Time to Organize the Garage

Well, almost a year ago my husband built these awesome shelves in the garage and we have definitely put them to use.  Unfortunately over the last few months some things just got shoved placed in an open spot so it is time to reassess our system.  The shelves are definitely staying, just going to do some rearranging.

When I went in to get our Christmas decorations…or I should say when my hubbie went in to get the decorations down, the first thing I noticed was none of the boxes were labeled.   HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?????  So, I decided it was time to take action and get to organizing the garage a little better.  Unfortunately, just like the office this might be a slow process, but I want to show you what we are starting with.

The majority of those boxes on the top two shelves are the Christmas decorations…what can I say, I LOVE to decorate for Christmas!!  Might be hard to see, but the four blue boxes in the top left are the girls' clothes for when they outgrow them or for the next season.  Also notice that only two of them are actually labeled.  One problem for these bins is their location.  Since they are all the way up there, I haven't been doing a good job of using them to keep the girls' closet current and organized.  This is actually another big organizing job that I want to tackle, but probably won't happen until the first of the year.

It isn't really shown in the picture, but along the wall we have all of the wood we have purchased for upcoming projects.  My husband wants to utilize the space above the garage door and put some shelves up there so he can put all the boards up there and off the ground.  

One thing we did a few months ago, was to transfer all of our paint into mason jars.  I love being able to see what paint we actually have and the colors of them.  I also love the ease of using the jars for quick touch-ups.  The only problem is their location…I want them lower and actually closer to my spray paints.

My husband installed a few shelves and peg board right outside the garage door.  This area is for the tools we need on a regular basis and let me tell you it has been used frequently.  I no longer have to ask him where the hammer is or a screw driver!!!  This area will probably stay the same, just a few things to straighten up on the shelves.

Now, off to organize the garage…wish me luck!!  Also, if you have any tips please send them my way!!  :)

With much love,

Kristin

Organizing the Junk Drawer

I know I sound like a broken record, but I am still working on getting the office desk organized.  I don't know why I keep struggling with it, it has been keeping me up at night...no joke...thinking of the best way to organize the shelves and drawers.  I have organized a few drawers and even posted a pic on Instagram of some organization in progress - although I have already changed it a little since posting the pic :/  I think I have in my head that it has to look picture perfect and be completely functional, but in reality I need it to be organized in a way that makes sense for us and unfortunately that is what is taking time.

So to lift my spirits up, I decided to take a little break from my organizing puzzle of the desk and tackle the "junk" drawer in our kitchen.  This drawer seems to have been designated the "throw everything in it drawer and hide it from the company."  Anybody else have a drawer like this, please tell me I am not the only one.  Needless to say, it was getting out of hand...so much so that I even found a winning scratch off in the back of the drawer.  What, what!!!  Noting to break the bank, but I can treat myself to a Starbucks with a smile - that's what I am talking about!!  So without further ado, let me show you the newly organized junk-no more drawer.

Seriously, this drawer took me about 15 minutes to organize and gave me a nice little confidence boost to get back at organizing the office desk.  Let's step back a moment and look at what I started with.

My first step was to empty out everything from the drawer and lay it all out on the counter.  This is my preferred method, so I can start with a clean slate and see everything that I have.  For me, it is easier to have it all out in the open so I can go through it and make my piles of what to keep, donate, throw away, and keep but in another location.

As you can see, I did have some baskets to corral some of the things, but they weren't being used in the best manner.  On one of my recent trips to Target I found in the dollar section some plastic baskets and they are just the perfect size.  My only beef is that the baskets are not all the same color, slightly OCD over here, but right now I am happy with the results of the drawer.  I will probably go back at a later date and spray paint all the baskets the same color...I might even go bold with my color choice so it adds a nice pop of color to the drawer.

And of course a before and after is needed!!

Anybody take on a short organizing job and it really give them a boost to keep moving on the organizing train???  Happy Thursday y'all!!!

With much love,

Kristin