First Organizational Wednesday

So I promised you a new, organized bathroom cabinet for our first Organizational Wednesdays post this week.

That's not exactly what you're going to get.

I realized that this small bathroom cabinet makeover would actually include a complete organizational overhaul in our bathroom.  Because I couldn't figure out what I needed to make space for in the small cabinet without taking everything out of every cabinet and closet in our bathroom...

This job is in progress...but not complete.

BUT, that is not to say that I did not make a whole helluva lot of progress in our home this week. 

Because, while I didn't have time to finish the bathroom, I did take on another pretty big project.

The kitchen pantry.

Oye.  It was a mess.  

Now, we were pretty excited about this nice big pantry when we found our condo, but I just didn't get a jump on the organization when we moved in, so things were just tossed in over the last couple of months...and this is what happened.

It was pretty hard to know where anything was in there.  Not efficient.  

So, here is what my Clutter Rehab book recommended.  

Take everything out.  Everything.  

This was the last thing that I wanted to do.  But, honestly, it's the best thing you could do.  

Because, otherwise, I wouldn't have known what was in there.  

And if you don't know what's in there, you can't create categories.

Once you create categories, it really happens all on it's own.  And coming from me, that's saying a lot.

But it really was easy.

Another tip from the book is to create boundaries for your categories, so you know what you have and how much of it there is left.  

With things like crackers or other individually wrapped snacks, take them out of their bulky boxes and consolidate.  As you can see, that made a lot of a difference in space there.

Can you tell I live with a student?

This did, too.  I bought a package of 6 wire shelves from Wal-Mart for $12.  

I especially love the under the shelf shelves.  Yes, that entire shelf is devoted to ramen noodles.

So, I seriously love this shelf.  It's amazing how much I was able to fit in there without it seeming so crowded like it did before.  Ah, wire shelving.  Doubles your space.

And another tip is to think about where you need things to be to make your life as simple as possible.

I have been keeping Atticus' many many medications in the pantry because I give them to her in the morning before I feed her.  I started to move them into the medicine cabinet but that would honestly be kind of a pain in the mornings, and let's be honest, I'd probably forget to give them to her if they weren't right there in front of me.  Mornings around here are rough.

So, instead, I decided to consolidate.  I took all of the little packets out of the boxes and cut them up into their doses.

Much better.

So, here we go.

Love, love, love my new pantry!  I went for the ugly flash for this pic because I wanted you to be able to see all the way to the back.  

The best part is that I know where everything is.  AND I was able to use that bottom shelf for my Crock-Pots, which was a nice bonus because that freed up a lot of space in another one of my cabinets.  

Hurrah.

Here's up top.

See Atticus' meds?  Cute.

So all of that up top is my baking things, believe it or not.  There's a lot.  

I really love my new pantry, and it has definitely helped me catch the organizational bug!

Because, honestly, before when I would open my pantry...I was overwhelmed.  Every single time.

And now I feel really great when I open my pantry.  What a simple way to sneak joy into your day.

That's right, I said joy.

Now, I don't want you to think that I'm lying about my little bathroom cabinet, so I want to show you the progress that I've made.

On the bottom shelf I created a little First-Aid spot for all our medicine, etc.

I thought the red bow was a cute touch.

Next, believe it or not...this is all of my nail stuff.

Yes, really.

That's my Nailene Sensationail Invincible Gel Polish kit.  Yes, I saw it on a TV commercial, but I seriously love it.  It works.  It's easy.  You should get it.  

I actually did my nails with it last night.  

Pretty good, huh?  It really is invincible.  Lasts quite a while.  

So, that's it for my first Organizational Wednesdays post.  I must say I am pretty impressed with myself.  

Working on the rest of the bathroom and all of the other kitchen cabinets this week.  

Until then, have a great Thursday, folks.