21 days to getting organized: Day Nine

This will be a quick post, because I didn't do much. I just went through the toys before Christmas, so all it needed was to be picked up a little. I agree with the other ladies in this challenge, toy boxes are e.v.i.l. But my in law's had it made for Jonah when he was ittle bitty, so it has to stay. 

Before

 

You know, your usual nightmare.

 

The two boys have cute matching twin beds. Love them. They're captain's beds, so they have the drawers underneath, another reason to love love love. As of right now, Peyton still sleeps in his baby bed because I won't let him sleep in the big boy bed he doesn't want to sleep in the baby bed. He doesn't climb out of it, and stays put and goes right to sleep in the baby bed. In the big boy bed, he won't stay in it to fall asleep. I'm not ready for that. And I'm not ready for my baby to grow up. So for now, there will be three beds in a room where only two people sleep. Don't judge me.

I really don't like this whole "the room is decorated in a cartoon theme" thing going on. But Jonah was in looooove (and still is) "How to Train Your Dragon," and he wanted this stuff so badly, I had to. When they get a little older, I'll do something better in here, until then, I'm just going to let them be little boys and have whatever they want. I did the same with Blythe Anne, she had "Dora" (uuugh) for a while, got too old, did some fairies,  she decided she was too "old" for that, and now she has pok-a-dots. 

The brown beds, and brown floor, and brown walls are all driving me a little insane... I just noticed it, I think we may need a change in here. And crown molding.

After

I washed the bedding for all the beds, and the other comforter is still in the dryer, and will make it onto the bed sometime tomorrow. I hope. Maybe. Eh.

I just picked the toys up, picked up the trash and such. I moved the toy box over a little to give room for this table to set the Blue Ray player on until I can find the *perfect* shelf for it. (Still searching... no luck so far. But I'm not giving up! Not going down with out a fight!) The wires showing are starting to drive me a little batty, even more so knowing that it's wired up with the box thingy behind the TV so that when we have the shelf... there will be NO wires showing!

So. That's my post of the day for 21 days to getting organized. I know I didn't do much today, but it was one of those days. I kid you not, I probably made 15 phone calls today, all to doctors offices, insurance, Blythe's birthday party planning... the list goes on and on. Got some semi bad news, but I'm going with it was a sign that it just wasn't meant to be at this time, it's not the end of the world.

Home Goals 2011

TDC asked what everyone's projects plans are for 2011.

WOW! Where do I even start? Our house is in need of some serious lovin' this year. We need *BIGGER*  *CHUNKIER* moulding and base boards. New paint on the walls, because I've made a few bad, very bad, choices last year.

I'll start with some of the smaller things.

LIVING ROOM

Oh my. I... you see... what had happened was...

OK, first, those curtains have to come down. Not the curtains themselves, but how high up they are. I'm not happy with that. No, no, I take that back, what has to happen first... THE BIG CHRISTMAS TREE HAS TO COME DOWN. Then the curtains need to be lowered. Next week, there will be a new flat screen TV, and a huge splurg at Paul Micheal's for the table thingy that's going under the new TV. This one is one it's last leg. This entertainment center has to go. I have no clue where I'm going to put all my books... there is a matching book case to the table-under-the-tv-thing though... This will be a major improvement, I think. I'm still loving the color on the walls, so I believe they will be staying. Unless I get the table thingy in here and don't like the way it looks... we'll just have to wait and see.

I want to have this chair redone. I don't like the fabric, but I love the chair. Why? Mainly because it's the only piece of furniture in my house that doesn't smell funny. The kids and husband never sit in this one ;)

(Ignore whatever that is under the couch. I don't know.)

Dang. I didn't even mean to do that. You can't even see the problem in this picture. The pillows are falling apart. I spend all day stuffing the stuffing back in them. I've tried to sew them back, and I know how to sew, there's just no hope. I also tried stitch witchery, also no luck. So, I need to get new pillows. These pillows are the back cushions to the couch, they're not optional. Also need a much bigger picture over the couch, I'm not too sure what I was thinking when i got that... OH YEH! It was on SALE!!

The way the color of the wall is showing up in these pictures aren't how they really look. It's more of a green... blue.. gray... ok, it all depends on what time of day it is and where you're standing as to how it looks. It's Better Homes and Gardens' "Willowy White" and I looooove it.

HALL

I'm totally embarrassed by this picture. I wanted blue, the kids weren't home, I ran out and bought paint to do the project real quick... and ended up with this mess. Sadly, this is usually the first think I see every morning when I open my eyes. So my first thought every morning is "I'm such an idiot." I.D.I.O.T. Must do something with the area.

BATHROOM

This, this right here? This is The Big Project of the year.

It has to be done because the bathtub has cracked. We have fixed it for the moment, but it's just going to crack again. Pretty much everything is coming out. Ugly lights, ugly mirror, ugly cabinet.. all of it. And starting fresh :) 

I also have a few small projects for the kitchen too. And the bedroom. 2011 is gonna be a good year for my home. I hope. Maybe I won't mess up anything too bad..

21 days to getting organized: Day Eight

Today, Toni at a bowl full of lemons has challenged us to clean out the coat closet. We don't have a coat closet, so I set out after my daughter's closet. Which also has a lot of our blankets in it too, so this also ties in with the linen closet challenge. But first, I had to clean her room. Ugh. I hated to tackle this room today, because all the kids are home from school, it was a "snow" day.

Please forgive the first picture. I forgot to open the blinds, so it was a little dark.

So this is what we're working with. I don't know how it gets this way, but I had to clean this room before I could get started on the closet.

The mirror that's hanging by one screw had to go. I swear there are no studs in that wall, or the opposite one. On the opposite wall there were holes were we attempted to hang a coat rack, and it fell of too. On the wall by the door there were screw holes were there had been a different mirror. 

I decided I had to do something about the screw holes.

My husband has taught me just enough to make me dangerous. I figured I couldn't make it any worse, right? I knew I had extra paint from this room, so I got started. I LOVE this sheetrock mud. It goes on pink, and dried white. How cool is that? I took the screws that were left in the walls out, and got to work.

I tried to take a picture of the holes and the mud on the walls, but the pictures just wouldn't show up well. So take my word that I did this.

The table beside her bed had to go, she got a new one for Christmas, I just hadn't moved the old one out yet.

A while back they broke the head board (of the brand new bed.)

 This...

Goes on top of this.

 

 

So, I used a little wood glue where they ripped these special screws out. (I was left with holes in top of the head board and the screws coming from the bottom of the decorative piece.) How long before they tear it off again? One hour. The glue didn't have time to dry. *sigh* My mom and I spent a year looking at rummage sales and flea markets looking for Blythe some white bedroom furniture without much luck. One day my mom called announcing that she bought Blythe some white furniture. I thought she had finally found some at a rummage sale. No. The woman went to the furniture store bought the child new furniture. Whatever mom! They kids have broken it, drawn on it... ugh.

I was also going to caulk the crown molding that we finally put up (after it laid in the floor, no joke, for a year. It's been up for 6 months now, and I still haven't caulked it.) But, after reading the directions on the back of the caulk, I realized I couldn't do it today because of the weather. I also wanted to recaulk her windows, because they're in bad shape. It'll just have to wait till another day. 

Now that I finally cleaned the room, fixed the holes in the walls, and the head board, on to the closet.

 

Top, middle and bottom. This wasn't actually that bad. I hated having to drag all the stuff out into the room that I had just cleaned, but now that it's done, I'm happy.

End results. She will rearrange the clothes in the next few days, she always does. But for now it's nice.

And a nice clean room! (the bedding was still in the washer and dryer.)

And, the pok-a-dot wall! Needs a few more dots here and there... ignore the wires under the desk and the Blue Ray player and DirecTv box on the desk. There is a new plug in box for all these things behind the new TV, but I can't find a shelf that I like to go above the TV to put these on. Once I find the shelf, there will be no visible wires, and that makes my hubby happy. I spent three days shopping for a shelf with no luck, while he spent an entire day in the attic running all the stuff for the new plug thingies behind the TVs on the walls. I've decided we will have to have something built.

21 days to getting organized: Day Seven

The pantry. Toni from a bowl full of lemons challenged us to clean out and organize our pantries. There is little hope for my pantry, and I've tried everything. Except for installing slide out drawers in there, which I plan on doing myself pretty soon. I've been looking online, and found a few, but what I really want wont fit, and only by a few inches. But I'm keep my head up high, one day I will have a well functioning pantry. Another option is just dealing with it until we add onto our house (a new master bedroom and bath, laundry room, mud room. There has been talk of also adding another livingroom/den/play room near the kitchen also. Our current living room is in the front of the house, then there is a hall with the bedrooms, then the kitchen at the back.) If we add an actual laundry room, I could use my current laundry "closet" as a pantry, and I think it would work quit nicely.

The top part of the pantry cabinet, where I keep all the food I hoard buy. My mom was always one of those "we have tuna, but not any mayonnaise, tea, but not any sugar..." and I refuse to be one of those people. 

We. Have. Every. Thing.

Like, 12 cans of chicken broth! *Sigh* I have a problem. I know we don't have to room for all this food, but I keep buying. You should see the deep freezer. Oh second thought, NO, no, Toni, do NOT have us organize the freezer! It's one of the small ones, there is NO way to organize that sucker.

Oh, look! A cute kid! *Cheese!* Did that distract you from my horrible pantry?

This is the bottom part of my pantry. All the stuff beside the trash can is NOT trash. There are drinks in those boxes, the bag of napkins ('cause I can't find any where else to put them), puppy pads (even though I long ago gave up house training the dog and kicked him out side), the box of trash bags. Now I'm thinking of moving the trash can? Maybe under the sink? Then I will have to re-organize all that... eh. But I'm thinking of moving the trash can, so I can store MORE food HERE! (I love food!)

But, for now, everything stayed where it is. I pulled everything out, cleaned the cabinets out, put some more of the cabinet liner down in here, got rid of a few things...

And put it all back in. I tried to use some baskets that I bought with the intentions of using in my laundry  closet in here, but it didn't work out. So I took everything out of the baskets and put it back on the shelf.

I do this about every two weeks, about as often as I do a "big" grocery shopping trip. It never gets any better. Oh well, at least the cabinets are clean. And I have a really cute kid :)

so many plans and projects I want to do...

I'm having a really hard time with today's challenge from a bowl full of lemons. It's to organize the pantry, and to put it lightly...

My pantry SUCKS. It's a tall, deep cabinet. You can't see or reach the things in the back of it, no matter how hard I try to organize this space, it's impossible. Well, it is without the use of sliding drawers installed, which is one of my many, many plans. But not today. Or tomorrow. Or this month...

Hopefully some time in 2011.

I dream of a real pantry. Something like this. *sigh*

Now, back to work. But I am working on it. And if I could finish painting some doors tonight, that would be great.

21 days to getting organized: Day Six

I'm not too excited about today's challenge at a bowl full of lemons. I posted a few days ago about how much I hate my bed room and furniture, so, eh. So here goes.

 

See. Ugly. Yes, there are two Bibles on my dresser, AND a shotgun shell. The plan: If the good Lord doesn't stop 'em from coming in my home, the shotgun will.

It was a mess. Everything every where. I pulled it all out, got rid of a bag full of clothes, then organized them and put them back. Pretty simple.

Things grouped together and in neat stacks. And I'm done :)

21 days to getting organized: Day Five

This is the challenge I've been waiting for, and I was so happy when I saw it posted at a bowl full of lemons! Im enjoying this organization challenge so much, I'm going to be sad when it ends. This is what I need everyday, someone telling me what I need to do next.

I have people fooled into thinking that my house is clean, and it really does seem that way, until you open a cabinet, drawer, or closet. Clutter on counter tops and tables drive me nuts. I'm more into getting rid of all that (into a cabinet, drawer, or closet), and cleaning the counters and floors than anything else.

And the cabinet under my sink if one of the worse places.

As if this isn't bad enough, the mess has spread into the next cabinet also...

AGH!

Wow. I didn't realize it was that much CRAP!

Then the scrubbing started. Thank the good Lord for magic erasers.

I'm really loving this cabinet liner! It looks like bamboo. It's not the stick down kind, that stuff drives me nuts. It'll start to bubble and do crazy crap. I spent several days trying to get the contact paper out of these cabinets when we bought the house. They had put down white contact paper, and it had started to yellow, and bubble, and it had to GO! But this is great. And! It's machine washable! How awesome is that??

I really like those baskets, but I don't know if I can leave them in this cabinet where no one will really see them. I may do some moving around of baskets or something. And people, let's have a talk. We're coming up on the two year anniversary of when my husband caught my kitchen on fire (on that day, I will have a whole post just about that). Fire extinguishers are a must in a kitchen. I used my old dish rack for storage, because I know have one of these drying mats from Bed, Bath, and Beyond, because I have something against having stuff all over the counter.

I love this thing. Machine washable. yay!

This was all that was left over that didn't go back in the cabinets. The wood glue will be going in the cabinet above the stove that has all my DIY project stuff in it (also needs to be organized.) So will that spray bottle. What's in it, you ask? Oh, paint thinner. What? You don't keep paint thinner in a spray bottle? I paint that often, it's just easier. And I'm a messy painter, no matter how hard I try, it always ends up on the floor. The ferret stuff... well, I guess I'm going to toss it. I don't know anyone with a ferret, and ours passed away a few months ago, I thought we might get a new one, but we got lucky with that one, it was psycho like most.

And then there's the bottle of Liquid Fire. That stuff right there scares the pee out of me. Why?

It burned my bathtub. The label was all "Hold away from you body! Hold it at arms length! With a steady hand, poor directly down the drain, if you get it on you, you will DIE." I don't have a steady hand. I really don't have a steady hand after reading the warning label on this bottle. I don't know what to do with this now. I don't want to use it ever again, but I can't just throw it away. Ugh.

Oh, and the other cabinet. The basket on bottom holds all the extras and seconds of things I had, one on top has candles and smell good stuff.

One more shot of this awesome baskets, and the cabinet liner.

It doesn't take much to make me happy!

(It's midnight. I'm not reading over this, I'm just hitting the publish button. Don't make too much fun over any typos or just plain stupid things I've said. I can't help it.)