The Storage Closet

AKA - Mommy's big ol' dumping ground for everything she doesn't really want to put away.

So here are some before pictures I took last week.

Yeah, there was no way anyone could even get into this closet. Oh hi overflowing laundry hamper!

The clutter goes aaaaaaaall the way up the wall! Like ivy! Only not as pretty.

So after 30 minutes of work I have functioning shelves for storing my art/scrapbook supplies and J has a home for her coloring books/homework/home reading.

This? This is the load of stuff I took to the thrift store this afternoon.

Look! An ugly linoleum floor! But it's a floor!

Someone did some laundry. Then filled the bag back up. So the bag is not back on the hamper frame. Plus the small stroller is easy to get to now!

A Grand New Year's Plan

So Krista mentioned New Year's Grand Cleaning Plan in Twitter and I was all over that. Organized Home has a detailed list of the entire plan for anyone who is interested.

I decided that I need to cut it down by a week or two as I will be returning to work the first full week in April. Returning to work means that we will all have to leave the house a lot faster and be able to put things away a lot faster.

This is my 'grand' cleaning plan. Or really more of a de-cluttering plan.

January 3-16 ~ the storage closet

January 18-31 ~ the coat closet and the bathroom

February 1-14 ~ kitchen

February 15-28 ~ our 'great' room, or the office and the living room

March 1-14 ~ linen closet and our bedroom (Hubs and I)

March 15-28 the girls' bedroom (toy storage issues in there)

For help along the way I'm going to refer to Organizing Junkie's PROCESS steps. I'm also using this book by Susan C. Pinsky. We are having T tested/assessed for A.D.D in February and a lot of this book makes total sense to me. For my lists I'm using the prize I won in November from Laura (Organizing Junkie) from the Get Organized Wizard. The lists that Michelle has in the pack are SO very helpful for so much around my house!

October Round-Up!

For my very first Round-Up I jumped on board for the Drawer challenge. The hardest part of it was deciding what drawers to organize.

After opening and closing pretty much every drawer in the apartment, not that there are that many, I decided to do the top two in my art 'storage' beside my desk. I forgot to take a picture of the second drawer. Different drawer, different stuff, same mess.

P - Consolidate all the office supplies into the top two drawers of my art storage.

What's the problem? Office supplies in four (FOUR!) different drawers. Computer paper on other side of room from printer. Three hole punch on other side of room. Blank labels for printer not even in the same room.

What's working? Nice wide drawers. Like items stored with like items.

What's not working? No central area for office supplies. Need to make multiple trips to multiple drawers to get paper/pans/scissors/hole punch.

R - Removed everything from both drawers. Put the non slip drawer liner back in.

O - Sorted everything into piles. Got rid of a few handfuls of pens.

C - Since I knew I was going to tackle my drawers I looked around the apartment for some drawer organizer containers. When I purged stuff I freed up a few and I had a few sitting in the storage closet waiting for a new home.

E - How's this working for me now? It's working great! I know where everything is. I can put my hands on printer paper, the hole punch and the stapler without leaving my desk. What needs to be changed? The baskets are sliding around a little still since the shelf liner I put in isn't really staying down. Also? The liner is just plain UGLY!

S - I am going to get some zip ties and connect all the baskets in their configurations. That should keep them from sliding around so much. I'm also going to get some black shelf liner for the drawers to add some visual interest.

S - Next comes smiling! Which I am certainly doing as I am no longer fumbling for any of the supplies I use on a daily basis. It's also just *so* pretty!