Reclaiming our Spaces: Pam's Craft Area

It's been 2 weeks & now we are ready to reveal Pam's new craft area.  Here's what it looked like before:

Here's how it looks now:

She has done an amazing job! She installed shelves above her desk. On that desk she has labeled bins with all of her supplies. Her desk top is now free of clutter, so she now has a cutting area & a place for her surger. She used a cute little flower pot for pens on her desk. She also has basket there for pattern weights, shears, and french curves.

Everything that was on her desk is now sorted and put away. She emptied the loose bags & placed them in a giant laundry bin from Ikea so she can grab them as needed. She also ordered a handbag holder for her handbags. Yay for a neat, inviting space to create!!

I'm feeling inspired!

Do you have organizing dilemma? I'm interested in doing some online organizing problem-solving. Send me an email & we'll talk it over.

This week Holly worked on her kitchen. Here's a sneak peek:

5 Things You Can Do Right Now to Get More Organized

1)  Use storage furniture practically.  It feels very smart purchasing storage furniture, but if you just shove it full of whatever happens to be in the general area, you're not really any more organized.  You just have a new hidey hole.  Here's an example:

We have this HUGE storage ottoman in our living room.  It would be seriously easy to shove it full of all sorts of random things during quick clean-ups.  Before long it would be CRAZY.  Instead, we decided to fill it with all our board games.  When we have people over, it is super easy to get to them.  We are not having to dig them out of a closet somewhere.

Use your storage furniture for an intended purpose.  Fill it with things that are used in that area & do not allow it to be a place to shove stuff.

2)  Get rid of duplicates:  Once you organize your stuff, you realize just how much you have of everything.  For instance, I saw that I have like 8 medium vases!!

 When am I going to ever use that many?  At most, I would use 3 or 4 at a time.  Time to reduce.  I can start by getting rid of the ones I am least likely to use.

3)  Grab a trash bag.  Once per day, go through your house with a trash bag (Or a little waste basket or a small sack) & pick up the items laying around that are clearly trash.

4) Assign baskets.  The baskets can be labeled or color-coded for each person/room.  Let me tell you how it goes down at my house.  My 2 & 4 year olds tend to bring their items with them into whatever room they are in.  Me & my husband are also somewhat guilty of that too.  Aren't we all?  Anyway, the easiest way I have found to stay on top of this is to have a basket for each person.  At some point during the day, each person can grab their basket & fill it with items that belong in their room from all over the house.  (I take care of this for the hubs).

5)  Create a home for things that often end up on your dining room table.  We do crafts, coloring, Play-Dough, painting -- all kinds of stuff-- on our dining room table throughout the day.  If I didn't have a home for all these things, my table would be cluttered constantly.  So, I utilize the cabinets/closet nearby.  I don't just shove everything in there though.  It is organized & weeded through.


HAPPY WEEKEND Y'ALL!!
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I linked up with:

Reclaiming Our Spaces: Pam's Catch-All Space Part One

Last week Pamela Moore (an old college theater friend of mine) won the contest for some free organizing from me.  I wish I could physically go there & transform her space in person while she's out having a great time somewhere.  However, she lives 2 time zones away!!  So, we have been making due with pictures & Facebook messaging!! Ha!

She has so bravely let me show you some before pictures...

This is her catch-all room basically.  It has to work hard because this gal and her husband have A LOT of things going on. They are both burlesque entertainers! She also does costuming and he does vaudeville & writes. They are quite the dynamic duo! Always have been.

Bottom line? She needs a space to cut fabric & to be able to find everything she needs while she's working.

Her assignment has been:

1) Throw out/give away things that are no longer being used

2) Figure out what you want to keep in there & get bins to categorize it.

3) Hang a rod above the desk to clip works in progress

Next week I'll post the big reveal!

This week Holly worked on her craft closet. It turned out very cute! AND well organized. That lady's got skillz.

Reclaiming Our Spaces: Organizing on the Cheap & a Giveaway! GIVEAWAY CLOSED

CONGRATS to Pamela Moore!!  She wins FREE organizing help this week!  We will be working on a section of her craft area.  Tune in Thursday to see the results!

This week let's discuss what we use to organize.  Not every little organizer needs to come from The Container Store.  (Though, their stuff is pretty fun if it's in the budget!)  Let's talk about what we can use if it aint in the budget.  Know what I'm sayin?

I use left-over perfume boxes, toy packaging, & really all sorts of random containers to contain my stuff:

This is a holiday perfume gift set box that I have been using since 2004!  I keep my jewelry in it right now:

I also like to gather fancy-looking containers to keep on my counter.  The white tray was a TJ Maxx find.  Pretty sure it was like $5.99.  Then there is a little porcelain plate & old Avon cream holder I found at garage sales.  Super inexpensive, but they make me smile.

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Ok, here's the giveaway part:  I am offering to *virtually* organize a room for one of you.  You send me pictures of your space.  I will tell you what I would do to organize your space.  I will hang with you through your whole process from Monday to Wednesday.

Here's the deal:

1)  Gotta take before & after pics

2)  Gotta work on it this week, so we can post about next Thursday

I'll pick a winner Sunday night.

MAKE SURE YOU DO EACH STEP OF THE GIVEAWAY.


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This week Holly talked about Organizing your Time.