Home Organization 101

Two weeks ago, I found a blog through pinterest called, A Bowl Full of Lemons. I am always on the search for ways to make better use of my time. I hate reinventing the wheel each time I get the "organization bug" but that is what I usually do. I spent the last several months looking for home management binders, cleaning plans, etc etc etc. When I found this blog, I found the Home Organization 101 Challenge!  I really thought that it was something that I could do.

The challenge lasts 14 weeks. Each week Toni posts a new room to clean and declutter. One room a week? Yes, I can do this. I signed up on the tail-end of Week One, the kitchen. Week Two was the garage (we don't have one). I should have done the kitchen that week but I had a lot of PTA duties to take care of---excuses, excuses.

Last Saturday, Week Three was the pantry! Can I just say that for about a month I have been saying, "I need to clean out the pantry!" Since I have had the baby, I have been wanting to get back to my couponing ways. But I really needed to get the pantry cleaned out and organized. So this week was perfect for me. In typical form, I waited until the last day to get it done! But it is finally done!!

This is before. Top shelf was cereal, cake mixes and dinner mixes.
Second shelf: misc. stuff--basically the shelf that everything gets stuck on
Third shelf: condiments, canned goods.
Floor: chips, juice, jugs, and everything else.

As you can see it really got out of hand. We were just shoving stuff in there where ever it would go. I didn't really know what we had in there. I took my husband's advice and put hands on every single item. Wow! I had food that had expired in 2008! I didn't know it had been THAT long since I really cleaned out the pantry. It took me several hours (like about 6 LOL) to get it done. In my defense, I have to stop every couple of hours to feed the baby. I also got interrupted several (read: a million) times.

This is what it looks like now! WOOHOO! I rearranged things in a way that I think will be easier.

The cake mixes are still on the top shelf. I moved my stockpiled stuff (ketchup, salad dressing, bbq sauce, etc) up there. On the second shelf is where I moved the cereal so that all the children can reach it. I also put all the pasta, rice, potato things here. The next shelf still has the canned goods along with bottles of vinegar and snack crackers. I tried to organize the floor a little better but it still looks crowded to me. I need some way to organize the chips. At least now they are neat. I will try to think and look for something I can use. There are bins down there too that hold our cookie mixes, popcorn, and baking things (chocolate chips, powdered sugar, etc).

If you want to join in on the challenge, visit Toni over at A Bowl Full of Lemons. Week Four has been posted and it is The Office. I don't have an office *room* but I do have a filing cabinet and some hanging file folder boxes that need to be sorted.

On a personal note, I will post an update-type post soon. It has been a long time since I have been around...