One Mess At A Time - The Pantry

I wish I had a before picture of my pantry. It was a disaster. To be honest, I thought my little pantry was not nearly enough space for the things that I had. It is about 18 inches wide, but it is really deep. The depth was making it quite easy for things to disappear into the back, never to be seen again.

So, like any good organization project, the first step is clearing everything out. In mind, I had already designated this top area to be my extra stock of whatever is in the below section.

This is the main section of the pantry. It is a decent size, but not huge by any means.

The top row became "can goods central". Everything is lined up and I can see what I have. Whatever extra that didn't fit, went up to the top cabinet.

Nice and high and out of the way. A good place for things that I might not need right away.

The farther I got into my project, the more space I had. It is amazing what happens when you throw things out and put things away in an orderly fashion.

One thing I was desperately needing was a place to put my onions and potatoes. They were hanging out on the counter and were really starting to annoy me. On a shopping to trip to Costco, I came across these nice baskets. I didn't think I was going to have space to stack them, but I had enough clearance. But they also fit nicely if I wasn't able to stack them. I was so happy about this find.

This project ended up being bigger than I had originally thought because I rearranged some other cabinets to better organize my kitchen. That included my baking center, which gained some more space. I will share that soon.

One Mess At A Time - The Bathroom Vanity + A Project Preview

My cleaning schedule has not been very consistent. However, getting ready in the morning (when I actually put in the effort) was getting harder because there was stuff everywhere on the vanity. I had a hard time finding a spot to put my curling iron. Too much stuff and not enough room.

Now I have space. And a clean countertop. It makes me feel much better when I get ready. I may not be an inherently neat person, but a mess can drive me nuts if I let it be for too long.

As you can see from the pictures above, my bathroom has a lovely green tile. It actually doesn't bother me too much and it is in really good shape. The vanity base, on the other hand, is chipping paint and is looking pretty rough. My cousin was going to help me paint the vanity, but she isn't able to make the trip when she thought. So I am going to attempt to tackle it on my own.

It will be my first attempt to paint anything like this. My cousin suggest using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, so that is the plan. I haven't picked my paint color yet. Before I paint the vanity, I want to strip the lovely floral wallpaper that is up, most likely have the walls skim-coated and paint the walls and ceiling a nice crisp white. 

It will be a nice little bathroom when it is all finished. One more project for the list.

One Mess At A Time - The Dresser

When my stuff arrived from Pennsylvania, most of it was put in the garage. I did have a few heavy pieces that were moved upstairs, like my dresser. For quite a few weeks, it was the only piece of furniture with a flat surface so it became a catch-all for everything. But it was time to get a little order because I hated looking at it.

Some things do not have a place quite yet, but i am trying to at least put them in the right room. For instance, I had all my file folders lying on the dresser. Even though I don't have a spot for them, I put them in the closet of my one-day-will-be craft room/personal office. I did throw away a lot of stuff that had started piling up for no good reason.

I was finally able to pull my jewelry box out of the bag it had been sitting in. My jewelry is now accessible so I can wear it. It also got a good dusting.

On the other side is all the stuff I use to make me smell pretty. In my apartment I had a tray that I put my lotions and sprays on, but I think it is going to find a new home in the bathroom once it is unpacked.

Now I have a clean space in my bedroom. Eventually I would like to get a mirror for above the dresser. But that is another project for another day!

One Mess At A Time - The Desk

Full disclosure...I am a messy person. I really wish I wasn't, but I am. And living in 2 rooms of my house isn't helping with the messy situation.

In an effort to tackle my messy situation, I am trying to work on one area at a time. I know that once my kitchen is done and I am not upstairs as often, things will not get any better. I will have less motivation to actually clean up and organization.

My desk may be a small area, but I don't want to get too overwhelmed. :) I started here because this is where I sit a lot of the day. I work from home and need a spot that can be completely devoted to my job. I didn't want it mingling with my personal stuff for a few reasons. I don't want to get distracted by other things I may want to do during the day and I want to be able to close the door on work when I do need to do personal work.

My desk sits in front of the window. It is a nice little view, but it is a small desk. A few papers can make this small desk look very cluttered, which it can become rather frequently.

Thankfully, I am able to use these cute glittery containers. I made these last year for my sister-in-law's baby shower. They were a super easy Pinterest project. Now they hold pens, pencils and paper clips.

So one little area that is cleaned up...for the moment. I will be continuing to work on these little projects upstairs so when the time comes, I can tackle the downstairs.

Linen Closet Organization

My downstairs is a major work in progress. To offset the utter chaos, I am trying to organize my upstairs. My first project to conquer was the linen closet.

I had a little inspiration - found on Pinterest, of course. This post by First Home Love Life was a great starting point in thinking of how to best organize my closet.

Because of limited space in my last apartment, I wasn't able to organize the way I would have liked. My sheets were in a zippered bin under my bed. My towels were shoved on the shelves. Things were constantly toppling over. Now I have extra room to be able to organize.

I have room for my sheets and towels. My washcloths are in a basket, so they aren't just thrown where they fit at that particular moment.

I have a little bit of an obsession with Bath and Body Works soap. I always have a stock pile of it. I also have a lot of lotion and body spray that I like to rotate depending on the season. All of it is put away.

One of the best things about having an organized closet is being able to see everything. I know exactly what is in there and where to look for things. I know it will all be a work in progress, but at least some progress has been made.