Organized yet?

17 Wednesday Feb 2016

Posted by Karen B. in House and Home, Kitchen, Storage/Closets/Pantry

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I’m one of those people that actually enjoy organizing closets and drawers. Still, as we’ve lived in our house for 34 years in April. {I’d love to say I was 10 years old when we moved in, but I’d be lying} We raised our kids here and we’ve handed off most personal belongings to our California son; Our Texas son still has items in “family storage” [read: our attic space in the garage].

As I reported early last year, the Mr. B. and I have been paring down, analyzing each box with the understanding that we’re not getting younger, and our married sons have little interest in lots of the things we’ve amassed. We’ve made inroads but it’s amazing how you can pare down so much and still find more!

So, I’m going to share some pretty organized spaces in pictures…it’s what I do to keep me going on projects as large as this. 🙂

I’d like to start with the pantry. I think that’s an easy one for me…I check dates on foods (no, I won’t use the Jello pudding mix which has a ‘best by’ date of June 2012). I chuck or give away foods that were gifted to us if I know we’ll never eat them. I’d like to say I only need this much pantry space, but that wouldn’t work. Still, I like to keep like items in close proximity to make my pantry look organized. I use baskets for certain foods, like you see here.

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The use of this typically dead space is so clever. It appears that it serves to store more than just pantry items. Do you see the little etched glass letter on the door…too cute.

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This is the exterior of my pantry. When we remodeled the kitchen our designer friend recommended that we build something that looks more like a piece of furniture. I’ve not been disappointed, but certain times of the year I could use a little more space.

Since we’re in the kitchen anyway, take a look at the drawer organizers the talented Joan, for the love of a house uses. This makes the kitchen drawers look pretty as well as organized. {if you’ve never visited Joan’s site I urge you to stop by, you won’t be disappointed}.

{for the love of a house}

While we’re still in the kitchen, I think cupboards that hold glasses, plates, etc. are important, especially since Mr. B. likes to remind me of the number of sets of dishes we own!

This hutch installed in an Atlanta Home by the talented Carter Kay Interiors is a dream of mine. It has appeal for the styling of the items, while having a lot of room for stacks of plates. My good friend, Gretchen, has a cupboard similar and I’ve always admired it for its style as well as functionality.

{Carter Kay Interiors}

This is a nice piece as well…I could definitely organize my collection of plates in one of these.

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So next on my list is the clothes closet. This is an ongoing battle. I should get rid of more of the items that I don’t wear as often as the “organizing gurus” recommend. I often worry that if I get rid of something I’ll need it for the next outing. Does this happen to you?

Wouldn’t you love it if your closet held just the things you wear often and love?! Oh well, it’s a work in progress, I’ll keep trying for a capsule wardrobe.

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Leave it to real simple to come up with some handy tips on organizing drawers. I loved this idea.

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Stores, like Pottery Barn, have components you can purchase to help with organizing your closet. Container Store as well. This example is nice but I don’t have a spare room to convert into a closet. I always imagine that if you have lots of space it’s easier to stay organized…is this true? 🙂

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The final space I have to share is something I’ve always thought would be wonderful. A room of my own where you could craft (not that I do much of that), wrap presents, store things that you know you’ll need for that next project and a desk space to type your blog posts. 🙂 How cool is this…

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The biggest obstacle I’ve encountered are the heavy photo albums and photo boxes of photographs. To scan and save them will take me forever, yet I know I need to do something…any handy tips on organizing and possibly paring down this part of our lives?

Let’s get organized for 2015

14 Wednesday Jan 2015

Posted by Karen B. in House and Home, Storage/Closets/Pantry

≈ 33 Comments

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Organizing

I confess, I’m pretty organized nearly year round. I’m one of those people that really can’t relax unless there’s order in my surroundings. I know this kind of obsession has been referred to using a wide array of adjectives, some less complimentary than others. 🙂

That said, even I find certain parts of my home can be found in various stages of disarray different times of the year. That’s what new years are for, to clean up, clear out clutter, and get back on track.

Sometime last year I followed a link that has me thinking differently about what I keep and what I giveaway, donate, or dump. I’m going to give you the name (and link) to this site, but you have to promise you won’t immediately dismiss it by the name alone. (there was a time I would have!)

The Minimalists is a site that is co-authored to by a pair of young men that for various reasons (you can read their story) found themselves pairing down. Here are two of the passages that most influenced me and have made my clean/organize tasks much more effective…

What people don’t understand, however, is that minimalism is not about deprivation. Rather, minimalists—anyone who’s deliberately seeking a life with less stuff—find more value in the stuff they do own. They do this by jettisoning the superfluous, keeping only the possessions that serve a purpose or bring joy. Everything else goes by the wayside.

There is no Minimalist Rulebook. We’re all different. The things that add value to one man’s life may not add value to yours. So hold on to that hair straightener, those colorful socks, that collection of angel statuettes—but only if they are appropriate for your life. Only if they serve a purpose or bring you joy. – The Minimalists

I promise I’m not trying to convert anyone, I’m only sharing what has started making sense to me, in part because after 32 years in the same smallish home we’re bursting at the seams. I have 7 boxes of collectible sports cards, two snowboards and a surfboard that belong to son #1 (now living in Austin, where there is no ocean and the nearest mountain is a lengthy drive). Fortunately, son #2 lives a short 15 minutes away and he (sorry, Sarah) has taken his treasures to their house. I’ve discovered that a lot of what I lovingly collected over the years is no longer needed/wanted.

The book, Organizing For Dummies has a cheat sheet of the tried and true methods for a good new year organization/clean out session. Here are the basic five easy steps:

1. Determine the goal for the room or closet.

Maybe it’s as simple as cleaning out a bookcase or adding a tray to an existing coffee table where items can be corralled.

Or maybe its as simple as adding hooks to a shelf to handle the extra mugs in the cupboard (the ones you love, remember?).

2. Identify the limitations of the room or closet. Like this clever idea from Martha Stewart. If you don’t have enough space for essentials, there are stores (Container Store, and others) that have efficient tools for making your space handle the extras.

Not to mention Martha’s clever ideas for keeping up with the ‘should do more than once a year’ tasks.

3. Sort the items in the room or closet into the well known categories of STAY, MOVE, SHARE or GO.

4. Determine what items (storage systems, bins or boxes) will help you to keep the space organized. I love the look of these PB baskets and could see them helping with the ever-present storage issue in our home.