Monday, April 30, 2012

project: simplify - week 4


Now that I am halfway through Project: Simplify I am feeling invigorated...(?) 

A little burnt out? 

       Maybe a little of both, if that is possible! 

Week four of Project: Simplify is organizing the Pantry & Fridge.
http://matureservices.org/msistore/images/grocery.jpg

I'm going to go through the whole kitchen; from the freezer in the garage, the fridge, all the cupboards and drawers, and to the pantry. I love that I can deal with things shelf-by-shelf in this project. 

Some places I have just allowed to accumulate junk. Like my silverware drawer -- it has become the nesting ground for random pens. And my largest cupboard is full of serving stuff that I will just never use. Time to say adios

Week four - let me conquer you.




Saturday, April 28, 2012

project: simplify - week 3 complete

It wasn't easy.

But now that it's over, I gotta say it: "Woot woot!"

Project: Simplify - week three is completa!

I'm not going to lie. This was the hardest, strenuous week thus far. It took a lot of will and determination for me. After day one, I felt overwhelmed and completely in over my head. See why?


Poor Acacia must have thought I was crazy, destroying her bedroom and all. But she had nothing to fear (though I did -- mountains of clothes). 
By day three, things were already shaping up.


I filtered out the winter stuff, brought in all the summer clothes, removed Ava's items that no longer fit, organized all her future items by size and made them easily accessible, and priced each removed item for yard sale.

Now for the fun part! But bear with me, I have a LOT to show you :)

The girls' closet BEFORE

Aaaannd the AFTER


Looking back into the top right

After


This is looking back into the top left side

Can you see difference!?


Left side before

This is a drastic change. 


Right side before

Maybe I'll actually be able to pull this playhouse out to be played with one day -- now that it's not covered in heavy boxes of stuff that really don't belong in a toddler's room anyway. :)


Okay, so, moving on to the dresser. This is the top drawer before.

The fabulous after.


Before - second drawer (Ava's clothes)

After - Ava's drawer


Third (Acacia's) drawer before

Acacia's drawer after!

I am on the verge of spilling all the gore on "Oh, how awful it was... blah blah blah," but I think it would be better just to spare you the details and let you admire my handiwork. It can seem so simple and happy looking at before and after pictures. I feel like a Jedi Master now that it's finished. Now let us ooo and ahh over Jason's work...
The corner of the kitchen counter is a magnet for random junk and bills.

After -- yeah, in my wildest dreams it would actually stay like this.


Before- files soooo close to their home...

 All tucked away where they belong.


After this week, I can easily conquer the coming projects.

Happy simplifying to you!


Monday, April 23, 2012

project: simplify - week 3

As you know from last week, I switched Project: Simplify week two with week three (paper clutter with kid's toys). This being my third week, I'm kinda doing a double project -- and hopefully being more productive than last week. It shouldn't be far too difficult though because I am assigning the first portion entirely to Jason: Paper Clutter.

For me? -- I get (like it's some kind of privilege..?) to finish the kid's room: clothes and closet. I just can't skip this area because it's probably one of the most messy, unorganized sections of my house!

Here is a little preview...

Acacia's closet (I posted this last week, but since it didn't get done, here it is again).



Here is some of our paper clutter. 





Ready. Set. GO!



Saturday, April 21, 2012

project: simplify - week 2 complete

Woot woot! Week two of Project: Simplify is complete!

Kind of.

The week is over... but I didn't quite get everything accomplished that I had hoped. I was able to clean and sort through all of the kid's toys, but I didn't get to the closet and clothes. But that is ok, because the room already has a better feel to it. 

Acacia was such a good helper with the toys. Once she understood what I was doing, she was very generous. I asked her about which toys she wanted to keep or give away and she was on a roll of "give away" items. There were even some cute things that I was reluctant to put in that pile, but I listened to her. In the end, I may have snuck some unnecessary toys into the yard sale stock - but nothing she will actually miss. :) 

Now for some before and after pictures. 

P.S. I realize that a room for two girls shouldn't ideally be the color blue, but we just haven't had the chance to paint it yet. Besides, the ceiling is painted blue too - so that makes it a much bigger project!


The bookshelf, before.... yeah I have been lazy...

Bookshelf after. Now, I realize it won't - can't - stay like this, but I pulled out the broken books, sorted the puzzles for pieces, and basically just cleaned it up!

Before picture of the back left corner of the room.

This is a closeup on the pileup behind Acacia. 

As you can see, I rearranged, so that corner is now the location for Ava's crib. I'll show you what I did with all those toys. 

Acacia's toddler bed has been replaced with these.

And here is the rest of those toys. No more piles of stuffed animals.

The back right corner of the room before.

After - muuuuuuch better!

This picture is the toys that stay downstairs in the living area - mostly baby toys. I let Acacia bring hers downstairs but they must be returned to her room.

 I sorted through them and decided to purge out a few of the baby items. Mostly, I just organized. 


There you have it! Kid's toys Project: Simplify COMPLETE!

Must.
Persevere.
To.
Next. 
Project.



Monday, April 16, 2012

project: simplify - week 2

Today, Monday, begins week two of Project: Simplify. Last week I tackled the master bedroom, which was awesome. But I'm reeeeeaaaalllly stoked about this week.

Week two, according to Simple Mom, is supposed to be Paper Clutter.

But I'm breaking the rules. I'm skipping Paper Clutter and diving straight into Kid's Toys & Clothes.

I'll give you a hint as to why...
That's the closet -- stuffed with clothes and baby accessories..

The books and puzzles... 'nough said.

And the room. Toys e-v-e-ry-where. Back there behind Acacia is just a giant pile of toys stacked two feet high. Nice. 

Apart from getting out the things the girls don't need, I really need to sort through the clothes. Set aside the things that can be worn later, seasonal, and clothes to give away and bring in the new (and seasonally appropriate) clothes. I think I have two whole boxes of baby/toddler shoes to go through. 

I'll be honest -- by noon today I had already busted out the toys, set aside the stuff for my yard sale, cleaned, and even re-arranged the room. I'm hoping to focus all my energy on the closet, dresser, and all the clothes with the rest of my week. 

I'm looking forward to updating you when this project is complete!





Sunday, April 15, 2012

project: simplify - week 1 complete

Woot woot!


One room of my house is "simplified" down to every nook and cranny.

Do you know how good this feels?

It took about three days of focused work - that is, of course, between naptimes, mealtimes, and other household chores. So, week one of Project: Simplify = complete.

Now for photos!


Before - my side, top shelf

After! Still need to figure out a way to display my bouquet in my room...

Before - the bottom of my side was stuffed with junk

After - I organized the bins and got rid of the big blue storage box

My side BEFORE

My side AFTER

Before - looking back in to the closet


After - I got rid of all my tiny jeans that I'll never fit into again - that cleared up a LOT of space

Jason's side BEFORE

Jason's side AFTER! 

Before - the view back into his closet

After - big difference. No more random junk stored up top

 Jason's t-shirt buckets BEFORE - overflowing

Jason's shirts after. You can see that I purged out quite a lot.

Jason's and my undies/socks buckets BEFORE - also overflowing

Socks and undies after - Jason's side is way better.


I have to praise Jason because he really was such a good sport about the project. I sorted through all his clothes and took out a bunch of things. Ironically, I happened to choose special items that he was very sentimental over -- who knew Jason had such a side!?

"Do you know how many memories I have attached to this shirt!??? This is like, my favorite shirt ever!"

Apart from the clothes, I also had us sort through our nightstands together. We removed all the trash, books, and piles of pens that just accumulated over time unnecessarily. He also took all the stuff downstairs that no longer belonged in our room -- yard sale stuff to the garage and storage stuff downstairs to be stored later.

We finished the room on Saturday together... I feel so much relief when I walk in now. Knowing that everything that is in there, I want in there.

I'm so excited for the next project!