Kitchen Counters of the Third Kind

So last week we looked at one space issue in my home. This week we will be tackling another one. I love my little kitchen most of the time. But counter space is always difficult to find. Let's enter the kitchen zone...

This is the sum of all fears. When we first moved in, I knew exactly what color I wanted it. I think the color was called Thai Silk. It was bright and cherry. I threw in the white trim later to give it an older look. After 3 years of living here though I have failed to finish the cupboards or the trim. So that is the summer plan.

Kitchen before  

The are a couple differnt organizing ideas we will do in here. The bottom cupboards will be one of the things we will look at. Today though, we will be looking at lack of counter space. One of the things I have done is look for ways to get more space.

This is the space to the right of my sink. Just enough for drip drying dishes.

As you can see there isn't much space on the other side of the sink either.

I started by looking at the space above the microwave. I have throw things up there because of lack of space but a lot of times they end up getting pushed off or rolls off the top or onto the floor or behind the microwave. So  things either went to waste or became irrelevent being gone so long.

Someone brought a tray to my wedding last year and left it behind. One day I was considering getting rid of it and it clicked. It might be the same size as the microwave. I tried it out and it fit perfectly.

Now I have a place to lay small stuff, set paper on or stash cookie packages. With the lip around it i dont have to worry about things falling off. Kitchen counter space saved. One less issue in the kitchen.



RECAP: Cupboard Above the Toilet

I have kept up pretty well on the trash and recycling. It has made cleaning the bathroom so much easier. I have also made sure I replace the bag in the trash immediately. That way there isn't a reason to build up the trash or recycling. I did add something to the bottom shelf.

I needed something to put rubber bands and barrettes in. Later on I will be decorating it and will post how it turns out. I moved them from their old spot which I will be featuring later on this blog. Clean cabinet success!

NEXT WEEK: Those baskets we throw things in to get them out of our way. Recap on my breakfast tray space saver. PLUS a crafty giveaway.

Not Enough Space?

It is a common complaint, not enough space. Cupboards, bathrooms, closets, kitchens, we never have enough space. Sometimes its the size of the house and sometimes its the size of the room. In my case it is both.

Our little piece of the dream.

I do not know the square footage of our little home. It is not very big but it has 2 small bedrooms. The room on the right is a garage. The owners had started to convert it to a family room before they ended up buying a new house. It is great for storage and wok space but is constantly a dumping ground and hard at times to manuver.

There is only one clothing closet. There are only three drawers and those are in the kitchen. This ment bringing in a lot of different storage to satisfy our needs. And me being the crafty type alot more.

My bedroom as seen in previous posts, is not very large. In it i have two dressers against one wall and matresses taking up the other wall.(i snore so the more space between us while sleeping...) There is absolutely no space for a night stand. Whats a girl to do?

I used to have myu stuff stung up the side of my bed. My phone would charge, cough drops, tissue box, eye drops, my glasses, all eventually making their way down between the mattress and the wall. Then it took me forever to think maybe that's where they are at. When I got my tablet at Christmas I realized i needed a better solution.

I remebered i had a breakfast tray I use to use to do my beading with while i watched tv. I havent beaded much in the last three year so it would be great for keeping my stuff out of the crack. I dug it out of a pile of stuff in my office and wala.

Nice and confined. only problem i have found so far is my cats likes to jump on it like a trampoline. I'll have to get out the glue soon. It has been a great solution though.

RECAP: The Dresser

When last we saw my dresser it had been reorganized, except for the bottom drawer. I had found nothing to really solve that issue. i did though get the sock drwer done. I made sections to organize better.

These separtators are made from cereal boxes. Ill show you real quick how to make them.

Take a creal box. Tape the open end down. Cut the box length wise in half.

Add some scrapbook paper to the ends.

Tape large piece of scrapbook paper to the inside of one side of the long part of the box.

Wrap it around the box and tape to other side of box. Then tape open spots around so that it seals the box and looks neat.

There you go.

Thanks for re3ading and let me know what you think of my ideas and or the blog. Share you ideas or ask questions.

Next week: We go to the kitchen!

Oh God the Bathroom... Part 1

Having spent 11 years as a housekeeper in motels, hotels, hospital, and other healthcare facilities bathrooms are my least favorite place to clean. So many things to clean up after in there. Between the hubby, the cats, and I, it is never ending. Luckily you will only see part of the mess today.

Today we are going to tackle the cabinet above my toilet. It at times becomes the dumping ground for the recyclables(toilet paper tubes) and garbage (q-tips, wrappers, etc...). Most of the time the garbage is because I forgot to put a bag in the trashcan. It also is a dumping ground for when I buy new toiletries and I am to lazy to put them away. Lazy here is the key.

The mess

So you can see this has become a dumping ground. It is a handy container to have with no counter space. So I started at the top of shelving and cleaned one shelf at a time. Getting the dust and grime along with the organizing. 

Shelf one was fairly easy. I cleaned the surface. I then placed all the cleaning products up there. I like to keep them there where kiddos cant get their hands on them. Since I have a pedestal sink I do not have cupboards under the sink to store them.

All Better

 Next we have the cupboard.

What lerks behind these doors?

This was the easiest area to clean. With the doors closed I don't think so much about dumping things in there.

I generally keep stuff I use on a usual basis in here. The tooth brush went back where it belonged. The green coffee cup holds my q-tips, so i filled it up. And unfortunately it is where I keep my toilet paper. I can usually keep 6 to 8 rolls in there.

2 of my cats believe toilet paper on here is a toy. Hence having it in the cupboard.

Looking good and took about 3 minutes.

 

The next shelf is definitely the hardest! Between the garbage, the stuff I dump daily(out of my pockets or jewelry when i take a shower), and then stuff I pick up at the store and am too lazy to put away, it can be quite the job. Like I said before, I do recycle toilet paper tubes so that was the first thing to get out of my way.

Yuck...and it's all my mess.

So I discarded the trash, put away stuff that didn't belong there in the first place, and wiped everything down. After that I cleaned the black tray I had on the shelf. I put back the small stuff that I use all the time. This left space for jewelry still.

So much better.

 The Bottom shelf didnt have too big a mess.

Wham bam thank you mam!

More recycling, a little trash, a flat iron thats been sitting for a year... Wipe down and boom! Clean. The only other thing I am considering is adding a container to put jewelry in.

Beautiful!

 

Clean as a baby's butt! As organized a Martha Stewart's medicine cabinet in prison. Thanx for checking out my newest triumph. Any thoughts or suggestions?

NEXT WEEK: We see how successful my dresser redo was. And we go back to the bedroom and see how to deal with lack of space for a night stand.

Welcome!

I am somewhat of a slob. I get everything spotless only to have everything a huge mess within a couple of days. Over the years I have made numerous attempts to make my life more organized. Some things have worked while others have gone down in flames. In this blog I will share with you my experiments, whether epic or fail.

Each week I will post a new organizational attempt. Two weeks later I will post whether it was maintainable or not. If the idea fails we will look at other ideas. I am also hoping for your suggestions when I fail. I will be trying ideas from Pinterest, other blogs, myself, and anyone willing to share.

 So here we go...
          The bedroom...

Welcome to my mess!

One of the biggest disasters in my bedroom is my dresser. I clean it and it piles up with stuff over the next week or two til I clean it again.The drawers become a disaster as things are picked out and rummaged thru. And there is never enough space for everything after all the laundry is done.

Disaster...

So the top of the dresser was mostly a matter of clearing up the clutter and dusting. At this time I load up my daily vitamin pack. Ask myself why I still have a pile of books on here. (I still hope someday i will take the time to read them.) I also picked up all random jewelry before the cats could get a hold of them.  So my question to you is, what's most important to you on the top of your dresser?

Everything except the cups i took off my dresser.

Clean slate.

With the top cleaned up, we go onto the top drawers. One, I use for socks and the other for bras and panties. The is rather easy I have had a box that separates the bras and panties for years. It works well. I used to keep the bras in the box but a couple years ago switched to the panties because I have more of them and they are a thinner material.

My sock drawer is a toss up. I don't really feel like I need them organized. I do think though I should separate the thick ones from the thinner ones so I know if I have enough socks to make it thru the work week. So I will be looking for a box to put in that drawer to separate them.

Sock drawer for now...

Undies.

The middle drawer was the easiest for me to tackle. Yet I wonder if this trial of organizing will be successful. I have a lot of shirts, short and long sleeve, plus tank tops which I wear year round. It never all fits in my drawer. I have seen repeatedly on Pinterest the file like organization for dresser drawers. Here's the link... https://www.pinterest.com/pin/269653096410710646/

I did not fold the shirts down to a smaller size because being a big girl that would make them take up more space and be counter productive. Having the shirts the Pinterest way, I have twice as many shirts in one section. I still need to do the tank tops but there were not enough in the drawer at this point to do them the same way. Be back to you in two weeks to see if it was easy to maintain and still organized.

Closer look

The bottom drawer is a different story. Feedback is greatly welcomed! My nightgowns, shorts, sometimes extra shirts and odds and ends go there. I did not find anything on Pinterest. Looked at multiple websites including Real Simple magazine, Martha Stewart online, hometalk.com, apartmenttherapy.com, and wikihow.com with no success. Unless you count putting a divider between piles in the drawer. So I will be leaving it alone other than trying to put same like item in their own pile.
 

Before

After

Join me next week when we will be doing the shelving over my toilet. Don't look down though...

Happy organizing!

Questions or comments? Feedback WELCOME!