Organizing Challenge Week #2 - Kitchen Cabinets and Drawers

The challenge for the week is kitchen cabinets and drawers and target your hot spots.

I kind of pooped out on this project and didn't get as much done as I wanted, so some of my cabinets are from my previous organizing.

 We have 3 of these really small shallow drawers and it was really hard to figure out what to do with them. I saw on Pinterest this idea of putting dividers in and creating a silverware drawer, so that's what I had my husband do for one of the drawers and it's working really well for us.

 We use a lot of rags, so I have a drawer all for rags and one for towels.

 Under my sink...this system has been working really well for me, the blue crate holds dirty rags and I love my plastic bag holder.

 My little helper.

 The other side of under the sink.

 One of my utensil drawers.

 I turned one of the other small shallow drawers into my measuring cup/ spoon drawer.

 I apparently have a glass bottle hoarding problem. (something I would have liked to get around to doing more with but I didn't.) This cupboard is mostly devoted to our water bottles and kids cups. I do have our daily vitamins in the white bin on the second shelf, and the other bin holds all the lids for the water bottles and kids sippy cups.

 We have this really small/ thin cupboard next to the microwave so I turned that into our medicine cabinet. I used baby wipe containers to help me organize the different categories of medicines. I still haven't finished with labeling. (I want prettier labeling and to finish.) I have children's dosing charts taped on the back of the door.

 My cutting boards and shallow pans are in this cupboard and it works for me, I have some of my hot pads hanging on a command hook for easy access that's not out on the counter.

 I don't have a utility closet in or near my kitchen, so I took out the shelves of this pantry cabinet and turned it into a place that holds my brooms, steam mop, folding stool, and garbage. (and ziploc, plastic wrap, and foil storage on the back of the door)

 Sadly, this is my cupboard above the microwave after organizing...it could still use some work.  ☺

 I wanted to do more with this cupboard and the one pictured below. I bought some things to help me organize, but like I said, I pooped out and haven't gotten it done yet. I do like having the corkboards on the back of the cupboard doors, it's a good place to have your menu planning and I have the baby feeding schedule up there.

If I get some motivation to do more I'll post more photos later. ;)

Organizing Challenge #1 - Kitchen Countertops

 

I've started an organizing challenge and this week was cleaning off countertops and tables. Removing small appliances off the countertops that don't need to be there, etc...

Thanks to pregnancy nesting I had already done most of it awhile ago. ☺

We've been sick this week so it was mostly just cleaning up from letting things build up.

 

BEFORE PHOTOS:

 

 

 

I included my back entry cabinet which clearly needed some organizing. ☺

 

 

AFTER PHOTOS:

 

 

(I have to keep my diabetes stuff out on the counter still so that I remember to check my blood sugars)

 

 

Hair Clip and Bow Holder

I liked my jewelry organizer so much that I made a bow and clip holder for my little girls hair stuff. I got the idea for the frame and ribbon from Amy over at the Idea Room.

Jewelry Holder

I finally got around to this project of making a necklace and earring holder. I used a mirror that I already had, screwed some small hooks in the bottom, and inserted plastic canvas in front of the mirror. Now I can see what I have!

Outdoor Lighting

I won the white cabinet battle.

Cary gave in and said he'll just tell me "I-told-you-so" later on down the line. I'm ok with that since regardless of what I choose, I WILL want to change it in a few years.

 Duh.☺

OK, so I thought I had all my outdoor lighting picked out (and bought), but when the guys started doing stucco, sophit, and facia, it became obvious that the light fixtures I had were not going to work for the front entrance. The sophit is only a few inches above the lights.

So I now need to find fixtures that will fit in the front, but still flow with the back. (somewhat)

Here is what we'll have in the back for lighting. See the loop-de-doop on top, it's too tall for the front entrance.

I already bought them months ago, so this one is not negotiable.

So now I need to find two lights that are budget friendly to go in the front. Here is what I have found so far...

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

OK, I just found this one, it matches my other ones pretty well.

7.

Which one would you choose?

None?

Other suggestions?

White Cabinets

So we thought we had decided on the color of cabinets in our new house

 (the Espresso color), but I keep coming back to wanting white cabinets. Our house is going to be small (tiny) so I think having white cabinets will help make it feel larger, lighter, and more open. The hubs doesn't like the idea of white, so I want to hear what other people think about the subject. So you love or hate white cabinets?

BEFORE: (photos from younghouselove.com)

AFTER:

What's not to love?



Photos from centsationalgirl.com

source

(home depot)

Toy/ Storage Box

We go through lots of diaper boxes around here, so I try to find uses for them other than just throwing them away.

I use them for storing kids clothes that aren't currently being used, and I was using one in the living room because it was the perfect size for all of the balls that are everywhere.

The problem is...my kids think boxes in themselves make for a great play thing and they kept dumping all of the balls out of my makeshift toy box and then trying to destroy my box!

So I thought I'd see if giving it a makeover would help set that box apart and keep them from ruining it.

First I fortified it by hot gluing pieces from another diaper box to all the sides.

Purty, eh?

Next I watered down some Elmer's glue and glued some paper to the sides.

 (Modge Podge type stuff would work really well too, obviously!)

*side note* I used tissue paper because it was all I had, and while I can say that it "worked", it definitely would have looked better with gift wrap paper or any other kind of thicker paper.

See the wrinkles?

After gluing all the paper on the sides, I then did another layer of watered down glue on the outside of the paper.

So far it seems to have done the trick.

Don't know why, but the kids are less drawn to terrorizing the poor box.

(and it looks slightly better then a plain ole diaper box sitting in my corner.) ☺

Color!

I don't know if it's me suffering from the winter time depression or what, but I've been needing color in my life.

I always love blue but right now I'm totally digging the color orange!

I have this lamp that I made awhile back 

and this one that we got as a wedding gift.

I like the shape of both of them, but decided to jazz them up a bit.

Who's to say, it may be the pregnancy hormones and you know you aren't supposed to do drastic things, so we'll see!

It's just paint, so if I end up hating it in a month I can always do something different.

The lamps are now blue and orange, and the now blue lamp got a new lamp shade.

I also added a little pop of color to this throw pillow with some orange ribbon flowers.

So, am I crazy or what? ☺