{create} an organized home

Friends! It's a new year! I know, what would you do without me? Does anyone else out there get a cleaning and organizing itch at the beginning of the year? Well, you know how sometimes you have a hard time getting rid of things. Or you're just really busy and don't take the time to organize/clean on a regular basis? And things just keep piling up and piling up until you can't take and you end of just donating it all.

What? Is this how your household works too? This is the pile we took to goodwill this week (well, except for the kitchen stool that crept into the photo - that didn't go to goodwill). I've been a on cleaning/organizing streak and now our house feels empty and spacious and awesome. For now :)

Anyone else cleaning out to prep for/celebrate the new year??

{inspire} House Color Palette

Happy Friday friends!

After looking through my clipping files this week, I pulled together a palette of colors I'd like to see consistently through our house. Our house, really, is pretty tiny. I'm becoming increasingly aware of how straying from a palette can really break rooms up and make them feel disjointed. 

So, I've pulled together a solid range of neutrals, with some fun pops of color to add a little dimension to each space.

Honestly, I get a little freaked at the thought of bright colors.  But I love how other houses look when they're used - correctly - and want to take some risks moving forward. I'll keep a neutral base of blues (yep, that's working out to be a great neutral for me), browns and greys. And as pops of color, I'd like to add in some yellows, red-oranges and oranges. I love these three colors. They just make me smile. I would also like to play around with a darker blue/turquoise color. I think it'll add a little depth to the light blue neutral.

A couple recent additions to our home that both highlight and confirm my palette are this adorable tea towel ...

... And this new letterpress.

Both have the bright pops of color I'm looking for ... and are just so cute! I like having a color palette nailed down. We have a couple rooms we're looking at sprucing up this year and this will make my life so much easier. 

What are your favorite colors lately? Do you lean toward the amazing jewel tones out this season? Do you prefer to stay in neutral territory?

Have a great weekend!

Update: I'm linking up to Samantha's Fab Friend Friday. It's a clever way to meet new bloggers. Hop on over and say hi! :)

{create} an organized kitchen

The number one thing I've learned from this huge cleaning and organizing task is: figure out what works best for your household. There are so many amazing and inspiring organizing ideas out there. But when it come right down to it, I needed to look into our cupboards and ask myself two things. 1. How do we use this space?  2. What can I change to make that use more efficient? Once you wrap your head around HOW you use the space, organizing it for efficiency seems to fall right into place.

Without further ado, here are the results of my kitchen purging/cleaning/organizing efforts.

Left is the before. Right is the after. So cluttered. I didn't get rid of a lot from this cupboard, I simply moved things around. Some items went to different cupboards where they make more sense. Others were simply combined and/or grouped with like objects. The first words out of Chris' mouth when he opened this cabinet? Um, where's the alcohol? (See top of left photo). I think I scared him! :) I just moved it all to the left side of the cabinet and created more of an actual *alcohol cabinet*.

Left is before. Right is after. Not a huge change here, but it's noticeable in our every day use. We had so many drinking vessels! First, we pared them WAY down. Then we rearranged. For example, Chris is incredibly tall and is the only one who uses the juice glasses, so I moved them to the third shelf and made room on the second shelf. See? It's all about what works best for your household.

And speaking of what works best for our household. Chris' absolute favorite *wine* glasses. He rarely touches the *fancy* ones with stems. These make an appearance at every party and are actually requested by guests. There's only three ... so the first to arrive get the glasses :).

Left is before. Right is after. This was so jam packed that I actually found things I forget we had! I found an incredibly cute bowl we received as a wedding gift. It's going into the decor rotation stat.

I also found this crock pot! Isn't is amazing?! We have a new/bigger crock that I use weekly, so I completely forgot about this gem. It was one of my parent's wedding gifts back in 1976 (!). They received three crocks, so this one went into storage in our garage. They unearthed it when I first moved out on my own. It had never been opened. Isn't that amazing? Still works like a charm! And has way more personality that modern crocks.

This last spot is a biggie (and really hard to take pics of!). The two above pictures and the below are the before of our one full closet outside of a bedroom. It sits right next to the kitchen, so it stores everything from small appliances, to cleaning supplies to toilet paper. We  really need to make better use of this closet in general (ie. install shelves!), but as it were, it's a disaster.

So I rearranged. And threw away (or recycled). Moved somethings that we never use (but actually need to keep!), downstairs to our lovely new shelves, and cleared out a huge amount of room.

The best of all the best? With all the floor space I created, our vacuum now fits! This is seriously exciting, folks, as it's been an eyesore in my craft room for the last two years.

And so I'm done. So. Done. And very excited to move on Friday! 

So, we have our Wyooter Hooter glasses. I'm curious, what's one thing that makes your home distinctly YOU?? 

Thanks for visiting friends :).

{create} organizing labels

I think everyone agrees that it's much easier to cook in an organized kitchen. I'm much happier when I don't have to dig for an ingredient, or better yet, GUESS if this is what I think it is. That's always scary! I've been slowly working on our kitchen organization for about ... the last year. These things take time :). It started when I organized and labeled our spices. Loved the result. So I started thinking about ways I could better organize our dry goods. See, being a gluten free household is a little high maintenance. We have all sorts of different flours and starches hanging around ... most of which we buy in bulk. So they're in those unsightly plastic baggies with twist ties (which I always manage to lose). Last summer I bought glass jars and transferred all our flour, seeds, rice, oatmeal, etc. to the jars.

Instantly, we had more space and it was so much more organized. I slapped sticky notes on the jars until I could find time to apply the labels I made ... back in August. Friends, tapioca starch looks an awful lot like brown rice flour. And it's really hard to tell the difference a when a sticky notes flies out of the cabinet and wedges itself under the stove. Just sayin'.

So last week I took the time (all 30 minutes of it) to cut out and apply labels. I made labels for the tops of all the jars, and for the sides.

Some sides have special ingredient directions.

Some are just simple labels that are easy to see in the cabinets.

So now our fridge look more organized.

And pulling flours out of the cabinet is is easy! This really makes finding a certain ingredient a breeze. And while doing this I was also cleaning (of course. More to come on that later), and found five more ingredients need new jar homes! So, I'll be making more labels stat.

So, how can you make your own? 

• First, design a template, or download the one I made up here: jars.jpg. You can easily download the template into Microsoft Word and then type your ingredients over the .jpg.
• Next, print. I chose to print mine onto sticky paper (such as this). Everything I labeled is in jars that I won't be washing often and this just made sense for us. If you're going to be labeling something that'll be washed a lot or you're just worried about man-handling, simply print your labels, laminate (or cover with clear contact paper!), and cut out. Apply with double sided tape, or even velcro.
• Last, stick to your jars!  And, say goodbye to unsightly plastic bulk baggies :)

I LOVE easy upgrades that make a HUGE difference! 

How do you all organize your kitchen cabinets? I'd love to hear all your great ideas for keeping things clean and uncluttered!

{inspire} Organized Around the Web

This week has been a long week of crazy (and admitedly pretty funny) mishaps. I've dropped nearly everything I've touched. I nearly ruined my cell headset with water. And to top off the week, I took a bunch of pictures last night for today's post, only to realize that I have no way to get the pictures off my new camera. Minor. Details. So the fun organizing DIY project I was planning to share with you today will actually debut on Monday. Instead, I'm rounding up a few of the DIY projects I've spotted around the web this week that are particularly impressive and inspirational. I love seeing how other people organize. You all have SUCH GREAT IDEAS!

Jewerly Organizer

Jane at the Borrowed Abode has been redoing her studio featured a fantastic jewelry organizer!  Hop on over for the other awesome studio DIYs she's featured this week.

Baskets!

I Heart Organizing showcased all the great storage containers she uses, and how to best use them. This post is should be bookmarked by all.

Organized {Gorgeous} Pantry

Honey We're Home has featured organizational guest bloggers all week. By far my favorite though, is House of Smiths pantry makeover. Gorgeous!  LOVE the wall vinyl.

Paper Maiche Tray

Trays are a great and stylish catch-all. I, for one, do not have enough in our house. I will be making this Paper Mache Tray that Jenny at Little Green Notebook featured this week. Beautiful.

Organized Linen Closet

Jennifer at Peas and Crayons went after her linen closet this week ... and the after is so clean and inspiring!

Organized CDs

This post isn't new, but Nicole featured it in her 2010 round-up and I was reminded what a practical storage solution she came up with for CDs.

What organizational projects are you tackling this weekend? Or, have any projects caught your eye this week? Please share!

And, have a great weekend friends!

{Create} A Clean Basement

We all have excuses for keeping too much stuff in our home. My excuses fall into the we're newly married and trying to combine households, I work a lot and (the best) out of sight, out of mind categories. When I first moved in, we unpacked what we needed and dumped everything else in the basement. We had enough going on trying to get our *functional* rooms organized. Our downstairs is simply an unfinished cave that houses our TV and washer/dryer. Since no one but us ever goes down there, it's not a priority. But, in reality, we aren't really newlyweds anymore (sad!) and as I mentioned on Monday I'm ready to let go of excuses and get back on track.

We started with the basement. It's the scariest. And don't you think it's empowering to get through the task you're dreading the most?

Here's what we started with. Looks innocent enough, right? The bookshelf/books in the bottom left corner actually live upstairs. They'll go back up this weekend when I (finally!) take down our Christmas tree. So that leaves us with what ... just folding the blanket and call it good? Right. Let's take a closer look.

The couch is actually hiding all the madness. I can't even believe I'm posting this on the internet. Such a mess! And, actually there's more.

This is the entire downstairs. The two far left pictures (top and bottom) showcase our *coat* closet. This houses seriously lacks closet space. You all notice the shoe collection and hundreds of boxes. For what? Who knows. The bottom right photo was the view when you walk downstairs. The big object in the picture that everything is stacked on is actually a shelves we bought this summer. That's how long we've been *meaning* to do this. All in all, clutter-ific!

So the day after Christmas (I wasn't wasting any time!), I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. First I emptied and went through every box. I was ruthless about what I didn't want/need, consolidated boxes and better organized what I wanted to keep. At the end of the day I had a huge Goodwill pile, a huge garbage pile and a nice manageable pile of what to keep. I put up the original shelving unit and it was quickly clear that one wouldn't cut it. The next day, Chris and I made a list and headed off to Target/Home Depot where we picked up more shelves and tupperwear containers. Then we came home, threw more away and made a huge trip to Goodwill. 

And the end result. So amazing. We're in awe every time we walk downstairs. There's actually ... space.

The view walking downstairs. Better. So much better. All that's left is for an upcoming back entry project. So, for now it stays.

The miracle of a shoe organizer. All the bikes are hung and all the bigger gadgets placed in the space below.

And the main area (remember, the books are actually heading back up stairs!). Sure you can see it all now. But friends, we can find things! And everything has a place! And it's organized! Seriously, I can actually breath easier when I'm down here. I know longer feel my belongings closing in on me.

See all the trim on the right? We scored a bunch of free salvaged trim that is perfect for our upstairs. Here's to hoping we can trim out our rooms this year!

Check out all the floor space behind the couch.

Before we even met, Chris and I both had a habit of buying awesome, inexpensive frames when we found them at garage sales or thrift stores. This was before IKEA came to Portland and frames are so expensive!  If you follow my twitter feed, you'd know that I counted our *collection*. After I cleaned (some went to Goodwill) we still had 45 frames. FORTY-FIVE. You guys, we have a gallery wall in our living room that we didn't purchase one single frame for, and we still have 45! Clearly, we have a sickness.

So that's all for the basement. I keep thinking it isn't *pretty* enough. But then I look at the basement itself. Not. Pretty. I have no vision for bringing beautiful storage into an unfinished space, and I actually think it wouldn't fit in. At some point we'll finish out the basement (which will add a bedroom and a bath to the house!), and when that happens, in line with using what we have, we plan to move the shelves to the garage and beautify our storage. 

More cleaning will commence for me this weekend. Next up is the kitchen. How is all your cleaning going? What's been your most worth it cleaning/organizing effort?

{inspire} Organizing a New Year

As I mentioned last week, I'm pretty darn excited about the possibilities of this new year. More so than I have for the past few years. The past couple years have started with a very overwhelmed feeling about how much we have to do. But this year? I feel like we're going to rock life and the proverbial to-do list. And January really feels like a month to regroup. Especially for me this year. The holidays were crazy. Okay, who am I kidding? Our life has been running at a frenetic crazy pace since we got married. Two year ago. But I'm ready to get back on track in 2011.

Something I've been thinking about a lot for the last couple months is the idea of living with what I love. For a long time, when I was first on my own and had very little furniture, I was in the habit of buying to fill space, instead of buying what I love. I've gradually started shifting my outlook, but a switch flipped last year and I was just done buying to fill space.

So this month I'm going to take a journey into getting my life and style back in order. Want to join me? 

First, we're going to start clearing out and organizing. Do you all remember the episode of Friends where Chandler discovers Monica's secret closet?

I'm going to show you my secret closet, er, uh, spaces. I'm going to clean out my crap. Yeah, I know ... who isn't cleaning right now? But really, friends, it's been at least a couple years since I've taken a good hard look at what we use and what needs to go. It's been never since I've take a look at what I really love.

Next, I'm going to take a look at committing to a design vision based on what I love. Of course, that begins with actually identifying what I love. For the last few months I've worked on identifying WHAT I love about a beautiful interior, rather than just exclaiming love at first sight. I'll take a hard look at interiors I love and what elements I'd like to incorporate in our home. This will help me form said vision.

And last, I'm going to take the next step in creating a clear vision for our home by creating a color scheme. Our house is open enough that we need some sort of cohesive color scheme to really allow the rooms to flow and not feel disjointed. We've started this process, but I find myself off track a lot when thinking about upcoming spaces.

I'm excited to get started. We have a lot of big plans for our little home over the next couple years and I know that creating a vision now will help the process go smoother, and hopefully leave me happy and excited about our house in the end.

What are you organizing this year? Do you have a *secret* closet to stash all your disorganization? Please share so I don't feel like the only one! :)

**Images via Made By Girl, Apartment Therapy, Little Green Notebook, Wiki, Oh Hello Friend, Apartment Therapy, Sweet Paul**

{create} labels

I'm organizing! Awhile back I started reorganizing my cupboards. They were still such a mess though. We buy a lot of food in bulk bins, and very few things make me more crazy than having to dig through a pile of plastic bags to find rice. Or oatmeal. Or whatever.

So I thought I'd give you a little sneak peek of the labels I'm making to begin organizing:

Instructions and pictures coming soon!

spice'n it up!

I noticed recently an underlying theme to all the projects I've tackled this year: reuse. Whether it was making curtaings, painting, creating an inspiration board, adding a little glam to my closet, or sewing a pillow, the majority of the supplies are repurposed from our home. If we did have to buy anything, the total hasn't ever come to more than $10. This is pretty huge step for me, actually. And it feels good to be things that might have been thrown away other wise.

Today's project is no different.

We're going to organize our spices! Before we begin, I have a confession. We can be honest here, right? Up until last weekend I had spices in my cabinet that were nine years old Phew. I feel better having confessed. It's so gross. Don't worry ... most of these spices we didn't use. In fact a bunch had never been opened.Yet, they still moved with me three times. Don't judge. :)

So last weekend I cleaned and organized my spice/baking cabinet. I love cleaning and organizing. And I love it even more when it results in such a great little project. See, the old spices came as a set in these great little spice containers, above. 

So I threw away all the old spices and removed the labels from the containers.

Then I wrote the name of all my currents spices on these cute little sticker labels.

 

 Stickers go onto the clean and sparkly bottles.

  

And all the spices are moved from their current mismatched bottles and baggies into these great little matching containers.

  

 And then into the cupboard they go!

Cute, no? And it makes the organized/ocd person in my very happy every time I open the cupboard. Best of all, it's really quick, if you're looking for something do this weekend.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

question of the day: books

Let's talk.I need some insight for storing books on the floor. As a design element.

I get what people are going for when they put their books on the floor.

 

It gives off a more casual laid-back vibe.

 

And organized by color and in the right setting, these books on the floor look really cute. (see books on the right in this pic.)

 

But how on earth do you make this work? When I put my books on the floor, I just end up looking like a slob. Does anyone out there know the trick to making this look brilliant, rather than accidental? Or do you hate the look no matter what? Opinions, please.




**images via: apartment therapy and house beautiful**