Week One: kitchen before

Remember the post I wrote a few days ago about a Home Organizatioinal Challenge...
Well if you don't ..you don't read my blog enough..
Shame on you!

Anyway..the post is here.

This week we are focusing on our kitchens. My kitchen is pretty much organized...but totally not decorated.
Here are a few pictures of my kitchen..
Which is not up to my satisfaction so please don't judge!!

I didn't clean up to take these pictures..this is my house..at the spur of the moment!

Ready:

Here is my kitchen table..the dining room chairs are in the living room because and all her princesses were watching a movie..obviously they don't feel the need to sit on our Ashley furniture..they want the dining room chairs. Anyway..you will my denim jacket..cause it was actually cool outside that day..my purse..Lyla's childrens' church paper...etc..

see didn't clean up

This wall I hate..this was one of those moments when we moved in and Gregg said..

Where is this mirror shelf going?

I said

I don't know right now

So...he put it up there..

I hate it!

But I am thinking it might be a good spto for either a chalkboard wall or a control center with a calender some hooks and maybe a bulletin board or something...

Which one you think?

side of the fridge

we are big fans of rapunzel in this house

is there really a way to organize all this junk?

pots and pans..i try not to keep a ton of these..a few were in the dishwasher..but i only keep what i need to cook with..no extras

silverware

my baking cabinet

small appliances

under the sink

ha ha

nothing but dishwasher cleaner and magic erasers

crockpot and ...no lie...the rubbermaid container that Gregg puts his fish in when he catches them until they get cleaned so HE can eat them...

if your married to an outdoorsman ..you will understand

dog bones, bubbles, medicines, vitamins, band aids, potholders and the basket is for Gregg's keys, wallet, etc.

 

containers and dishes...and lunch boxes

other side of fridge..

ok.need to clean that off..

here is our bills basket..looks junky but it works for us.

I do need a better system though

ideas?

plates and bowls

pitchers and cookie jars

cups

here is looking from my dining table through my kitchen ...

if you go through that door..and go left..you enter the living room

right takes you right out the front door

 

So

I don't think I have alot of organizing to do..

I try to keep everything in the kitchen to a necessary level

I just need decor

and a person with a decor mind...because for some reason..

i just can not think of what i want to do in here

 

I will post later picures of everything put away and cleaned up!

Home Organization Challenge

I love to hop over to A Bowl Full of Lemons and see what she is organizing or cleaning from week to week.

I would love to wrap her up...ship her to my house for about a month..let her do her thing..and BAM! my house would be wonderful!

She also sells Shaklee which is a natual cleaner for your home..they have everything from cleaners..dishwasher detergent..to vitamins and shampoo..

Moving on to the challenge..I am a sucker for challenges...and I am a sucker for organizing...I am organizing my house all the time
My poor husband can never find anything..

(a snippet from A Bowl Full of Lemons)

 

 

HOW THE CHALLENGE WORKS:

Home Organization 101 will continue for 14 weeks. Each Saturday, I will post a new "space" along with pictures of my finished space and share the process of how you can organize yours. You can take as long as you need, and once you are finished organizing your space, come back here to this post go back to A BOWL FULL OF LEMONS blog and link up your blog (with pictures) to share with all of us. If you do not have a blog, you can take pictures and share them on our Facebook event page (here). Questions, ask away... Our facebook event page is the best place to ask them. Have fun! Now lets get organized.

 

 

This weeks challenge is the Kitchen!

The kitchen

the dreaded kitchen

probably my most hated place to clean

I think it is my most hated place to clean because I clean it like 59 times a day

But I love my kitchen..we just had a major rennovation in our kitchen and I still don't have it decorated to my liking...or really decorated at all..

*put on my to do list: decorate kitchen*

 

The kitchen is where my family gathers...

It is where friends sit when they come over

 

So it should be the first impression of my home..

so I really need to get to work on it

 

I am feeling inspired already!

or maybe it is my happy pill that I just took

 

Anyway!

Join me and take the organizing challenge with me!

I will working on my kitchen today..and maybe putting out a few fall decorations while I'm at to slowly work our way into fall..I can not wait for the cooler weather to get here.

 

Head on over to A Bowl Full of Lemons to get the scoop and the schedule of what room we will be working on each week..

Remember you don't have to finish each room in a week..but dont' take out more than what you can do in a week..we want this to be fun..not a burden!

 

OK..off i go!

 

Home Management Binder..in the making

Have you heard about the Home Management Binder?

or Control Journal if you are following FlyLady....

It is just a central binder or notebook that you keep all your daily stuff..so you aren't looking in a box full of bills for the electric bill...or going through all your birthday invitations thinking someone's is this weekend but you have no idea who or where it is...

I'm not that bad..but it easily could get that way

So I have been playing with the idea of making myself one...
And now that my husband has joined the Air Force...he won't be around as much as usual.
I am going to be totally lost..because the only part of our finanaces that I handle is the spending.
Sad but true.

When I started college ...my husband just took all the finance burden on him so I wouldn't have to try to keep up with it...and schoolwork. He is a blessing to me!

So now it is time for me to transition back into power!!!
BA HA HA HA!!
(that is my best evil laugh)

There are SO many cute lists and calendars available to print for free..that I had a hard time choosing just one.
I am a MAJOR list lover..so this was almost torture for me.

Point is...You might see alot of the same or like the same papers in my HMB (Home Management Binder) but I am trying them out to see which one suits me best...

A HMB is always a work in progress...but eventually I will get it just the way I like it and hopefully it will be a great organizational tool for me.

Here we go!

I have no cute cover..it is just a 1/2 inch binder from Wal-Mart.
I have collected printable from everywhere ..so I don't know where all of them came from..but most of mine have come from CLEANMAMA.

Here is just daily routines.

Time scheduled for the week.

today time schedule with a spot for a to do and notes

I like this one..it is a week at a glance with a spot at the bottem for kid activities, dinner ideas, and notes.

Weekly family schedule. This is good because it lets me know what Gregg's plan is for the week.

This one is a little to much for me..but it might work.

It has a daily cleaning schedule along with a weekly schedule

another weekly...with a daily at the bottom and monthly

this is for the stuff that I never remember to do like change my A/C filters

DONE! Goals to get done in one month

Shopping list

Weekly menu plan with a shopping list

menu plan for Breakfast, lunch and dinner spots

fave recipe list..I usually keep all these in the pantry when I don't feel like cooking something new or when someone unexpectedly comes over for dinner

inventory..I will probably never be disciplined enough to do this...but it looks good.

month menu plan of dinners

a blog idea list...this is huge for me..I always think of what I need to blog..but then when I finally get a chance to sit down and blog..I never remember what ALL I needed to write about.

Monthly bloggy calendar

Lyla is getting older and is CRACKING me up with all that she says..so here is a quick spot to jot stuff down....

for example:

Papa did NOT listen in school ..he doesn't even know his colors!!

*he is color blind*

ha ha!

Bill tracking

Important dates..anniversaries..etc.

this is my long term to do list..like stuff I want to do for the house...crafts...etc.

TA DA!

There it is in all its glory!

 

Not much and kind of confusing now..but hopefully it will evolve itself!

 

Do you have a HMB?

I WANNA SEE IT!!!

DONE!

So I made a list with CLEANMAMA this month called the DONE! list
It is a list of stuff to get done THIS month!

As you can see..I only have three goals..this month..ha ha..
There is enough spaces for ten I think...but I knew that I am a total perfectionist and making a Home Management Binder would take me forever!
FOREVER!

Well..I finally got a little bit ...well...the majority of the Home Management Binder DONE!

I have a lot of papers that are pretty much the same...but I am trying them out to see which one suits me best!
See perfectionist
It's horrible sometimes!

Anyway..I took pictures of some of the pages in my Home Management Binder...so I will post those later.

Now I just have to remember to USE IT!

Go HERE to print off your DONE! list ..and set goals for September!

Toy Clean out Summer Challenge!!

Over at Organizing made fun ...there is a Summer Challenge going on that is strictly TOY CLEAN UP!
I must have had ESPN (ha ha) because I did this before Lyla's birthday...

Well ...I didn't actually clean OUT all her toys...I switched her room to the room that has the bigger closet so that I could organize toys.

I don't even want to look at a picture of what her room looked like with all her toys everywhere!!!

but as of right now...

I have been working on toys for two days...and threw away 2 trash bags full of toys...

well i didn't throw them away...yet...if I can't get rid of them...I will...

so I am gonna link up...and hopefully post a few pictures later on what her new rennovated room looks like after two plus trashbags gone...

Slow Down Sunday

so today i am really now slowing down either...

my mom and step dad are coming over to finish laying the rest of my flooring and all the border that goes around it.

So that way i can have MY house back....back to normal!

the past few days have been crazy! and disorganized!

i don't know which laundry is clean or dirty..so i have alot of laundry to do

there is dust everwhere from cutting all those boards..

everything is out of place..

but

i got new floors

which we needed

and i LOVE!

so I thank God!

let me know how you are slowing down this sunday ...

Awesome Find...Gotta check it out!

I found a blog...don't know how..called Grace is Overrated and she makes her own journal pages.

They are supercute!!

That is just an example of what they look like...i love them...

She makes them like fill in the blank..which cute quirky questions to answer!!

I think right now she has created 25 of them.

my plan is to put them all in a binder....i have already printed them all off....and do one a day....

I think it would be great to pick a month and do this once a year so you can look back and see what was going on in that particular month of that year...

I hope she makes many many more!

You gotta go see them!!!

go HERE!

You all can join in if you want! We can make it a group thing!!!

Today is my Day Number One!

Here is a tid bit of what i have to fill in ....

One thing I MUST to today.....

One thing i would LOVE to do today.....

One thing I am totally putting off today....

5 people that make me smile:

it has a word association game:
like the word strawberry:______

and you fill in what you first think of when you read strawberry
daquiri!

On the Menu Tonight:

some cute quotes!

and a lightning round:

real quick questions that you circle an answer
toilet paper over or under? minty or fruity gum? roses or tulips?

ISN'T IT CUTE!!

I HOPE YOU ALL JOIN ALONG!!

Awesome Organizational Ideas using Baskets!!

 i got an email today from Better Homes and Gardens and it had some really cute organizational stuff in it!! And of course ...we all love to orgainze...or wish we had the time too!!







So Look it over and Drool ladies!!!






I so wish i had this instead of an ugly black filing cabinet!

This is a wonderful idea. Each family member have thier own basket to drop keys..school stuff...etc...and they all hang on door hooks.

or how about this for gloves, scarves, and hats....and hang from cute dog collars....

under the bed storage!

Keep herbs and oils in a tidy basket tray within easy reach of the cooktop. To catch spills, line the bottom with an easy-to-clean baking sheet.

How cute were all those!! I love them!!