Recently, our house has been in an organizing frenzy.
It all started with the kitchen pantry. I was tired of seeing everything pushed around trying to make space for the baby food. So I went to the only sensible place to go... The Container Store.
I had looked online and thought I knew what I wanted. But once there, I was overwhelmed with the selection and amazed by the vast amount of ideas you could get from the place. I also thought I had narrowed down the options to two narrow shelf options. But once there, I knew neither would work. That's when I went to the professionals. The guy working with me was so helpful. I was a basket case trying to decide which I wanted and if I wanted to pay more than what was originally in my mind.
But as soon as I got our new drawers home, they were a fit perfect. I am now a huge believer in elfa! LOVE! And I can see myself slowly putting them in every possible space in the house! :)
(above right: pulling things out from the pantry and cabinets.
above left: new elfa system. Love.)
Once the baby food and pantry were all looking so fine, I felt that I needed to tackle the rest of the cabinets. It only took a few more trips of returning and getting more of containers that worked, and we were off and running. And yes, I did the shopping, reorganizing and putting it all back in one day. I like to finish what I start!
I have to remember sometimes that the mugs are by the coffee pot, but at least, there's room for the baby's items in an easy to reach place.
(Above: Organized pantry and elfa shelves. And after creating this pantry three and a half years ago, we now have pantry doors. They're in the process of being hung. We're so excited and will have more in a future post! Yes!!)
Once I finished this part of the process, I had a full on BITE from the Organizing Bug. I've went on to organize every top closet in the house. Baby Girl's room even got a little shuffling around of furniture to help it feel a little more spacious. Ha! :)
But one of the organizing places that has really made me happy is our new "Command Center." I have been frustrated for a while with our kitchen table being the catch all. As things come in the house, they just get dumped there. And, I'm the biggest culprit!!
Well, I couldn't figure how to remedy the problem until I came across an inspiring article in Real Simple called "Organizing Challenge No. 3: the command center."
I wanted a place in the kitchen to pay bills, keep mail and post upcoming events. Instead, we have places scattered between the bedroom and back office where we do some here and some there. So, when the article suggested bookshelves, I knew I was on to something.
You can see in the picture above that we already had shelves by our kitchen table, but there were mostly used for displaying dishes, cookbooks and pretty things.
But since reorganizing the shelves and creating the new command center, a great deal more has a new home. I brought a few things up from the back office (i.e., stamps, envelopes, etc.) for paying bills. And we also have our own cubbies for current projects we're working on or reading...including one for those items that are always laying around to remember to give to someone else.
I added a basket to the table for when I don't have time to put everything away. I can "dump" items in the basket until I have time to take care of it. That helps with keeping the table a little more tidy.
And we added a super cool magnetic pin board for upcoming events, invites, etc. However, it replaced the clock. And that is one thing that I have had a hard time getting used to.
So when we recently came across this clock at Target (perfect feel for the kitchen and for my coffee-lovin' Hubs), I couldn't resist snatching it up at $20. Now, I can have my cake and eat it too! or in Hubs case, coffee.
