A Simple Improvement For Any Closet

Everybody has a space in their house that could use a little organization.  In my case, there are several... in fact, I think every single closet has become a dumping ground this winter.  I decided to tackle one of our closets.

Several weeks ago, I attempted to organize this closet a little better by simply removing a dozen pairs of shoes.  Some got thrown away because they were so worn, they would never get any use again.  Others, made their way upstairs since they were out of season and wouldn't be used with the snow on the ground anyway.  The shoes stayed neat and lined up for about 14 hours...

Simple Chest Freezer Organizational Board

Today I'm posting with an amazing group of ladies who #1) love their Silhouette Machine and #2) Just want to get organized this month!  So be sure to check out some of the other projects!  They are ALL pin worthy!

We have a chest freezer to keep all of our bulk items that we go through often.  The problem with chest freezers, is things tend to go into a far off land and forgotten about in there unless you know for sure what's in there and what you need.

We Like This Freezer

I've made several written lists and tried keeping it in the kitchen where I could update it each time I took something out.  This worked okay for about the first week until my helpful husband would take a large batch of items out with out me knowing or without marking the list.  He can't be all to blame, either.  I was just as guilty.  I was especially guilty of misplacing, throwing away, or hiding that list out of view.

My solution?  A huge dry erase board that would be located right on top of the freezer door.  Using command strips, I was able to attach the board to the freezer semi-permanently.  Now, out of sight, out of mind is no longer an acceptable excuse!

I made the grids using fine tip permanent markers.  Then, used my amazing Silhouette machine to cut out the letters.  I used just a classic black vinyl for the contents and a silver vinyl for the titles of each category.  The best part is, if we ever stop buying an item, I can easily peel off the letters to make room for something else.  I also left some extra spaces at the far left to be able to write in items (with a dry erase marker) that we don't typically keep, but happen to have in the freezer at the time.  I used a fine tip dry erase marker to easily write in the numbers as well as easily wipe them off in a hurry.

Have you been using January to get organized once in and for all?  I have a confession to make... this is the only thing I've done to become a little more organized.  But I'll tell you all about that big announcement later ;)  Can you guess would it could be?  I've taken a pretty long blogging vacation ;) 

Want to see a blast from the past (or this summer?) Check it out:

Garage Car Maintenance Board

Well, please visit my dear friends and see what sort of organizing they have been up to!  (They have far more energy than I do, that's for sure!!)  Be sure to hop around and leave some blogging love comments!

Until next time,

Janice

DIY Window Shutter Mail Organizer by Weekend Craft

Kids' Art Wall by Tried & True

Organizing Silhouette and Craft Supplies by The Happier Homemaker

Simple Recipe Organization by It's Always Craft Time

Put a Label on it! Herb Names for Plant Stakes by Get Silvered

Super Simple Linen Closet Labels by Two Purple Couches

Beware of the Animals Vinyl Toy Box by A Tossed Salad Life

Child desk accessories by Architecture of a Mom

Organizing & the Important of Labels by The Turquoise Home

Index Card Organizer for Easier Meal Planning by Chicken Scratch NY

Create Craft Room Labels by Dragonfly & Lilypads

Simple Storage Solution for your Christmas Ornaments by Vintage News Junkie

Organize this: DIY Planner Covers, Tags & Dividers (made with Cereal Boxes) by Black and White Obsession

How to Make a Cut File into a Print & Cut by Create & Babble

Simple Chest Freezer Organizational Board by Nearly Handmade

Vinyl Your Kitchen Canisters! by From Wine to Whine

Nursery Closet Dividers & Silhouette Cut File by Creative Ramblings

Make Custom Box Templates with a Silhouette for Drawer Organization by One Dog Woof

Organizing the Craft Room by What's Next Ma

Vinyl Wall Calendar by Crafts Cakes and Cats

Personalized Toy Storage Bins by Lil' Mrs. Tori

Personalized Routine Chart by Work in Progress

Blog Planner Sheet Dividers + Free Cut Files by TitiCrafty by Camila

Simple Project Calendar by Little Blue's Room

Dry Erase Photo Frame Menu Board + Free Cut File by Essentially Eclectic

Receipt Organization with Free Cut File by The Thinking Closet

Cute and Easy Labels by Life After Laundry

"What's For Dinner?" Menu Planning Board by unOriginal Mom

Mixing Organization and Function: An Easy Conversion Chart by My Paper Craze

Why do my cookies taste so bad? A lesson in baking. by The Life and Times of a TAP

Custom Drawer Dividers by Please Excuse My Craftermath...

The evolution of my labeling system by feto soap

Ikea Drawer labels by McCall Manor

Glass Etched Vinegar  & Oil bottles by Terri Johnson Creates

Organize It: Bathroom Closet by The House on Hillbrook

Ombre Butterfly Magnet Board by Sowdering About

Friday Find: How to Fold a Fitted Sheet

This may have been the greatest thing I have ever seen.  It takes me longer than 30 seconds to wad my fitted sheet up into a wrinkly, large mess.  This guy uses some sort of witch craft, I'm sure, but he give us all something to aspire to.  Am I right?  

Well, I hope you are all running off to re-fold your fitted sheets.  Get it done now so the rest of your weekend will be super peaceful knowing your sheets are nice and tidy.  OR!  Just keep that linen closet closed and enjoy your weekend anyway!

Janice

Car Maintenance Board

Bryan, my husband, has been wanting one of these ever since he saw one very similar to this one in my dad's garage. Of course since I've been busy trying to beautify and organize his garage, his car maintenance board had to be the same!

Garage Goodies

 I promised a bigger picture of how the garage is turning out after attempting to once and for all get this area organized (or at least until the next big project wrecks this place).

Oh, this dreaded before shot... Obviously we don't normally live with a pile of lumber in the center of our garage.  However, we did somehow manage to live without a single hook on the wall!  If you're living in a hook-less garage, stop the madness!

Our Cleaning Lists

I've been using a cleaning list as a guideline for a couple of years now.  My first started out in a 1/2 inch binder and I would print out new sheets every week.  Well, I got tired of dragging out a binder and printing out lists.. Or just ignoring the cleaning when I didn't feel like printing things out that week.  True story.  I'm pretty terrible at getting my to-do list done unless I have a checklist goal right in front of me.  Even truer story, I still like to ignore certain things on my checklists that I just really don't want to do.  I know I'm not the only one.

Well, in order to avoid making more work for myself each week, I made myself a cleaning list that's reusable and readily accessible (to all family members).  Maybe they'll help out?

Hawaii 2013: Photo Book

Once the kiddos got to bed, I spent the majority of the night working on our Hawaii photo book.  My mom gave me a code for $20 off a photo book.  Score! Thanks mom!  I try to never pay full price for these little gems.  I love using photo books over printed pictures for so many reasons.  The cost is significantly less per picture, and the organizational factors are above all else.

We do any major vacations as a separate book but then also make a "Family Year Book", too!

Here are a couple high lights from our vacation in photo book format:

Spring Cleaning: Master Bathroom Closet

How is it that areas of the house always seem to get out of order just when you think you've tamed them?  I have this love hate relationship with our linen closet in our master bathroom.  I love it as soon as I clean it out and organize it.  I hate it when I have to do the dirty work.

This is what greeted me as I went to get a new towel this morning from our closet.  It's wanting to be organized with pretty white baskets and everything.  But things are just out of control!