spaces

I got a bit ambitious this weekend on the organizing front. Too much thinking about things and not enough doing. So... I just started with a small room that I am always in (the laundry room) and went for it. 

Sadly, I did not think to take a before picture, but the after pictures are still nice.

When you first move into a house (especially a rental you don't think you'll be for long) things kind of just end up in places. Over time, you realize what you actually need in which spaces. So, the cupboards in here were in desperate need of a going over. In the second picture, it looks a little sparse do to the lack of jackets that hang there 9 months out of the year, so this picture is a little optimistic. And the upper shelf needs some covered basket love for storage. But overall, I'm happy. I can walk in here and not trip over a swim bag, several pairs of shoes and some backpacks. 

Then I moved on to the kitchen. Not the smallest room in the house, not the biggest, but certainly one of the most complicated. And intimidating. I wasn't sure what I was going to accomplish, but I knew I had to start something because the spices were practically falling out of the cupboard when I opened it and some of my dishes no longer fit without a fight.

Here, I managed to get in a somewhat before shot and a half-done after shot. The left side of the cupboard is a little more complete now, but not entirely set. Here's the thing about the kitchen: without taking all your stuff out at once, it's hard to know where you want all your stuff to go back. Some cupboards are easy, like the plates, bowls, glasses. But these other ones with lots of stuff... those can get a little complicated. 

Mostly, I was trying to think about the things we use most of the time and in what area of the kitchen. Our kitchen is not big so by "area" I mostly mean which arm is going to shoot out to reach for something. Still.... when cooking with a child (or another grown up) having a good order to things is helpful. I took out things that we don't use much and shifted things around a bit so I don't have to go to the back of the corner cupboard to get my big mixing bowl. I even was able to put a few more things into cupboards which is awesome.

The part of this cupboard that I'm now stuck on is the spice area. Oh, dear. I just need to think on it and decide on the organizational style. I have heard that you should just get the same type of spice jars, transfer your spices to them, date and label, then keep them alphabetically. This sounds like some work up front but something that would work well once it's finished. And the uniform look is nice..... we'll see. I'm not there just yet.

And then there's the pantry which is another one of those "transfer foods into clear bins" type places which sounds good and looks good but takes a lot of up front work. So.... I'm just kind of hanging out in the organization-limbo. I feel good that I've started areas and seen improvement. Now, I need to put a little more thought into the more complicated areas, gear up and tackle them. Whew.