Sweet Emma Grace turned 2 this weekend! These sparkly shoes were just made for dancing!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Day #11- Jewelry
I have a jewelry organizer hanging on the inside of my "barn" door. It was organized and then it got too full and overflowed.
New Design:
I used pushpins to hang my necklaces on the door. With all of my necklaces in sight, it makes accessorizing much easier. It also allows me to have 1-2 items per divider and not stuffed full so that I can't see anything.
Pictures to be posted soon.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Day #10- Makeup
In the picture above, the drawer on the left is what I am keeping and the other two drawers I have already disposed of. Here is a picture of my newly organized vanity. Next step-- refinishing it and hanging the mirror!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
#9-Simple and Clean
Monday, February 8, 2010
#8- Start Fresh
Sunday, February 7, 2010
#7- Group with similar items
Saturday, February 6, 2010
#6- DVD Storage
Friday, February 5, 2010
#5- Write it down
Anyone else think that they can keep their calendar completely in their head? Doesn't always work does it? Today I updated my February Outlook calendar with both my personal and work calendars together. I color coordinated each activity and also synced it with Google calendar so that I can access it from home. My head feels much clearer and I will spend less time thinking about what I have to do each week and be able to plan out my evenings better.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
#4- Bathroom Shelving
I love the shelving unit that is in my bathroom. The family I used to nanny for gave me several pieces of furniture from Pottery Barn that they were no longer using. I share it with two roommates so each of us have a shelf. It was looking a bit cluttered and there is no hiding clutter with the glass front so I decided it was time to organize. The only organizational item that I added was a small melamine bowl on my shelf to catch my hair rubber bands and bobby pins.
Cleaning this out took only 5 minutes and it feels oh so good!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Day #3- Put your purse on a diet
What a mess!
When thinking about my areas of my life that get the most cluttered, my purse is near the top of the list. Whenever I need to take something to work, I throw it in my purse. When I receive a receipt, I throw it in my purse. When I get a new lip gloss, I throw it in my purse. My record for most lip glosses in my purse at one time is 8. It is embarrassing to be in the checkout line and not be able to find my checkbook because there is too much stuff in my purse.
Purse Organization Plan... also known as my POP :)
1) Envelope for receipts so they are not scattered all over my purse and I can file them when I get home from shopping.
2) Put change in my wallet in order to limit the amount that I carry around
3) Have designated pockets for specific items so that they are easy to find.
4) Be a purse minimalist-- no more than 10 items!
Current Purse Weight- 4 lbs 11 oz.
Purse Inventory:
20 crinkled reciepts
10 Culver's coupons
9 chocolate turtles
5 earrings-- one lost its mate
4 hair rubber bands
3 lip glosses
3 ticket stubs
2 hair clips
2 blank Thank You cards
2 granola bars
2 checkbooks
1 pair of earphones
1 pearl necklace/bracelet
1 Ipod cord
1 Large brush
1 set of keys
1 cell phone
1 wallet
$3.21 worth of change
New Purse Weight- 2 lbs 10 ounces
New Inventory:
Bag for receipts, wallet, cell phone, keys, lip gloss, pen, checkbook, a few hair accessories contained in one pocket.
I lost 2 purse pounds. Now if dieting could be this easy...
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Day #2 Make a realistic to do list
When I get overwhelmed, I often make a to-do list. Not just any to-do list but I write down everything that I could possibly think of that needs to get done at some point in the next month.
Here is an example of a list for one day:
1) Make 6 batches of cookies
2) Edit 300 photos
3) Returns items to 5 different stores
4) Finish my scrapbooking projects
5) Clean the entire house
5) Clean the entire house
6) Do 4 loads of laundry
7) Iron an entire stack of clothes
and the list goes on and on
No wonder it feels like I never accomplish anything. Instead of continuing to make huge lists, I plan to now make realistic lists with between 5-10 small tasks.
Here is a revised list:1) Buy ingredients to make cookies
2) Edit photos for 30 minutes
2) Edit photos for 30 minutes
3) Return sweater to TJ Maxx
4) Finish one page in scrapbooking project
5) Clean the bathroom
6) Do one load of laundry
7) Iron clothes for 20 minutes
All of a sudden I feel much more motivated to accomplish these things, knowing that I can cross something off of my list. I may not get to every item on my list today but at least then I will start with those things when I made tomorrows list. I had a friend in college who was so scheduled that she would actually write down "Take Shower" and "Eat Lunch." Of course we gave her a ridiculously hard time for this but it worked for her.
Here is my list for today. Since it is a work day, I have written only things I plan to accomplish after work.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Why I have decided to unclutter in 28...
2010... time for New Years resolutions...blah, blah, blah. Know what my two goals are every year? Exercising and getting organized. So far exercising is going well. I mean, give it another week or two until I am burnt out but it is February, aka National Chocolate month, after all so dieting goes out the window. Why does getting organized seem so overwhelming and why do I seem to fail each year? (Also, why is it that if you do fail, you find that the best solution is to wait until the following January to try again.) Failing generally comes down to not having a plan. I love looking at Better Homes and Gardens, Real Simple, Pottery Barn magazines, etc. but getting my house to look like that seems like it is miles away. Because I am not willing to spend lots of money on new furniture and organizing systems to get this look, does this mean I can never reach my goal? Maybe I need to set a more realistic goal. Here it is...drum roll please... I want life to be simple... I want my living spaces to be clean... and I want to be reenergized.
How am I going to get there? For the next 28 days, I will implement one organizing element or tip into my life each day and post my results. So why 28 days beginning in February?
1) It look me a month to get motivated to start my New Years Resolution.
2) February is cold and boring... so why not spend my time inside now so that I can be outside when the weather is nice?
3) I am have been wanting to join the blogging world for awhile and I don't have kids to dote over so organizing is a good excuse.
4) Just to prove that it is possible to begin organizing in a month other than January.
5) February has 28 days and 28 days is two less days than any other month and therefore less work. See... my procrastinating has paid off.
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