Getting Organized in January

One of my goals to get better at in 2019 was to get rid of the clutter.  I wasn't too sure how I would tackle such a task, because it's daunting.  After I was digging in my linen closet for something and knocked my nail stuff all over the floor.  It motivated me to get it started, and it frustrated me that we had so much crap shoved in a closet.

I've watched all the episodes of Tidying Up, read the book, but decided that I wouldn't go that extreme.  I'm not that ready.  

Remember the kids and I skipped school on a Friday to go shopping two weeks ago?  Well we hit up The Container Store as well and picked up some goods to help make things easier to tidy.

This little bin was the culprit that activated "clean the closets" mode.  

I snapped some before picture of the closets to take with me to The Container Store.

I also measured the space of how I wanted the bins to layout on the shelves.  The kids loved getting the tape measure out in the store, lining up the bins, and seeing if the number was more or less than our goal number.

I emptied out the pantry and laid it all out on the counters.

I ended up tossing a garbage bag full.

After.  I've actually added 4 more OXO containers and removed the popcorn maker.

The linen closet was actually fun to do.  I laid everything out on my bed and sorted the bins by face, body, hair, feminine, oral, medicine, first aid, travel, and misc.  What a difference having everything have a space.  I'm not knocking anything over and my bathroom counter is cleaned off.  When I need a hair product, I use it and put it right back.  So much nicer.

The culprit after.  No more little bin overflowing.

I tossed 2 bags of garbage from the linen closet as well.

I dropped off all our donations from January on Tuesday.  I went through my closet and Sterling's drawers.  8 bags + two store bags and bins.  I'm still not done organizing in my closet.  That is a work in progress that will hopefully get done in February.  I'm just not sure what I want to do in there yet.  I am loving the open floor space right now!

It's so freeing getting rid of things that we're not using and they're just taking up space.

In February I will tackle our storage room.  I think if I can get this ginormous task done, the rest of the house will be a breeze!  Not joking, at all.

Have a great day!