Zone 4 - The Laundry Room (Post 2)

Yesterday I posted about my Laundry Room.  (Wildly exciting stuff, I know.) I showed pictures of the layout change and hinted at the organization change.

Now (If you think you can handle the thrill) today is all about the organization. Fun times!

First, I brought IN this cabinet. It has been sitting in the garage since the girl room was overhauled...almost 6 months.  But I couldn't get rid of it. We have used that cabinet as a pantry in 2 houses, and in each child's nursery (4 different houses!)! I knew it was much too versatile and useful to just pass on. So it collected dust and cobwebs in the garage while I tried to figure out its perfect spot. 

Next, I went through every item in the laundry room and decided if that was where it should be located....or just where it was dumped. I was shocked to find only a few items did NOT need to stay. 

(Most of those were just relocated to the garage....i.e. The Final Dumping Ground. That is Zone 6.)  :)

Here's the breakdown of the metal bins in the cabinet:

Top bin - SUN BLOCK, bug spray, and bubbles. Basically, stuff I don't want the kids getting into - but I need on a daily basis. 

Middle bin - Laundry supplies. Bounce sheets, detergent cups (I throw mine in the load to get it clean - so I need a bunch!), and tennis balls for when we wash comforters and large blankets.

Bottom bin - Flashlight and hanging supplies. (PICTURE and CURTAIN hanging; not Friar Tuck.)

The shelves behind the door hold paper towels (we go through them quite slowly - so I don't buy them in bulk), and our shredder. The small box to the right of the shredder holds all papers in need of shredding....when the box gets full, we plug it in and go to town. 

(By "we," I mean My Love. I always forget to do that! And file stuff. My word I hate filing.)

Onward we go....four bins fit on the shelf above the washer and dryer with a perfect amount of space for my detergent. I was entirely too thrilled about that. Have I mentioned how much I love these bins???? They are fantastic! And they were the EXACT sizes I needed. On sale. I'm sure that excitement will wear off eventually....but not today. :)

So, I broke each bin down to a purpose - Light bulbs and other soft/light items....

Rarely used cleaning supplies and large refill containers. (Don't judge me about not using my towel mop often. I have a swiffer mop and I LOVE it. My floors get somewhat clean fairly often.)

This is my most used bin  - my cleaning supplies! I carry that around with me when cleaning, so it has everything I need. I don't store cleaners under the sink because... 1. I have the space to keep it elsewhere, and 2. My kids would totally break into them and I would have called poison control quite a few times if I kept them in reachable locations. I also don't keep tons of different cleaners - I've found exactly what I like and what works for me...and I only keep those items.

Finally - the LARGE Laundry supplies bin. OxiClean (always comes through and is THE BEST stain remover EVER.), bleach, the next detergent, a delicates bag (I have never used this...I think it is a holdover from camp or some deployment or something), and my tissue box with extra bags in it!

The spare paper bags and potty fit perfectly under the sink. Soon (hopefully) that potty will be retired from this house. I am sooooo excited. Although, I hate potty training...so that part is not exciting. But the end result? No more Diapers? I might just have to throw a party.

The sole piece of decorating in the room (at the moment) is this Ikea curtain which I hung by myself. Thankyouverymuch. First time ever! It really made a huge difference in the room feeling pulled together.

On to the other side of the room!

That island/cupboard was actually wedding gift. It has been used in every house we've lived in - 9 and a half years and still going strong! This may be the ONLY thing we registered for that was practical and useful. I was 21 when filling out our registry...it had a LOT of picture frames and pillows and vases and frou frou extras. Pots and pans? Notsomuch. (I think I did eventually end up registering for pots and pans at the wise prodding of people who knew better. Like our Mothers.)

This cabinet holds all of our beach towels and reusable bags. 

The drawer is still full of various odds and ends - measuring tape, batteries, head lamp....the normal stuff.

Finally, a bucket sold to hold drinks (bought on clearance last year) stores all the swimsuits for the kids on top of the island.

And the very BEST thing in the whole room???? 

This organizer! 

It was a Pinterest project I had pinned months ago, and it turned out great. (Thanks to My Love and a good friend!) I took a pegboard, covered it with a .50 thrifted sheet (which I've made 1 dress, 3 skirts, and 4 bean bags from already), and then asked the men to frame it. Which they did. 

Not the way I wanted. 

At all. 

BUT

It turned out great and I like it better than my original plan. 

So all's well that ends well - right? :)

Eventually, that big open space in the middle will have a wire basket in it with dusting spray, dusting cloths, and windex so I can grab it for a quick touch up. 

Whew. There you go. More than anyone ever should want to know about my laundry space. 

If you've powered through to this point, you are either desperately trying to organize YOUR life....or bored out of your mind and need a life.

 Either way, thanks for reading. 

~Whitney Copyright 2013

Zone 4 - The Laundry Room

So, I've mentioned a time or two that I must organize, clean, or create something tangible when I feel completely out of control. Something about toys being put away or counters being clean or fresh vacuum marks in the carpet just helps me calm right down.

(Which does not translate to a spotless house, surprisingly enough. It just translates to an orderly spot with less stuff in it....while the rest of the house is being demolished. If you don't understand, please scroll to the right and inspect my beans.)

And, I decided I would use 2013 to finally get some order in my life instead of just treading water. I am shocked at how much easier EVERYTHING is without a newborn/pregnancy/child under two. My youngest is 2 and a half - since we started this whole kid-thing, I have always had a new babe-in-arms at this point. In fact, the widest age gap between beans is 25 months.  So this moment in time feels CRAZY. 

This year of organizing has led me to My Kitchen (Zone 1), My Living Room (Zone 2), and the Girl Room (Zone 3.) Moving through each of these spaces has been wonderful. I'm getting rid of all sorts of things we don't use or need, and I'm finally putting items in the best spot for them...instead of just in the room they should belong. 

Which brings me to this month's project....

The Laundry Room. 

First, I always thought it was kind of dumb to make your laundry room all pretty. I mean, it is about as utilitarian a space as it comes, right? It seemed like a complete waste of time. If you could see your washer and dryer and soap and dryer sheets and maybe some Oxiclean and your laundry baskets, you should be good. 

I do a LOT of laundry.  I am in there all. the. time. And I don't even fold it in the laundry room! All I'm in there for is to sort, load, flip, and empty. So I completely thought making the space look pretty in its organization would be just a waste of my time and money. 

Well, world. I was wrong. Again.

Organizing my laundry room hasn't made laundry more fun or exciting....but it has made it easier. Like, LOADS easier. (That is funny. You should be chuckling. Or it is just late and I think I'm extra funny.) Here is what I had to start with....

What you see when you walk in the door....

a bit of a mess. 

I mean, it worked, if you didn't mind moving something every time you needed to do anything.  

 I was really starting to mind moving stuff. The space is plenty big enough to hold all the junk in that room - and then some! So why wasn't it making sense and working smoothly?

Because it was a dumping ground. 

Stuff was just thrown and shoved and precariously perched. 

Not a very good system for efficiency!

(The white cabinet wasn't always right there...I had just brought it in from the garage, when I remembered to take pictures!)

We had tried to get organized in the past - we even bought the cool sunburst hook thingy to hold brooms and mops and stuff....but it didn't work for most of them because the poke-out-parts were too short. 

And behind the door? Unused space. How very, very sad.

However, that sad feeling has gone far away. :) Because after going through every item in the Laundry Room and being sure I needed it, wanted it, and needed it in the space - it looks about 10 million times better!

(I tried to put the same order of camera angles for comparison with the pictures at the top)

Note the super-awesome-curtain. I hung that. By. Myself. :)

Yes, there is a MASSIVE space between the dryer and the wall. Apparently, I'm supposed to have HE machines. But I don't. So, the vent has to go behind the dryer, instead of below it. Minor cosmetic issue. My machines work great - so I don't care!

New bins to corral all gear....thank you Wal-Mart for being awesome.

And having a great sale.

These are exactly what I wanted - but didn't think we could get because of how expensive they were everywhere else. Wal-Mart came through in the clutch!

Below is a picture of the non-laundry stuff in the laundry room. :) The blue bucket holds all dry swimsuits for children, and the cabinet has all of our beach towels in it.

The great PINTEREST project that actually turned out right! woohoo!! (There is going to be a wire basket with some cleaning supplies on the bare double hook....but I haven't been able to find the basket.)

So there is the overall tour of the new, improved, and CLEAN laundry room! (For the record, these pictures were taken on a 4-load laundry day. It just works that much better!)

More on the actual organizing in the space....soon.

Until next time - roll with the TIDE, and keep a BOUNCE in your step!

Stay clean.

~Whitney Copyright 2013

Organizing randomness

So, most of us have a favorite go-to item (or itemS) that just help life go better.

I wanted to share with you one of my favorite things.

A tissue box.

Yep. This is the unsung hero in my battle to be organized.

Instead of throwing away a tissue box when it has been emptied, it is given a new purpose. Like, plastic bag holder. The plastic grocery bags are what we use for trash bags in the bathroom, and, for tying off especially stinky poop diapers. I used to keep the bags all shoved in an empty bag hanging on a hook in the laundry room...but not anymore!

Now each bathroom has its own tissue box loaded with bags - my laundry room is relieved of that messiness, and I always have a bag when (and WHERE) I need it. Pretty much a win all around.

I also have been trying to become less of a messy-car person....for the entirety of my life. What is it about cars and junk? When we bought our Swagger Wagon in 2011, I promised My Love I would do a better job of keeping the car tidy.

Enter the empty tissue box.

The center area in the front is EXACTLY the width of 2 tissue boxes. Which means, (normally) I keep a box of tissues and an EMPTY box....as a trash can! Normally, by the time the trash one is full - the tissue one is empty! So I throw one out, and bring a new box of tissues in. (I ran out of tissues...so the other side is empty at the moment!)

It is a thing of beauty.

Since we are on the topic of the car - another big time saver I've found for keeping the swagger wagon neat is a canvas bin. Courtesy of Jumping Bean and her creativity, numerous canvas bins in the house were marked all over with crayon. I just grabbed one of those already-unpretty bins, and put it in the car! This bin corrals the toys and sunglasses and books and mess that procreates in a vehicle always toting 4 children.

Two other life-organizing tricks for the car -

1. I have a gallon ziploc bag in the center console stocked with some crayons and small coloring books, a notepad, and a couple pencils. You never know when you will need a quiet something to keep people occupied - and that bag has saved me on numerous occasions!

2. I keep a bag of wipes and a spare diaper in the car at all times. Even when the kids are past diaper stage, I'm pretty sure I will still keep the wipes in the car. They are extremely handy!

Lest you think I'm more organized than I actually am - here is a picture of my garage:

It drives me crazy. It was supposed to be Zone 6....but I might need to scoot it sooner. :)  We'll see.

What do you do to keep your car neat?


~Whitney Copyright 2013

Girl Room Mess - (Zone 3 post 2)

World, I have always been a messy hoarder.
In fact, the amount of things I saved as a child was a source of major contention with my Mama.
She isn't known for keeping things due to sentimentality.
Like, at all.
So, having a daughter who didn't want to throw away a gum wrapper because so-and-so gave it to her...was rather difficult.  I was a pack rat who shoved my "special things" into every nook and cranny I could find.
And I thought Mama was mean and nasty and pretty much had no soul for making me throw out and give away so many things that were special to me.

I was completely wrong.
My Mama was a saint for dealing with me.
She was teaching me that people aren't wrapped up in the stuff they give you.
She was giving me skills and vision that would prove to be quite useful in this transient, military, life.
She was planting seeds (and hoping they would take root!) to keep me off of Clean Sweep, Clean House, and Hoarders.
She is pretty much, totally awesome.

Now that I have a house of my own - a house of 6 humans who all are attached to their crap at various levels - I'm getting to implement my own de-clutter methods and lessons.
It is not easy.
It is not always fun.
But it keeps the house running smoother, and happier, and calmer.
So keeping the clutter at bay is a pretty good thing.

:)

In our house, we have toy clutter, paper clutter, clothing clutter, special decor clutter, and just normal-life clutter.
Basically, I have an endless supply of stuff to do.
Hooray for job security!

The battles over clutter fought between me and my mom were brought to the forefront while I was working in the girl room. Holyheckamama. String Bean just might be the most sentimental person every made; Jumping Bean is allergic to putting things away; and Bitty Bean is a world-class pack rat.

These children are just like their mama.

But - if My Mama could fight the good fight and teach me the tools for simplifying and staying neat, I could do the same.

(So I repeated to myself 10 million times over)

We started with their clothing.

After going through my clothes and getting rid of all items that didn't fit, were uncomfortable, and/or had holes in them, I realized it was much easier to get dressed every day.  I had only clothes that I wanted to wear in my space - and they actually FIT in that space. I figured the same idea could be applied to 7, 5, and 3 year olds.

(Side note - about 95% of their clothing has been generously handed down to us...and then we've passed it through all 3 girls and my 2 nieces, and then on to other families.)

I didn't force anything, I didn't belittle what they liked.
What I DID do was this:
First, we went through ONE type of clothing, per girl, at a time. (As in, t-shirts)
I pulled all her t-shirts out and invariably there were a couple shirts that she had not worn in forever.
Then, I would ask - "Do you like all of these shirts? Are there any shirts that bug you? Or are itchy? Or you just don't like to wear?"
That got rid of a couple right off the bat - in a very painless way!
Next, I would give them a number that they could keep. They were able to decide which shirts they kept from the excess shirts they had. The number varied by item and by child. Some children are just neater!  But most of the time, they were allowed to keep 8 of an item. (PJ's were only 4, underwear and socks were more than 8)

If the older two had an item that no longer fit them, I saved it for the next sister. If Bitty Bean was done with something, I passed it on to another family.

They each have a couple items that have sentimental value for this mama, and I keep those in my cedar chest. So far, we have the outfit each came home from the hospital in, a favorite onesie or baby dress, a special dress all 3 of them wore for different occasions, a pair of preemie socks, and a couple special t-shirts from various activities.

Then, all items being kept were put back in their bucket and appropriately labeled.

Side note - the bucket system of organizing their clothes (as opposed to a dresser with drawers) has worked about a million times better for our house. Nothing against dressers - this just has made my life a LOT easier.

Labeling the buckets is where I went a little crazy.

They already had labels on their buckets - I had made them while ago, but since I wasn't sure the system would work, they were NOT pretty. I had used a sharpie on scrap paper, laminated it, cut it wildly uneven, hole-punched, and hung it. I completely forgot to take a picture. Just trust me - they weren't pretty.

But I learned the labeling was a vital part to keeping their room clean and the dressing process smoother.

Since we already had 3 colors in the room due to their bedspreads, I decided to continue with the color coding for everything else.  I bought a pack of coordinating scrapbook paper from Target for $5.00 and went to town. String Bean has teal, (this is her sweater bin)

Jumping Bean is pink, (t-shirts)

and Bitty Bean is purple (pants).

Due to the kindness of a friend with a Cricut - their labels now look adorable. I have never done paper crafts before - and I don't see it happening often - but it was fun. (Well, for the first half of gluing all the pieces together. The second half? I was ready to find my sharpie.) After everything dried, I covered the papers with contact paper to protect them and punched a hole in the top. Then they were tied on with strips of fabric I cut off a thrifted Queen sheet. (I have used that sheet for many, many projects - that was $0.50 well spent!)

Ta-da! And done. 

We also have all 3 in ballet - which means 3 pars of tights, ballet shoes, and leotards...and since tags are the most annoying things EVER....the sizes are lost in the cosmos. To solve the problem of constantly-missing-ballet-gear....I made them special bags for their stuff! Each bag has their name on it, and that is the only place their ballet items can go. 

Beautiful.

The only problem was, they kept losing the bags.
3 command hooks (oh how I love thee!) later, and everything has a place. Their ballet bag stays on the hook, except for on ballet days, and we have not had trouble in locating the appropriate gear on the day we need it, since!

One final space left to organize: the closet. 

Due to the brilliant suggestion of a friend, their dresses and jackets are also color coded. By Hanger. 

Since they were needing bigger hangers anyway - especially the older two - I just bought adult hangers in their colors. You wouldn't think that would make a big difference, but you would be wrong. Holy cow. Everyone know which dresses are theirs, it has solved about a million disagreements, and other people can now easily grab a sweater or jacket for the correct child.

Whew.

It was a TON of work to get us to this point. But completely worth it. The girls can keep their room tidy - and WANT to do so! - with minimal help. They know where everything goes, and can keep it there because it isn't jammed in and barely fitting. I am happy. They are happy.

Life is good. 

How do YOU handle the clothing clutter in your home?

~Whitney Copyright 2013

Zone 3 - The Girl Room Post 1

Well, after much hard work....the Girl Room is almost done.
Here is the grand reveal of the girl-beans and their style...

(I have been hunting through my files to find "Before" pictures, and I could only find a couple:)
This was the view from the door:

A mattress stayed directly on the floor because we couldn't figure out how to fit two twin beds and a toddler bed without a bunk.

The former clothing area - Bitty Bean's clothes were actually hodge-podge stored between the closet and Boy Bean's room.

This is what you see now when you enter the room:

The organized and labeled clothing area :)

(More on that later in the week)

The bunk beds!!!! (Bitty Bean is purple and String Bean is teal)

(We also stashed our extra crib mattress under the bed for those middle-of-the-night sheet changes.)

Jumping Bean is pink and she picked the zebra sheets....because her FAVORITE animal in the whole wide world is a flamingo, and the next favorite is a zebra! :)

The curtains are from Target - the girls LOVED the ones in Pottery Barn - but $100 a panel? Not a chance. Target looks quite similar for a fraction of the cost. Happy mama. Happy girls.

Jumping Bean has the nightstand/book shelf - a beautiful piece of furniture their Great-grandfather made.

They have their name-art from their great-uncle Jim, and the painting they made when Bitty Bean was 1 month old.

Individual pictures tinted with their colors (teal, pink, and purple)

And their newest collaborative art piece: The Bird collage. They all painted the background and then did a collage of papers for the birds. (More on that another day too!)

Space for their piggy banks and earring cleaner.

Tea cups from two sets of Great-Grandparents.

All in all? I am thrilled to pieces with their room! It is organized, reflects who they are, has pieces from many family members in it, and easily stays clean!

Definitely a win. :)

~Whitney Copyright 2013