Here's to an Organized Life

My sister, Lynn, was just in town visiting and while she was here, we did a lot of Seattle-ish things (more about her visit in another post). She also helped me to reorganize my kitchen. Can you use the word "reorganize" when it was never organized to begin with? I have been dreaming about owning a dishwasher and since my good friend is going to give me one in a month or two (thank you!!), Lynn and I decided to figure out how to make it fit. We went to Storables (one of my favorite stores) and found cheap stackable baskets and turned my JUNK cupboard into 10 organized baskets. While this may not look impressive to you, it's a major improvement.

We also eliminated clutter on two of my small counters. Since my major kitchen complaint is that I have no counter space, this is HUGE! I'll gain one more when I can get rid of my dish drying rack. (Again, may not look impressive unless you've EVER been in my kitchen. I actually DO have counters! :)

We fit all of my canned goods in a new location and made room for the dishwasher. I even cleaned the top of my fridge (that was frightening). I have a new incentive for keeping my kitchen clean because now it actually looks clean when it is clean! It doesn't just look like organized chaos.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, LYNN!! It's so much more fun to do projects like this with company and an extra pair of hands.

I have always thought that if I could find a place for everything, it would be relatively easy to maintain a clean, organized life. But I can't seem to find a place for everything. (Some days I try harder than others). I keep reminding myself that we live in a small apartment and own stuff for five people, including a baby. But I still long to declutter. Does anyone have any organization tips? Any good decluttering ideas? Ways to stick to a cleaning schedule? How to not let clutter bother you?

Since I am asking for organization tips, here are a few of my own:

1. Another one of my amazing friends gave me a copy of her mother-in-law's organization tool - it's a Word document that you can print out and take to Kinkos to have it spiral bound. It has a calendar for each week on it that includes room for "chores" and "dinner." It also has room for grocery lists, to do lists, errands, and practically anything you want to put on it. It has helped me so much during the last two weeks to keep track of everything I need to do.

2. We hung a clear shoe pocket organizer on the back of our bathroom door to hold all of our bathroom odds and ends. Works great for hairbows and Band-aids, etc. All of those little items that need a home.

3. I can't say enough good things about my laundry hamper. It saves a lot of time and it looks cute: