{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?