in my stockpile anymore.

To tackle this project, I took all of the health and beauty items out of the closet (and from undeneath the vanity) and put them on our bed. After I did that, I seized the opportunity to sweep and mop the floor in the bathroom. That is multitasking at its finest! :)

As you can see from the picture above, I had a "helper" for this project:

Yeah...actually, he didn't help me at all! I suppose you could say that he supervised my work... :)

Once everything was on the bed, I began to sort through the various boxes, totes and tubs. I am telling you - I found things in those boxes that I didn't know I had!

I have four plastic shoe box-size totes (leftover from my college days!) that are now much more organized:

1. One contains all first aid items (bandages, antibiotic ointment, etc.).
2. Another contains medications (extra vitamins, pain relievers, nasal spray, etc.).
3. A third box contains feminine products.
4. And the fourth box contains things like toothbrushes, extra facial care products, and contact lens cases.

I also have a larger plastic tote that holds extra razors, sunscreen and bug spray, and a few larger medication bottles.

The bulk of my stockpile is kept in two large cardboard boxes:

Keeping those items in boxes on the floor of the closet works so well for me. I do look through the boxes regularly so that I know what I have on hand!

When it was all said and done, I had "decluttered" quite a bit:

I threw away quite the collection of old, unused, unneeded or broken items. I also came up with a nice bag of donation items for the women's shelter: hair color, hand soap, Bengay cream, and a few other things.

The organizational part of this decluttering project took me about one hour this week. Now, the most important thing is keeping it clean and organized!

Declutter: the Junk Drawer

This week, I resolved to clean out the junk drawer in our kitchen, inspired by Crystal's post last week. We only have one actual junk drawer in our home, but man, was it full of JUNK!

To be quite honest, some of the stuff in that drawer was in there when we moved into this rental condo - which means I never cleaned it out then! Yikes. Here is the oh-so-scary "before" picture:

Before

I found so many things in that drawer! Here's an idea of what I found:

• Packing tape, Scotch tape, masking tape (Do ya think we have enough tape?!)
• Brackets for anchoring the appliances - those belong with the condo.
• Three little notebooks - those got moved to the "gift stash."
• A single hole punch - I've never seen this before...maybe it was left behind by a previous renter?
• Two pairs of scissors (what?!)
• Floor guards for our furniture - not needed here because we have carpet in the family room and dining area.
• Four different phone books for various counties, dating back as far as 2009!
• A lightbulb - that was burnt out! (That wasn't ours, either.)
• Cable splitter (?)
• Batteries
• Picture hangers, nails, random tools, measuring tapes
• Pens, pencils, markers, higlighter, sticky note pads
• Two keys - I can honestly tell you that I have no idea what these are for! I'm guessing they were in the condo before we moved in.
• Some random plastic clip-like pieces - We have no clue what these are for, but we found them in the kitchen.
• AND I found my large Sharpie marker! I have looking for that marker for months! I thought for sure it had disappeared in our last move...

After some work, I had a much cleaner and more organized "junk" drawer. Actually, now, it doesn't really look like a junk drawer!

After

There were some items that went directly into the trash can. Other items were relocated to more appropriate places in the house.

All told, this project only took me about ten minutes and it feels so nice to have it cleaned out and more organized. Working on this project certainly gave me some laughs, too!

My next organization project this month is our bathroom closet, which is where I keep our health and beauty stockpile. I am positive that project will take me far longer than ten minutes!!

Organizing Your Home: the laundry

So far in this series, we've talked about organizing your pantry, refrigerator, freezer, kitchen and bathroom. Like I've said before, keeping your home organized does take time and work - but I believe it's so worth the effort! Your home will be much easier to manage when it's organized.

In this final segment, let's focus on your laundry area. You may be fortunate enough to have an actual laundry "room" - and for that, I am slightly envious! Others of you (myself included) may only have a closet. Our washer and dryer are in a closet off the hallway, just outside both bedrooms. Whatever space you have for laundry - let's talk about a few tips for keeping it organized.

My laundry closet

Utilize the shelving in your laundry area. We have one large built-in shelf above our washer and dryer. I keep a number of items on the shelf (note that not all are laundry-related!):

• Extra detergent, fabric softener, dryer sheets, and stain remover.
• Iron...which I {ahem} rarely never use! (OK, well, maybe I've used it about five times in three years...) You can also see that we've stuck the ironing board on the side of the dryer.
• Sewing basket.
• A cooler...it landed there when we moved and that became it's home.

Get creative when it comes to drying clothes! I use our dryer for most items - I don't air dry much. But, there are some items that must be air-dryed, and in our new condo, I've had to get creative since we don't have a patio (plus it's very cold here for about six months of the year!).

I use a wooden drying rack in the second bathroom for most of my air drying. It fits perfectly in the tub! I also hang an extra tension shower rod across the tub and can air dry laundry on that. That works nicely for items that are still dripping wet.

I also recommend storing your laundry baskets in inconspicuous places. I keep one of our laundry baskets in the corner of our room. There's also one on top of the dryer. We have a third laundry basket that we don't use currently and that hides in our walk-in closet.

Organizing Your Home: the bathroom

So far in this series, we've talked about organizing your pantry, refrigerator, freezer and kitchen. Keeping your home organized does take time and work - but I believe it's so worth the effort! Your home will be much easier to manage when it's organized.

Use the space in your closet(s) wisely. We are fortunate to have two full bathrooms in our condo. The guest bathroom does not have a closet or any storage (other than the vanity), but our master bathroom has a large closet, which is pictured above. I keep a lot of items in that closet!

• all linens - sheets, blankets, comforters, pillows, towels, etc.
• my health and beauty stockpile (see a picture of that in this post)

Don't allow your bathroom counter to become cluttered.

I strive to keep our bathroom counter fairly clean! We keep a minimal number of items on the counters on a daily basis. Obviously, the hand soap needs to be on the counter, and our toothbrushes are also there. I have a basket on the counter for my husband's vitamins, and he keeps his shaving stuff out all the time. Other than those items, everything else either stays in the closet or in the vanity.

A big bonus to keeping less items on your counter means that cleaning is much easier. :)

We have no drawers in our bathrooms here, so we've had to improvise. My solution has been baskets and buckets that are in the vanity. We each have one basket that holds the items we need daily. I also have other baskets that hold cleaning supplies, extra health & beauty items, etc.

This actually works really well for us. I have to say that I don't think I miss having drawers!

The bathroom is one of those places that can become easily cluttered because of all the individual bottles of different products. It's important to have a good organization system in place so you don't become overwhelmed.

Spend 15 minutes today evaluating the organization in your bathroom(s). How can you better organize it to work better for you?

Organizing Your Home: the kitchen

During this series, we have talked about organizing your pantry, your refrigerator, and your freezer.

This we'll talk about organizing the kitchen in general. I don't know about your home, but a lot happens in our kitchen! We don't have a large kitchen (by any stretch of that word!), but our kitchen is very functional and works well for us right now.

Here's what I leave out on my counters all the time:

• Stand mixer
• Spice rack
• Knife block
• Cutting boards
• Canisters (I have eight in all.)
• Toaster
• Toaster oven
• Cooking utensils.

Because we live in a small condo, I find it to be much easier to leave these items on my counters. One, I simply don't have the space to store these items anywhere else! And two, because I cook and bake regularly, I prefer to have easier access to these commonly-used items.

However, everyone is different, so just because this works for me doesn't mean it will work for you! If you have the space to store unused items and you prefer having them out of sight, go for it!

This is how I organize my cabinets:

• Cleaning cabinet (under the sink)
• Baking cabinets (pans, Pyrex dishes, mixing bowls, etc.)
• Everyday plates, bowls and glasses
• Serving dishes
• Other appliances: blender, emulsifier, George Foreman grill
• Plastic storage containers
• And of course, one of the cabinets is our pantry.

And here's what's in my drawers (I actually have too much drawer space here!):

• Everday flatware
• Other miscellaneous cooking utensils
• Potholders and trivets
• Plastic wrap, foil, plastic bags, etc.
• Kitchen dishclothes and towels
• Spices
• And...of course we have a "junk drawer" with lots of odds and ends!

None of my cabinets and drawers are overflowing in our current kitchen, which makes me happy! For the first time, I am actually very happy with how our kitchen is organized. When a kitchen is well-organized and works well for you, cooking and baking will be much easier - and more fun!

Take 15 minutes today to organize your kitchen counters, cabinets and drawers. What changes can you make to help your kitchen be more functional?

Organizing Your Home: the freezer

So far in this series, we've looked at how I organize my pantry and my refrigerator. Have you been able to organize your pantry and refrigerator over the past two weeks?

This week, we'll look at how I organize my freezer. Like I mentioned at the end of last week, my freezer is often too full for me to even do any baking! I like to make and freeze a batch of muffins for easy breakfast meals.

My chock-full freezer last week

We rent a condo now, so we have a smaller-than-average refrigerator with a top freezer. We don't have a separate freezer because there simply isn't room here. This has all been a challenge for me, to say the least! I don't do "freezer cooking," per se, but I do utilize my freezer regularly (for example, muffins and other bread items). We also shop less often since we live in a rural area, so I stock up on groceries about two times per month.

However, I will not be defeated by my freezer! Here's a few tips for keeping your freezer organized:

Group like items together. I tend to keep certain food items together: bread, meat, cheese, vegetables, etc. When I'm looking for a particular item, I usually know in what general area to look in the freezer. Commonly heard in our home:

My husband: "Ummm...I know I have bread in here. Any idea where it is?"
Me: "Please stop taking everything out! It should be on the top shelf in the back right corner. I think."

75% of the time, I'm right. The other 25% of the time? You'll find me emptying the contents of our freezer onto the counter as I search frantically for the bread. Yeah, it's fun.

Unfortunately, I just haven't found a way to eliminate this problem in our current freezer. When we moved in, it didn't even have any shelves! That was bad. We put some wire shelves in there, but my best approach is still to group like items together.

My freezer this week...there's a little more space!

Use vacuum sealing to conserve space. As you can see in my pictures, I utilize my Food Saver vacuum sealing machine regularly (mine is very similar to this one). It definitely help conserve space! We received ours as a Christmas gift last year and have definitely seen the value in having it. I portion out our meat after I purchase it and seal it up before freezing it. I also vacuum seal veggies when I do those.

I keep smaller items in the freezer door.

Clean out the freezer regularly. Just like with the refrigerator, it's very important to clean out the freezer regularly. While I don't enjoy digging through my freezer regularly looking for items, it does help me keep it cleaned out!

Our freezer is definitely my nemesis when it comes to home organization - I'll be the first to admit that! However, my resolve to keep it organized has been energized, even when I don't want to do it (which is basically all the time!).

Take 15 minutes today to sort through the contents of your freezer. Should anything be thrown away or used soon? How can you better organize your freezer?

Organizing Your Home: the refrigerator

Last week, I gave you a glimpse at my pantry and how I organize it. As we continue on our journey to a more organized home and more intentional homemaking, let's talk about your refrigerator this week!

We live in a condo and I think our refrigerator is probably a little smaller than average, but it provides plenty of space for us. Don't get me started on the freezer, though - we'll save that for next week! Here's a few thoughts for keeping your refrigerator organized:

Group like items together. I try to keep all of our leftovers together (on the bottom shelf). I keep most of the beverages in the same area. This make it much easier to find items in the refrigerator!


Utilize the drawers. I keep all of our cheese in the drawer towards the top. I use the bottom drawers for fruits, vegetables, and tortillas. It's important not to forget what's in the drawers, though!

Use the space in the door wisely. I keep all of our bottles in the door. I also put all of my husband's yogurt cups in the door. There's some taller space in the door, too, which works nicely for additional beverages. One of my goals is to never have any more bottles of "stuff" than what fits in the door!

Clean it out regularly! This is so important! Every time you take out the trash, check the refrigerator. For me, that's about every 7-9 days. In the meantime, though, keep an eye on what's in the refrigerator so that you can attempt to use all your food before it spoils.

People (i.e., my mother in law!) are generally surprised at how empty our refrigerator always is. We are fairly minimal when it comes to shopping, as has been evidenced in my "pantry." I don't overstock on items - you only get two choices for salad dressing at my house!

While this approach may not work for everyone, it certainly works for us. Lest you think we never eat, just wait for next week when I show you a picture of my freezer!

As you focus on becoming more intentional in your homemaking, having a more organized refrigerator will contribute to that. Opening up a messy and jam-packed refrigerator doesn't make you feel like cooking, does it?

Spend 15 minutes today organizing your refrigerator. Is there any expired food in there? What can use up in creative ways this week? How can you reorganize your refrigerator to better fit your needs?

Organizing Your Home: the pantry

I am a very organized person by nature - there's no doubt about that! I find that when my home is organized, it is so much easier to be intentional in my homemaking.

This "Organizing Your Home" series will show you how I choose to organize my home. I hope it is a source of inspiration for you in your homemaking endeavors. This first week, we will focus on organizing your pantry.

As I've said before, we don't have a pantry - and we don't mind that! I find that this actually helps me stay more organized and keep a better handle on my pantry items. Even if you do have a pantry, these same ideas will still apply - just on a larger scale.

A majority of our pantry "staples" are kept in one set of cabinets. I keep certain staples on hand at all times and generally "buy ahead" on these kinds of items. I do sort through my cabinet regularly to make sure I am using items.

I store larger pantry items on top of our cabinets. This usually includes bags of chips, stock up canned goods noodles, juice, etc. I will admit that this can be slightly annoying because I have to get my stepladder out every time I need something, but that's only a minor inconvenience.

We also keep some boxed items on top of the fridge...cereal, crackers, open bags of chips, etc. We've always done this (in every house we've lived in) and it's always made things easy.

And finally, I have a drawer full of spices! I have a spice rack on the counter in addition to this. I cook from scratch nearly all the time, so I use a lot of spices. I purchase most of my spices at Aldi, and we have a parsley plant.

Now that you've had a look at how I organize my "pantry," I have two additional tips for you to keep in mind:

1. Don't buy too much. It can be easy to let your stockpile get out of control (especially if you have a full-size pantry). Pay attention to what you have on hand before you shop!
2. Clean out your pantry regularly. This will help you keep your stockpile under control! Find creative ways to use up the ingredients in your pantry if you need to.

When you have an organized pantry, menu planning will be much easier - and more fun! There are so many reasons to menu plan and it's easy to do!

Take just 15 minutes today to look through your pantry. How can you organize it to help you be more intentional in your homemaking?