CLUTTER challenge - let's get rid of it or organize it together!

[tempus vernum]

I was pondering this and thought we could set goals and see if we can do it.

I want to
1. Fill a minimum of a box every other day to give away, throw away about the same amount.
2. keep on top of visible clutter - find a spot for everything. NO piles of debris everywhere. IF it doesn't have a spot, I am putting it in a basket to either find a spot or toss it.
3. systematically work through the entire house in the near future - can't imagine a date on this but I want to set a goal :think
4. show people where things belong and get them to put them there :laughtears yeah right :giggle

TONIGHT, I
1. threw away a box of kitchen stuff (old jars that I recycle mostly and some lids)
2. put in a box to give away a box of kitchen stuff (wine glasses we never use, tupperwear we never use, an old coffee carafe
3. bagged up some stuff from my spice cabinet that we can't eat cuz of allergies - WHY is it there? (will drop it off at my sister's house SOON). Things like pudding, chocolate, rice vinegar. .. ..
4. organized my spice cabinet. I used to have it alphabetized but it's gone down hill. I put on my todo list: have dh add an extra shelf(s)! GOAL: label and organize better when have an extra shelf or two - too crowded right now. A few things are still in plastic bags that I bought at HFS bulk section.

This feels really good because I now have two visually pleasing cabinets in the kitchen :tu - spice cabinet and cookbook cabinet. About a week ago, I purged recipes we never use and reorganized all my recipes :)

What are your goals? What have you done :)

[greenjellysnakes]

I'm joining in for sure! I started out decluttering with a bang a couple of months ago (has it really been that long :shifty ) but lost my motivation after a couple of days.

So, here are my overall goals. I may come back later on and break them down into smaller goals, room by room:
1. Do 5 minutes of decluttering, per room, per day. That's 40 minutes a day, definitely do-able!
2. Focus on keeping the living room, dining room and kitchen free of visible clutter. I'd really like to reclaim my dining table!
3. Freecycle or drop off at Lifeline anything to be given away, within a week of deciding it needs to go. My biggest problem so far has been bags of stuff I know we don't need, still waiting to be given away.
4. Have our spare bedroom (read junk room) fully cleaned out within one month. Deadline: May 17th.
5. Once the first layer of clutter is gone, start looking at ways to spruce the place up - paint, curtains etc.

And what I've done in the past week:
1. Organised my cookbook cupboard, and gave many, many rarely used cookbooks away.
2. Sorted DD's outgrown clothes into storage containers by size, and gave away some of the excess.
3. Deep cleaned the bathroom and got rid of a lot of products we don't use.

Umm, that's it. I wish there was more on the success list, but that will come in time. Hey, how about before and after photos? I'll take some before pictures first thing tomorrow morning, and then perhaps post weekly progress pictures.

[tempus vernum]

. Once the first layer of clutter is gone, start looking at ways to spruce the place up - paint, curtains etc.


This is what gotme over the hump in family room, playroom and bathroom. HOnestly, we replaced our carpeting and painted. Having to remove everything in the roomand then put it back in was HUGE. FOr the first time, I don't have piles on my desk. I got rid of a lot and organized everything as it went back in. Now these three rooms are STAYING pretty organized and it's flowing over into other areas of my house when I realize how peaceful it makes everything :rockon I do want to go back over these rooms and be more ruthless which is why I put "go through whole house". FOr our kitchen, I plan on taking EVERYTHING out of the cupboards one weekend soon and getting radical. For now, I am just doing bits at a time. .. . it's so discouraging to me to not meet my goals that I am not sure how to make target dates without frustrating myself :scratch

I'll have to dig away and see if I can find some before pictures :think thta show any of this I wish I had thought of that before :doh - the difference is REMARKABLE. GREAT IDEA!

[Mama Calidad]

:raise Mom got my pantry organized fairly well recently. It looks so nice that I went out and bought a rug to go in there. :laughtears I still need to figure a better system with the spices.

Every other room is still in desperate need of organization. My plan:

1) Cooperate so that DH can get the expansion built, so I can move stored stuff and organize.
2) Box up books that have landed in bedroom hot spot. Move to kitchen until #1 is finished.
3) Organize school stuff on shelves in master closet.
4) Box long-term storage stuff from master closet and move to kitchen.
5) Go through at least one box of stuff each week. Keep the good. Toss the rest.


to be continued...

[Katydid]

Oh, oh count me in! :raise

My next goal is going through the kids' toys. :nails

So far I've done my bookshelves (why in the world did I think I needed to keep my outdated college textbooks :rolleyes )

We have a rummage sale coming up May 17th at our church and I want to donate as much as possible :yes

Has anyone read the book "It's All Too Much"? It is by one of the professional organizers from the show "Clean Sweep" (Love that show! I so wish they would come to my house! :yes ) It is very motivational! :rockon

[Katherine]

I'm IN--for sure!

what I've done this week;

--cleared 2 sets of bookshelves in the basement; contents went to 6 boxes for Goodwill and 2 bags of trash. (I kept 2 items I think)

--moved other furniture in that room enough to set up excercise equipment, and did a few sets of rowing on 3 different days!

--straightened up our storage closet downstairs and cleared about half of dh's "extra boxes" hallway. :rolleyes :giggle

--sorted through multiple bags of miscellaneous "stuff" that I had tucked away while cleaning. :shifty Tossed or put away 85% of it.


GOALS for the next month:

1) Go through all loose paperwork and sort into trash/shred/file. I'm not including the actual move of filing, b/c that might be too much. This is a really big order, b/c I have so much piled up. :shifty :O

2) Find a way to remove at least 2, possibly 3, pieces of furniture (and the accompanying clutter) from my over-crowded dining room (relocate or give away furniture; toss, give away, or find a permanent home for the "stuff")

3) Locate all other bags or piles or drawers of miscellaneous accumulation. Finish sorting through it. Toss it or give a pemanent home.


That's all for now. I have *tons* of other things I wanted to put down as goals, but I need to be realistic about what I can accomplish and stay focused on right now instead of getting distracted with all the stuff I want/need to do "eventually"--if that makes sense. :O

Great idea Jodi! It's nice to write down a few succinct goals so I don't find myself overwhelmed or wondering where to start when I actually have a moment to tend to things. :)

[RealLifeMama]

*cheering from the sidelines*

I will try to do 2 things this week: (in between nursing and pumping sessions, :lol)

1) Get a bag of children'd toys together to donate to a benefit yard sale
2) Either list, send away, or give away clothing

[The Tickle Momster]

I'm in! We are painting, carpeting and flooring the entire upstairs! We'll be prepping the kids room this week. The guest room (read dump room) is going to be a HUGE challenge. The kids room should be easy. Only a bed, dresser, book basket and clothes in there.

So my goal is to get the guest room started this week and done by the time we are ready to paint it. The middle of May? Any ideas on how to move stuff around? That's where we store everything from extra homeschool stuff to our gift "cupboard" to out of season clothes/shoes/coats, to suitcases.

The rest of the house needs it too, but the upstairs is getting priority.

[Punkie]

I'm in too!

My morning sickness and fatigue are finally starting to die down a bit, and I am trying to get this house set up in the most efficient way. I became pregnant just after we moved, and we moved during a blizzard, so we cut a lot of corners while unpacking. I am ready to fix all of that!

We also didn't realize until we arrived at our new house that the new rooms are very different sizes and work for very different functions than our old house. Our kitchen storage is completely different, our main level rooms are functioning nothing like our old house's main level did, the bedrooms are bigger, the basement storage is smaller, etc, etc. I really need to re-plan the entire house, which stinks because I boxed everything up as if we'd directly move the rooms over, but that didn't work at all, so my boxes were all crazy.

So I think my goal for this week is to try to get a plan for how I want to use each room and the areas within those rooms. Then I'll be able to start moving stuff to its proper home.

[This Busy Mom]

:popcorn

(can't type i'm decluttering :giggle )

[Mamatoto]

:yes

I need to organize my basement which requires me to organize the laundry situation here which feels overwhelming but I need to plan it and do it.

I am with you on the box, that is a good idea. I like Flylady's version of 27 to throw away and 27 to give away...I think that is it. :think

[This Busy Mom]

just had a thought... for the things we don't know what to do with (i just looked up and spotted the tote of cloth diapers and internally groaned), how about we post the problem here for suggestions?

so... i'm not cloth diapering anymore... what should i do with my very good but stained up prefolds?

and i have a set of faith comes by hearing cassette tapes of the new testament... i'd rather have the cd's or mp3's and i've been kicking the tapes around in the van for months.... what should i do with them?

[RealLifeMama]

so... i'm not cloth diapering anymore... what should i do with my very good but stained up prefolds?



They make the best cleaning cloths!!

[This Busy Mom]

i have cleaning rags... i can either give them to dh for shop rags or try to find space to store them & use them on the swiffer

[This Busy Mom]

(see... this is where i soooo get stuck... what should I do with all this stuff??). I have a little leaps thingy my mom got for the toddler for christmas. 'we've never used it and dh doesn't want to keep it... I can't remember what I did with the directions. Should I sell it or goodwill it or give it to the neighbor (who has too much stuff)?

[Katherine]

I'd sun-bleach the cloth dipes and either give them to someone in need, or sell them very cheap.

I see posts on here all the time from women who want to CD but are overwhelmed by the cost of start-up.

I'm really torn b/c I want to "find a use" for things, re-sell them, or put little trinkets away.... so I'm asking myself as I de-clutter.

"Is this really worth the time/effort involved in putting it away?"

"Is this really worth the time/effort involved in Ebaying or selling?"

9 times out of 10 the answer is no, and it gets dumped in the box for Goodwill or in the trash.

For example, I gave away a couple of brand new picture albums.. they were a gift years ago... they're not a type I foresee using, and I'll *never* get around to setting up an Ebay account and making a "sell" page. And even if I did, with the listing price, and the relatively low amount they'd probably sell for, it wouldn't be worth doing all that. so they went to Goodwill. Some lucky person will find them at a great price, and you know... it's worth it to me... that's 2 bulky items now GONE from my house.

[Katydid]

I'd sun-bleach the cloth dipes and either give them to someone in need, or sell them very cheap.


That is exactly what I was going to say! :yes I bet someone here would love them! (I'm actually going to sell a few of my excess, as well :shifty )

[Momma of 7]

I sell some of my extra things on ebay, but I also use Craigslist alot out here. You can place items for sale or give away and it is free. You just go to craigslist.com and find your state and area and it takes only a few minutes and you can even put pics on it. I have sold everything from tires to canning jars to kids clothes and given away old computers and kids toys. Someone else comes and picks them up, problem solved.

[MamaMansa]

I desperately need this. I actually started a major organization kick a few weeks back, but DH is remodeling our kitchen and our entire first floor looks like a hurricane blew through it.

SO, my first goal is to keep the kids busy and away from DH so that he can finish our kitchen. Nothing else will get "decluttered" until I feel like my house is no longer in a state of disarray.

Longer term goals:

1) Start a household notebook.
2) Go through the kids clothes and give away what doesn't fit. (I have a bad habit of saving clothes, even when they won't get any more use in our family.) Narrow down the "sentimental" baby clothes to what will fit in a very small box.
3) Organize the basement. Anything that hasn't been used in a year gets sent to Goodwill. This is probably the biggest task on the list which is why I've been avoiding it for so long.
4) Go through the kids' toys and give away items that aren't frequently used.
5) Buy some storage bins and shelves so that everything has a "place."
6) Create a filing system that is easy (so I'll actually USE it). Right now my kitchen buffet is no longer a functional piece of furniture, it is home to piles of papers.
7) Stop buying non-consumable items unless they have been on my "need" list for 30 days. Be more discriminatory in putting items on that list.

My big setback is that I am always thinking I should have a rummage sale or sell items on Ebay. I've come to the conclusion that it will never happen, and I'd probably make an equivalent amount by claiming a Goodwill donation on my taxes. I will be a much happier mama without all the clutter.

[This Busy Mom]

I've come to the conclusion that it will never happen, and I'd probably make an equivalent amount by claiming a Goodwill donation on my taxes.

I've never gotten a receipt for the htings I have dropped off... guess i should.

[MamaMansa]

I've come to the conclusion that it will never happen, and I'd probably make an equivalent amount by claiming a Goodwill donation on my taxes.

I've never gotten a receipt for the htings I have dropped off... guess i should.

I never have either, but for some reason when I was doing taxes this year, I started researching it and wondered why I hadn't done this sooner. Apparently they just give you a blank receipt and you have to determine the "fair market value" of your items. It makes a rummage sale far less appealing. ;)

[Katherine]

I did that deduction thing one year and it was a lot more work than I thought, b/c according to what dh and I read, you are supposed to list each item separately, along with a fair market value.

With 6 or 7 boxes full of clothing or odd and ends, that's a pretty big job.

I would do the receipt thing if I were getting rid of larger, more valuable items though. :)

[mommyTay]

Goals
1. clean and organize the barn/garage. Dh has 2 huge tool boxes that he doesn't need at his new job. We have to find a place to store them and be able to shut and lock the barn door. This will need to be done quickly, because for now it is strapped and tarped on the back of his truck!
2. Declutter and organize the basement. Some of the necessary clutter could be more appropriately house in the basement. I want to set up a functional pantry area down there. The boys also have a huge train layout down there that is hard to get to around all the clutter.
3. repair 2 cribs and donate them to the pregnancy center. I have 3 right now and don't plan to have anymore babies. Yes, at one time all 3 were set up! :yes
4. Declutter my bedroom. Everything I have been taking out of the other rooms keeps getting shoved in here. :banghead thats the problem with this many little kids and our ugly daily schedule. I can sort, but I run out of time to get things put away or disposed of.
5. Finish organizing the play room. We just built in a computer center, and added shelves and a dress-up hanging area. Just haven't got things sorted and properly set up. Should be great once it gets that way!

Thats enough for now, those are MAJOR projects. Got to get busy, the kids will be home early today. I finally get a day with no appointments, and the school lets them off 2 hrs early for a teacher in-service. :crazy
We will take advantage of the time though, we are going to get bike helmets this afternoon. an area hospital has a helmet program, they fit them to the kids and only charge $2 each. :tu

[This Busy Mom]

things I'd like to see happen here:

countertops in the kitchen clear and clutter free all the time.
floors picked up (hard with a toddler) all the time
my desk clear and neat all the time
totes out of the living room
laundry kept up with (no piles in the kitchen hallway or baskets in the living room)

really, that's our problem areas. I've attacked the desk by getting the computer out of there. I moved it out to the garage where my workroom is and stole :giggle dh's laptop which I put on the kitchen counter... no more sitting to be online. It's reduced my online time drastically. Only bad part is he needs this computer back to do diagnostics on cars... so I need another solution (i am going to buy myself a computer once my sam's bill is paid off... hopefully an Apple macbook... or I could be unselfish and get the kids a new playset for outside... I'm probably going to do that).

[Mamatoto]

Yeah! I recently changed our bedrooms around so this was a good time...I took two trash bags and threw out 27 things and put 27 things in a trash bag for Goodwill. Sometimes I take some of our toys and books and give them to our Amish friends, too. When thinking about what to do with something I think about who I could be blessing by putting it in the bag and not about what I am losing. :)

[Mama Calidad]

Got nothing accomplished yesterday. :(

[Myrtle]

I wanna' join! Haven't read everything yet, but I'm on a decluttering kick, and this will be fun. Has anyone mentioned freecycle? It's a great way to get rid of things you don't want but don't want to throw away. Everything has to be free, but it's easier for me than taking things to Goodwill, and I know that whoever is getting them will enjoy the stuff vs. it sitting on a shelf at Goodwill for months on end not being used. If I post something on freecycle and it's not taken, then I do Goodwill. Just a thought for those decluttering and finding a bunch of stuff they don't know what to do with.

[Momma of 7]

I am joining this too. I need the motivation of know that someone else is going thru this also.

My goals for the next 2 weeks:
Go thru the play room and get rid of broken, not played with and unusable toys.
Go thru my storage boxes and get rid of things I am saving (Do i really need all the blankets I have)
Go thru every drawer in the bathrooms and purge
Go thru my linen closet and get rid of old ratty towels, wash cloths and sheets

My future goals:
Go thru all the kids clothes and get rid of stuff
Go thru my book shelves and donate
Go thru every kitchen cabinet and purge
Go thru my office boxes and condense and shred
Go thru my file cabinet and purge
Get a new updated system of filing so I can find what I need
Declutter the play room and get a desk or table in there for the computer and coloring things
Get some baskets to keep all the little things in for the play room (crayons, paper, little toys)
Clean out my bedroom so there is only dh and my stuff in it. That would be heavenly (maybe I should do that first)

I have noticed that when my house is less clutter filled, I am so much more peaceful and less stressed.

[jghomeschooler]

haven't read all the replies, but I'm in for sure.
I just took a before pic of my computer desk. All kinds of things get stashed here, because I nurse the baby while I'm online, and The Littles bring me all sorts of things that don't belong here- shaving gel that needs to be put in the bathroom upstairs, a t-shirt ds took off, my book ends dh bought me years ago, a lime that needs to go into the trash, books, remotes, phones, snacks, papers, old batteries, toys, etc. Ugh. :blush
So that's my goal right now, I'll stick with one at a time, that way I don't get overwhelmed and feel hopelessly outnumbered by tasks and not enough time.
What' I've done this week is organize and clean out my spice shelf, and cleared off two spots on my kitchen counter. g2g do lunch, yum.

[tempus vernum]

I did that deduction thing one year and it was a lot more work than I thought, b/c according to what dh and I read, you are supposed to list each item separately, along with a fair market value.

With 6 or 7 boxes full of clothing or odd and ends, that's a pretty big job.

I would do the receipt thing if I were getting rid of larger, more valuable items though. :)


:scratch we do the deductions and it REALLY adds up. From what I read, you have to list category and amount :scratch. I hope I didn't mess this up. SO when I get the slip from goodwill I note what types of things I dropped off and the thrift store value of the entire pacakge. Since I shop at goodwill on occasion, I have a fair idea. I usually subtract mentally 10% for my own error. SO far, that's what we've done every year.

So one date entry might read

4/18/7 small appliance, children's clothes and toys, household items $25

I do a date entry for every drop off and have never had a problem yet :shrug I don't want to know if I am doing anything wrong :shifty

MamaMansa, glad "getting kids away from dh" is a goal cuz that means I can but you to come to my house a lot, right? :giggle :tu

I have more goals to add I think after reading this - great ideas :tu

[mummy2boys]

I'm in :yes

I need to:

1) Clean the linen cupboard
2) Clean out our cupboard
3) Clean out the kitchen cupboards
4) Organise my quilting and scrapbooking stuff'


There is probably more...but these should keep me busy

In the last few days I have:

*Cleaned out the kids rooms
*Sorted out baby clothes to give away
*Cleaned the laundry cupboard.

[Myrtle]

Today, I went through dd's closet and got rid of some clothes and toys that don't need to be here anymore.

I'd like to go through my closet next (the top of it) to get rid of all the junk that's accumulated there. I'd also like to go through my chest of drawers and declutter them.

We went through dh's office and got rid of a mess of stuff. It feels so much nicer in there.

[This Busy Mom]

I never really sat down all day and have nothing to show for it (I was making stuff).

[Katydid]

So I did the toys :rockon

My next goal is the playroom closet (our only downstairs storage... It's huge and it's really cluttered... :blush ) I started by getting rid of the coats we don't wear. :tu

[GrumpyMom]

I had a professional organizer out a few weeks ago. Big help. One of the great ideas was to use the over-the-door shoe holders (the ones with plastic compartments) to hold anything from mittens/hats in the winter and sunscreen/little swimmers/small pool toys in the summer, or craft projects, or small kids toys. I put one on my pantry closet door with art project supplies. Finger paints, stickers, stamps, feathers, wooden sticks, markers, sea shells, glues you name it. I put another on the laundry room door (right inside the garage door) for seasonal stuff (mittens or sunscreen, whatever). I have started USING with ds my craft materials rather than only doing playdough or markers. Of course I went through and got rid of a million unused coloring books, duplicate sets of markers, etc. first.

She's big into grouping and compartmentalizing. So I have a lot of different small bins within my pantry and cabinet shelves. I like to bake so one for chips, one for nuts, etc. In the pantry I did kids snacks in one, canned broths, pastas, rice. I also did toys for the family room cabinets and I'm going to start rotating toys now that they're sorted - rather than just one huge mess.

Another biggie was hanging laundry. I now only put pants and underwear and pjs in drawers. That way I can just hang shirts as soon as they come out of the dryer and then take them up on the hanger in the laundry basket with the rest of the stuff and put them directly in the closet. Maybe you already knew this...I didn't. It's way faster to hang than it is to fold. Plus ds thinks its FUN to help me hang.

[This Busy Mom]

I'm fairly good at organizing. I just have too much and I'm not naturally neat :blush :shifty I work better when I have a clean, neat, well organized house and work area, but I have a hard time figuring out how to manage my time. I want to do all the fun stuff first and all the work last :shifty . I guess my major issue is a discipline issue.

[tempus vernum]

I'm fairly good at organizing. I just have too much and I'm not naturally neat :blush :shifty I work better when I have a clean, neat, well organized house and work area, but I have a hard time figuring out how to manage my time. I want to do all the fun stuff first and all the work last :shifty . I guess my major issue is a discipline issue.


I could have written this except for the "good at organizing" thing. NOT me! I am reading "confessions of anorganized homemaker and it's actually almost overwhelming for me :blush SO I need some motivation (discipline!) and i need help with the organiztaional area. I think I actually know how to organize but don't want to spend the money on all the organizing "gadgets" KWIM?

Here is my pickle. . . . I was all excited about "drawer dividers" (see other post) but then I panicked when I realized it is kind of "permanent" so to speak. I need to be able to change it when I want so I felt like that wasn't good. Then I went through my kitchen drawer and have SO SO SO many utensils - the problem - I use them all. hard to believe? I use them each at least once a month. ANd things like a rolling pin that are actually right around once a month I can't toss cuz we eat pot pie about once a month and how would I roll the dough. Cookie cutters? Why should I toss them? We only make cookies seasonally (Christmas mostly but sometimes other times).

I dunno. . . I can keep the areas on top of everything "clutter free" but tossing things to be more minimalist is VERY VERY hard for me. If I use it why would I want to junk it. I went through my utensil drawer and only had 4 things to toss that I don't use or have a duplicate of or are broken. If I put drawer dividers in there, I won't be able to close the drawer :O

And kitchen appliances .. .. oi vey. .don't get my started. I own (AND USE) a breadmaker, grain grinder, toaster oven, blender, food processor, hand blender, juicer, ice cream maker, water bath canner, pressure canner, crock pot,. . . need I say more? I have the canners in the basement and only get them out when I use them but still. . . the rest. Yikes!!

Next on my list is the kitchen but I don't know how to get started. I keep staring at it and sighing :sigh :sigh I think the big problem is that I make so much from scratch and do A LOT in my kitchen.

I could go on and on now about my cupboards and the mess my dried and canned goods are :hissyfit

I need some serious help. ANyone have any tips for me???? I have a very decent sized kitchen but I also have it full of stuff . . .. ..

[This Busy Mom]

Next on my list is the kitchen but I don't know how to get started. I keep staring at it and sighing sigh sigh I think the big problem is that I make so much from scratch and do A LOT in my kitchen

Me too. I have gotten rid of a lot of stuff.. but then there's stuff I don't want to part iwth and don't know what to do with it. I cook from scratch a LOT too and I don't have a dishwasher. I also have a lot of hobbies that can make me some $$ if I get off my hiney. I'll have to post pics of my workroom. It's in disarray right now but set up better to handle my hobbies than it was... but i still have too much to store. I keep moving my sewing machine around the dining room.

[GrumpyMom]

so funny that i just got into this thread right after two big things happened. 1) the professional organizer spoke at my church and then came to my home 2)i've been reading "Beautiful in God's Eyes" by Elizabeth George, based on the Proverbs 31 woman. THis book has been HUGE. She talks a lot about using your time (especially evenings). I always look forward to evenings as my down time, me time, veg out time and read a book/watch a show time. But the Proverbs 31 woman's lamp doesn't go out at night, so George talks about evening projects (which is when she actually started her ministry). So I've been organizing and scrapbooking during my evenings and it's helped my days run so much more smoothly. Hopefully I don't burn out. I do still try to leave at least a half hour to wind down. my house has been much better this last week so i hope i can stick with it.

The other thing that's been big with my "discipline" factor is the organizing lady's "two minute or less" rule. If you can do it in 2 min. or less, do it now. If you can hang up the shirts in the laundry, put ds's picture in the envelope and stamp it to grandma, put the dish in the dishwasher, etc in less than 2 min. then do it NOW (because you create another job for yourself later when you set it aside). i'm working on a paper system in my kitchen because i need a place for ds' preschool stuff and keepsakes.

To the 2pp's, one thing that Julia Morganstern (my favorite organizing author) says is that it's okay to keep things you love and use. You don't have to purge them, just have a system that WORKS for YOU. And organized doesn't necessarily mean PUT AWAY. Some people do better things with things OUT in arms reach, but with a system so they don't just end up jumbled and piled on the counter. i think i've read the "confessions" book. I really liked it. Does she talk about centers in the kitchen and stuff? i think i remember the "confessions" lady talking about "Prime Real Estate". Would it help to put your most (every day) items actually IN the kitchen but more "once a month" utensils in a box in a closet or drawer in a nearby room or hall (like a dining room buffet, guest coat closet - my aunt keeps her china in her guest closet shelf and we keep extra diapers and wipes there :shifty) or a garage shelf. My mom saw a show where you empty the drawer and only put back the things AFTER you use them so you REALLY know which ones you've actually used. The rest you could put in a less "Prime" spot. If you use it daily or at least a few times a week keep it extra handy. could you put any appliances in a hall closet or basement shelf? Do you use the ice cream maker at least once a week? I only use my crock once every week so I put it on a garage shelf. My mixer I use several times a week so I keep it in my kitchen, also my food processor.
I have a kitchen shelf in my basement furnace room. It has all of the platters and tools I only use on occasion or for holidays. I recently bought some snap top containers for holiday cookie cutters. I buy them for all holidays because ds and i make jigglers and cookies. i have a smallish (recipe card size) box for each holiday with a label. Don't forget the "add a shelf" thing in the container section. It can go under your sink or most cabinets where you need an extra shelf. Putting things in containers helps you be able to sort them and pull them out and see what's in the back. If you can't buy them, try old shoe boxes or the like. or the banana section at the grocery store sometimes has extra boxes (temporary, not as pretty solution until you can save for better containers) or even cool whip tubs (although not ideal because they're round).
I just made a whole shelf for canned tomato products (we use a lot), half a shelf for broths, a basket for all of my beans, another for pastas. just sorting and dividing really helped me....and my pantry was OVERWHELMINGLY bad. i put canned veggies (other than tomatoes) in the hall closet on those risor things because I use them less frequently (i like to use fresh or frozen).
I don't think you have to throw everything away in order to be organized. If you love to cook and you do it often, you shouldn't be ashamed of owning a lot of tools. take pride in them and display your favorites (could your dh put up a shelf for your favorite appliances or canisters of tools, or hooks for your most used utensils). as long as you are USING them, that's what matters. just don't store something you don't use, or at least don't put it in your kitchen unless you use it often. that's my .02 :)

[jghomeschooler]

:yes I'd see about getting some stackable shelves for your countertops to hold the things you use most often, and to free up some cabinet space for appliances you don't use *quite* as often. Get some baskets/containers at the $1 store, or those sterilite snap top containers at Wal-Mart (I love that you don't have to keep up with a lid! Lids tend to get lost in the chaos around here :O )
I've also put out pitchers to hold my larger cooking utensils on the countertops when I had limited drawer space. A decorative basket for the top of your fridge could hold things like the rolling pin, cookie cutters, etc. and it could be cute too! You could maybe get an artificial plant to coordinate with it- or something else. I put up some of those wall planter basket things to hold our taters and onions, I just took out that brown stuff that lines them for planting. You could do something similar to hold other items if you have the wall space.
Maybe a lazy susan for a cabinet or countertop to hold frequently used items.
Hope something here helps. :heart

[mommyTay]

I am setting a time for my goal, I HAVE to get the house clutter under control before schools out! I CAN NOT go through the summer with the house this easily **TRASHABLE** (is that a new word :P~ ).

I just emailed my friend at the pregnancy center to make arrangements for the load of baby stuff.
I posted 3 toddler beds for sale.
We gathered 2 bags of trash from the barn and 1 from the basement, before the trash was picked up wednesday.
Its a little progress anyway.

Todays goal:
make a bonfire from the old ruined stuff in the barn and basement
completely sort 2 stash boxes in my bedroom
hang and organize a shelf in my bedroom
locate and complete paperwork that has gotten buried around my computer/desk/workstations

I had a migraine the last 2 days, so this is almost exhausting just thinking about it. :no2

[apmommy]

This is a great idea. I started a week or so ago. Started w/ the bathroom. Went through dishes, ect.

Still need to:
go through dd's toys. we have too many toys and w/ the new baby, it is just gonig to get worse.
go through the kitchen cabinets.

[tempus vernum]

Okay I misrepresented myself :O sorry. . . I meant my motivation for starting LARGE PROJECTS. Big projects freak me out.

I am actually on a really good run of motivation on keeping our house up. I can never seem to just "dig in" if that makes sense. SO. . .I have been playing "pick a drawer" (or shelf or cabinet). I have also been tossing stuff when I am digging past it to look for something else.

I am reading the "new messies manual" even though I am not a messie I think there are thingsfor me to "glean" from the book. My problem isn't visible clutter as much as lack of organization behind closed doors so I am slowly working to elmiinate that problem. KWIM?

I am happy to say that now that the majority of my hot spots are under control, it's much easier to clean out one drawer at a time, or one shelf at a time. :tu