Spring Cleaning
I have been longing for Spring {as I'm sure I've made VERY clear} so I started our Spring Cleaning and organizing early! Two weeks ago I tackled all three closets. I got rid of old lamps, clothes, recycled ratty towels into rags and moved them to the laundry room etc.
The following weekend I tackled our office and organized the massive amounts of paperwork and rearranged the furniture a bit. We had these two plastic storage bins with multiple drawers that stored our "electronic extras" which means we had old cell phones, chargers, cords, floppy discs, old CD's etc etc etc. I cleaned everything out and tossed stuff, recycled the stuff that needs to be recycled and I got RID of those two storage bins that collected JUNK!
So last weekend it was the pantry. I will tell you first of all that we do not shop because we need things, we shop because things are on sale, so we always have what looks like a stockpile of food items. People often see our pantry and think we're waiting for a blizzard or Y2K all over again. It's just because when we find something on sale that we know we'll use we buy in bulk. Saves money and I don't have to travel to the store often for things other than fresh veggies/fruits etc.
That being said, it gets a little crazy in our pantry often as we tend to shove things in when we shop and then can't find anything.
Here's the before shot:
The thing that kills me about organizing the pantry is that unlike the closets or old storage containers it's not that stuff needs to be thrown away, just organized. So when I see the after photo I don't feel like I made great progress because it's still full not cleaned out. However I now know what's in there and where it is, so that's huge. I also have a list on the inside of the door with what's in there so that when I pull a can of stewed tomatoes out of the pantry I cross it off the list, when the list gets down to just a can or two of stewed tomatoes I know to add it to the grocery list so we don't run out and I'm not up a creek when I got to make dinner at 6pm and need stewed tomatoes. When we shop and I bring home 4 new cans of stewed tomatoes, I add them to the list and I have a constant inventory of the pantry. So, without further ado,
The after photo:
On the list for this weekends spring cleaning? Organizing the junk drawer in my kitchen & deep cleaning both bathrooms: wiping out cupboards, wiping down baseboards and the outsides of cabinets {you girls know what I mean... removing the 18 layers of hairspray coating every surface of the bathroom}, moping the floors on my hands and knees, scrubbing the tub/shower, taking shower curtain down and washing it, bleaching the liner, etc. I can't wait to have a spotless bathroom. Maybe when I'm done I'll take updated photos to show you the mirrors framed and the hardware on the cabinets!
**note: yes our pantry and our coat closet are one giant closet in our hall with double doors. I think it was intended to be a linen closet and coat closet but there was no pantry and it's not far off our kitchen, so a pantry it became. We have a huge walk in closet in our room that is plenty of room for our clothes and linens.
The following weekend I tackled our office and organized the massive amounts of paperwork and rearranged the furniture a bit. We had these two plastic storage bins with multiple drawers that stored our "electronic extras" which means we had old cell phones, chargers, cords, floppy discs, old CD's etc etc etc. I cleaned everything out and tossed stuff, recycled the stuff that needs to be recycled and I got RID of those two storage bins that collected JUNK!
So last weekend it was the pantry. I will tell you first of all that we do not shop because we need things, we shop because things are on sale, so we always have what looks like a stockpile of food items. People often see our pantry and think we're waiting for a blizzard or Y2K all over again. It's just because when we find something on sale that we know we'll use we buy in bulk. Saves money and I don't have to travel to the store often for things other than fresh veggies/fruits etc.
That being said, it gets a little crazy in our pantry often as we tend to shove things in when we shop and then can't find anything.
Here's the before shot:
The thing that kills me about organizing the pantry is that unlike the closets or old storage containers it's not that stuff needs to be thrown away, just organized. So when I see the after photo I don't feel like I made great progress because it's still full not cleaned out. However I now know what's in there and where it is, so that's huge. I also have a list on the inside of the door with what's in there so that when I pull a can of stewed tomatoes out of the pantry I cross it off the list, when the list gets down to just a can or two of stewed tomatoes I know to add it to the grocery list so we don't run out and I'm not up a creek when I got to make dinner at 6pm and need stewed tomatoes. When we shop and I bring home 4 new cans of stewed tomatoes, I add them to the list and I have a constant inventory of the pantry. So, without further ado,
The after photo:
On the list for this weekends spring cleaning? Organizing the junk drawer in my kitchen & deep cleaning both bathrooms: wiping out cupboards, wiping down baseboards and the outsides of cabinets {you girls know what I mean... removing the 18 layers of hairspray coating every surface of the bathroom}, moping the floors on my hands and knees, scrubbing the tub/shower, taking shower curtain down and washing it, bleaching the liner, etc. I can't wait to have a spotless bathroom. Maybe when I'm done I'll take updated photos to show you the mirrors framed and the hardware on the cabinets!
**note: yes our pantry and our coat closet are one giant closet in our hall with double doors. I think it was intended to be a linen closet and coat closet but there was no pantry and it's not far off our kitchen, so a pantry it became. We have a huge walk in closet in our room that is plenty of room for our clothes and linens.
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Jen