More Spring Projects

 

This Spring has been all about organization and projects!  I love it.  Due to health issues and coming out of a very difficult season in life, if feels delightful to be able to do the things I love.  One of which is ORGANIZING!  I am awful at taking ‘before’ pictures as I am usually in a snit fit to get organizing that I don’t want to stop to take a picture.  Sorry, it really would be more dramatic with a before and after photo.

In our bathroom I put these cute, cheap matching baskets in Brian and my drawers.  I spray painted the little tins that hold the nail clippers and Q-tips.  I painted them black.  I found this really cool shelf liner paper.  I adore black and white right now.  So clean and crisp.  Don’t you think?

This is my drawer.  I purged tons of old make-up products that I kept for . . . for what, I don’t know.   I even lined my box and baskets with the pretty black and white shelf liner, just for the “pretty factor”.  It makes all the difference in the world, for me, to have small baskets to keep things in.  If I just have one big basket I throw them every which way.

Moving on to our bedroom closet.  If you knew what was on these shelves for ten years you would know why it thrills me to see this closet!  I leave the doors open sometimes just for fun!  I had the big white baskets from a kitchen makeover about 6 years ago that I never used.  They were perfect.  I put an extra shelf in to use up as much space as I could.  The other baskets were from the Dollar General.

I even replaced the mismatched baskets above Brian’s side of the closet with matching white ones.  We keep things in there that we don’t need that often, as it is quite a reach.

Now, for the back bathroom!  I so wish I had before and after pictures!!  This was my nemesis for years.  I never could figure out what to do with these cabinets and above them.  It was always a mess.  Now it looks so nice!!  They are the cabinets above the washer and dryer.

In the baskets I have extra rolls of packing tape (the down side to buying in bulk) and light bulbs.  I made cute little labels for them, ‘laminated’ them and tied them with a ribbon.

Behind the door on the right are the laundry products. It just so happened to work out that the laundry detergent I use comes in a white container.  (yeah!)  I removed the label from the bleach and replaced with my fancy ‘chalk board’ labels.  I put the Downy in a quart jar because we only use Downy on Saturdays for our sheets.  (I still love the smell of fresh Downy sheets)  No sense having the super huge Costco size bottle taking up space, that is down stairs in the storage room.  (I should show you that sometime, organized, though not as pretty) 

See how much space I have since purging and organizing?

This is the left side of the cabinet.  I purged out a ton of large vases!  How many do I really need?  And, they are like a quarter at Goodwill if I ever want more!  I’d rather them store them than me.

I am not totally thrilled with the slight curve in the little shelving stand I have, but it serves its purpose and it was free.  Found it in my garage.

I have a bunch of skinny, tall vases that I line up on the kitchen window sill that are always falling over so I put them in their own basket.  The short vases, are just that, short, so there was always a waste of vertical space.  They got their own basket.  Any other odd size vases got their own basket too.  I try not to let the fact that the two baskets on the left are blue, they were only a dollar each, just wish they were white.  I’ll be okay, though.

This little cutie patootie table was only $2!!  It was unmarked at a garage sale and I thought they might be asking $10 for it, and I was willing to pay $5.  Imagine my delight and inside squeals when the gentleman said $2!!  It was a country blue and painted very well, but you know how I feel about green!  I wanted to distress it like my headboard, but it was blue under the green, not white.  I did apply a light rubbing of stain over it to make it look a little more rustic.  It is so cute by the back door.  I came in from gardening the other day and set my seed basket on it, I think I’ll keep it there.  Looks kind of cute, don’t you think?

On to the pantry!!!  One of my favorite spots in the house.  This is the rack that has been on the door since we moved in.  I have finally accumulated all the same size spice jars.  It has taken awhile to figure just what spices I use on a regular basis too.  I also  removed all the Costco size containers from the top shelf in put them in jars.  (except for that rogue bottle on the left, I really just want to throw it away)

Doesn’t it look so cool to see all those labels???

The top shelf here has the more commonly used spices in my house.  Italian seasoning, chili powder and cumin deserved larger jars.

I put a ‘sweeteners’ label on the shelf, as things never seemed to get returned to where they belong.

This is the lower rack.  A spot for the oils, vinegar and the baking powder, soda, salt and cornstarch (which is really arrowroot, just haven’t changed the label) . . .

On the bottom row I removed all the oddball boxes of tea and put them in jars.  Love it!

On a tiny wall just inside the door I have these really cool square jars.  I bought them when we did the kitchen remodel six years ago.  I reorganized an repurposed them.

Oops, the millet jar is really popcorn.  The jar used to be used for millet, I just labeled the other side.  I have MY Tazo Cucumber White tea squeezed in between two jars.  I drink this every single morning, so it is in a convenient spot.  (right there next to chocolate chips, hmmmm)

The bottom shelf in the pantry has baking supplies, flours and sugars.  I even made cutesy labels for the onion and potato baskets.  Did you get the idea that I love to label thing sin my home?  As far as I am concerned, an organizing project isn’t finished unless it’s labeled.  Just my opinion.

Phew!  That was a long post!  I know there are more projects, this is just what I remembered today.  I will have to show you all we have done in the garden too.  That was the other huge Spring project.  Oh, and the guys are doing the roof as we had some leaks and it is nearly 25 years old.  Does it ever end?  Hope you enjoyed the tour.