Should have added another New Year's Resolution!

So one of the things I have neglected in my house is true organization. I have been flying by the seat of my pants.  You have 3 kids and suddenly you are outnumbered.  Add 21 credits of college per semester and also all of the traveling I have done this year (both for leisure and surrogacy last year) and my house has gotten totally out of hand.  There is stuff crammed in every nook and cranny and there just comes to a point and you think "I need to take care of this!"

That moment has come in my life and no time better than the new year to start with organization projects.  On December 29, I began looking at Pinterest dreaming of my forever home that we will have whenever Kurt decides that he is done playing Marine (after he hits 20 years-- just a couple years away!)  So I was dreaming of a Laundry room that was to die for-- a cabinet that you can keep cleaners in with a folding counter and even a sorting station for clothes.  You know, the things women dream of!

I even organized my spice and medicine cabinets with the Christmas gift my Godmother got me-- the Spicy Rack.  Now I can get in and out of my cabinet without knocking stuff out and I can see things.  Its a beautiful thing now pulling the dollar store bin out that was crammed full of spices and digging through it (I am so short, I have to pull a stool over even to see on the back of the bottom shelf so a bin was much easier to see all of them at one time).

So project number one got me on my way to being motivated to clean the junk out of my life! And my Pinterest Laundry Room searches got me on my way to my next project-  A family command center.  You are probably scratching your head wondering what in the world a family command center is but maybe these photos will look familiar to you.  Maybe your kitchen looks like this.  Maybe you have paperwork on the side of your fridge because you know you will need it later and it is safest there where little hands cannot reach it but it looks sloppy and leaves me feeling overwhelmed.

This pile of papers on the counter grows and grows until it becomes a leaning tower then crashes to the floor with me muttering obscenities about how I am going to get organized.

Most of the papers on this side of the fridge are related to the kids schools-- their lovely 'wave' schedule that I still don't have down... the school schedule for the county... etc.  But it looks like a gigantic mess. 

This was the most organized I could be before now.... But as the calendar says, New Year, New You.  This was a terrible organizational tool because the trash cans are right below it and it is in my pantry.  The pantry is ill shaped anyway so this board was hard to reach and things fell behind the trash can but it was not working anymore...

So as I was searching, I came across this beauty.  This is what my plan started as:

I had never really heard of a concept like this except in an office and still I had never seen something like this that was actually effective and efficient.  And I thought about what I would need for a board like this for me. I went on a pinning spree.  I decided I needed one of these, and I needed one right away!!!

This is the wall I decided I needed the project should go on.  This wall is in the drop zone of our house-- you know that area where you walk in and drop whatever is in your arms into that area?  Mine happens to be at the backdoor where I have hooks for jackets and keys and there is a small shelf above that for every thing we can possibly fit on there-- wallets, gift cards, stuff we don't want to touch and the island.  The island is NEVER ever clear of stuff.  That is where the mail goes or when we clean off the table, all of that junk comes from the table goes there, of course that is where we prep our food... And the door in the photo is the pantry where the board used to hang.

so this is our drop zone so naturally the command center should go there-- Where it is convenient for us to organize things to.  For a family command center to be functional, it definitely needs to be somewhere that you frequent because if it is in an obscure place, you won't use it.... Kitchens are where family and friend congregate so this wall is the prime place for this new focal wall-- but because it was a focal wall, it had to be pretty!  I had to make it look decorative and functional at the same time-- was this possible?

So there... it set this project in motion.  I wrote down what I needed to make this wall work. I called my babysitter and begged her to come over so that my husband and I could go to Hobby Lobby kid free.  By the way, Hobby Lobby opened up just the day before this project started!  So we go and 45 minutes into the trip, I have one $3 product in my cart.  Who knew it would be so hard to find what I needed in a huge store of beautiful things!?  Kurt began playing Words with Friends while I went here, there and asked for help.  Finally we walked out of there with a 2 file folder hanger, some fabric that didn't match and one other little piece but I was not happy with this purchase.  The item was beautiful, but I needed 3-4 slots to make this wall functional.

So then we decided to run to Staples for the black metal hanging file holders.  No dice.  Walmart. Nope.  I needed to go to Lowes to get some other stuff for the project.  They had nothing. I was desperate and even ready to use a metal basket for under the sink but repurpose it.  Went to Target.  They didnt have the file hangers or the cabinet basket.  Bed Bath & Beyond.  Nope.  We went home at this point.  I felt defeated and Kurt felt annoyed that I took him to every single store in the town that might have carried it.

The next morning I took Leah with me back to Hobby Lobby to return the file hanger.  And I took my time looking through everything and came home with a bunch of new stuff that I felt great about.  I walked here and there and allowed her to help me pick out colors or shapes or just different things so she felt involved in this big project.  I came home ready to get this project started. 

First I outlined all of the things I was putting on the wall onto wax paper after I measured out how wide it could be. I sat it on the counter which was about as wide as the wall.  I taped the items to the wall to make sure it would fit and to make sure I got things up in the right order.

I also had to paint many of the items I purchased and glued items down.  Remember the board earlier?  I covered it with some thick fabric to make it look nicer and to match the motif and basically look like a decorative item.

Here is my finished product -- the entire wall with a description of how each item will help my family function a little more fluidly!

A calendar is a must.  An awesome calendar like this is a gift! My husband personalized one for me for Christmas and I knew I had to highlight it. I live by my calendar.  The file system is one slot for him, one for me, one to file.  The folders in each slot depend on who it is for. I have a folder for kids papers and I keep the box tops and receipts in my slot as well.  We clothes pin something on the outside that needs attention ASAP like a check that needs deposited or a bill that needs to be paid.

These mason jars were in my cabinet.  With a $1 hose clamp, I now had Shabby Chic pen holders.  $3 for 30 chalkboard labels and we could add personalization.  The Bucket under it has coupons, gift cards and other little pieces of papers that we needed a place to keep organized. 

I replaced our love notes wall. Before we had frames with 'I love you...' and we would use a dry erase marker and leave notes for each other.  I knew I had to continue it.  This curtain rod and curtain hanger will hold little love notes that I will keep and one day put in a scrap book.  The kids can draw on the cards or write notes and I will date them.  It was important that this little ritual continue because we all like to feel loved.

My Meal Planner!  One little cup for the recipes that I already have ingredients for, one cup for recipes we have tried before, and one cup for new recipes.  I will plan 6 meals a week, but in no specific order.  One meal will either be a wild card, left overs or dining out.

Each card has the name of the recipe on the front and some have a star in the corner representing an ingredient in the recipe that is quickly perishable such as fresh tomatoes.  On the back it has the name of the cookbook as well as the page and if there is a perishable item in the recipe, it has what that item is so I know to cook these recipes first.

Working on meal planning and making a grocery list

SO there you have it-- Hopefully my sanity saver and it cost just $60 for the whole wall to be completed!  We did use a few pieces we already had but this $60 included some new wall hangings, paints, decorative items as well as the cards for the menu board and 100 cards for the i love you board.  I am very excited about how this turned out!

The next day, I cleaned our bathroom, all cabinets and closets.  This took 6 hours to get completely organized.   I let it go since we had traveled for 7 weekends out of the last 8.  Life has been insane.  When we came home from the cruise, stuff sat in the bag in our room because the next week, it was Christmas.

BEFORE

I know it was awful!  But I did organize and I found so much stuff that I didn't want to take the time to find, so i just bought new stuff-- So I organized all of our toiletries and I think I am ready for a Zombie Apocalypse now!

AFTER -- The bath rugs were in the wash.

I threw away a WHOLE bag of trash!!!  Yes that is ridiculous I know.  But it is organized and I feel better going in there!

So there you have it!  I am working on organizing this house before I go back to school in February.  What are you doing to get your life organized?  Every day I am doing my routine 5 things that I have been challenged to do by a FB group for organization and one of them is a 15 minute clean up. Tonight I got my family involved.  We cranked up some music and set a timer on the phone and we were able to clean up the whole downstairs including the kitchen and swept the floor and vacuumed the carpets.  15 minutes can get a lot done even though it seems like a short period of time!  Power in numbers!  

If you are interested in joining a positive encouragement group to get things organized, please request to join this group!  Join the Christian Ladies Planning/Organization Group Here!   It is a wonderful group and we are being challenged daily to get through those tasks that seem daunting-- just a little at a time makes it so much more attainable! 

Next up-- Starting the process for losing a few pounds before starting hormones in a few months... Monday I am climbing back on the wagon, starting to run after a 3 month hiatus, doing the 21 day fix and clean eating!!   This year is going to ROCK!