Day #16 - Fridge Cleanout

Day #16 of the Getting Organized Challenge over at A Bowl Full of Lemons is to clean out the fridge.  I didn't think my fridge was too bad but there were some areas that really needed to be wiped clean.  We got this fridge about a year ago and I have really loved it.  The refrigerator is on the top and the freezer is on the bottom.  I wasn't sure that I would like it but it is really nice to have all of the fresh foods at eye level.  I love the clear crisper drawers.  Our fridge is more on the empty side right now because we are trying to eat from the pantry and freezer right now to use up what we have on hand.  Once we get through everything I am planning a freezer cooking day.  Here are the before and after pictures.

Fridge Before

Fridge Door Before



Sparkling Clean

Organized Fridge

Organized Fridge Door

Day #15 - Medicine/Vitamin Cleanout

Day #15 of the Getting Orgainized Challenge over at A Bowl Full of Lemons is to clean out the medicines and vitamins.  I keep our medicines and vitamins on two shelves in the kitchen.  My daughter gets daily breathing treatments and I like to have everything together in one place.  Here are the before and after pictures.

Medicine/Vitamin Storage Before

Medicine/Vitamin Storage After

This cleanout has made quite a difference.  I was always having to balance everything inside so things didn't fall out.  I went through and got rid of all of the expired medicines and donated the extra items to the people at my husband's work.  Ahh...so much better!

Day #14 - Under the Bathroom Sink

I'm working on Day #14 of the Getting Organized Challenge over at A Bowl Full of Lemons.  The challenge for today is to clean out under the bathroom sink.  I started the Challenge late and I am still playing catch up but this challenge has made quite a difference in the house.  I have been trying to keep up with all of the clutter created by the kids and it seems like a never ending battle.  Just when you get one area cleaned up they scattered everything again.  Now with the Getting Orgainzed Challenge I am finally finding a space to put everything and finding less clutter around the house every day. 

Today I cleaned out under the master bathroom sink.  I am planning to work on the kid's bathroom sink soon.  The before picture doesn't do this mess justice.  I was able to get rid of a whole trash bag worth of stuff.  As always I am trying to organize without spending anything so I am just using the containers I have.  I just printed out a 20% coupon for BigLots that is good for next week so I am hoping to get over there and check it out.  It has been a while since I have been there.   

Messy Sink Before

No More Clutter



Bathroom Sink After

Do you see the pink bin on the right?  That is the bin that the hospital sent home with us when our daughter came home from the hospital.  She was born at 26 weeks and we used to be able to sit her in the bin like a little bathtub.  It is hard to believe how little she was when she was born.  She was only 2 lbs. 2 oz. and 14 inches long.  She is now 7 years old and such a big girl.

 

Day # 13 - Medicine Cabinet Cleanout

Day #13 of the Getting Organized Challenge over at A Bowl Full of Lemons is to clean out the medicine cabinet.  Thank goodness for an easy challenge.  This challenge has affected the whole house.  As I have cleaned each area I have been taking items from around the house and putting them in their place.  I just hope that I can keep up with the challenges to Day 21.  Here is the before and after for the medicine cabinet.  Not much of a difference but it feels much cleaner.

Before

After

Day # 12 - Spice Cabinet

Day #12 of the Getting Orgainzed Challenge over at A Bowl Full of Lemons is to clean the Spice Cabinet.  This was an easy challenge since it hasn't been that long since I have cleaned out this cabinet.  I took everything out, wiped down the shelf and put everything back in.  I have a stepped shelf so that I can see everything.  I mainly keep my cooking spices in here.  All of my baking supplies are kept in the pantry.  The top two shelves of the cabinet have our vitamins and medicines.  I am planning to clean these shelves up soon. 

Before

After

Day # 11 - Clean the Freezer

Day #11 of the Getting Organized Challenge over at A Bowl Full of Lemons is to clean the freezer.  Besides our regular freezer, we also have a stand alone freezer in the basement for all of the extras.  Over the past several weeks we have been trying to mainly eat from the freezer and pantry and only buy the essentials at the grocery store.  We finally went through enough food to combine everything in both freezers into just the regular freezer.  I have been wanting to defrost the extra freezer for a while and I am also planning a big freezer cooking session once we get through all of the extra food.  We have an upside down fridge with the freezer on the bottom and the fridge on the top.  We purchased this fridge last January and we have absolutely loved it.  It is so much easier to see all of the fresh ingredients in the fridge.  Here are the before and afters.

Freezer Before

Extra Freezer Before

Clean Freezer

See the frost?



Organized Freezer



Even though it looks packed it is actually quite organized.  The meat items are in the bottom basket and the veggies are on the top right.  It is so much easier to see everything that we have.  There will be a lot more room once I cook the big 20 pound turkey on the bottom right.

Day #10 - Laundry Room/Closet Organization

Day #10 of the Getting Organized Challenge over at A Bowl Full of Lemons is the organization of the Laundry Room/Closet.  Our laundry closet is located on the second floor which is very convenient.  This challenge wasn't too bad since I painted the closet and added the cabinets a year or so ago.  As you can see I still have the board up that we used to install the cabinets.  With all of my couponing I needed more storage for all of the items I was stockpiling.  We originally had the builder grade white wire shelf but it just wasn't enough storage.  I use one cabinet to mostly store all of my laundry supplies (detergent, fabric softener sheets, pretreat, delicates bags, etc,) and the other one for personal products.  We have all of the shampoos and toothpaste that we will need for quite some time.  I usually supply my family with "care packages" of products whenever the stockpile gets too big. 

Slightly Cluttered Laundry Closet

Organized Closet

Day #9 - Toy Organization = Toughest Challenge Yet!

Day #9 of the Getting Organized Challenge over at A Bowl Full of Lemons is toy organization. This has been the toughest challenge yet. We don't have a toy room and our living room is on the small side so we store most of the toys in the kids' bedrooms. We do have some toy storage on the first floor but it is minimal. I really need to come up with a better system since the kids are always bringing their toys downstairs and then I have to take them back upstairs once there gets to be too many. I started by gathering all of the toys from the downstairs and lugging them upstairs. Then I went through all of my daughter's books and just kept out the age appropriate books and organized them on her shelf. Then I rearranged the shelves in her closet to make the toy storage more accessible. I also made sticker labels on my computer with pictures of the toys in each bin.  I did pretty much the same in my son's room. I ended up with 4 bags of stuff to get rid of between the two rooms.  I would like to go through everything again some time soon and do another purge but here are the before and afters for now.



Daughter's Closet Before



Daughter's Closet After

Picture Labels

Daughter's Books After



Daughter's Books Before



Son's Room Before

 

Organized Toys



Day #8 - Coat Closet Organization



Coat Closet Overflow

I am still working my way through the 21 Day Getting Organized Challenge over at A Bowl Full of Lemons. The challenge for Day #8 is to clean out your coat closet. The junk from my coat closet was overflowing into the hallway. With the holidays and two sick kids I had just let everything go.  This hallway is also the door to our powder room and the access to the garage. Our coat closet is also used for overflow storage from the kitchen and as a broom closet to hold all of our cleaning equipment. I started by emptying out all of the junk and cleaning all of the dust from the floor. I went through all of the coats and put the ones we don't use in the donation pile. I ended up getting rid of over 4 bags of extra stuff from this area.  I was even able to put some other stuff into the closet, including the vacuum which didn't fit before.  Some day I would like to put some extra shelves into this closet but for now I have been just trying to get everything organized without spending alot of money.  This is Day #8 of the challenge and I think this was the hardest area yet but I think this is what I needed to get a jumpstart on the rest of the house.

Disorganized Mess

More Mess

Ahh...no more junk!

Coats Organized

Cleaning Supplies Together

Day #7 - Pantry Organization

Pantry Before

Day #7 of the Getting Organized Challenge over at A Bowl Full of Lemons is to clean out the pantry.  I am a major couponer and my pantry has been overflowing lately.  We have only been grocery shopping for the essentials lately to start cleaning out the pantry and the packed freezers.  I have also been sending backs of items into work with my husband to give out.  Here is the before and after.  I was even able to add in some items from the countertops and overflowing cabinets.



Empty Pantry



Pantry After