Dream Garage Organization

Ok all you organizers, I stumbled upon a garage that will make your heart skip a beat.  I went to a home to buy something off Craigslist, and was invited to enter the home through the garage. I do believe I heard angels singing as I walked through this mans garage.  It was beautiful. 

 Labels and bins galore!!  It seemed endless.  Big bins, small bins, wine holders, cabinets - it was a sight to behold.  I didn't want to leave.  I found myself standing there while he was sayin "buh bye now..."  I stood there taking pictures and admiring his handiwork. 

He was a cabinet maker by trade, so he took his skills to the next level.  Oh how I dream of a garage like this!

I came home to my garage with somewhat organized piles. 

 "This is my gardening heap.  Over here is my painting cluster.  All the car stuff is stacked here...  "

I guess a girl can dream.

In a perfect world...

My home would be clean and organized.

My kids would hang up their coats and put away their shoes when they walked in the door.

I would take the time on Sunday afternoon to scour recipie books, inventory my pantry, meal plan for the week, grocery/Costco shop, and divide and freeze bulk foods.

I would take a day and prepare meatloaf and vats of spaghetti sauce to seperate and freeze for instant dinners.

I would build my meals around a crock pot to save myself from the 4 O'Clock frenzy.

I would put enough time into my side business to earn enough money to hire a weekly housecleaner to do the floors and bathrooms.

My garage would have cabinets and a shiny floor, with a place for everything and everything in it's place.

I would take the time each month to organize 1 scrapbook online and catch up on 12 years of photos.

I would take up painting.

I would have warm cookies waiting for my kids after school.

I would find the time to get in a daily workout.

And during the weekday, I would be organized in my business - spend my day more productively rather than cooking and cleaning, and I would have structure in my life.

What does your perfect world look like?

I'm feeling crafty.....!

BABY STEPS!!  I haven't said "there..." yet, but I'm feeling much better about my chaotic craft room.  I even sewed some pillowcases last week! 

At least I can find things now.  I was able to put all the kids school papers into their notebooks.

I found my desk!!  I even used it to laminate some flyers, cut fabric, and actually do a little work.

 I moved my fun feminine lamp down to my desk.  I love the little glow it puts off.  It makes me happy.

My favorite new addition is my candle sconces.  I have had these in storage for about 3 years, and finally found a home for them.  Why didn't I think of putting them in here before??  This is still a work in progress though.  I plan to spray paint the mirror black - and maybe even the sconces too!

I feel good about the progress of my craft room.  Now I just need some time to catch up on scrapbooking, mending, sewing patches on Girl Scout vests, and continued school binder organization.  At least I have an organized place to get it all done!!

Procrastination Party!

Is there a project around your house that you have been putting off doing until 1) the kids go back to school, 2) waiting for a rainy day or 3)you wanted to blog about it?  Well here is your chance!  I am hosting my first link party this Friday.  Now is the time!  Take those before pictures, roll up your sleeves and show us what you've got.

My project is my overwhelming craft room.  As embarrassing as they are, here are some "before" pictures.

While the rest of my house can stay maintained, this room tends to be the catch-all.  "Kids, will you run this up to my craft room?"  "Does this need mending?  Run it up to the craft room and set it next to the sewing machine."  What do I do with the gift bags from the last birthday party? Run them up to the craft room!  Things get put in here and then forgotten.

In a perfect world, this room would look like something from the pages of Ballard Designs.

 In my world, I use the big hunk of glass left from a tenant, placed upon 2 file cabinets as my desk, and I use the desk I found on the side of the road with a "free" sign on it which I painted and cleaned up for my sewing desk.

My bows, tissue and gift bag drawers is an old filing cabinet which is not strong enough to hold files.

I use a shoe holder to hold all the yarn I never use.

Lastly, I keep my kids schoolwork, pictures, awards, etc in labeled binders.  I am 2 years behind in putting these together.

By Friday, I hope to have this room whipped into shape.  I am searching Craigslist for potential furniture or shelves - we'll see if I get lucky.  I am also planning on getting a few more storage solutions, so I'll be hitting Staples and Fred Meyer for organization ideas.

Post your project!  Let's share our ideas and inspire each other!

~Heather

Master Closet Organization

Gayle King (Oprah's BFF) once said "Your closet should be like your own personal boutique.  Everything in it should fit you perfectly, and you should LOVE all the items - or get rid of them".  I mentioned this in an earlier post, and finally got around to tackling my closet.  I am the queen of the stackers.  I start by laying one item on a chair, and then add another each day.  Before I know it I have a stack of clothes that need sorting and hanging.  I bring my clean laundry hamper into the closet and set it there until a few more piles of clean clothes add to the stack.  I am the first one to nag my girls about putting their laundry away, but do I lead by example?  no.  Unfortunately I didn't snag any "before" pictures, but trust me - it wasn't pretty.

Yesterday I finally went through my closet and really tried to make it more like my own personal boutique.  I re-arranged a few things, pulled out clothes and shoes that I either don't like or don't fit.  I straightened, color coordinated, stacked, vacuumed and dusted - making my closet more inviting and better organized.

Here are the "after" pictures~

Ta da!!

It feels so nice to walk in there now.  I even added a little lamp into my built-in to add a touch of warmth and help shed a little light on my jewelry area.

Lastly, I discovered "Space Bags" and LOVE how I can use them to store my winter sweaters without taking up much space!!  What a great tool!

I am so happy walking into my closet now.  It's funny how a little organization can make such a difference in your day.

Clean Workspace, Clean Mind

I have been absolutely bogged down with a sense of overwhelm when I look at the hub of my kitchen.  This is the space where I keep my computer, check my Facebook page, print a recipe, post my listings, and in general, manage our home.  I wear many hats and most of them require some computer time.  I hate the thought of moving this space into my craft room upstairs, as I think I would be confined to that room most of the day. 

My husband hates the fact that this has turned into my "office", but I spend so much time in the kitchen and with the family - this is really where my things NEED to be.  The problem was that it was all just too much.  One big pile with a mix of paperwork stacked in my "to do" pile.  This is my before picture~

Today I decided to break it all down, file it away, and get it organized.  I laid sticky notes out on my kitchen table labeled "Real Estate", "Rental", "Guild", "Scentsy", "Heather" & "The Girls".  Soon I had several neat piles that seemed so much more manageable to go through!








I made a trip to Staples today and bought some pretty files and a file sorter.  I used my label maker and made neat labels of all my little stacks.  This is my "Inbox". 

I can take one file at a time and take care of it.  It is no longer overwhelming!  I made a few sales calls today, organized my Scentsy business, arranged a fundraiser for my Guild, and sorted some business receipts.  What a productive day!

Here is the "After" picture!

This may not look like the computer area of the homes I show, which are completely bare and have one laptop neatly on the counter, but it's organized, manageable, and I feel so much better now that it's done!

One final tip!  I used my label maker and labeled all the plugs in my power strip.  This makes it so much easier to see what is plugged in where!

I held an Open House and showed some prospective buyers a million dollar home today.  Needless to say I came home from these perfectly maintained, meticulously staged, spotless homes and felt extremely overwhelmed.  I know it's not real.  I know these homes don't look like this everyday.  Would I really want to live in a place so perfect?  I would just be happy if my family would learn to put their own dishes in the dishwasher instead of just in the sink.

So far on my list of chores, I have cleaned and organized the garage (which is NOTHING like the home I showed today which was painted butter yellow with shiny butter yellow garage flooring.  You could eat off the floor of this garage - and where is all the stuff??)  I have sections in my garage dedicated to yardwork and tools, automotive and car washing area, summer stuff - noodles, life jackets shovels and buckets, tools and home improvement items, and sporting goods/golf clubs.  Then to top it off, we have bikes upon bikes, a Harley Davidson motorcycle, riding lawn mower, push mower and a huge section in the middle of the garage designated for "Garage Sale". Way too much stuff!!

Tomorrow is the day.  Room by room I am tackling this house.  Thursday I plan to have a housecleaner come and give it a deep clean.  This should give me enough time to clear a path, find the floors, and get things together.  I have ordered a new camera from Costco and hopefully it will be here soon.  I'd love to take some pictures of the before's and afters to post because I believe this will be a truly awe-inspiring transformation.

Just received a big dose of "de-clutter".

My mother always told me to wear my nice underwear on an airplane, just in case the plane crashed and I needed to be rushed to the hospital.  Heaven forbid someone undress me and see my ratty underwear.  I'm pretty sure other injured victims would get priority care due to their better underwear choice that day.  While my mother was busy worrying about holey underpants if she were in some sort of accident, my focus has taken a shift in a different direction.  What would people be left to deal with if something happened to me?  A series of events has led me to this thought pattern. 

My father-in-law passed away a few months ago.  He was 83 and his health was failing.  In his long life, he learned early the value of saving things.  He saved everything.  Once his house was full of treasures, he started filling his 5,000 square foot barn with "stuff" (for a better word).  We knew the past few years that he was coming close to the end.  What was to become of all the stuff he had collected?  The barn is completely filled with every kind of fencing material known to man, as well as saw horses, picnic tables, multiple charcoal grills and wood burning stoves.  There must be 50 gas cans, gates, baby cribs, beds, kitchen tables, meat scales, bales of hay and straw, refrigerators, tools, tools, tools, post hole diggers, file cabinets, wagons - I could go on and on and on.  There are places in this barn I cannot even go to as it is blocked off with more stuff.  He is now gone, and his 75 year old widow on a walker is in no position to clean out this compilation of treasures. Who is going to tackle this huge project?  The VP Banker son?  Um, no.  The other Mortgage Banker son?  Ha! no.    There is a home with a basement full of 40 years collections, as well as this 5,000 square foot barn full of treasures that everyone is turning a blind eye to.

Why didn't they start cleaning things out over the years while they were able?  Did they not know this day would come?  Why did they continue to add to the pile?  These are questions I go over and over in my head as I realize they are all looking to me for help cleaning this up.

In addition to this little fiasco, I recently watched an episode of "Hoarders" and it all became very clear.  What started as frugal and thrifty, morphed into hoarding.  They saved EVERYTHING.

I started thinking about what would happen if suddenly I were gone.  What would my family have to weed through?  I live in a beautiful home and it is (for the most part) clean and organized.  There are, however, a few rooms that need some help.  My craft room is one of them.  I will post pictures soon and start the makeover.  It's time to scale down.  No more saving everything.  I needed a basket the other day for a gift basket I was making for a customer.  I looked in my basket collection and couldn't find anything suitable.  ALL of my baskets are now going to the thrift shop.  If I need one, I will go buy one.  The same goes for my clothes and shoes.  If my closet is not like a boutique, where I love EVERYTHING and everything fits perfectly, I should get rid of it.  It's time to weed through all of my treasures and remember what I am going through with my in-laws.  I cleaned out the garage the other day, and that was a huge load off my shoulders.  My desk area in the kitchen is the next one on the chopping block, then the craft room and my husband's office.  Time to simplify and organize.  It is such a good feeling to know that everything is organized and in its place.  Now, in addition to wearing my nice underwear, I will leave the house knowing if something tragic were to happen to me, people will find scaled down organized treasures - and nice underpants.