It is too early in the morning for this....

That is what I said to my 8 year old this morning.  Truth be told, it was 8:15, which in this house, isn't THAT early, but still, too early for a meltdown over shoes.

She couldn't find her "black shake it up shoes" and the world was apparently going to end.  I tried to help her find them, but then the baby started tripping over the mound of shoes and we just found a different pair instead.

Enough is enough.  

The foyer and hall closet have been on my to-do list for a while, so I tackled it this morning when the girls went to school.

I posted it on my Facebook page, but again, here is the before.  A side by side view of both the closet and the bench/shelf in the front.  

Ugh.  Ridiculous.  

Okay, I need to confess.  I had a secret weapon in my mission. 

Batman.

 

 I get that you probably don't have a superhero in your home, but I promise, you can still get the project done.

Okay, so CLEARLY, there was some major purging that needed to be done in today's area of the house.

Let's just take a look at the things I found while sorting:

 19 pairs of sandals and flip-flops.  

It's January.

In Pennsylvania.

To say those shoes were taking up prime property would be an understatement.

I know for a FACT that I used to go through the shoes when I switched clothing seasons over.  I'm not sure why I didn't do that this time.

Oh wait-I DO remember!  Because I have a baby now.  Because my girls are older and are involved in more things.  Because life happened.  That's why the shoes weren't top on the priority list.

Anyway-all of the summer shoes are now living with the bins of summer clothing.

I made sure that won't happen again this year.  I set a reminder in my phone for April.

 

Moving on-

These were all the empty hangers in the closet.  WHY I had 20 coats hanging on 5 hooks in the entryway is beyond me.  

Oh wait...again--another "a-ha" moment.  

I had all those coats NOT in the closet, because about 15 little spring jackets were taking up space.

Duh!

THESE shoes right here.....these bad boys were in a bag all to themselves.  Because they are too small for any girl in my house.  So that tells me at some point, I took the time to sort them out.  And then I put the bag BACK IN THE CLOSET!

What?  Where is the logic in that?  

If you look closely, there are 2 boots that have no match.  Interesting, right?

So, I started sorting everything out.  All 5 us got our own pile where I threw our shoes.  I started a trash pile and a yard sale pile as well.  About half-way through cleaning the shoes off the bench area, I found them

The "black shake it up" shoes that started the whole thing.  I could have stopped there, right?  Wrong.  I was on a mission, and the caped crusader wasn't going to let me quit

You might see the shoe organizer in the closet and be thinking "isn't she part of a company that sells organizing things?  That doesn't look like a Clever Container product"

And you'd be right on both accounts.  I do sell Clever Container and that is not a Clever Container product.  Clever Container does sell many cool shoe organizers, but I don't need them in THIS area.  I have a system that works--well, a system that worked and will work again.  

That is the thing about organizing.  If you have something that works for you, USE it!  Don't buy something you don't need!  That defeats the process.

Anyway-I got off topic.  

So I got all the shoes loaded into the shoes shelf, with a few pair on top and few on the bottom of the shelf in the hallway.

Where I DID use a Clever Container product was on the door.  I love our curved over the door double hooks.  I added one on the inside of the door for hats.

So are you ready for the finished product?  Okay!  Here you go!

 

First up: the hooks being utilized

 But Janell?  You live up north!  Where are all your winter hats?  Your gloves?  

Here is a tip-when we are inside, our gloves go in pocket of our coats and our hats go in the sleeve.  It works great for us.  That way everything is together and we can just hang up our coat.  

I keep all of our hardcore snow gear together in the basement (snow suits, snow boots, waterproof gloves, etc).

If you have a ton of winter gear that you need stored in a closet area, let me know-I have some cool solutions for you!

Here is the inside of the closet now.  I took out about 4 big coats and a bunch of little spring jackets.  I also took out a music stand.

Yes-a music stand was in my hall closet.

Makes sense, right?

Ugh.

 And the front entryway?  Well, it looks pretty good, if I do say so myself.  

There are 7 pairs of shoes on the bottom of the shelf.  Boots of the girls that were too big for the shoe holder in the closet, a pair of shoes for each of them that they wear on a regular basis, and a pair of shoes each for Ben and I.  The top of the bench can now be home to my diaper bag and the girls' back packs when they aren't in use.

The shelf above the coats had become Ben's catch all.  I was able to clear it off and he has a little dish for change and random things and the dog leash is up there.  I feel like the wall above needs something now!  

Suggestions?  

I know it might still look a little cluttered, but trust me it's not.  It's functional and organized.  Just what this busy family of 5 needs.

And no more morning breakdowns.  

At least over shoes!

I mean really....

Okay, so this desk project took way longer than I had anticipated.  Not because it was such a big undertaking, but because I was attacked (yes, attacked) with some vicious sinus bug last week.  I have not been that sick in YEARS!!  It was awful and just now, a week and a half after my first sniffle, do I feel somewhat human again.

Anyway, I told you I would give you the good, bad and the ugly when it came to the areas in my house that needed some attention.  I joked here about what I might find in my cabinets.  Well....get ready because it was interesting. 

For Starters:

I mean, why WOULDN'T there be yellow jacket trap attractant in my kitchen area desk?

Even sadder, we bought the traps at LEAST 3 years ago.  I'm almost positive we bought them to have in the backyard for Emily's 5th birthday.  In 2010.  Nice.  

This is now put in its proper place in the garage with the actual trap thingies.

Next, I joked about the yellow pages that were residing on the top shelf of one of the cabinets.  I guessed 2009 as the year stamped on the front.  

Um.....In November 2007, I still lived in Virginia.  So that means that the bottom yellow pages was here when we moved in and has been here for the past almost 6 years.  

What.the.heck.

Moving on.  I always kept some meds in the one cabinet (with the yellow pages).  They were in a basket and then the ones that we used more often, were just casually thrown on the shelf.  Well, I went through all of them today.  In the basket, were a TON of expired medicines.  

Just rancid old medicines taking up valuable space.  They have been properly disposed of now.

The other ones are put nicely in a box and placed up on the highest shelf.  I am looking into one of those locking box things, but for now this will do

I found this bag of art supplies that I used for Emily's Angry Bird party in 2011.  Why they were just thrown in a cabinet is beyond me.  Out of sight, out of mind, I suppose

If you want to see more from that party, you can here

Okay, moving on.  I kid you not, I JUST bought Thank You cards at Target the other day.  And then look what I found living in my desk area

A ton of pretty little cards.  Just waiting to be written on and mailed out.  I also found invitations to Allie's 5th and 6th birthday parties.  She'll be 7 in March. 

And the most ironic find of today?  This little jewel

Organizer Pro.  "The simplest way to get organized"

Ha!

There were more interesting things.  Insurance statements from March 2012, preschool valentine lists (I haven't had a child in preschool in over 2 years), and the list goes on. 

The important thing is that I went through it and it is done, right?

Right.

If you have been to one of my Clever parties, you know that I give out organizing facts.  One of those facts is "About 80% of the clutter in your home is a result of disorganization, not lack of space"

I am here to tell you that is TRUE!!!!  I was convinced that I needed to buy another desk and set up shop somewhere else because I "didn't have enough room in this desk"

So wrong.  So, so wrong.  Embarrassingly wrong. 

After I cleaned everything out, and put stuff in its "right" place, my desk cabinets look almost bare!  It's almost like I have TOO much space now!  Big change!

So here is the after:

 Not a big change, but I did move my printer to the left side so that I can have a notepad on the right.  Since I am right handed.  It just makes it work a lot easier for me.  I also cleaned out the 18000 pens that I had in the caddy next to the computer.  A girl only needs so many black pens.  Am I right?

I put a different filing system up for my business supplies and, once I finish filing everything, I will be able to access it much easier.

Now onto the inside:

As a reminder, this was the BEFORE:

And now---in it's uncluttered glory:

I mean, it looks practically empty, right??

The green box holds my stationary and the blue box hold incoming mail.  My camera and photo paper are there, along with the box of (non-expired) meds on the top shelf and some office supplies on the bottom shelf. 

Beautiful, right?

The other cabinet was just as bad BEFORE:

And now?

I almost can't even handle it.  It's amazing, right?

Remember this hot mess before?

Well, guess what?  It is EMPTY now!  Completely empty!  I did find a bag of cookie cutters in that cabinet when I started cleaning it out.  Cookie cutters that we used in play-doh.  Oh, about 3 years ago!  Anyway, it is totally empty now.  We are thinking of putting our pet food in there, but for now I am just basking in it's clean glory.

So there you have it.  My desk is done.  You will notice there is no after picture of my cookbook cabinet.  I decided to leave it alone.  I did straighten it up a little, but for now it's good.  If I get anymore cookbooks, I'll have to purge some, but that system works for me for now.

What do you think?  Not a drastic overhaul, but much more user friendly now, right?  Thank you for not judging and for being patient while I fought the good fight against my sinus'.

I will be tackling my hall closet and foyer next.  Stay tuned!

Keeping it Real

Okay, so I said I was going to use this blog to show my progress on organizing my house.  I said I might even share before and after pictures.   Well, get ready because I have some doozies of before pictures for you.

I made a list of areas I wanted to organize.  I figured my "office" would be a good place to start.  I use the word "office" lightly.  I have a built in desk area in my kitchen.  That is my office.  It's not ideal, but it works.  The problem is my "office" tends to be a place where everyone's junk gets thrown.  

No more though.  The cycle ends today.

Or tomorrow. 

Whenever I finish getting it all in order.

Anyway, in the spirit of keeping it real, here are the before pictures.

Don't judge.  

From the outside looking in, it doesn't look TERRIBLE.  Not great, but not terrible, right?

Get ready.....

What is really sad about this cabinet, is that I can actually find stuff in it.  I am sure once I start going through it, I will find things I thought were lost forever, but sadly, it is still functional in this stage.  

Notice the phone books at the top?  Any guesses on the year on them?  I'm guessing 2009.  I'll update in the "after" post.

This is my cookbook cabinet.  I use maybe 3 of those cookbooks.  Everything else I do is online or in Pinterest world.

If you scroll down through my blog, I think there is a post about this cabinet from a few years ago.  It was my craft cabinet when the girls were toddlers and we did daily crafts and art projects.  Clearly, things have changed.  This is now the "cram it in and close it quickly" cabinet apparently.

I am almost scared to take everything out of this cabinet.  I don't know what I'll find.  Right now I know there is paper and bubbles.  And it looks like cat food.  That makes perfect sense.  (Insert sarcasm here)

 This is my filing system.  It is an amazing product that Clever Container used to offer.  It's not so much being used to it's capability though.  I mean, I don't remember reading "Shove it full of stuff, then put random things like gift bags and take out menus on top of" in it's description.

And last, but not least, there is this thing.  Appropriately labeled "stuff".  I see a note from Frankie, our elf on the shelf, caulk, tissues, and a pen.  

And I call myself an organized person. 

I'm living a lie.

Okay.....so there we have it.  The Before pictures of my hot mess office.

Like I said, we're all friends.  Don't judge.  

I will post after pics as soon as I finish everything. 

I would love for you to comment on this and tell me it's not all that bad.  That I'm not a terrible slob.  That you have areas in your house like this too.....seriously people....help a girl out here!

Well, Well, Well....

Here we are again.  Another year gone.  If you look back about 4 posts, you see that my resolution last year was that I was going to blog regularly.  Well, I was going to try all these Pinterest things and then blog about them.  

Neither happened.

So....here it is another year and another chance for me to try again.

I do want to blog on a regular basis.  This year my big resolution is to get my house organized.  You know, me....the one who sells organizing products and helps OTHER people get and stay organized.  I think it's about time I start practicing what I preach!

I already took care of the playroom.  That's always the way it is though.  The kid's rooms are always perfect looking, meanwhile my master closet could be on Hoarders, and my laundry room?  Well, we won't even go there.

My hope is to find great tips and share them on the blog.  I really plan on following through with this.  Seriously.  

I might even post before and after pictures.  I am straight up embarrassed to post some of the before pictures, but we're all friends here, right?  No judging, right?  RIGHT???

I mean, January is National Organization Month!  Did you know that?  No time like the present to get started. 

So...if I don't blog for a couple of days, or I go MIA, or I start talking about how I am on a Real Housewives bender, feel free to tell me to get up and get to work!

I'd love to hear from you as well!  Show me your organization nightmares.  We can all help each other!

I am going to keep telling myself this and make it happen!