Confessions

My sister, Rowdy Riffles http://rowdyriffles.blogspot.com/ inspired me to become an "Organized Homemaker". She told me all about this great book, Confessions of an Organized Homemaker, she had picked up from the bookstore. I am a sucker for organizations so I ran out to the locate Barns and Nobles and picked one up!
Disclaimer: I did not run 240 miles to the nearest Barns and Nobles, I waited till we took a day trip to San Antonio and then got a copy.

Rowdy Riffle bragged about how she had organized her pantry and labeled all her canisters. Oh, let me let you the envy was building within. All these great ideas she had gotten from reading this fabulous books. I never knew there were other people out there with the same obsessions as mine. I wasted no time and went right to work, of course trying to keep a budget in mind. First, I got white wire shelving from Home Depot and install it along the left hand side.

I love to hang things, I use finishing nails all over the place. If you open any closet in my house, the walls will be covered with things hanging up. Here I added two green wire racks from Ross, they hold all my spices and any other small bottle or jar.

I used "Hooks" to support the weight. I used two 50 lbs. hooks to hold up the shelving units. That means I could possibly hold a whopping 100bls of spices! Please don't get any ideas like I am an expert chef, I am sure most of the spices are expired.

I then labeled all my dry goods and placed them in stackable tubs.

As you can see there were already white wooden shelves installed, but the top sheld is placed at a weridly low height. That is why the stackable containers and large cereal boxes end up there.

Another close up is of my on-going grocery list. I also stole this idea from the book. I love having everything categorized and the best part is Hubby also writes down groceries that we need. I always have the list hanging right there for easy access. You can't see the pencil, but it's attached to the clip board.

Here is a sneak peak into my linen closet. This is to prove to you in case you didn't believe me that I hang almost everything. Hanging here is the swifter, mop, car washing brush, grout scrubber and head light. You never can tell when you may need to mop and use the head light at the same time!

The trash can and dog food are also kept in the pantry . I love having everything hidden away. Hub and I disagreed about where we should keep the dog food for a few months. He thought it should be in the white trash can, but in the kitchen where it was easily accessible. However, I was horrified at the thought that everyone could see it and didn't want it out in the open. So, every time he moved it to the kitchen ,I moved it back into the pantry. Note it's current location for the past 6 months. I feel victorious.

So there you have it.... the pantry in it's organized state. I do clean it out several times and year and reorganize it to fit my needs. But, I love the containers and my shelves. I hope you like these ideas. But, please give credit to where credit is due, all inspiration was from Confessions of an Organized Homemaker. To get your own copy click here:

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=Confessions+of+an+Organized+Homemaker&oe=UTF-8&cid=9188419341392040069

Closets deserve organization

Do you need more functional closet space, I did!

This is your typical base house walk in closet. Oh, it’s so nice to have a walk in closet. Have you ever seen such depth, such shelves and not one, but two clothes racks? When you first move in the amount of space is unbelievable! Then by the time you have unpacked all your boxes of clothes you realize this just isn’t going to work.

I tried several different arrangements with my closet. First, I brought wire shelves to utilize the space at the top of the closets. I found two extra large wire racks at Wal-Mart, and it held me for a few months. But, I still had so much unused space in my closet. I had to find a better solution. Then, I added a shoe hanger, to make more floor space. But, good gravy, I hated seeing the hooks on the out side of the door. I know, I have issues, but it really irritated me to see those hooks. Then I realized what I needed to do. I needed a whole closet renovation. I looked on line and found closet organizational plans.

http://www.easyclosets.com/startDesign.aspx

I played with it a little bit and figured out what dimensions would work. Then, with plans in hand I was ready to destroy the bedroom and play weekend warrior. Here is what I did. I brought this nifty little closet organizer from Home depot for $49.99. It is a little on the pricey side, but I splurged.

http://www.homedept.com/
ClosetMaid SelectivesT6 Selectives White Custom Closet Organizer 12 In. Wide
Model 7033
$49.99

I also needed something to take the place of that horrible shoe organizer that showed its nasty little hooks when the closet door was closed. I found adjustable shelves that you install on the grid stuff worked best. Shelves were like $4.00 a shelf and three to four pairs of shoes fit on a shelf.

See how I moved the main closet shelf? I literally removed it from its original location, which was way too short for me, and moved it to 63 inches high. I almost get a nose bleed just thinking about it. I now put seasonal clothes up there and my fancy shoes.

Now here is where the hillbilly in me broke out. See that extra rod, the one squeezed in between the real shelf and the real closet rod? Yes, that is a shower curtain rod. Not even a sophisticated installed one, it’s a twisty tension rod. I put my scrubs on that rod, but occasionally it will give way and tumble down. Which can make a very frightening noise at three o’clock in the morning.

So there you have it, totally renovated base house closet space. I love it! However, I think I am leaving my closet organizer to the next base housers.