Motivational Monday~

As we enter into the new year, many of us have organization on our mind. I stumbled upon these quotes on Pinterest, and thought I'd share them with you all. Just a few things to ponder this week.

Happy Monday!

Organizing a Small His and Hers Closet~

After the holidays, I decided it was time to once again go through our shared closet in order to make room for the new things we had acquired.

As with any project of this nature, it always gets worse before it gets better.

Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, was taken out of the closet.  Once I had everything out, it was time to sort through it all.  This is when I ask myself some very tough questions: 

 1) Does it fit? Not do I wish it did, maybe someday it will again, etc.  Right now, does it fit?

 2) Is it in good shape? No stains, rips, tears, has it lost its shape?

 3) Have I worn it in the last 6-12 months? 

 4) Do I love it? Does it make me feel good when I wear it?

 5) Is it still in style?

Those items not fitting the bill, go straight to either the donate pile or trash.

During...

Two large trash bags full of donations...

A clean slate...

Now to move things back in...

We have three different size dressers in our closet, as you can see in the above pictures.  The long dresser on the right wall is where I keep all of my active wear, jeans, colored denim, shorts, and some heavier weight sweaters.  The dresser on the opposite wall is shared by hubby and I, and it holds undergarments (his), sweaters (mine) and his activewear.  The third dresser is tall and narrow and fits perfectly in  the niche where we used to have very deep shelves.  The shelves were never neat, and things were constantly getting lost in the back.  This piece works out much better.  This dresser holds my jewelry, atop and in the top drawer, my undergarments and pjs and his dress socks.  Along with the dressers in our closet we have to others in our master bedroom for things like casual socks, t-shirts, his jeans and the like.

I love these elfa hooks from the Container Store for hanging my statement necklaces.  So easy as they just hook onto the wire shelving (not my favorite, but I can't bring myself to spend $1000+ on a closet to replace with a custom system).  The box holds some of my larger jewelry pieces, while the bowls hold my pearls and fit bit bands.

Next to the dresser is my long hanging space.  I don't have a lot of dresses, as I don't wear them often, so this space is shared with my longer sweaters and dress slacks.

All of my scarves (which my husband was so proud I paired down, ahem) are stored in these Martha Stewart fabric bins from Home Depot and have been labeled using my beloved P-Touch label maker.

My shoes are all stored in clear plastic labeled shoe boxes from the Container Store.  I have been storing my shoes this way for years.  Makes finding the pair I am looking for a breeze.  I also group them by category: ballet flats, sandals, pumps, tennis shoes, booties, etc.  They are all placed on the top shelf that wraps around my side of the closet.  I am 5'7" and can easily reach them.

Here you can see some more of my hanging garments.  Shirts, Blouses, Cardis, Vests, Light Weight Jackets.

This is them all together.

A look at my side.  As you can see not a huge space but it functions well.

 I store my favorite Sam Edelman Penny boots with shape inserts in them under my shorter hanging garments.  Just a note, my hubby would tell you I would sleep in these boots they are that comfortable! Hence, one in every color.

Atop the narrow dresser I store my dainty necklaces, bracelets and watches so they are within easy reach.  These are my go to pieces I wear on a daily basis.  I ordered the 3-tiered stand off of Amazon after seeing Megan's.

This is hubby's side.  His tie rack on the far left wall.  We use a hanging shoe caddy for his dress shoes as it is easy for him to grab the pair he needs in the morning while getting ready for work.  His casual shoes are stored elsewhere.

A full view of his side.  Top rod holds his Tommy Bahama shirt collection, khakis, dress slacks, suits and dress shirts.  The bottom his golf shirts, polos, pullovers, frequently worn sweatshirts and pants.

As you can see I used the same hooks from the Container Store for his belts on the end.

This is a shot of the taller narrow cabinet.  As you can see it fits perfectly where the deep shelves used to be.  We have yet to remove the shelf brackets as that would require some drywall repair.  We did leave the top shelf in place to give us a space to store our laundry baskets.

As I mentioned, this is not a very large space so it is a bit difficult to photograph.  And, I personally am still learning to use all the settings on my camera.  So thanks for bearing with me.

I hope this helps inspire you to get organized and make use of the space that you do have.

Linking up with Stacie and the girls for THOUGHTS OF HOME THURSDAY!

Organized Spice Drawer~

I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend.  We were happy to be able to spend some time with our girls.  On Saturday, we spent the day at the gym where my youngest used to play volleyball.  Gosh, we logged a lot of hours there back in the day.  It was fun meeting up with old friends, coaches, and seeing the girls my daughter coached.  They were 12 and under when she coached.  Now they are 16 and up, and some have signed to play in college! Say what?!!!

I shared with you our organized pantry last week.  In that post I mentioned that we store our extra spices in the door rack, but that the ones we use daily are in a specified drawer near where we prep our meals.  So, I thought I would show you that today.

Having them in clear jars (from the Container Store) and clearly labeled makes finding what we need super easy.  I love the clear jars because I can see if we are running low on something. I can then either fill it from our "extras" in the pantry or add it to our grocery list for the week to restock.  The labels are from the Martha Stewart line for Avery, sold at Staples.  I do not think they are carrying this line anymore, but you can find similar at most office stores.

Today is hubby's birthday, and despite my having a horrible cold and sore throat,  we are going to try and make the best of it.  At least I can prepare his favorite dish for dinner, Chicken Piccata.  Will share the recipe later in the week.

Linking up with Stacie and the girls for THOUGHTS OF HOME THURSDAY.

Meal Planning Starts with an Organized Fridge and Pantry~Part 2

Yesterday I shared our organized frig with you. I shared how by taking just a few minutes each week prior to meal planning and grocery shopping, you could save not only time but money.

Today I am sharing our organized "staples" pantry.  We have two other pantries, one smaller and one a good size that we use primarily for baking supplies and snack items.  And, at the end of the post I will briefly share how I meal plan each week.

The pantry door houses most of our extra spices (I store the majority in a drawer near the area where we prep most of our meals), salts, peppers, honey, corn syrup, molasses, various oils and vinegars, cooking wines and extra condiments.  The unit is from the Container Store's elfa collection, one down support with various sized baskets added to hold items.  I love this system because it is adjustable unlike some that have stationary shelves/bins.

Inside the pantry, the very top shelf (not pictured) holds cake and cupcake storage as well as a couple plastic pitchers we only use on occasion.

The next shelf from the top is where we store all of our stock and broth, as well as our the gluten free stuffing we stock up on during the holidays.

The next shelf down is where we store our canned beans, sauces, soups, olives, jellies and to the right seasoning packets and box mixes.

On to our pastas, rices, and instant potatoes.

Then baking mixes (pancake, pizza dough, corn bread), panko and bread crumbs, cake and muffin mixes and our spice rubs/marinades. The containers are part of the OXO line, and the chalkboard labels are Martha Stewart for Office Max/Office Depot.

A glance at them all together.

The very bottom is where we store our little Cairn's food and necessities.

Having all of the basics on hand is a real time saver when planning our meals for the week.  And, there is generally enough staples to pull together a quick meal in a hurry if we need to.

For meal planning, I have a binder filled with just plain notebook paper.  I have used fancy planners in the past and I have used spiral notebooks. All work equally as well.

I pull out my cookbooks, cooking magazines and things I have pinned off Pinterest and get to planning.  I write the week at the top, and then go day by day.  As I decide on recipes I add ingredients we are in need of at the bottom of the page, thus creating my shopping list.  I generally transfer this to another pieces of paper that might also have other items that we need to restock.

I generally try to write where the recipe came from so that on the night of that particular meal it is easy to find the right cookbook, etc.  It also helps when we go back a few months later and want to make the meal again.

I hope these tips help simplify meal planning and grocery shopping for you.

Meal Planning Starts with a Clean Fridge and Organized Pantry~Part 1

Today I wanted to share with you how we stay organized when it comes to planning our meals for the week.  Let's face it, we are all super busy these days and as moms can sometimes be pulled in 100 different directions.  I remember the days of having to be out the door by a certain hour, homework, sports practices and such.  As a family we made it a priority to eat dinner together every evening.  Trust me, there were nights when that was no small feat and a few that just didn't happen.

The key to successful meal planning is having an organized fridge and pantry.  Knowing what you already have on hand and planning your meals around those items.  The bonus is that it not only saves your sanity, but it saves you time and money as well.  And, we all could use a little more of both!  Another key factor is taking into account your families schedule for the week.  Late afternoon practices or game nights are perfect nights for a crockpot meal.

First I am going to share our organized frig.  I know many of you deep clean your fridge only a handful of times a year.  Well, I rarely have to do that because I take about 10-15 minutes on Sunday before I meal plan and grocery shop to take inventory and wipe down things that need it.  One, it saves me from the dreaded "ewww gross" deep clean down the road and two, I now know what I need when shopping.  No more buying only to find out we had three bottles hidden in the back of the fridge.

A clean slate.

We keep most of our condiments and such in the doors of the frig.  This way we can see most things at first glance.  And, we try to keep them in the same place all the time making it easier to know when we are either getting low on something or in need of a replacement.

The top shelf normally holds small juice containers, sodas, etc.

The half shelf usually stores the few "extras" that we only use on occasion or I sometimes use it to store our meats for the week in ziplocs.

Bottom shelf holds larger bottles of juice, wine, etc.

 Butter, both tub and stick are stored on the top left side.  Followed by bread, eggs, and sometimes bacon.

The bottom left is usually reserved for larger items, such as salad greens or leftovers. And of course we use our crisper bins for produce.

Our frig drawer is used to store yogurt, applesauce, cheeses, cold cuts and the like.  I love the small white plastic bins we purchased at Target that help keep like things together.

Our top freezer drawer is where we keep breakfast items, frozen fruit for smoothies, pie crusts, and variety of nuts.

 The bottom larger drawer is where we store pizzas, bread, frozen dinners, frozen vegetables and such.

As you can see from the pictures most items are clearly visible on first glance.  It really is a time saver!

This was taken prior to our grocery shopping for the week.  Remember, we are empty nesters so those of you with larger families at home will have more to store but it can still be done!

Tomorrow I will share our organized staples pantry with you, and how I meal plan.