Diaper Box Decluttering

Our home is far from simplified and decluttered, but this one little thing is easy to do.  Every time we acquire a new big box, from diapers or apples or oranges or whatever else, I make it my goal to fill it up with things we don't love, need or use.  Then I throw it in the van and drop it off at the thrift store when I'm out for other errands.  This is nothing revolutionary, but I'm hoping some simple little baby steps in the right direction will produce results in due time.

The Great Closet Clean-Out & 100 Piece Wardrobe

In an effort to simplify life in general, I decided I must face my generously-sized walk-in closet. I'm rather embarrassed to show you the before photos, but I do want to be real.  This space had become the depository for all kinds of things that didn't have any real home.  Outgrown baby clothes, unfinished craft projects, luggage, bed linens, extra storage containers, current baby clothes for a sweet girl who moved in with her sister months ago, mother and baby items that won't be used again by our family, etc.  I don't do well with undefined spaces, so the more types of things were put in there, the less I maintained order and the less mindful I was of my own stuff, mostly clothes.  So I took a Saturday and tackled the closet, hauling out everything, deep cleaning the space, finding more logical homes for things not related to my personal presentation.  That meant that I also took out every item of clothing I own and purged a lot.  My goal was to trim it down to 100 items. I've been greatly challenged by the book 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess  and the blog The Year of Less*, among other blogs, books and articles.  With  simplicity in mind, I listed out on paper all the pieces of my wardrobe that I was keeping.  Listing things out made me realize a few items I may need to add as well as some categories that are a little too abundant.

Why 100 items?
* I simply needed to put a limit on the number of clothes I own and needed a place to start.  For some people, 100 would be downright excessive and for others it would be way too minimal.
* I needed motivation to weed out the things I wasn't using because of poor fit, unflattering design or color and lack of function in my current life stage. Setting a limit allowed me to release these things more easily.
* I wanted to like my wardrobe better overall so I needed to get rid of the items I was just keeping because it felt wasteful to get rid of them.
* I hoped for more empty space so it could be easily maintained.
* Going forward, I want to be really mindful of what I bring in. Basically, I want to feel confident in the clothes I wear without giving it too much thought.

Did I meet my goals?  Yes, and no.
I did whittle my collection of clothing significantly, but my list of 100 pieces does not include scarves and such, swimwear or foundations.  My list does include items for all seasons, dresses, skirts, blouses, tops, pants, shorts, sweaters, coats, workout clothing and pajamas.  I'm no fashionista, but I don't think I'm any less stylish than before the purge. This experience has shifted my shopping habits and made me a lot more choosy about what I add.  Because the rest of our home really lacks storage, toiletries and luggage and one bin of sentimental baby items are still in that closet, but I'm okay with that. I feel more content with what I have and my closet is a calming retreat.

After 

one closet rod, one dresser and wire drawers for shoes

And my wedding dress box, too.  

There are still a lot of toiletries, but they are organized and easily accessible.

I could shuffle things a bit more and make room for a reading corner or a little crafting desk, but for now I'm just enjoying the empty space.  It feels like a breath of fresh air. 

* no longer active, but the archives are inspiring

$10 Dresser Alternative

With three boys sharing one modestly sized bedroom, space is certainly at a premium.  A couple months ago our youngest son moved out of a crib and into a twin bed, leaving even less floor space.  His dresser/changing table was also a bit tall and I was concerned about the risk of him trying to climb on it and tip it onto himself, so we sold it.  My stop-gap solution is a few bins set on top of his brothers' dresser.  This won't win any decorating awards, but it suits our needs and it didn't cost a dime since I was able to find the supplies around our home.  1 bin for tops, 1 bin for bottoms, 1 bin for socks & pajamas.  I simply connected the crates with one bungee cord on the front and one bungee cord on the back.

3 file crates + 2 bungee cords = good enough for us

If you don't have these things around your house, I've seen file crates for $3 each at this time of year and the bungees were $1 for 2 at the Target dollar spot.

What have you repurposed lately?

It's Time to Simplify...Again

I'm not sure if it's that after-Christmas "where I am gonna put the new stuff?" feeling or some kind of nesting, but I'm certainly feeling the urge to purge right now. When our home is in order, I just feel so much better, more calm and relaxed, more engaged with my kids rather than focusing on the stuff, and more energetic for accomplishing what needs to be done. Physical clutter greatly contributes to mental clutter for me, so I need to be proactive on this. I made a big list of lots of areas that need a good purge and cleaning. My aim is to do about one item on the list per day and have our home refreshed by the end of January. The list is posted on our fridge so I can cross it off when each area is complete and I'm also noting how many bags or boxes are leaving the house thanks to this effort. Here's my list.

Space to Purge & Clean

DONE - Daughter's room

DONE - Sons' room

Linen cupboards

DONE - Medicines & toiletries

My closet

Husband's closet

Master bathroom

Kids' bathroom

Kitchen upper cabinets

Kitchen lower cabinets

Living room cabinet

Homeschooling shelves

Laundry room

Half bath

Kitchen & living room floors and baseboards

DONE - Christmas decorations

Coat closet

Toys

Creative space

DONE Gift wraps

Bookshelves

File cabinet

Baby clothes / saved children's clothes

Kitchen counters

Primary email account

Items to sell

Vehicles

Garage

Yard & Front Porch

Are you feeling the urge to purge this time of year?

Because a Girl Just Needs to Accessorize

A few months a friend sent me a link to this doable Martha Stewart craft that held the promise of corralling all kinds of girlie things for my daughter. We modified to what we had available, but it turned out well and has helped (notice I didn't say "cured") the problem of having these items laying all about the house.

What we used:
unfinished 9 x 12" frame - free from an auction box stash my mom had
wood cutout - $.25
paints - on hand from previous projects
paint applicator - for such a small project, I found that facial foam rounds work well, we had some around but they would be inexpensive in the cosmetics section of Walmart/Target
ribbon - on hand
hot glue and gun to secure ribbon - on hand
good quality hooks - $2 at Walmart for way more than we needed for this

The only unfortunate thing is that she could really fill at least another full frame like this with all the stuff she has.

Restoring Order: The Laundry Room

When I saw that Rebecca and Monica were hosting Restoring Order I thought this was a great time to get to work on my laundry room. It has been out of control for weeks and negatively affecting my motivation to actually do the necessary work in there. When I started on it today I found laundry in all stages, a bunch of clothes which needed to be ironed, cleaning supplies, gifts in hiding (waiting to be wrapped or delivered), outgrown clothes, worn-out clothes, craft supplies, cloth tote bags and curtains, among other things. I really needed to pare down to what is essential to have in the laundry room and purge or put away that which had been dumped there in recent months for one reason or another. Here are the before shots....humbling.

To restore order to this space I did all the laundry and put it away, ironed the pile of things which needed ironing, discarded or stored the unsuitable clothing, wrapped all the gifts for upcoming events and stored them elsewhere, emptied the trash, washed the floor, baseboards and door and washed the adjoining hall and bathroom. I know that tomorrow we will have an abundance of laundry again, but for today I just really needed to hit the reset button so that tomorrow I won't be overwhelmed at the thought of doing a normal task like laundry. Here are the after shots....aaaahhh!

What areas are you working to restore to order today? See what others are doing here.

A Little More Order in the Bathroom

Recently I had some time on my hands and thought I'd try to make some order out of the chaos in one of my bathroom drawers. It began by dumping out all the contents of the drawer and wiping it down with a cloth. Yikes!

I wondered how I could compartmentalize better to keep things in order. Baby wipes tubs were at the ready (free!) and fit the drawer perfectly. One for hair stuff, one for my blowdryer, one (with the lid on to keep clean) for cotton balls, and one for everything else. The depth of those containers keeps things from getting out of place.

And the finished product, which is still orderly after a couple weeks. Success!


This project made possible by the one who looked on while he was supposed to be doing something else. Oh, if only potty training could be as easy as getting that drawer in shape!

Worth the Trouble: Closet Makeover

For months we've had a problem with our boys' closet. Everything was out of order, the space allotted for their clothing was too small which led to overflow, which led to frustration, which led to me not even wanting to bother putting away their clean laundry. In short, the space and system that used to work just wasn't cutting it anymore. So I began to think about what we could do, within our means, to make it functional once again. We needed a dresser to contain all their clothing and also serve as a changing table. So the secondhand search began.

2 weeks + undisclosed # of hours spend on Craigs List + 12 trips to thrift stores + $10 more than the budget + 2 minutes spent cleaning item (no refinishing time!) = 1 dresser and 1 happy mama

What can I say? I am easily pleased and I love order.

Before = chaos


After = order

Logistics for Baby

I sent a version of this to some dear first-time expectant mamas today and just thought I would make a random post of it.

Not that anyone has been clamouring for advice, but I thought I would just throw out my two cents on all the stuff about welcoming a new baby into your family. I remember as an expectant mom lots of decisions about what to buy and register for were a little overwhelming, so if anyone can benefit from our experience, that's great. If not, no problem. This list is also for me, should the Lord bless us with a fourth child.

Baby Stuff We Have Really Appreciated:
- Graco Pack N Play with bassinet - Ours also came with a changing station, but we honestly didn't use that part that much. The bassinet, though, lasted through 6 months for each of our first two children. We also took it to the homes of friends frequently with our firstborn so he could go to bed while we visited. Now Smiley uses it for naptime. Well worth the $80 or so we paid for it. Also handy to have around when children are not babies anymore for when little guests visit.

- The Fisher Price Healthy Chair Booster has dishwasher safe trays and folds up compactly to take to restaurants or on road trips and is SO much less bulky that a full size high chair in your kitchen at home. Your baby needs full head control and be mostly able to sit up before using it, around 6 months. We have also had the First Years Four Stage Feeding Seat and like that, though it doesn't fold up. Both of these options are cheaper than a full size highchair, too.

- Baby Bjorn or some kind of carrier or wrap - These are great in public, for shopping, and for fussy times of the day when you still want to get some housework done. They keep baby close and discourage strangers from poking and prodding your baby so much since they are attached to you which may help your baby not pick up so many germs from random folks.

- A small diaper bag has saved us from lugging tons of stuff around the grocery, store or to church. We have mostly just used a small bag for all outings packed with one outfit, a few diapers and a pouch of wipes, with more supplies in the car if you really need them. Depending on the size of your purse, we have also just used a fabric pouch big enough for two diapers and some wipes. With a caribiner clip, a small bag easily clips to the handle of the stroller, too.

- NOT having a Diaper Genie - We didn't get one because I was too cheap to buy the refills, but I am glad I never had to take out the stinky sausage of diapers out to the trash, either. We just used a small trash can and took it out whenever there was a poo, or bagged the poopy diapers in newspaper or grocery bags which contain the smell as much as a Diaper Genie does.

- For nursing a Boppy pillow (preferably with at least 2 slipcovers), a glider rocker with ottoman, and a good pump were essentials. I've liked the Medela Pump in Style and the Medela hand pump..I think it is called the Harmony. An MP3 player with speakers was a bonus the last time around since you're sitting down for feeding so many hours of the day. Oh, and of course if nursing does not get off to a great start, seek help from a lactation consultant or experienced friend early and often.

- A dresser with a changing pad instead of an open shelf changing table will last long beyond the diapering season when you remove the pad.

- When we have cloth-diapered, our favorite was the MotherEase brand. The covers never leaked, they have snaps for no-pins, adjustable sizing for 8-35 lb babies and are soft. (I'd like to get back to that while potty training Smiley, but it doesn't seem to be a great time to have stinky diapers in the bathroom when we are trying to sell our house. :) Cut up pieces of fleece or old t-shirts work well as wipes when you have a spray bottle of super mild baby soap or plain water at hand. An inexpensive 5 gallon pail with a lid from Walmart or a hardware store has been a our bucket for cloth diapers and the handle makes it easy to bring to the laundry. We prefer the dry method.


What we might have done differently, knowing what we know now:
- Started out with a jogger stroller from the beginning, or one that folds up like an umbrella stroller but has more features. Bulky strollers that are not all-terrain haven't worked that well for us, especially since they take up so much space in the back of the car and leave not much room for the groceries. I would have paid more, looking back, for one all purpose stroller rather than ending up with a fleet of them that all work well in different situations.

- Bought a travel swing or baby papasan instead of full size one, since you gotta store the stuff somewhere after that phase is over.

-See about borrowing and lending equipment that is stage specific. You don't need to have it all and store it all when you aren't using it. We were the first of our friends to have babies so this wasn't as much of an option for us.

- Skipped the full bedding set. Some cute sheets and a bed skirt are all you need. I found the bumpers, while cute, tend to be a pain to work around when changing sheets and were just one more thing to launder when messes happened. I also wonder about how safe they are for newborns and have no doubt if ours weren't removed when our babies could stand would have become a step to help them climb out of the crib.

- Skipped the expensive Dreft detergent with our firstborn and just used All Free & Clear or other dye free, fragrance free detergent which works well for everyone's clothes. Do have OxiClean on hand for those blowouts and spit up accidents.

- Have had more of "Less is More" approach. Laundry will need to be done daily anyway, so no need to have so much in the way of clothes and blankets. Though I do recommend 3 crib sheets and 2 waterproof mattress pads, since leaks and spit-up seem to happen a lot in the night and you don't want to keep the baby up because you are waiting for laundry to cycle through. They grow so quickly so then you have the storage issue to deal with again. We could have also used more gender neutral pieces of clothing for home use and just had a few cute outfits which were gender specific to simplify dressing, laundry and storage.

- Skipped baby food and made more of our own and started them on finger or food suitable for babies. There are some great books out there on making your baby great healthful baby food.

- Been more eco-consious when we began,. Lots of time the "greener" options are also the most frugal, too.

- I would have loved to have had one of those cool nursing covers that are widely available now, though I guess I got by with a receiving blanket. Sometimes a clothespin comes in handy to keep the blanket attached to your shirt, instead of falling down for the world to see your chest.

Well, that is all I can think of today. Happy Weekend! And remember, this is just my two cents. Do what works for your situation.

Use-What-You-Have Organizing & Storage

Every year as the year begins I vow to get our house back in order and get fully organized. While most of this is wishful thinking with three young children in our home, I still gotta make the effort, right?! I could really go overboard on buying all sorts of containers to get organized, but with budgetary constraints and a desire not to waste that which is already in my hand, I've tried to repurpose some items around our home.

Baby food jars make nice containers to corral little items in the junk drawer and make good spice jars for spices purchased in bulk.

Open top apple boxes nicely hold bulky toy sets and larger items in the garage. We've picked up several of these very sturdy boxes from the warehouse club over the last year and they've been very handy.

Plastic salad containters make good dresser drawer dividers for socks and underthings. These come from the large tubs of spring mix or spinach at the warehouse club.

Divided vegetable trays have come in handy for storing things in our bathroom drawers. I found several vegetable trays a few weeks ago marked down in the produce section of the grocery store. After we finished eating the vegetables, these were washed up and put to work to keep order in one of those spots that seems to always get messy.

Clear zippered bags have been repurposed for storing children's clothing.

Colored gift boxes add a punch of color to closets and good storage for out of season clothing, shoes or accessories.

Baby wipes containers have a multitude of uses in our household. We stocked up on a wipes sale this year and now have several empty boxes to use.
- stuff with rolled up plastic grocery bags and keep by the changing table for messy diapers
- store homemade wipes
- remove lid and have drawer dividers for the kitchen, office, bathroom and closets
- remove lid and have a bin for baby socks, shoes or baby toiletries
- emergency baby kit for the car tucked under a seat – fill with a couple diapers, travel wipes, one receiving blanket, a plastic bag and an extra one-piece outfit or onesie
- refill with disposable wipes
- remove lid and store diapers upright in it on the changing table
- remove lid and use as a toy for playing in the sand or snow
- store little toys or art supplies

Buckets store kids' toiletries and make clearing the counters and cleaning the bathroom a snap.

I'm always on the lookout for new ideas for reusing items, so please share storage solutions that have worked in your home.

A Box for This, A Box for That

Over the last couple of weeks I've been getting the inspiration to get a bit more organized around here, especially in the little areas. You know, the areas that tend to annoy you because they are always a bit out of order or where you can't quickly find what you are looking for when you need it.

My accordion check file coupon organizer just wasn't working for me anymore. I needed more categories and more space to store the coupons, but didn't want to spend money on something that was supposed to be saving me money. We had a few spare baby wipes containers around the house so I gave it a shot. I took an empty clean container, drilled a hole on each end, strung a ribbon through the holes and knotted them on the inside of the box. For the dividers I typed up all the categories on the computer and spaced them according to how tall I wanted the dividers to stand in the box, printed them off on colored cardstock, cut them up and folded clear packing tape over the top edge to reinforce the card. So far it has been very handy and I've been able to locate coupons so much more quickly this way. Here is what it looks like.

Another area that needed to work better for me was my ribbon box. This is obvious from the "before" shot, ribbons thrown in there in a jumbled mess.

With the idea from this free magazine I put together a much more orderly box using a 6-quart plastic bin and a 3/8" dowel, cut to the appropriate length. I did not have the bin or dowel on hand, but in total this project was still under $2.50. And that's a small price to pay for so much order.
A business professor from my university days once made the statement, "Order creates energy." This idea has really stuck with me and I do believe it holds true, especially in regard to our home. When everything has a place and is in its place I do have more energy and am more enthusiastic about starting and completing whatever task is at hand.

Closet Redo

I've been getting a bit restless with our home lately. I guess I'm just ready for some changes so today on a whim I organized and revamped the boys' closet. I used what I had on hand and it worked out pretty well.

Here is how it started out. The double sliding doors have not been handy at all since we've had the both of the boys' clothes in the closet together.

After I removed the doors. It's not terribly messy, but I also don't want to see it this way all the time. And the "after" shot, with red gingham curtains hung from a spare shower curtain rod. Thanks for the fabric, Mom! I only spent about an hour sewing the curtains so that was a pretty quick fix. I also moved the changing table into the closet from another room. This arrangement will work better with clothes right by the changing station. Now I'm on the lookout for some stylish and/or functional tie-backs for when the curtains are open. The space for clothing has been reduced, but this will force us to keep their wardrobes a bit simpler and rotate clothes in and out for the seasons.

not-so-Extreme Makeover: Garage Edition

I'll start by saying that this turned out to be more of an "improvement" than a "makeover", but I'm still pleased with the results and have inspiration for some further improvements as the budget allows. Back in February I decided it was time to get the garage in order. I had hoped this little project would take less than a few weeks, but alas, I got sidetracked with other things. To hinder the cause, I was also saving household discards in the garage to give to a garage sale put on by a group of which I am a part. I came to a few realizations during this process. 1) Every home needs a place for things on their way in or out of the household. For us, this place is the garage and that is okay. 2) Done is better than waiting for the best timing to do a perfect and final job. I will have to revisit this project and once again, that's okay. 3) I'm a good starter, but not such a good finisher. I need to work on this for my own sake and for the sake of my family and my household. 4) Don't blog about a project you won't finish in a timely manner....see realization #3.


The total job could have been completed in a day, but because of the donations that needed to wait for the garage sale and recycling which needed to be dropped off, it took much longer. Basically I just put everything away and made specific places for our recycling to be stored as it accumulates so it doesn't get out of control. I also put up some hooks to hold the ladder on the wall and out of the way, swept it out and put down some new drip sheets under our vehicles.


Total time elapsed: way too long, actual work was about 3 hours
Total cost: $2 - for the ladder hooks.


Here are the after photos.
I'm glad that now everything is in relatively good order and we are not tripping over anything to get to the car. And, in keeping with the original goal, our garage is now doing a better job at welcoming us home. I can now cross this item off of my project list, at least for another year.

Organizational Challenge: the Basement

About 30 days ago I undertook the challenge of getting our basement organized, being motivated by the 30 Day Organizational Challenge. My goals were pretty simple, though I didn't have a real vision for what this space could become. My goals were:
- make it more aesthetically pleasing, orderly and easy to maintain
- define spaces for specific activities
- use organizational tools I already have whenever possible - my budget is under $40
- create storage systems that are easily maintained by all family members.

Here are my answers to the questions that are part of the challenge.
1. What was the hardest part of the challenge for you and were you able to overcome it?
The most difficult part of the challenge for me was organizing the kids' play areas with SO many toys. I think I've made a good start in the right direction, though I'm sure we will need to tweak this as time goes on. Also, it was very difficult to purge many toys because they do all get played with on a regular basis and with three kids in such a close age range I know they will be good for another kid or two even if our firstborn has already outgrown them. I'm not sure how much to involve them in this process or if this should just be done without their input. I also could have used a bigger budget to get a better wall system for toy storage.

2. Tell us what kind of changes/habits you have put into place in order for your area/room to maintain its new order.
Every item now has a designated home. We no longer have a large random toy bin. I think this will be especially helpful when it is time for us to clean up from playtime. The play area has been clearly defined with storage towers and rugs, so hopefully toys will remain in this area or at least return to this area when playtime is over. We hope to implement a system of only getting out one bin or type of toy per child at a time and have our children put them away before getting out something new to play with. This will be a matter of discipline not only for them, but for us as we supervise this.

3. What did you do with the "stuff" you were able to purge out of your newly organized space?
About three bags of garbage were pitched and an equal volume of cardboard from boxes we had saved were put out to recycling. The toys and crafting supplies which were eliminated went to an annual MOPS fundraiser garage sale at our church. A few loads of stuff were also taken to the garage where they will be more easily used.

4. What is the biggest lesson you have learned from this experience?
The biggest realization I'm having right now is that it is much easier not to acquire an excessive amount of stuff in the first place than it is to get rid of things, especially after the children have grown attached to it. Also, when things are not organized it is hard to keep track of supplies and use them up before buying more. I consolidated all the gift wrapping supplies in one area and all the gifts for later giving in another area so I'll easily be able to see what I have. Knowing what you have on hand helps with avoiding the temptation to buy more.

5. Now that you have completed the PROCESS, do you think having and keeping your space organized will make a difference in your life?
Absolutely! I am already looking forward to getting down to my crafting table, knowing that I won't have to clean it off just to work on a project.

Before Pictures

First thing you saw when entering the basement.
Toys, toys, everywhere....and this was not on a particularly messy day.
More toys, overcrowded bookshelf with stuff stacked high on the top, books near my husband's desk in no particular order.
The guest quarters....not too inviting.
Mom's craft area and gift wrapping area. Our file cabinet had no business being in that space.
After Pictures

I'm feeling sooooo much better about this area and look forward to enjoying it together as a family.

Here is the new first impression of the basement. The toys are now mostly stored in bins on two tower shelves joined together with a board. While it may still not look especially neat, everything now has a home and there is no longer a catch-all bin. The chrome shelving was purchased on a clearance for a total of $16 and the wood board was about $8, taxes included. The space underneath the wooden shelf is designated for parking of all riding and push toys. The chrome shelving could have been configured differently, but I put the top shelf low so as not to encourage dangerous climbing by children.

Room around the table to move freely and a clear table ready for coloring, writing and real or pretend meals.
A small bookshelf was freed up from the toy area for my husband's books to be stored at hand near his desk.
The guest quarters are now more hospitable and include the blue table to hold suitcases and other guest items.And finally the crafting and gift wrapping area. I tacked fabric I had on hand to the wall studs to eliminate some of the visual clutter from items stored underneath the stairs. The cabinet at left holds all crafting supplies inside and gift items on top. One caddy of papercrafting supplies and one other bin for projects on the go or to be put away was left out for easy access. A nail on the end of the wall holds gift bags looped on a luggage strap. Rolls of wrapping paper are hung in the white fabric drawstring bag.

It is refreshing to have this project complete. Now maybe I'll be able to catch up on a two year backlog of scrapbooking and photo organization with room to work.

Thanks to Laura for hosting this motivational event!

Next up: the garage.

Taming of the Basement

Well, I couldn't resist. I just had to join in on the 30 Day Organizational Challenge over here. I know, I know, I still haven't finished the garage from two months ago. And there are some good reasons for that, which I will post at a later date. I have decided to tackle the basement as best I can. Since it is unfinished it is not going to be very easy to define spaces, but I'll try anyway. So, without further ado, here are the before pictures.

Welcome to the basement.

Come in a little further and behold the toys.

Now to the library, gymnasium and office.

And our guest bedroom.

And finally, the craft and filing station.

Man, oh, man! Nothing like posting pictures to realize just how bad it looks. But really we do get a lot of function out of this nearly 800 square feet of unfinished space. Now if I can just make it aesthetically pleasing, orderly and easy to maintain. My few simple goals are:

- define spaces for specific activities

- use organizational tools I already have whenever possible - my budget for new tools is under $40

- create storage systems that are easily maintained by all family members.

Here goes nothing.

not-so-Extreme Makeover: Garage Edition

With spring just around the corner, I'm getting into the cleaning and organizing mood again. In addition, it is getting difficult to walk around our vehicles without brushing up against them. So we are headed to the garage to get it back into order. Since we've lived in a house of our own I've always felt that we should make it as nice to be in as we can without feminizing it too much. I figure if we go to an effort to make the front door to our home inviting for guests, we should also make our garage entry inviting for our own family, since that is the space that we see far more often than our own front door. Thus begins the yearly challenge to organize and clean the garage so it serves our needs, welcomes us home and is not filled with all the excess that the interior of our home can't contain. So over the next few weeks I'm going to be working at getting it in shape. I have a few goals for this: create sustainable systems so it just needs to be swept out from time to time and not reorangized, to not spend any money on new storage containers (this will be hard since I love uniform containters), to get rid of things we don't want or use and to make it feel spacious once again. To keep myself accountable on this, here are the "before" pictures. Hopefully one day soon I'll be able to post pictures of the improved version of our garage. It still won't look like the pages of some organizing magazine, but I'll do the best I can with what I have (i.e. not $10K for pretty cupboards and an epoxy garage floor).