Project #1... Check!

My organizational goals for Q3 have come to a bit of a standstill however I do have one completed and ready for sharing! (yea me!)

My kitchen pantry is clean and organized!

As you can see in my 'Before' our pantry was a hot mess of canned goods, Crystal Light, baking supplies and everything else you would expect to see in a family of four's pantry. You can also see the wire shelving that the builder installed which does not make for a very organized pantry. Those of you who have experience with this type of shelving know that things do not always sit evenly.

(Before)

The first thing I did on my quest to clean the pantry was to remove everything from it! Surprisingly, I only found a few things that were expired and needed to be thrown away.

Once I had everything removed, I inserted pre-made shelves from Lowe's right on top of the wire shelving. As I mentioned before, we are moving sometime this year and didn't want to take the time or expense of putting in a long term solution. This solution seems to have worked out just fine so far! I also bought two collapsible bins; one for snacks and the other to hold bread and rice.
Once the shelves were installed, it was time to start organizing! With Mister's help, I put everything back and in an order that made sense for us.

(After!)

It has been so nice being able to find things easily and knowing at a glance what we need to put on the grocery list!

Now on to my next project... organizing 90 years of pictures! My Grandfather has family pictures from the 1920's, pictures of his time in India during WWII and many many more. They have all been stored in small photo books and dumped in an extra large plastic bin.

I've already started going through them and throwing away the pictures that never should have been saved (ie. snow on his roof, pictures of the tv with the ball dropping on NYE for several years, every car accident he passed on the road, etc). Now I am going through which need to be scanned and cataloged. The process thus far has been filled with many smiles, laughter and tears. They are all great memories and I look forward to protecting them for the generations to come.

My Name is Jen... And I'm an Wannabe Organizer

I am so inspired by all of the creative and super organized bloggers out there! While I have the makings of being organized (I am a great planner, I know where everything is, I manage time like no one's business), I am not the most creative person or good at executing. I have a vision, I just don't know how to bring my vision to life. But Lord knows I need to figure it out! My house is a hot mess 90% of the time. Domestically challenged Mister is a stay at home dad; he and the kids can jack up a clean house like a tornado can jack up Dorothy's day!

So here is my plan (see I told you I'm good at planning!):

1. Come up with a list of about 5 projects to complete with a deadline of 3/31.


2. Assign time lines, shopping lists, and other resources needed (ie. Mister's muscles)


3. Scour blogs and magazines for inspirational ideas. (I am loving Honey We're Home's organizing series!)


4. Schedule specific time to prep, shop, execute!

Here is my list of projects for Q1 (please forgive the quality of the pictures. My camera needs to go to the shop and I am borrowing anothers).

1. Pantry- We are going to be moving in the next year and don't want to overhaul the shelving so I plan on laying MDF on top of the wire shelves.


2. Master closet- It's a beautiful closet overwhelmed with shoes, purses and clothes that no longer fit.
3. Garage (for the second time this year!) Thankfully my 17 year old nephew and brother are staying with us which will be extremely helpful to Mister's muscles as I sit and point.


4. Kid's rooms/closets- No explanation needed.


5. Book case- I am an avid reader whose book collection has grown to insane proportions! I have got to edit and plan on donating most of my books to the local VA hospital.

6. Pictures- My grandfather took pictures of everything! EVERYTHING! and I have inherited all of those photo books. Many of the pics can be thrown away (pictures of snow falling, of the car accident by his house, his new driveway, of the ball dropping on New Years on tv); however the rest are irreplaceable and need to be scanned and protected. His pictures from WWII, family pictures going back the 1920's, every birth in our family, dance recitals, baseball games, Christmases, etc.

(Ok, I said I would chose 5 and I've got a list of 6. Maybe I'm not such a great planner??)

I'll do my best to document my progress and maybe, just maybe, I'll end up being an inspiration who also suffers from being a Wannabe!