I must say it has been a relaxing start to the week. I postponed my organization challenge [I know, I’m bad] but I will continue next week. Last week [end] I was taking a course in Social Media and E-Marketing, which I loved, but I must admit, being in school again is tiring! One of my New Years Resolutions was to have more me time to relax. I think I did a pretty good job over the past few days!
I’ll be back in full organizing force soon, don’t even worry!
What do you get when you combine: 
With some scotch tape?
The answer is this!!!
Paint your nail with the base colour first – I alternated between green and purple. Once completely dry use two pieces of tape to make the V shape and paint the exposed area. Voila! Next time I would be more precise with my taping to make sharper V’s – but you get the idea.
I used these colours.
I must confess, Nail Envy (original) is amazing. It is the only polish that stops my nails from breaking.
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After:
On day 5 I organized my dresser drawers in my room. I was so excited about doing this, I completely forgot to take pictures… I promise I did a good job though!
This is a pile of just dresses… Do not let me buy another dress. EVER.
Here is the bag of clothes I parted with. This is some serious loot for my girlfriends!
After:
Not a big difference, but check out this picture below. I cannot believe I convinced N to join in!
I’ll take another picture tonight if I remember to show you the final version. Lets just hope the two of us can keep things organized!
Roasted Red Pepper HummusThis gallery contains 8 photos
I am now three days into my organizing challenge and I can honestly say that this is one of the most gratifying experiences I have had.
Day 2 – The Pantry
This is something I should have done many years ago. I found cans in the back that expired in 2008. Yikes. Hope you enjoy examining the contents of my cabinet.
Before:
This is what the kitchen looked like once I emptied the shelves. I had already moved the pile of expired items to the garbage. If you really want to know how this went down, picture me standing on the counter trying to fish things out of the back!
Organizing the pantry will help me save a lot of money in the future. I’ll stop buying things I already have because I can’t see them. We are stocked up on dry goods for the next few months. It is nice to have a mental (and photo) inventory of my groceries.
So here it is, the after shots. I actually managed to condense everything into the cupboard on the left and the lazy susan so I have a free corner cabinet for other things (not sure what).
After:
Day 3 – The Tupperware Cabinet
Tupperware seems to multiply in my house. It’s like when I shut the doors the containers get busy and procreate – is that even possible?!?. Unfortunately, many of these containers are cracked, stained, or worst of all… smelly! The though of organizing this cupboard seemed daunting. I had no idea how I was going to tackle this one. It actually took me two tries. You’ll see what I mean.
Before:
As you can see, nothing matches and these containers take up far too much space. I decided it would be best to move them into the corner cabinet I had emptied the day before to keep everything all in one place. I ended up putting all my tea and coffee in this cabinet, it seemed like a better fit.
So here is my first attempt. At this point I hadn’t realized how badly we needed new containers and I just tried to organize the old ones we had.
Now, this isn’t awful. But what is the point of organizing and cleaning if you don’t get rid of things that are past their prime… I didn’t want to spend too much money, but at the same time no one should be using containers that are older than they are.
I was able to find all the containers I could ever dream of at Walmart. I ended up spending $30 but I replaced everything. I think it is worth it.
After:
Much better! What to do with the “leftovers”? I’ll be donating anything that is in decent usable condition and recycling everything else. Here is an idea of what my recycling room looked like after I got into it… Sorry neighbours.
So there you have it. My clean and organized kicthen – almost (fridge, freezer and drawers still need a lot of work)! If you have decided to join me on this organizing journey, make sure you CLEAN everything before you put it away, it is always better to start fresh. Good luck!
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I cannot explain how thankful I am that Day 1 of my organizing challenge only dealt with one drawer. I was beyond unprepared for what I was about to encounter.The before pictures are a bit embarrassing to be honest. Don’t judge until you have seen the final product!
Before
This was overwhelming to say the least! I usually just throw things into the draw and try to avoid noticing the mounds of who knows what piling up. I decided the best way to tackle this project was to empty everything and then decide what to keep and what to get rid of.
So here it is, the empty drawer. I am as shocked as you are to see the bottom!
This empty drawer is a little deceiving though. I took a step back so that you could get a true sense of the mess I had created. I should be honest with you though, I took this picture after I got rid of the trash pile which contained coupons that expired in 2007. Yikes.
At this point the mess seemed manageable, but I am not the only one that uses this drawer so I knew that if I wanted it to stay organized I would need to get a few baskets and containers. This proved to be quite a feat since many of the home store had closed already. I was able to find two small woven baskets at Urban Barn for $8 each, and one small bowl from the dollar store (you will see these in the final pictures).
So here it is… Are you ready?
After
So there you have it! Day 1 complete. This one drawer took me many hours to finish, but it was incredibly rewarding. Today’s challenge is going to be more difficult. I am scared to look in the back of our pantry. I think there are some cans in there that moved with us five years ago. Uh oh!
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I have a very hard time keep things organized in my place. I moved from a very big house into a tiny condo (5 years ago now) and I have never really gone through the things I brought. I can guarantee there are more then a handful of items that are collecting dust and taking up precious space. Unfortunately, I do not enjoy organizing (shocker) but I do enjoy a challenge, so this will have to do! Feel free to join me and start your Spring cleaning a bit early – who knows, maybe it will bring warmer weather too…
Happy Belated Valentine’s Day!
The Valentine's Day Ginger Bread Love Shack!
This is the Ginger Bread “Love Shack” N and I made last night!
A 5'3 Perspective 