kitchen cabinet re-org ... ♥ part two

i hope my last post inspired you to crack away at problem areas in your home! :)
so on to the bottom half of the kitchen/office are

for starters this was the junk drawer

'cept we had two other drawers just like it elsewhere 

it was a catch-all for random stuff

this is the cabinet below the junk drawer

oy.

i had the intention of making this whole area an "arts & crafts" station

then my craft room came along and that idea was toast :)

so it just became the cabinets with the "stuff" in it

stuff-that-was-out-on-the-counter-and-people-are-coming-over-so-we-have-to-hide-it-somewhere-stuff

so here's the after ... all cleaned up

with some help from my little friend Mr. Target

and a whole lotta indecisiveness

(like a ton of indecisiveness)

so first things first

i lined the drawers & pull-outs with wrapping paper

just like i did with the spice jar drawer 

unlike in my spice drawer, where everything kinda just sits there,

i tacked these papers down with a little double sided adhesive

since we would be sliding bins and things in & out

some of the little things that helped organize these areas were inexpensive, simple solutions.

dipping dishes found in the kitchen section were the perfect size for herding small things together ... and the metal rimmed tags keep all sorts of items from getting mixed up

take a closer look

the dishes hold spare or random keys

USB drives & memory cards

small size batteries & whatever else :)

using small pieces of washi tape, i labeled the cords

so now we know what's what, and it's in plain sight

no more searching for cords when we're in a hurry :)

the cupboard below now stores my silhouette & all of our camera paraphernalia

(which really is more than i thought we had)

when i need to use the silhouette, just pull it out and plug it in

the bin next to it holds the postage scale i use for the shop

(multiple times a week ... so having it handy, but out of sight is perfect)

extra ink cartridges for the printer, cords, and screen wipes

(cause our screens are always nasty & dusty)

(aren't yours?)

ok, so this is kind of my favorite part

i mean i just love how this whole section of the kitchen turned out

but having a place to keep all of our camera equipment

just seems like the bomb diggedy :)

the lenses, the cords, the manuals, the batteries...

these's so much of it

to not have to go here and there to find everything is just wonderful ♥

i used glue dots to affix the chalkboards on this bin 

(and to the bin next to the silhouette)

top, clockwise: the old point & shoot, lenses & flash, dslr (and it's cute camera strap)

my older daughter's camera, battery charger & extra cords 

(that the hubby told me "yes, we have to keep those")

and an expandable file for all the manuals, warranties, and other paper stuffs that go with these machines

see?? isn't it fun??

i'm just super happy with how this came together :)

what? the cute camera strap? 

oh, you like it huh?

me too ♥

my sweet gal pal Andrea over at Knitty Bitties made it for me

she's the bomb diggedy too :)

you can check out her blog here 

and check out her etsy shop and the other cuteness she's got goin' on in there :)

ok got sidetracked a little...

back to the big before & after

here it is :)

wow ... that was fun ... way alot of work ... but fun

one more post and the whole office area will be done

then on to meal plans, coupon & household binders 

and another junk drawer :)

are ya with me?? 

much love ♥

sweet parties here ♥

Weekend Wrap up Party ♥ Tatertots & Jello

Sundae Scoop ♥ i heart naptime

simplify your kitchen - kitchen cabinet re-org! ... part one ♥

i have a little secret to tell you ...

i'm a piler

yes ... a piler

as in i make piles

...

but i don't like piles

i loathe them actually

 and i don't want any more piles

like ever

i've deduced (is this a word?) from my own psychological analysis

that pilers are also people who are indecisive

right?

cause the reason the pile gets made is because

a. there's no place to put said item

b. there is a place to put said item, 

but the piler is not sure which of the many options should become the home of the said item

(ie: do receipts go in the receipt file or with the owner's manual?)

(do flashlights go with the candles in case of a power outage, 

or with electronics? ... cause they're electronic)

(right? ... are they? i mean if they run on batteries, they're electronic right?)

(if the hubs is reading this post he's rolling his eyes)

(well he doesn't like eye rolling, so he's probably doing some other gesture of embarrassment)

see... my brain hurts now

back to the piles

for those of you just gettin' here :)

i decided at the beginning of the year to really go through the house and purge

just get back to basics

you can read more about that here, here and here 

and for you gals who have been following right along ...

i haven't jumped the "simplify your kitchen" bandwagon

i just left the kitchen for a while ...

to face the basement 

now that that's done ... i'm back on track

(no, there's no fancy organizing pics of the dungeon ... 

what happens in basement ... stays in the basement)

(it's not pretty down there folks)

let's get goin'!

we have a very spacious kitchen ... with lots of cabinet space

and lots of fun areas to organize

off of the kitchen is a little built-in office area 

home to our computer, printer and basically where all family household duties are managed

(finances, schedules, blogging, etc...)

come to think of it, this little area wears many hats

making it more of a challenge to keep clutter-free and organized

here is a short list:

- first aid supplies 

- houses miscellaneous household items 

- where i blog & manage my etsy shop

- shipping area for my etsy shop

- bill pay

- meal planning & couponing

- household binder & files

my challenge:

to get this area out of the pile zone!

and into a functioning command center for our family

in comes my girlie girl 

Jen @ i {heart} organizing 

every month she throws out a challenge to organize a different area in your home

and i just love how she thinks everything through for you, making it that much easier to tackle your problem areas! 

i copied her project list (from this post)

to my clipboard to keep me motivated ... turned on some music

and was off to a running start :)

since there's so much to cover in this little area of mine, i'm gonna break it down into a few posts 

starting with the upper half of the cabinets next to the computer area

so the before really isn't too bad ... 

i went through this cabinet last year and got things together

but after some time i realized the set-up would need some re-thinking

just a few things here that weren't working right for us:

1. the baskets were much smaller than the space they were in

if you've got the space for storage ... don't waste it!

2. the baskets were pretty full 

so the overflow was well ... overflowing ... everywhere else :)

3. we had to move or take some of the baskets out when we needed something in the baskets that were more towards the middle of the cabinet 

4. the amount of candy canes that were in this cabinet was ridiculous

5. and yes those mini chalkboard apothecary jars are so stinkin' cute, but they are for another project and don't belong in there ... so this cabinet started to become a catch-all!

to get this re-org in motion

i headed to my two favorite places and scoped out storage bins

(measure, measure, measure! before you go)

the wrapping paper & floral crates were from Target

(those crates are for the next post when i tackle the bottom portion of these cabinets)

and at Joanns i found the teal bins with the stripe and the mini chalkboards 

(my favorite go-to label item)

aaaaaand the cute phone case is from here ♥

(very random and not needed ... just wanted to tell you where to get a cute phone case)

since these bins would be holding heavier items 

i cut cardboard to fit into the bottom, to make it heavy duty 

then wrapped them in the paper for a little bit of cute factor :)

they fit nicely inside and i knew they would hold up better in the long run

i dumped all the first aid supplies & medicines (and gum?) on the counter 

and got rid of anything old or expired

for all of what was left i separated into two parts

first aid items: band-aids, cremes, medical tape, gauze

and cough drops

i corralled the smaller items into mason jars with white plastic lids 

then added some labels i made on the computer

(the white lids are sold right with the canning supplies)

the other bin holds the rest of the medicines: pills, cold & cough etc...

let's take a peek inside the other two! :)

thank you cards & envelopes are always great to have on hand 

(i need to be better about this!)

any extra grocery or notepads were put in here as well

the last bin holds water bottles and drink packets

the smaller baskets on top were from the dollar store ... they hold all the miscellaneous things: 

party candles, toothpicks, plastic containers, etc... 

chalk markers work great on these minis

the clothespins were from the $1 bins at Target 

... easy way to label and then change things up when needed

so that's it! phew ...  a lot of function for one cupboard!

let's do a before & after :)

next up! the lower half!

is your office area in your kitchen?

any organizing secrets to share?

let's do some more ... come back soon!

much gladness in my ♥

sweet parties! ♥

Funky Junk Interiors ~ Party Junk

Live Laugh Rowe ♥ Live Laugh Linky

the 36th Avenue ♥ Party Time!

Weekend Wrap up Party ♥ Tatertots & Jello

Sundae Scoop ♥ i heart naptime

simplify your kitchen ~ organize kiddie drawers ... ♥

happy Monday!

we're off to a running start here this week at my house

with a super busy week behind us ... there's more hustle & bustle ahead!

i have been going through and organizing different spots in our kitchen, 

so if you're just poppin' in you can click on the links below 

to see the rest of last week's projects ...

♥ spice drawer project

♥ fridge organization

♥ decorating with what's on hand 

those first two things seemed to be most pressing for me ... 

the spices were buggin' me and the fridge really needed some help

a good cleaning and to have things in more of an order for breakfast & lunch packing 

these 2 big drawers in the middle of our kitchen are another area that sees a ton of use

so it tends to get messy very quickly .. 

the top drawer holds kid-friendly cups, paper plates, straws, vitamins 

and the other lunch packing items that don't need to be refrigerated

that whole packing individual snack bags when i get home from the grocery store thing?

still goin' strong :) and the girls really look forward to having some say in picking what they want to eat that day :)

the little white lids are containers that hold granola or chocolate chips, 

easy for grab n go when they're taking yogurt in their lunch.

i really do love mason jars, use them for anything guys! 

stick some granola bars in 'em and it looks all neat and tidy

the bottom drawer is the "snack drawer"

and if you ask my youngest ... the most important place in the house

if there was a fire ... she'd be runnin' to save the snacks 

:)

again, it's easy access for breakfast, and after school snacks

i try to find baskets at garage sales or thrift stores to use in drawers & cabinets

it keeps things contained so you see what you have, keeping you from over-buying 

or thinking you've run out of something when you really have a ton of it

...the larger square basket holds cereal boxes or any larger packaged items

and the little basket of clothespins provides easy access to snack bag closure

(i just made that up)

(ya know, so stuff doesn't go stale?)

well that's it ... short & sweet

thanks so much to everyone who left me such sweet comments 

& sent emails over the weekend

from last weeks projects to those who saw my craft room feature in their mailboxes ...

thank you!

the issue hits new-stands tomorrow!

so I hope to back to show you some pictures!

with much gladness in my ♥

Linking up to ...