Pantry party

I'll never forget my first pantry in the first house we purchased. *sigh*  I still drool over it to this day because of the space and storage that pantry provided. Every house since that time has had to measure up, but let's just say that not all pantry's are created equal. If you have a large pantry, small pantry, or even no pantry at all, there are solutions to maximize your space.

First thing I'm going to address is the no pantry house.... gasp! I know, I know, but believe it or not, not all houses had a pantry because there really wasn't a need. Think about it- very few things were pre-packaged back in the day. Grocery shopping was done almost daily, still is in some cultures, and the meals prepared fresh. The need was more for refrigeration and freezing than dry goods storage.  If you happen to live in a house with no pantry and you really want one, I suggest using a piece of furniture for something other than it's intended purpose. Or even a piece of furniture that can also double as another work surface if you're lacking counter space too. Friends of ours have used a neighboring coat closet and turned it into a pantry since in the south, coats aren't needed as often. I personally thought this was brilliant.

Carolina Panache

Magnolia Homes

When we first moved to South Carolina, we rented a townhouse until we figured out where we really wanted to live.  Let me tell you, it had the TINIEST pantry. (You done been shrunk tiny pantry.) It was narrow and made it very difficult to navigate around and that's when we had to get creative with our space. The first thing we did was empty the pantry completely out, bought new containers for food we bought all the time, and labeled everything. We also utilized shelving racks to split spaces in half and provide more storage.

Before

That's a lot of stuff!

All done

The new system made use of the limited space while allowing us to see exactly what we had at all times. No more guess work, moving things around to get food, or forgetting that we had certain items.

When we moved to the new house, our pantry didn't get a whole lot bigger, but we used the same system and two years later it's still working. The exception is with the new house that the pantry door is big enough to utilize the back of the door as storage as well. Adding hooks keeps the girls lunch boxes within quick reach.

Back of the door

Labels are key! Chalkboard labels are my favorite!

Just a few of my favorite containers.

Ta-da!

When we get back from the grocery we like to break everything down. Food that can come out of their packaging they are put them in their proper containers or baskets. That alone makes putting the groceries away a breeze; everything has a home. It also takes the guess work out of knowing if we're out of something or getting close and need to add it to the grocery list. (Who hasn't had a box of disappointment when they reached for their favorite snack only to find the box empty?)  The wire racks are a standard in most houses and to make ours more of a flat surface, we used left over floor tile from when we resurfaced cabinet floor under the sink. It provided a sturdy surface for our canned goods.

Something else unexpected, we turned a magazine holder into a aluminum foil/wax paper/ cling wrap and paper lunch bag holder.

The plan is to group like things together and putting them in their spots based on the frequency of use. I'm vertically challenged, aka short, so having items in front of me that I use all the time makes more sense. Items we don't use as much go higher in the pantry. We also put things like the kids snacks at a level that helps them to become more self sufficient. (And helps me to not constantly be fetching the kids snacks.)

Now, for those that are able to have the mecca of all pantry's, I bow to you. Think big rooms, with shelving and drawers. Let's take a moment...

So pretty!

Dreamy pantry

The shelving, the space, the multifunction of it all! A girl can dream can't she?!?! I am extremely envious of people who have this, but even though there is a lot of space to play with, it's just as important to be deliberate so it doesn't become the dark hole for lost things AND food.

No matter what your situation is, the most important piece of advice I can give is think outside of the box, or in this case, pantry. See through containers are especially helpful and labels are their best friends. Use all the space up, down and sideways to get the most out of the storage that you can have.  

Selling your home while trying to keep your sanity.

Once upon a time we bought our very first house when I was minutes away, not really, from delivering our very first child.

Love at first showing.

It was everything we had hoped it would be and was enough of a blank slate to allow us to put on our own personal touches. We brought not one, but two babies into that house and when the time came to put it on the market, it was NOT an easy decision. We sat down with an agent and we discussed various things, but we were so emotionally invested in the house that the information fell on deaf ears. For the next 11 months and 90 showings later, yes 90, we FINALLY sold.

Here's what we learned from that experience:

1) Staging is everything.  Potential buyers need to be able to picture themselves in your space. This is also a great time to disconnect yourself and start looking toward your new place.
     -Take down as many personal pictures as you can.
     -Declutter either by packing up your stuff, purging/ selling the items you don't want any longer.
     -Neutralize paint colors if possible, buyers often have a hard time with seeing past paint.
     -Rearrange or use smaller furniture to give the appearance of more space.

Before

After- Changing the layout of the sofa and removing the chaise made the space feel larger.

2) Do any necessary repairs. If it's something that you know needs to be done, do it. Most buyers would prefer a house that is more turn key than not. Even if you're in a starter home, most first time home buyers are intimidated by taking on even what may seem like "easy" projects. We found out the hard way that old caulk around the top of our cabinets scared off first time buyers. They didn't know if there was an issue with the cabinets coming away from the ceiling, when really it just needed to be redone. A simple 15 minute project pretty much cost us a sale.

3) Before you go to bed, tidy up. We would do this just in case we were at work the next day and had a showing while we were gone. It gave us peace of mind knowing we didn't have to worry about last nights dinner dishes still being in the sink or laundry piled up. Each night we would put stuff away, wipe off counters, and finish up the laundry. Mornings were hectic enough trying to get 2 adults and two babies out the door, let alone getting your house show ready.

4) Less truly is more.  I can't say this enough. If your cabinets are stuffed to capacity or your closest can't handle one more article of clothing, you could scare off a potential buyer. They WILL open up drawers and doors because they want to know there's enough storage.  Even if the reason you're moving is because you want more space, you don't want them to figure that out as well. Purge, pack, and even sell your items to reduce the amount of stuff in the space. Also, this will help you when it's time to move; it's a win-win.

5) Listen to your Realtor.  Understand that while they want to make money off of your sale, in order for them to do so, they have to actually SELL your house. Your Realtor will come armed with prices from the recent sales in your area, comps, look at them and be honest with yourself. Don't be like us and have such big emotional blinders on, that you sit on the market forever with unrealistic expectations. We survived and sadly sold it for way lower than had intended. Had we listened to our realtor and not been so stubborn, we could have saved ourselves heartache and frustration.

Cards from the Realtors who showed our house, right before we burned them at the new house.

6) Listen to the feedback. This can be one of the hardest pills to swallow, but it could be key information for ways to help your place along. If you hear something over and over and it's something you can easily fix, do it. This could range from painting a room, to maybe even changing out carpet.  For us, it was replacing our kitchen table with a smaller one because the buyers kept saying the eat in kitchen was too small. Unfortunately, there are things you cannot help, like the size of your back yard, or even the state of your neighborhood.

Smaller table and cleared off counters...aaahhhhhh.

Selling your house can be a potentially stressful time, but it doesn't necessarily need to be as stressful.  Believe it or not, through the long process of trying to sell our first house, we still utilize some of the things we did to maintain a "show ready" house.  I like to think of it as the birth of my love for organizing.  (Don't get me wrong, our house is not reminiscent of a hospital, but items having their own home as well as tidying daily allows our space to not feel overwhelming.)  Selling our second house to move to South Carolina was a much easier process, sold in three days, because we paid attention to the struggles we had the first go around. Keep it realistic, have a plan, and keep the end result in mind.

The ties that bind.

I'm not going to lie, last week was hard all around. Nothing horrible happened,  it was just emotionally trying in nearly every facet of my life. Not wanting to be a downer, just being real because I heard from many of my friends that they too were struggling last week. Maybe it's the change in weather; sunny summery days are most likely put away to be enjoyed next year, getting into the groove of school. Whatever the reason is, it's pretty much stopped me in my tracks. Then it got me thinking, this emotional hold that has taken over, the emotional side of anything really, is the very reason many people can't let go of "things." (I know that may seem like a large leap, but i'm always thinking organizing.)

Think about it...

No matter if we bought something or it was given to us, there is meaning behind it both positive and negative. To spend money on something only to give it away, sell it, or throw it away is difficult because someone had to work to earn the money to purchase it. If it was given to you, most likely it was given to you by someone who means or meant something to you. To dispose of that item may make you feel like you would offend them or you're trying to get rid of them. However, holding on to the physical object may cause you a life time of burden.

1) Purchase items with intent and purpose, don't settle.
I have been guilty of this on many occasions. Many. Occasions.

The rug on the left I settled for until I finally found the original rug I wanted.  (Porch isn't done just yet.)

I have had a vision in my mind and out of pure impatience bought something else that was close enough.  When in all actuality it wasn't "close enough.  Later I found myself disappointed and ended up spending more money getting what I originally wanted. (The yellow rug above is still in my trunk waiting for me to take it back. Oopsies.)  Make a plan, figure out a what you'll need, and either save the money for each item or gradually buy them to complete your project.

2) Give it to someone who will get a lot of use out of it.
We kept our girls Baby Einstein DVD's until this year, they are 8 and 7. I kept them mostly because I didn't want to let go of the idea of there not being another baby, but also because I didn't want to forget the sounds that played when they were a babies too. Instead, I gave them to a neighbor who had mentioned on the local mom swap that she was looking for those DVD's.  Not only did it give me satisfaction knowing that someone will probably cherish them as much as we did, but also they have a more relevant use for them than we do right now. Win-win.

3) Make it into a keepsake.
Our family has a running joke about a shirt that I gave to my dad.  He wore it ALL the time and it got to a point that in some holiday pictures, it was getting really difficult to tell which year and holiday was which one.

My daughter Kennedy's first year of life: Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas and getting ready to have her little sister. 

Three years ago my dad passed and that shirt was the first thing that I grabbed going through his stuff. It was him, even though I know it's not really him, but I won't be able to ever get rid of it. Ever. There are companies out there that will turn your favorite item into a keepsake pillow or even a keepsake bear.

Source: etsy

An article I found on Yahoo that even talked about upcycling other objects into wearable keepsakes.  For right now I have his shirt in a safe place until I decide the special what exactly I am going to do.

4) Get your money back.
Recently I spoke with a young lady who still had her rehearsal dinner dress from her first marriage. The only reason she kept it was that it cost so much money to purchase, but really she hated the dress; then and especially now. I told her to get rid of it... immediately! Not only was it a constant reminder of a relationship that ended, it was also taking up space. This goes for anything you have! If you're on Facebook, check to see if there is a local swap site to sell it or take the item to a consignment store that will buy the item from you.  My biggest profit has come from my girls clothes and toys. (Show momma the money.)

Then with the money you profit, either treat yourself to something new or save your money for something big down the road.

Aside from the typical "one day" I'll use something, often times there is a deeper reason that we hold on to the "things" in our lives. However, don't let the "things" consume you; if everything is important then nothing is really important.  Evaluate why you have held onto something and if truly has a deeper meaning or moves you strongly, it's ok to hold onto it for another day. I have a trunk of keepsakes that I periodically go through to not only remember special times in my life, but also to see if there's any way I can incorporate it into my life right now. Keep in mind though that if you decide it's time to move on, doesn't mean that you have to erase that memory, those you can keep for a lifetime.

Multifunctional furnishings

After we had our second baby I had dreams of giving the girls a room where all of their toys would stay. A room that if we didn't feel like straightening up, we could simply close the door; out of sight out of mind. But reality set in and I knew it would be a while before we could let them play on their own without fear of choking hazards and other shenanigans. That and the fact that they didn't want to be too far away from us seeing as they were so young and all. What that meant was we needed to figure out a way to have toys in our main living space without the house looking like a daycare. Not that there's anything wrong with having toys out and about.  I mean it's not that we were trying to hide the fact that we had children, but our house at the time was not the biggest so a couple toys scattered around and it went from living space to obstacle course.

We put our thinking caps on and decided that our furniture needed to be able to serve multiple purposes. Not only to be aesthetically pleasing, but also be able to handle our toy storage needs. Even though we had a sectional sofa, we could always use additional seating so we used a storage bench similar to this:

www.brookstone.com

To this day the storage bench holds toys and provides additional seating.

As for our coffee table, side table, and sofa table we chose the Metropolitan collection from Pottery Barn  and used decorative baskets to hide books, blankets and other toys.  At the time I felt it important we buy the set, but now I would say to mix it up and buy different pieces that will give interest and provide function. The quality of these pieces have stood the test of time, test of children, and are just now starting to show signs of wear 9 years later.

Pottery Barn

Jo-Ann

Even as the kids have gotten older and their toys found their way into that dream playroom I spoke of earlier, we still utilize the storage now for things like blankets, magazines and movies.  

While we left our little first house a long time ago, we still keep the same ideals of multifunctional. Furniture is expensive and if you can use it for more than one purpose, you'll really get longevity out of the piece and keep things organized.  Don't be afraid to use furniture for other purposes. My mom gave me her dresser she had growing up when I went away to college. That piece has been well loved and has survived more moves than I can count. It has served as a dresser, but now it's the sideboard in my dining room. The only thing I did was switch out the drawer pulls. Inside I store table cloths, candles, games, crafts for the kids, gift bags and tissue paper.  I have found a few local thrift stores that I love to peruse for gems just like this to give a second, or even a third, life to. 

Moving to South Carolina also meant that we would have visitors, but we also didn't want to have a designated guest room. The fourth bedroom doesn't have a closet and has been designated the playroom/guest room/ office. Keeping with multifunctional, we selected a queen sleeper sofa to serve as seating and a bed. La-Z-Boy also has twin sleeper chair and a half, with many fabric choices, if you're looking for something a little smaller or need additional sleeping space. This could also be great for a nursery for those long nights, or children's room for little guests. 

La-Z-Boy

Purchasing furniture is not only a necessity, but aside from the standard reason you need the furniture, think beyond the surface level functions and determine what your space really needs. What will you be doing in that space? Who will be using that space? Can the piece evolve even after you've used it for its intended purpose? And just when you think a piece of furniture has outlived it's space, is there some place else you can use it before you decide to sell or donate? What if you painted it? There's a lot to consider when you're buying furniture, but since this is an investment, it's important to consider all the possibilities.

Eye of the designer

Deep down I guess I never really knew that I had a budding passion for decorating. I loved organization, that part came naturally, but the decorating part I was a bit of a late bloomer. Even now I'm not on the cutting edge of interior design, but through practice and studying, I've picked up a few things here and there.  I couldn't afford a lot of things, one of which being a personal interior designer, but then the next best thing happened..

Raise of hands on how many people have looked through and drooled over the pages of Pottery Barn? Now, have you ever read the back of the magazine? I mean REALLY read the back? Or really read to the bottom of the sale emails? Perused the website? Because if you did you already know what I'm going to say, but for those of you that may have missed it, THEY OFFER FREE DESIGN SERVICES AND CLASSES! You read that right, FREE!!  I will never forget the first class that the hubby and I signed up for, I thought it was too good to be true.  They showed us in that class how to create a seascape in a tall vase and some other tips on decorating with vases.  Then we were able to shop the store, using a discount and this all happened on a Sunday BEFORE the store opened. It was amazing!

10 years later and we still have it!

The free design services are legit too and I was super skeptical before I made my appointment. My problem at the time was the top of our kitchen cabinets and the built in bookcases surrounding our fireplace. They were both completely empty and there was a lot of space to cover, but I didn't want to jam pack those areas and make it feel totally cluttered. I took pictures of the spaces and brought in my iPad to show the designer. For a solid hour she showed me different ideas, we played with the products in the store, I asked loads of questions, and I took LOTS of notes. At the end, she said I could use a discount if there was something that I wanted to purchase that night. Shut the front door! Well yeah! The best part, she told me they do in home services if I still needed help! The most impressive part was that it was, once again, free!

Before

After

Don't have a Pottery Barn near you, have no fear! On their website there are a slue of decorating ideas tips and tricks. Including a room design planner so you can figure out how to arrange your furniture without having to lift or move anything! How-to guides, holiday decorating tips, room inspirations...I mean come on!! I feel like Oprah right now."You get free information, and you get free information!!"  Still have design questions, they have a hotline you can call.  Their services also apply to their Pottery Barn Kids/Teen side as well.

But wait... there's more! Pottery Barn isn't the only company offering free services. West Elm, Ethan Allen, and La-Z-Boy, to name a few, also offer free services.  (Contact them for more information.)   No matter if you're trying to figure out a design issue, pick up a new skill, or refine your design talents, I don't think you can go wrong learning for free from the experts. In the land of Pinterest and Google, it makes sense to have so much information right at your finger tips. I know it keeps me coming back to Pottery Barn time and again.  Well played Pottery Barn, well played. 

DIY on the Fly Friday

Paint. It's one of the most inexpensive and most impactful DIY projects you can take on as a new or even an experienced DIY'er. Picking the right paint choice can be a huge headache and if you have a partner/roommate/spouse/significant other weighing in on the issue, well things just got a little more complicated.  

So. Many. Choices

For me, I typically don't have a hard time visualizing what it will look like on the wall, but for my husband he's more of a visual person. Before, we would buy a sample of paint and then slap it on the wall, but then it was there while we "lived" with it before we decided that it was the right choice. But then we'd have visitors and there would be all these paint squares painted sporadically on the walls. If you're like us, there would be multiple paint squares on many walls because paint looks different in different light... You get the gist. Hot mess express. Then one day we found an amazing product that has changed our lives!

Home Depot to the rescue!

SureSwatch is really easy to use. You simple paint on your color sample, remove the paper backing, and place it on your wall. Once you decide, you simply peal it off, or if you're like us, you can move it to different locations. ("To the windoooooow... to the wall...." I couldn't help myself.)  If you have many paint choices, like we did, I recommend cutting the pieces in half and writing the name of the paint color with a sharpie on the sheet. Then you won't get confused as to what paint color is what and you're not using all of the sheets at once, even though there are three in each pack. 

See, we like multiple options

The best part, if it takes you a long time to decide, like us, you can always take them down if you don't want people to see what you're planning. OR you can always make it a fun party game and have guests help you pick your color. ;) 

Here's another quick tip: Say for example you're perusing Pinterest or a friend has paint color that you're in love with but it's carried by Benjamin Moore or Sherwin William, but you don't have either one of those close to you, not a problem! Home Depot can pull the color codes from Benjamin Moore, Sherwin Williams, etc and still get you that color with their paint. One. Stop. Shop. (Lowe's does this too incase you don't have a Home Depot close.)

Happy painting and happy weekend!!

You gotta know the "why".

Lately I have been asked a lot why I decided to write a blog about organizing.  I should also begin that when I'm asked what I blog about I see people cringe and appear repulsed almost instantaneously. I get it, really I do, but I figured this was a good time to give you a little of my back story as we're getting to know one another. Bottom line, I love to organize, I always have. When I was younger I was OBSESSED with my school planners, color coding, planning my school projects; the whole nine yards.  As I've gotten older, organizing has taken on a whole new meaning.  First when we had our own place, and again when we started having kids. Nothing felt better than pulling everything out, sorting through it, and purging it to my little hearts content.  When cleaning up everything had it's "home" where it belonged. *loving sigh*

When we bought our first house we thought we were clean and organized people, until we put that house on the market. We were rookies in the home selling process and had an emotional investment in trying to get the best price for that house.  Really we loved that house, we just wanted something a bit bigger for our growing family. It sat there for nearly a year and with over 90 showings, I kid you not- 90. (More about that too one day.) We became experts at getting a house "show ready" within a moments notice. Have you ever tried to keep your house that spotless and tidy with 2 children under 2 for nearly a year? You better believe that you pick up some strategies that become engrained even to this day.

The other reason I love to organize is more than just organizing the house.  As I stated recently, I love to stay organized with the bills and paperwork in general. Having worked for the government for the past 12 years, I know the importance of having vital information right at your finger tips.  Hours of searching for bills, receipts or important paperwork can be taken care of by having a great system in place. Adding children to the mix created more important paperwork that needed to be dealt with, and the last thing I wanted to do was have them miss out on a field trip because I lost their paperwork.

Time management is another thing that falls into the realm of organization. The number one reason why people say they don't do something is that they "don't have the time." Truth is you do, it's just how you choose to spend your time is the real reason we don't have time when we need it. Reading the book "A Maker's Guide" by Amy Howard she says "Statistically, Americans spend an average of three hours per day on social media. In a decade you will have lost one year and three months of your life to nothingness. Where would you be right now, if you were allowed to take a year off and focus on your dream?" Definitely something to think about...

I want you to do this, take a look at your surroundings  and list out the areas that are a bother.   Give yourself a goal of a month to do at least one thing on that list. If you get it done sooner, great! Then you can mark it off and move to the next thing. What is an activity that you've been wanting to do, but you just could not figure out a time to work it into your schedule? Mine was working out and eventually I had to suck it up and add it to the beginning of the my day.  Sitting down and planning out your schedule will allow you to live life with intent and purpose. Breaking things off into manageable pieces, things become less overwhelming.  Looking at the broad picture it's hard to even imagine it any other way, but when you focus on smaller chunks, before you know it, you've tackled it all!

People ask me why I organize, my question to them is "why not?" I don't know about you, but I don't want to spend hours on end trying to find something,  deal with the frustration of not being able to put something away, or not have enough time to get what I need to get done. We owe it to ourselves to have a space that doesn't give us panic attacks. I've seen it too many times where people are overwhelmed in their spaces, be it at home or even at work.  For me personally I feel a sense of peace when I'm in an organized space or when I feel like I have a really good grasp on my schedule. It allows me freedom to devote to other things like spending quality time with my family and maybe even adding on another activity, that otherwise I would not be able to do.  Chaos breeds chaos and for me it's just not a good feeling. There are very few things in our lives that we have much control over, but the things that we do have control over have the greatest potential to be positive. Just know that you CAN do this, I believe in you.

DIY on the Fly Friday

HAPPY FRIDAY!  We made it through our first full week of school and let me tell you, it hasn't been as bad as I imagined, so yay for that!!  This morning I was thinking that we'd take a break from organization and I'd give you a little DIY inspiration as we head into the weekend. (Maybe, just maybe I'll make this a "thing" so let's see how it goes!)

Remember when I said earlier that when I made the decision to blog, I ran into a bit of writers block, actually writers fright is what I think my situation was. Anyway, I still did projects and I still took pictures in hopes that one day when I came out of the fog, I'd have something to share. With that being said, I will apologize now for the poor picture quality.

I have a tendency to keep things to the point where I'm flirting with the line of being considered a "hoarder". I don't like to get rid of something right away just because my taste or decorating may have changed, just in case I may be able to use things in a different way. Typically this has happened when we move because I have a hard time decorating how I did in the last place we lived. I had been using Instagram for a while when we moved to South Carolina and stumbled upon a cool little thing called Social Print Studio. Intrigued I thought I'd give it a whirl. I was thoroughly impressed when I received my order! The picture quality was great and the card stock was super adorable. But now what??

But then this guy was staring at me and the light bulb went off...

We were still using silver in our new bedroom, but not the blue in the picture. I bought this picture a LONG time ago from Michaels I believe. I flipped it over and started dismantling it. I kept the picture, but flipped it over to the blank side and removed the blue trim piece. I arranged my favorite Instagram pictures and marked where they were with blue painters tape. That way when I would do the next step, I could remember where they were and easily affix them.

Poor picture quality I know. 

Next came the fun part!!! We have decorated coastal even when we lived in Ohio, which is why we were super excited to move closer to the coast, because it's where our hearts have always migrated to.  I decided to use spray adhesive and coat the whole piece of the flipped over picture, then I sprinkled it with sand I had bought from Michaels. 

After everything dried, which didn't take long, I used adhesive dots to adhere the pictures to the paper and positioned everything in the frame.  I loved the way the sand looked and gave it some nice subtle texture.

See the pretty sand!

Once everything was put back together, it was time to hang it on the wall. And wow, was I happy!!!

Viola! Same frame, different look! Before you donate, sell, or trash something, try looking at it in a different way and I think you'll be surprised by its potential! Happy weekend!!

Paper pushing: level domestic

The past few days I've been soaking in the last little bit of summer break with my kiddos and getting them ready for this next school year. So. Much. Paperwork. How you mommas do it with more than two kids, my writing hand bows wearily from over here! In all that paperwork-filling-outing (yes I just created my own language) I remembered that a friend of mine recently asked me what she should do with all the really super important paperwork. Since it's fresh in my mind, I thought now would be the perfect time to dive into this subject. I know that some of you may have even had kiddos start a new school and was expected to whip out important documents, I was right there with you, within a moments notice. Before you put it all back, let's make sure we make it easier for the next time, but first...

My babies!!! 3rd and 2nd grade better be ready!

When I did the command center, I created a place to hold the bills and other papers when I sorted the mail.

On pay days I grab the "Pay" folder to pay the bills.  In my office area I have a filing system that is broken down monthly and the files contain the bills from the past year. As the new month comes up, those past bills are shredded and replaced with this current month paid bills.  I can't tell you how many times I've had to refer to past bills or shown proof for various residency requirements. Also, I like to see if there have been any drastic changes with the utilities from year to year. I love keeping what needs to be paid separate from what has already been paid.

As for the long term important documents, one of the things that you should consider purchasing is a fire safe box. How big will depend on what types and how many items you want to store inside.  You may even want to consider a safety deposit box at your bank if there are items that you would prefer not to store at home. Whatever you decide, make sure you stick to it so if something unfortunate should happen, you can easily get to the important documents you may need quickly.

The first important document that will ever be associated with you is your birth certificate and the next most important item is your Social Security card. Let me begin with saying that if you carry these items with you, please stop. Now. If your wallet or purse is stolen, you have just given the criminal EVERYTHING they would need to assume your identity. Not to mention the fact that there are very few situations that you will actually need those items on a regular basis.

While we are on the topic of Social Security cards, rules have changed over the past year in regards to what you'll need to get a replacement card.  Without proper proof of identity, you cannot order a replacement card. Birth certificates are NOT proof of identity, but instead are just proof that you were born. Anyone can obtain your birth certificate if they know enough information required to obtain one. Check with your state vital records to find out what you need to do in order to replace a lost or destroyed birth certificate. Social Security cards on the other hand you can only obtain with having proper identification like a valid state issued driver's license/ identification card or a passport for example. If you go to the Social Security website, you can find the full list of what is needed to obtain a replacement or even a new card for either yourself or your children.  (NEVER pay to have the application done as there is no cost and is something you can do by going in to a Social Security office or mailing your documents to your local office.)

Next, do not get rid of marriage or divorce paperwork.  No matter what. Believe it or other, there will be times when you WILL need those documents.  Make sure you get a certified or stamped copy for your records, they're not valid without it.  Good, bad, or ugly save yourself the hassle and just keep it.

Now for the topic that many people dread, tax records. Once you have your W-2 and it matches your pay stubs, you can get rid of your stubs. You need to keep your tax records and the items (i.e. receipts, statements, W-2's) you used for those state and federal returns, typically for 3 years. The IRS website has specific situations where it may be important to keep your returns longer, but if you're not sure, keep it for 7 years just to be safe.  I keep mine in two pocket folders and have them labeled by year.

Other documents you should keep in your fire safe are any insurance policies, warranties, wills, military paperwork, vehicle information etc.  For insurance purposes, keep a list of your inventory, including serial numbers, and pictures with your policies.  We also keep a few sentimental items in our fire box, for example we keep back up memory cards of our digital pictures.  Most of the fire safes have the ability to hold hanging files you can add tabs to and inside the hanging folders you can place standard folders to sub-categorize for quick access.

Just one example of what you can do. 

Keeping track of monthly bills and important documents, gives you not only a safe place to store these items, but also a centralized location away from your every day stuff.  I've witnessed too many people not able to take care of important matters timely simple because care wasn't taken to protect documents. Whether they were accidentally tossed, destroyed or lost in a move, when you need something quick the time to replace them can take days, even weeks. If you know that you're missing something now, you may want to go ahead and replace it now.

Back to school hustle

I know we say it every year, but wow summer just flew by! It seemed like it wasn't all that long ago that I was picking the girls up from their last day of school and taking them out for a day of fun. In less than a week, they return to the daily grind and I need to get our space ready!!!

By the end of the school year I noticed that left over supplies were being returned home. At first I was annoyed because the girls insisted that we keep them, but then the light bulb went off in my head and quickly I snatched them in a Lord of the Rings sort of fashion (my precious) and hid them.  When I did the kitchen command center re-do, I decided that would be the perfect place to keep the boxes of those supplies handy. Each girl had their own plastic box (to eliminate disputes) and inside would be the tools they would need to complete their homework during the next school year.  Even if your teacher wasn't able to provide the plastic box they required in the beginning of school, any box will do! Or I've seen them for as little as 97 cents at Walmart.

As many parents know, with the start of school also starts the influx in the amount of paper that comes into the house. I mean seriously, there's no wonder we're all concerned about not being able to replenish natural resources fast enough and I've only witnessed 4 school years!  One of the first things we do when we get home at night is I go through the bags and pull ALL of the paper out. I quickly sort out the important stuff that needs to be signed and returned, or information for upcoming events. I also pull out any homework and give it to the kids to do. While they're not looking busy, I go through their art work and returning homework keeping my favorite pieces and the others I put in recycling, immediately. Let's be honest here, if I kept every piece of paper my child touched, or drew on, I would be featured on the next episode of Hoarders. I like to keep something from the beginning, middle, and end of the school year so we can see the amount of growth. Of course I keep most art projects that have their hand print, I mean I want to be tidy, but I'm not heartless. Each child has a folder in my bin where I keep these items to be filed away in their school folders down the road. Once everything is cleaned out, the backpacks are ready to go for the next day and are placed back in our hall closet for the next day. (Picture coming soon.)

We made a rule in our house that we don't wear shoes inside. It's something that I grew up with and has just stuck with me ever since. We feel that it keeps our floors cleaner and besides I want to keep most things in a contained area.  So one of the bigger projects I tackled before school starts next week is our hall closet. I don't call it a coat closet because living in the south, we only wear coats for a limited amount of time. If anything this is more of a shoe closet for the family. After I pulled everything out, I had the girls go through their shoes and we donated, trashed, or handed them down. While everything was pulled out I vacuumed and got really motivated and painted the inside of the closet. (I've warned you of my easy distractibility.)

Top shelf holds the backpacks. 

The shoe cubbies and drawers were purchased from Target and have been one of the better systems that is still full functioning after nearly a year. I keep a basket on top of the cubbies that holds sunscreen and bug spray, a southern staple. In the drawers this is where I keep the girls socks. My goal in the mornings is to keep a flow going. Once the girls finish getting ready upstairs, they come down stairs for medicine and breakfast. The last thing they do is grab their shoes and go, we don't have time for them to run up to their rooms if they forget their socks. And they always do, problem solved.

We also found that night time was the best time to get everything ready for the next school day. Little ones, and big ones, are usually tired beings in the morning and the fights that would ensue over clothing choices were minimized when selected at night. If you want to take it to a whole new level, buy the large hanging shoe racks, there are usually 5 slots, and have them pick out clothes for the entire week.  BOOM! This is the first year that we don't have a school uniform, but I have organized their closet into two sections, one is school appropriate clothes and the other is not school appropriate or things I would prefer they not wear to school.

When school starts I also try to meal prep grab and go snacks and I like doing this on Sunday's.  I'll portion out various snacks in little baggies be it Cheeze Its, grapes, blueberries, or even cereal. It allows them to grab something while I'm sorting papers and they're doing homework without the question of "Can I have a snack", me stopping what I'm doing and getting easily distracted by something else.  It also eliminates mindless eating, something they'll hopefully thank me for down the road.  Having snacks readily available also makes it easier on me when I'm taking them to activities and I can grab them something to munch on before dinner. It takes time to do on Sunday, but saves so much more time during the rest of the week.

Granted I still feel new at this mother of school kids gig, I'm still learning different things as I go. Of course these are suggestions based on what works for our little family. I would love to hear things that have worked for you and yours!

Another trip around the sun

Nothing beats a South Carolina sunrise

As I've gotten older, having a birthday means something different than it did when I was growing up. After I hit all the major milestones, I didn't know what else I could look forward to really as crazy as that may sound. Once I had kids the importance of birthday's shifted back to them because I wanted to give them the same kind of memories I had as a child. Regardless I made a promise to myself that I would always take my birthday off from work and make it a day about what I want to do.  This year was no exception. 

This past Monday was my birthday and I got up to take my Orangetheory class at 5:15am. When I was driving back home I made the split decision to stop at the beach and watch the sun rise.  I don't take it for granted for one second where I live. So much peace. As I sat there drinking my coffee and reflecting on the past year, cliche I know, I started thinking to this next year and all that I hope to accomplish. Namely what I am trying to accomplish with this blog in particular. Then it dawned on me. This! This, right where I am, this sense of peace, this happy place, this is what I want you to get from my blog. Life is complicated, and chaotic, and sometimes we have a hand in making things worse than they have to be. I want you to realize that organization is more than just cleaning out a closet or a drawer. Organization is better utilizing your time, your space, pretty much every aspect of your life. Make things simple. Find your happy place. We get so caught up in a world where more is better that we lose sight of the things that mean the most.  Or we make the excuse that we just don't have the time to get organized, but if you sit down and have the honest conversation with yourself, you probably have more time that you think.

I love asking others what areas of lives do they need the most help with, because I know that there's probably another person who may be thinking the same thing.  It doesn't matter if you're married, single, with kids, without kids, working, or staying at home, we all have something where we've thrown up the little white flag asking for mercy, or our hands in frustration. Hopefully I can give you the confidence and the tools that ANYONE can become better organized. Sure I get some sick enjoyment out of it (this is what my friends tell me), but when you break it down, organization really is manageable and maintainable. I also want this to be a safe place to exchange ideas. 

I just want to leave you with this... We're not promised that trip around the sun and too many times we see that trip cut short. Let's help each other make the best of those days and the journey more manageable. One organization and DIY project at a time. 

Honey oak no more 2.0

There aren't many times in life you get a "do-over" and sometimes they happen even when you don't want them. The original post about painting the cabinets unfortunately fell victim to the unwanted do-over...

When we bought our house, and what we've noticed about the houses that are about the same age, is that 10+ years ago, honey oak must have been all the rage! There are still some decorating styles where honey oak is more than acceptable, so please don't be offended if you love that sweet warm colored wood.  However, for the vast majority where doing a complete kitchen overhaul is not financially possible, there has to be another alternative.  And there is!

The previous owners did a pretty good job trying to disguise dress up the honey oak cabinets. They did what I call "lipstick on a pig" by adding granite, stainless steel appliances, and newer flooring. No matter what they did, I still noticed the cabinets, but the other cute features of the house did not deter us from purchasing.

I seriously do not know what anyone did before the internet or Pinterest! And because I'm new at this blogging gig, after all the hours of research, I can't give proper credit where credit is due and site where exactly I got the method to the madness that is painting cabinets. Oops! I solemnly promise that this day forward I will credit back to the source, but really I mashed up all the different methods anyway.

Let's get this started and I'll show you what I'm talking about.

Exhibit #1- the kitchen

Exhibit #2- the bathroom

To get the technique down, we decided it was best to start in our master bathroom.  Mainly because if it turned out badly, the number of people who would witness the failed attempt would only be my husband and I. Also, it was a smaller amount of cabinets, so we wouldn't be terribly overwhelmed.

1) We removed all the doors and the drawers from the cabinet checking to see if any needed repairs. If so a little bit of wood putty goes a long way.

2) Everything was cleaned with Krud Kutter, which is great at getting the deep down gunk.

3) Because I'm a little messy, I taped off the base cabinet by the floor and the wall, my favorite is the green frog tape.

Once all that was done it was time to get the show on the road! Bonding primer will be your friend. I chose one that had the same clean up as regular latex paint because I don't like high maintenance things that require mineral spirits. Personal preference. The bonding primer works like regular primer, but it helps the cabinets accept the paint a lot easier as well as help with durability.

I started with painting the base cabinets and next the doors and drawer faces. When painting the doors, start with the back first. This will be important later when painting the actual color because the dry time will finish with the front of the doors facing up and minimizing the risk of blemishing your paint finish. I used a brush to get in all the nooks and crannies, then finished it with a small foam roller meant specifically for cabinets. We found handy plastic triangles to sit the doors up as opposed to the doors laying directly on your protected surface.

Painting often goes from a normal DIY project to a life lesson in patience. All that time to wait for paint to dry, what does one do with ones self? You would think that having one project going in a small space would be enough, but nope, I decided to take the moment to also paint the walls. I mean the space was already in disarray, what's one more can of paint? Plus, at the end of it all, the whole bathroom would be "done".  At least that's how I rationalized it, my husband on the other hand just shook his head.

Let's add another painting project shall we?

Also when the doors are off the cabinets it gave me a chance to see what was living behind them. (I got nothing but time people.) Wow! We'll definitely be talking cabinet organization in the near future. I promise. One tip I can offer now has to do with the space underneath the sink.  I'm not sure what type of chemicals the previous owners stored under the bathroom sink, or the kitchen sink for that matter, whatever it was ate away at the wood. Yikes!! The solution? Peel and stick floor tiles! They cut with a regular utility knife and installed in less than 10 minutes.

Too. Much. Stuff

I did two coats of bonding primer because I wasn't sure how it would take. For the color coat, we used Valspar brand paint in a satin finish. No real reason we chose Valspar other than we have a Lowe's closer to us than Home Depot. The paint went on really well and to make sure that the primer was covered up, plus the need for durability again I gave it two coats. After all the painting, flipping, and drying, everything was screwed back into place and the drawer pulls and cabinet knobs were replaced.

Ta da!

We waited a couple months and decided to paint the kitchen cabinets right around Christmas time. Because what doesn't say holiday cheer than doing a major DIY project at the same time? (You can probably sense a theme that my timing is less than ideal.) 

See, Christmas decorations!

We followed the same steps: 

1) Remove the doors and check for repairs

2) Clean!

3) Tape all around!

4) Bonding primer, wait, bonding primer, wait.

5) Paint, wait, paint, wait.

The mess!

Lots O doors!

This time around we used Behr from Home Depot and again the only reason was that we were there and decided to buy paint. Again, we used satin in the kitchen because of it's durability. The coverage was really good even though it was a little harder to see where I missed since the bonding primer is white and the paint color we chose is an off white.  Overall, we were really happy!

Here's the thing that we learned, I have no patience and will get myself deeper in the rabbit hole of a project, but in the end it is totally worth it. Multitasking at it's finest. When the installers put the granite in, they did not use paintable caulk. To make matters worse, they were pretty sloppy about it. So I had to do A LOT of sanding to get the caulk off some of the surfaces in order for the bonding primer to even go on. Fru-stra-ting! Doors take up a lot of space and they are the longest part of the whole process. All the painting and flipping.... In the end we were extremely happy with the result and kicking ourselves for not doing it sooner. Painting the cabinets in both the bathroom and the kitchen gave the spaces an updated feel, made the spaces feel so much brighter, and totally changed the overall look. In the kitchen the counter tops toned down a lot. Where before I wasn't so sure about the colors, now I don't even notice them. The best part about it all, it's just paint! So if you hate it, sure it's a lot of time to change it, but think about if you put different cabinets in that you spent a lot of money one and hated them, all you're investing is about a gallon of paint. Not too shabby! We would love to add molding to the top of the cabinets and even a backsplash, but for now we'll enjoy what we have.

One last look!