A Problem...and A Solution

Sorry for the update Drought! My mom came to visit for a week, and then I had to finish with school! I now officially have my Bachelor's Degree in Nursing (Hooray!)....and more time to blog! Yippee!!

I had a problem. Well, it was actually two problems. But these were two big problems that had been causing me much grief. I was embarrassed when people came to my house.

Problem 1:
This is what my "nook" looked like. A mess, right? Like anybody could even find anything in this mess! Problem 2:
My spice Cabinet was a mess. It actually looked worse than this. We took this picture after we had already stuck one turntable in the cabinet. Let's face it. It took me longer to find the spices I needed when cooking dinner, than it did to actually measure them and add them to a recipe. Sad...but true.

So, it with a LOT of help from my amazing mother

Anyway, here is the result:

And this:

And yes, it still looks like that (my nook is a little messier, due to some current projects), but it has been clean for over a month now! Hooray! My mom is seriously the BEST!

And what I learned from this project?

1: Circles are BAD for organizing (except for a turntable for the spice cupboard). Squares or rectangles are MUCH better. I had a lot of round baskets and stuff...it just doesn't fit well, trust me. There is a lot of wasted space with circles.

2. When you find something you want to organize, measure everything BEFORE You go to the store. This helps make sure that whatever you buy is going to fit properly.

3. Square/Rectangle baskets are awesome. It is SO much easier to get things out and put them back (such as if you have to put a row of things, like my spices. I can pull out the basket, and still reach the spice that is in the back). And use baskets inside your totes!

Inside the drawers, I have long skinny baskets that hold things too. Remember the rule...you should be able to put it away in ONE step (you shouldn't have to move anything). If you want it bad enough, you will spend a few seconds to get it out, but if it's not easy to put away....things will become a mess.

4. Label. Everything.

5. Buy clear totes when you are buying them. You can see what is in the tote that way.

6. The Dollar Store is a GREAT place to buy organizing supplies. We bought tons of stuff at the dollar store. The rest, we found on clearance at Target.