organizing

so previously i wrote about some of the things we were doing to minimize, organize, clean out, etc.  and in order to not have a very long post, i decided to break it up a little.  anyway, here are a few more projects that we were able to work on.

the master bathroom sink area was a wreck.  basically when we moved into this place, with a three week old, i plopped my stuff down and haven't really spent the time to organize it.  partly because i was going to wait until we painted and maybe replaced the horrible brown vinyl countertops.  last year we added proper lighting above the sink, so that was a step forward.  but i couldn't stand it anymore and hubby wanted more projects to do so i asked him to put some shelves up in that area.  we had some wood already in the garage and he used that to make me some shelves.  up they went and i spent some time throwing away old makeup and beauty/hair products that were either expired or that i don't need or use anymore.  and somehow we had like 15 nail clippers and 6 tweezers, so i kept a few and got rid of the rest.  i also have been looking into replacing some of my skincare and cosmetic products with those that are cruelty free and a little more natural.  so, it was great to be able to keep that in mind when sorting through all that stuff.  and then of course, i organized the cabinets under the sink.  the shelves hold only what i use on a daily basis.  i moved some items around, like my hair dryer and straightening iron so they were easier to access and not just thrown down in a big cabinet.  the sink and counter area is sooooooooo much less cluttered and easier to keep clean.  hubs and i were commenting on it for days afterwards.  that was one of the things that made the most difference for both of us.  it is so much more pleasing visually.  hopefully soon we can paint our bedroom, including the sink area and bathroom.  and then remove the carpet there and remove the vinyl flooring in our bathroom and replace it with tile.  and then paint the vanity.  and get rid of the ridiculous brown vinyl countertop and replace with something clean and pretty.  haha.  little by little. 

oh i also want to remove that stupid wall mounted hair dryer!

yayyyyyy!

 i also spent time rearranging some of the furniture items around the house.  after we got the new area rug for the family room, i got rid of some extra floor lamps and moved out one of the ikea chairs and ottoman and rearranged the seating a little bit so that the living room looks a little more balanced but also open.  i think i mentioned that in a previous post.  and then i moved the cabinet that i updated a few years ago that lived in the front entryway to the dining room and moved the ikea kitchen cart that was in the dining room to the front entry.  these are not permanent solutions but they work better in their new spaces; more functional and even aesthetically a better fit.  these little tweaks actually made a big difference as well, particularly in the front entry way.  i liked the little cabinet, but it essentially was just a big box without any kind of shelving or drawers so lots of random stuff ended up in there and everything was all unorganized and didn't make sense.  because the ikea cart only has two small drawers, i had to go through all the stuff that was in the white cabinet and only keep what was necessary or made sense to be there.  so the two small drawers hold our keys and stuff we would need to have with us when leaving the house.  then on the two shelves below i have some boxes that hold seasonal gear.  for right now there is one box for hubs and my winter hats and gloves, etc. and one box each for the kids with their winter hats and gloves.  then on the very bottom shelf is a basket for ava's shoes and for z's shoes.  and under the cart is our shoe tray with a couple pairs of my shoes.  i like this set up so much better.  there's not a bunch of junk in the drawers, the seasonal gear has a home that is organized and accessible (now if i could get ava to stop pulling it all out EVERY SINGLE DAY MULTIPLE TIMES PER DAY), and the shoes are up off the floor but still easy for the kids to get to.

i still want to add a mirror above the cart and i am not sure if those plants will stay there

ideally i'd like to build in a bench with some storage underneath and above, especially when the kids are older and come running inside from school and need a place to put their stuff

the storage boxes and baskets

the white cabinet was moved to where the ikea kitchen cart lived in the dining room.  i think it looks so much better in there.  i plan on repainting it at some point.  but for now i store my glassware like vases and small serving bowls in there and the kids can't/don't really open it up.  eventually i may replace it with an actual sideboard, but that is farther down the road at this point.  

the little white cabinet that i did a makeover on a few years back

the inside that holds my vases and stuff

so i guess that's it for this post!