You Down With O-R-G? Yeah You Know Me.
Yes, that’s a Naughty By Nature reference. But why O-R-G? That’s $herdog’s abbreviation for organizing. I’ve gotta be honest. Our house hasn’t been this trashed/chaotic/messy since we moved in 16 months ago. Seriously, I’m not talking about a little dist around the baseboards or some streaks on the windows, I’m talking about serious stuff like not being able to locate anything in our completely ridiculous sink drawer:
So although we have two entire sections of our Projects page dedicated to cleaning and organizing posts of yore, there hasn’t been much of that going on lately. At all. It all started to fall apart back in Jan/Feb during three weeks of book shoots in our house (with a crew of people, and a ton of moving/painting/general insanity) that left our house looking like this…
Why would other things like our sink drawer go downhill too? The only way I can explain it is that it’s a slippery slope. When you’re juggling secret book projects, regular blog projects/posts, and baby care while a bunch of folks are in your house shooting over 150 different book photos that you’re DIYing and styling yourself, you just don’t have a minute to breathe during the day. And once the baby goes to sleep and the crew leaves, you think you’ll tackle stuff at night, but since they’re all coming back in the morning (and you have 20 more projects to finish, style, and walls to paint before they arrive in the am) it feels like you’re working two shifts and you don’t even remember what day it is let alone where the deodorant should go.
And between writing posts, doing projects, raising a toddler, and birthing this book baby of ours (we’re still proofing 200 page stacks of layouts, completing the resources section, and finalizing the cover) it feels like we’ll never have time to put our house back together. Unless we officially declare whipping our insanely unorganized casa back into shape as Project Numero Uno in a week-long bootcamp of sorts. So we’re doing it!!! Hang on to your hats. It’s gonna get messy. And then hopefully clean (with a giant yard sale pile at the end of the rainbow). And we’d love for you guys to hop on the spring cleaning train with us! Speaking of which, we got a head-start this weekend (forgive us) since we needed a Monday post to kick things off. First, I decided to make the cabinets under our dining room built-ins say my name. That’s right, I literally whispered “Say my name” to my cabinets. Winner.
Then I took everything out. Well, I took about three things out and was already over it, so I padded over to the computer and put on some tunes (Nicki Minaj then Eminem then a little vintage Britney). And I did some mild to moderate head bopping (but zero freestyle rapping) as I removed every last book, magazine, and other random object that found its way in there (many books and mags are stored in there since the built-ins aren’t deep enough for them).
I made piles. Piles of each magazine (Domino, Cottage Living, House Beautiful, Blueprint, and BHG & other Meredith mags like DIY). I also tried to stack my books by subject (pregnancy/health/green, chick lit, decor/design, and teen fiction like Hunger Games & Twilight – haha). I’ll say it again. Winner.
Oh and see those white things on the bottom of the pic above? They’re actually old shelves from the built-ins that we removed since it was way too crowded up there (more on that here), so we shoved them into the cabinet in case we changed our mind and wanted to crowd the cabinets with too many shelves again (why????). It was a bad call. Over a year later they’ve just collected dust and wasted space, so off to John’s scrap wood pile in the basement they went.
Then I wiped down the shelves (they were grosser than I’d like to admit) with good ol’ white vinegar. It cleans things and kills odors at the same time (they sort of smelled like an old storage room). Wiping the entire cabinet only took about half of Hit Me Baby One More Time. So worth it.
Then I slowly put things back in, grouping stuff that made the most sense, and stacking them in a way that I thought would be easiest to maintain while allowing me to store everything and see almost all of it. Instead of standing everything up (knowing I’d pull something out and everything would topple) I made small stacks of things that I can see beyond and can easily remove each stack to reach something in the back row.
Ahhh, order. How I love thee. Let me count the ways Domino magazines.
Of course about 10% of the books and mags that came out ended up in a yard sale pile I’ve started in the guest room closet. It’s nice to admit that I’m not going to read something again and give someone else a chance.
Oh and you might be wondering where all my hard cover decorating books are (other than stacked in plain sight on the console, on the built-in shelves, and on the top of our office file cabinet). Well, the two ottomans in the hallway under the console (you know, that sits in our hallway o’ frames) are filled with them. But they don’t runneth over so I don’t think I have a decorating book problem. Yet.
At this point my brain hurt from thinking too hard about what to group with what, what to put in the yard sale pile, etc. But I still had a bunch of random decor related items sitting around looking for a home (remember in the before pic there were faux gourds, vases, and candlesticks shoved in there too?). So it was time to deal with the cabinet under the built-ins on the other side, which is where I keep all of my candlesticks, vases, and various decor-related-items. That side had gone to h-e-double-hockey-sticks too.
It was so bad that I started stashing overflow items in the book/magazine cabinet on the other side. Not good. Time to pare things down, group them so they make sense again, add stuff to the yard sale pile, and generally get my stuff together under there. But wait, there’s more…
Yup, I also overflowed stuff into the new corner cabinet in our kitchen. But about half of the things in there actually belonged there since they were kitchen/food/serving related (like a cake stand or a salad bowl). So I decided to turn the corner cabinet in the kitchen into only serving/food related storage and pare down my decor stuff so it would hopefully all fit in the single cabinet under the built-ins in the dining room.
Once again, the first step was taking everything out. This time I listened to various Glee versions of songs, more Nicki Minaj, and old school Snoop & Dre. Picture me singing “Ain’t nothing but a clean thing bay-bay. I got so many candles it’s cray-zay.”
I also emptied the corner cabinet in the kitchen. For reference that peninsula counter is five feet long by three feet wide. Blort.
Then I pulled out every last item I didn’t use/need/want for my growing yard sale pile and grouped everything else by item (ex: all vases in one spot, all candlesticks in one spot). Then back in it went after a quick vinegar wipe-down.
It juuuuuuust fit. A loose description of what’s going on in here now is that the top right quadrant has candle holding devices, the bottom right quadrant has vases and planters, the bottom left quadrant has various vase filler and a few other random decorative items, and the top left quadrant has all of my tabletop decor that gets rotated in and out pretty much all the time.
But where did all those crazy candles go? Well, many of them used to live in our first house’s living room fireplace (on a big silver platter) but since we now have a toddler who gets into everything, I just saved a few of the better looking ones and put them in a candle drawer of their own. How novel! This small cabinet in the dining room was empty (it’s actually a night table, but we thought it worked nicely in here), so I commandeered one drawer for candle storage. And the rest of my too-large candle collection went into the yard sale pile. Update: I’ve added two plastic place mats to the bottom of the drawer to protect it from any potential waxiness.
Huzzah! Now the corner cabinet in the kitchen only has kitchen-related items, like serving dishes, bowls, plates, trays, a cake stand, etc.
And there’s room to spare in there. Lookout John. Momma feels a shopping spree coming on. Just kidding, I’m way too tired. But I better buck up, because there’s still lots to do this week. And we’d love for you guys to join our bootcamp and clean/organize/pare down along with us! Here’s our schedule:
- Monday: Since we shared how we organized a few cabinets, feel free to tackle one or two of your own (you could also just dive into books and decorative accessories, wherever you keep them)
- Tuesday: Taming kid clutter is on our agenda (if you don’t have kiddos, any clutter-wrangling works)
- Wednesday: We’ll cover how we pare down our grooming & cleaning products (feel free to tackle yours and share your tips too)
- Thursday: Let’s get on some paper/tech org (we’re aiming for some blog streamlining, but you can take on anything from digital photos or cleaning up your desktop to filing paperwork or receipts)
- Friday: Ahhh, we miiiight let you see our basement. Gotta work up the courage. So maybe plan a little basement or garage cleanup on your end?
- Bonus: We also hope to tackle clothes (make sense of our dresser and maybe do some slight closet shifting) and our clutter-fied night tables at some point – here’s hoping!
Of course that’s tentative since we’re blogging in real time, but we can’t wait to report back and hear how you guys are doing. Have you already been doing some spring cleaning/organizing or any general house streamlining? Are you down to do it with us? What music keeps you from going out of your mind while cleaning and organizing? Or do you favor an audio book/TV/NPR? That sounds like a good time too.
Hanna says
I tackled our pantry yesterday. It. Was. Sad. I threw away a can of baked beans that expired in 2001 (!!!!) That is BEFORE we even lived here, which means I packed and brought an expired can of beans from one house to another.
I think I said “what is WRONG with me?” like a dozen times.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, so funny about those 11 year old beans!
xo,
s
Melissa says
I’m so excited about this week! Can’t wait to read more!
Carli says
Yay! So excited to organize along with you guys!! Well…not the actual cleaning part that I am going to be SO over within 2 minutes of starting. But the ‘gettin-r-done’ part of things. I’m definitely excited for that. I’ll be sure to have my own pop playlist pumping for added motivation.
Thanks for instigating. Looking forward to a less cluttered home at the end of this week :)
April says
Can you please post a list of what vinegar cleans? I am in the process of moving and am trying to use up my cleaners. I want as many naturals alternatives as possible in my new home and vinegar is cheap to buy. Thanks!!!!
April
YoungHouseLove says
Check out this post: https://www.younghouselove.com/2009/10/clean-up-your-act-all-natural-homemade-cleaners/ Hope it helps!
xo,
s
NatalieM. says
I started on our bathroom closet and so far 3 days later it makes me smile every time I need a q-tip :)
Sarah says
Aww man! I already finished my spring cleaning. I just had a garage sale over the weekend too.
Can’t wait to see your cleaning transformations! :)
Jennifer says
Congrats on Stage 1 of organizing. I also am working on this step by step in my apartment this month. I had a thought about your decor cabinet. What about putting like items into label shoe boxes? I did that for similar cabinets in our apartment and it worked really well. It feels more organized, and you can pull out a whole box of something at once. Good luck with the rest of your house!
YoungHouseLove says
That definitely could work! I think I like to see everything when I open those doors so for now I’ll go boxless, but if I need them to stay grouped I’ll add them down the line for sure!
xo,
s
ilana says
Did you see that article on Jezebel on Hipster racism, and using hip-hop and “ghetto” phrases to refer to really mundane upper-class things?…..
YoungHouseLove says
I never saw that, so I’ll have to check it out. I’m an honest fan of rap/hip-hop so I’m just using pop culture references from my high school years. I regularly quote songs of all genres that I listened to growing up and I’m definitely not racist (I have blood relatives of nearly every race/religion and love my diverse/crazy/worldly family). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Hannah says
I just read that post on Jezebel, but it has nothing to do with this post. Sherry didn’t call anything ghetto or make any ironically racist jokes like “this is my black friend.” Did you honestly read that article and think this post had anything to do with it? As Sherry mentions, she and John often quote song lyrics of all kinds. I love this site because it’s never demeaning to anyone. It’s a gosh darn happy place.
RVA Born and Raised says
I would suggest taking the leftover shelves and placing them in built-in-cabinet-#2, making it a two shelf, three section space. Looks like most of the items are short enough, and it would maximize storage.
I would love to go to your yard sale…just saying.
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh that could work if they were the right length (there’s no center piece of wood in the cabinets below like the built ins, but we could always add one. Smart idea!
xo
s
Amber Wallace says
I love when your post title has a song reference. I end up singing along to your whole post :) I have been in major organizing mode. It started with our garage this weekend. http://notedhome.blogspot.com/2012/04/my-weekend.html
Followed by organizing all the clothes my kids just grew out of and will fit into from the garage. Today I am doing all the laundry from that. I’m hoping that your full week of organizing posts will help me keep on trucking! I have lots to do! Thanks for the motivation!
YoungHouseLove says
Wow, you’ve done so much already! Congrats!
xo,
s
Sherri @ House & Home{stead} says
I should really jump on board – maybe an organizing week for next week on my blog. I have so many areas that need addressing with this it’s not even funny.
Lea says
My evenings last week were cleaning/sorting/purging–glad to see the spring cleaning bug getting into other folks too! It always feels so nice to get everything pared down, and then “have a place for everything and everything in its place.” I share a tiny apartment, so keeping that pack-rat personality in check has become super important!
Good luck!
Lauren says
Kind of ironic that you posted this today! Last night I told my husband I was going to put him on a “diet” to try and cut the clutter. Tuesdays are now going to be “take out and throw out” night.
Kathy says
Ahh, last weekend we tackled the closets. Our accountant told us we need to start making more trips to Goodwill (usually I just toss the clothes in the free drop off bins). We each took one bag.. but unfortunately, my husband’s closet is still overflowing. Seriously, the man has more clothes than I do, it’s insane. But what I think I’ll do is move a lot of his clothes from bins & bags and onto hangers in the spare bedroom closets. That way I can wrangle all our seasonal decor into the bins and up into the attic.
On my end, I just rearranged my “beauty supplies” drawers from my closet to under the bathroom sink and got rid of so much stuff I wasn’t using. Now, everything is easy to find AND I have more room for shoes! Win-Win.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- that’s totally win-win!
xo,
s
Kerrie says
For your accountants sake make sure to keep a list of what you take with the date and then get the donation slip from the drop off people at Goodwill. Our lists go something like this… 3 Men’s long sleeve shirts, 2 Women’s dresses, 1 kitchen mug, 1 pair Men’s tennis shoes.
It is very helpful come tax season, good luck.
YoungHouseLove says
Great tip!
xo,
s
LARY@ Inspiration Nook says
Sherry,
Thanks for making me feel horrible for all the laundry I have to tackle once and for all. All because I gave my boyfriend a valentines coupon saying I will do it, Never again! HAHA
This post might make me do it all tonight. LOL :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, good luck with all that laundry! Those coupons are dangerous!
xo,
s
Gina @ Temporary Nest says
Oh man. My Sunday night consisted of some SERIOUS organizing. I just upcycled a new-to-me filing cabinet and I’m finally taking all my rogue papers(that are in baskets and hidden in closets) and organizing them in to the cabinet and it took me several hours last night… and I still have more work ahead of me tonight!! EEK! Good for you for reorganizing. Plus, you get that occasional “I forgot about this guy! I’ll have to use him!” moment. Love those :)
Go be your Bad self $herdog! ;)
Jenni Hardy says
I just love that you showed all your messiness before and after! We are in the middle of Spring cleaning at our house too! We are moving into a new house August 10th and having a baby August 2nd so we are trying to declutter, reorganize, pack(while I still can) and get stuff together for a yard sale. Your blog is really going to motivate this pregnant girl to keep it going this week! Thanks.
Rena says
I think this is going to be my fave week! (organizing junkie here)
Sarah says
great minds think a like!! :P i did some organizing over the weekend and was tackling my desk before i decided it was time to take a break and check on my favorite blog (yhl)!! yeah for decluttering!
my little tip: i have meals planned/made on days when i plan to declutter/do projects. that way i take less time away from what i was doing or i just don’t have the energy to think. as a mom of 3, my tummy is not the only one that gets hugry!
YoungHouseLove says
Smaaaaaart!
xo,
s
cas says
AHHHH im right there with you. we have our huge neighborhood garage sale this weekend…it is my goal to do one room a day (started last friday) and get everything out that i havent used in the last year.
I keep telling myself “its ok… im going to make SOOOOO MUCH MONEY on the garage sale, ill rebuy it if i ever realise i need it later….. :-/
Sabrina says
Anybody else mentally add a Y to that title? You down with ORGY? Just me? I’ll show out.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, someone else commented that the way the url got cut off on their phone it literally said orgy since “yeah” starts with a y. Haha! Totally not intentional!
xo,
s
Ashley says
Just an idea, but what about an e-garage sale? Post a listing of pictures with prices and a note that shipping will be added to the price. You’d probably be able to unload a lot of goodies on your readers who are loving everything in your home right now! Like a mini ebay or something and then everything else could go to a local garage sale? Potentially a lot of work, but just a thought. :) Thanks for the organization tips – it’s been a spring cleaning kind of month for sure!
YoungHouseLove says
I thought about that a bit, but shudder at the thought of having to box everything up and ship it all (I’m so bad at even sending out one of two ebayed items a year out). It would be like moving all over again, wrapping breakables with bubble wrap and all that. I also think I like the saved emissions of local folks just bringing them home with them too – ya know? But I’m sure nearly everything we sell at our yard sale is probably something anyone could find at yard sales/thrift stores/places like TJ Maxx/HomeGoods in their hometown! Or on ebay! Haha.
xo,
s
Jackie says
What a coincidence, we just started spring cleaning this weekend at our house as well! We tackled clothes and paperwork organization/paring down this weekend. We also hit up The Container Store (or as I like to call it: Mecca). So this week we’ll hopefully be consolidating the boxes upon boxes of film stuff my boyfriend owns into only one or two. I’m pretty sure his closet is the cousin to your before pictures in this post. :) Thanks for the inspiration, I can’t wait to get started again tonight!
Amy says
That looks a lot like my life! I tried a tip I found on Pinterest and made magazine storage out of two empty Cos.tco-sized cereal boxes. I worked perfectly. Now the mags I can’t bare to rip apart and recycle are organized by title, standing up and neatly corralled. No more pesky falling-over stacks!
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds awesome!
xo,
s
Meredith says
My birthday is on Sunday and I LOVE organizing, so I feel like you’re doing this week just for me! (You are, right?) Best birthday present ever!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- yes! Happy birthday Meredith!
xo,
s
Marjo says
Having recently moved into smaller quarters and completely reorganized EVERYTHING, I notice that you seem fond of stacking. Some stacking is good. But for printed materials like magazines, setting them up using bookends like in a library can actually work better and allow access to one issue without moving lots of other issues. With vases and odd shaped items, judicious use of the plastic covered wire shelf expanders can mean easier access and a lot less wasted space. Way to go with getting organized!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Marjo! The magazines used to be stood up but every time I pulled one or a stack out the rest of them would topple and flop over! They just were a total mess, so I decided to try stacking. We’ll have to see how it goes!
xo,
s
Kaysce says
I’m so doing this bootcamp on my parents house! I started on Friday without my Mom’s cooperation. I’m afraid they will end up on hoarders. I have vacation so I can do it while they are at work:)
Deirdre says
Perfect timing! My husband and I spent the past year building a second home which has meant that our first house has been seriously neglected. There is a lot of deep cleaning to happen and a lot of organization and decorating to occur. I got on this band wagon a few weeks ago and have been tackling a different room each weekend. It’s so nice on Sunday evening to see that progress is being made and that one more corner of my house is functioning properly. This past weekend I organized and rearranged my craft room, which use to be a guest room/office, and my husband tackled the garage and basement. This week I will also be working on my bathroom and the accumulation under the sink and our nightstands so I look forward to your tips. Spring is such a great time of year for me to put my life together. Happy organizing!
And the music is all from Pandora. The stations this past weekend included, 80s Pop Radio, Crooked Still, Maroon 5, Sugarland, and Black Eyed Peas.
Cassie Helwig says
I just moved and got rid of a lot of clutter when I packed AND when I unpacked… and I have a big family yard sale scheduled for May 10 & 11, which means there’s a deadline for me to finish unpacking!
I’m going to use your schedule but apply it to getting through these last few boxes!
JennP says
I saved a TON of my daughter’s baby clothes, not knowing if we’d ever get to use them again. 2 weeks ago, when the sonographer said, “it’s another girl”, I got right to work on the many many piles of accumulated, outgrown clothing. It’s been so nice to get them washed, folded and moved into the nursery!
YoungHouseLove says
Hah, that’s so much fun! Congrats!
xo,
s
Pam the Goatherd says
I did a major cleaning for Easter, so won’t be doing any more on that for a while. Right now I’m focused on cleaning up my chicken coop in time for my new batch of chicks to arrive next week. When I say “coop” I really mean “palace”. The entire building is 16’x16′, divided into four 8’x8′ rooms. One room has my nesting boxes and is where my mature laying hens live. One room is my brooder where the new chicks will go to be kept warm under heat lamps and fed special chick feed just for them. One room is strictly for feed storage. And one room is a work room where I keep tools and have a work table.
Recently I’ve had a mink getting into the coop for chicken dinners, so my big job right now is getting hardware cloth (heavy duty wire mesh) down on all the dirt floors and stapled to the baseboards. Then the next task is screening the eaves with more hardware cloth so raccoons can’t climb the walls and come in that way. I’m becoming a chicken security expert!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I love it! You need a badge that says “Chicken Security Expert” stat!
xo,
s
Angie says
This post makes me want to join the cleaning spree… There’s some places like the bottom of my buffet and our office that could use some cleaning. Just need to actually get myself to do it XD
So thumbs up to you guys!
Jillian {Her Split Ends} says
A: I am so inspired and have caught the organizing bug {so much so that i’m tempted to leave work…go home “sick” and organize the crap out of my house!!}
B: I love the group like items together…it seems like such a no brainer…but as i think about it i realize i do NOT have that going on right now
Cheers!!
~ Jillian
http://www.hersplitends.com
Jenni says
This post couldn’t have come at a more perfect time! We are doing a moving/spring cleaning (woohoo!), plus getting ready for a garage sale on Friday. (Luckily it’s at our friend’s house, so all we have to do is show up with our stuff ready to sell!) Can’t wait to see how you guys organize and what cleaning products you are using nowadays.
Sassy Apple says
Your post brought a few tears to my eyes. After my own purge, in which things were packed up to Goodwill, I discovered I accidentally packed up my husband’s grandmother’s hand quilted crazy quilt with other give aways. Now I have to tell my 90 yr. old mother-in-law what I’ve done. So be ‘purge-careful’ out there. :(
YoungHouseLove says
Oh no! So sad! I hope it finds its way back to you! Maybe check in with Goodwill to see if it shows up?
xo,
s
Sayward says
once while dropping stuff off at goodwill, I was making small talk with the guys and asked if people ever call up saying they donated something by mistake and need it back. He said it happens all the time and they do their best to cheerfully get the item back to the person. Depending on how much time has passed, you should check with them. It certainly couldn’t hurt. I really hope you get your quilt back <3
girlgetsjob says
This could not possibly have come at a better time because I don’t have work or school this week and I am getting ready to move. I have a few other projects that I want to tackle in particular, like making packing lists for short trips (ie. visiting my parents, camping, beach trips etc.). If I don’t make lists I forget crucial items.
Ash says
I’m a week ahead of ya on the basement org! I hadn’t done ANYTHING to it since I moved in August (protip: don’t sprain your ankle and end up on crutches 5 days before you move into a 3 story house all by yourself!). I spent several hours, and several episodes of “Charmed” on Friday getting into some semblance of order. YAY!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh my gosh, love the pro tip!
xo,
s
Kathy says
I purchased your ottoman through Joss & Main a couple of weeks ago and it was delivered today. I’m excited! Question– How do you clean it? Do you not put food/drinks on it?
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, oh heck no, we put everything on it! Clara gets peanut butter and jelly on it! Thankfully since it’s leather it just wipes right off. I’d just avoid markers and Sharpies and nail polish on it and you should be good!
xo,
s
Jillian says
Sherry, I see the Green and Blue (swigly) vases didnt make it back in the stash. They would be perfect in my new living room design if you are willing to sell via paypal :)Let me know. Thanks, Jillian
YoungHouseLove says
Will definitely let you guys know if things end up for sale online!
xo,
s
Cheryl says
You guys are playing right into my 7-months-pregnant nesting problem. Imagine your playroom situation in a larger room and that’s what I’ve got going on at my place. (Gotta love it when your parents and your husband’s parents save everything you ever touched and then deliver it to you). I do, however, finally have a sizable donate/sell pile, and have gotten rid of at least 5 bags of trash. Chug, chug, chug. Perhaps we can make enough space to move the guest bed out of the new baby room into that room before July… :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, that’s awesome! I bet you’ll have the most amazing room all ready by July!
xo,
s
Katie says
Hooray! Do the basement! Ours is nightmare-inducing and I juuuuust started to tackle it over the weekend, so I’d love some inspiration :)
Megan says
Great music choices! I will be doing the same thing in about 3 weeks after I finish my first year of teaching middle school art! As an art teacher (and an art student at one point), plus married to another teacher and the proud momma to one beautiful 3 year old, I know what you mean on the organization front! Oh, and we’re tackling remodeling our house room by room by ripping everything down to the studs, even replacing windows too! I look forward to the day my house is organized and the piles won’t topple over on each other as I want the bottom bin in the basement for something.
Sayward says
Hahaha!!! The first time I glanced at the title of this post, I accidentally misread the question mark as a “Y” and thought, well, this is about to get real!
I loooovvvveee organizing though. I just picked up cheap white photo boxes at ac moore (with 50% off coupons of course) to organize/hide all my sandpaper, stains, etc. SUCCESS!!
Also, I once used the ac moore 50% off coupon on ONE 35 cent spool of embroidery floss. I’m that girl.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, that’s the third reference to our accidental naughty reference. Haha. It wasn’t intentional, I promise! And I love that you use coupons on cheap things. I do too! A penny saved is a penny earned!
xo,
s
Kate @ Read Make Do says
I didn’t think I could love $herdog more after that Eminem post, but IT HAPPENED. Love that you keep it real. Also love that you guys have a drawer with tons of Tom’s of Maine products just chilling in it. It’s a lot more inspirational than my drawer filled with candy.
YoungHouseLove says
Hahahaha, you’re cracking me up. I wish I lived in a world made only of Tom’s of Maine stuff. Like Willy Wonka, but toothpaste and deodorant. Haha. I’m only half kidding.
xo,
s
Mae Anunciado says
So inspiring, I just *might* open my cabinets that I have been dreading to open because of all the stuff that I have been stuffing in it. Love your new kitchen though, can you show us how you organize your kitchen cabinets and drawers?
YoungHouseLove says
Sure, maybe one day I’ll take a bunch of pics for a post! We basically have all of our everyday plates and cups and dishes and bowls on the open shelves along with mugs and a few serving bowls and extra glasses and spices are in one corner cabinet with cleaning stuff under the sink and one double base cabinet for pots and pans and a few drawers for junk drawer stuff and a big cabinet for a pantry. Hard to explain, I should take some pics someday!
xo,
s
Crystal @ 29 Rue House says
This year is all about getting organized so reading your posts this week should be inspiring. I’m not sure I have it in me to do a yard sale but it may be worth thinking about. I also like your idea to consign clothes (or other items for that matter). I love listening to any pop music right now (I’ve even gotten hooked by Bieber’s Boyfriend song) but I could definitely go old school (Salt n Peppa comes to mind).
Can I also tell you that I suggested to my other half the other day that we build built-ins to add organization space and after I explained my idea I realized I described the built-ins in your house!
I can’t even imagine showing my mother our basement let alone the whole world! You guys are brave for even considering it!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, John is totally nervous about it. It’s a total sty!
xo,
s
Georgia says
As i always tell my kids: to clean properly, you’ve got to make a mess first. We are about to embark on an international move, which means consolidating 2 houses into one which will be rented and packing up / sorting through a family of 6 ‘s stuff. I’ll be ORG- ing for the next few months. Wish me luck!
YoungHouseLove says
Lots of luck!!
xo
s
Erin @ WriteTasty says
What a timely post… I’ve got some serious organization that needs to be done around my own house. Thanks for the inspiration– I think I’ll join you, provided that my little one lets me!
Ranelle says
Thanks for the inspiration! We just moved 3 months ago, so recently pared down a lot of our items….but it is surprising how quickly the stuff multiplies! I just cleaned out my son’s toy baskets this weekend and need to tackle his closet – Tuesday, right? :D
Shannon says
To help keep down on stacks of mags, I keep current year only. Every January or February I got through all of my house magazines and cut out the pages that I find inspiring. I then go to my local office supply store or walmart and buy those clear selves and slide the pages in. I put them all into a binder and flip through occasionally to see what projects I have done or things that no longer interest me! Great space saver!
YoungHouseLove says
I’m a big fan of that method! See the three binders on the bottom left? Those are full of clear sleeves with tear sheets! Still have a bunch of mags I like to keep, but my limit is that it must be able to fit in that cabinet or it’s time to pare down!
xo,
s