Cleaning, Purging and Organizing the Entire House

So it all started with me watching Marie Kondo on Netflix. But then...I watched some of Khloe Kardashian's organizing videos and BAM! That was it...I was hooked and there was no stopping me. Have y'all watched Khloe's videos? Or at least the infamous Oreo stacking one? They're gold! She's the organizing queen! 

I went through every single cabinet, closet and drawer in the entire house. I filled my car to the brim FOUR times with donations! I cleaned, purged, donated and organized. 

But first, let me say a little something about organizing. Everyone is different and everyone has different needs/wants when it comes to their own home. For example, I LOVE seeing those perfectly organized pantries with all the labeled baskets, bins and jars. It looks so pretty, but...I personally need to SEE what's in my pantry. My pantry is a place for "browsing" if you know what I mean. I'll stand in front of the pantry and look around at all my choices before making my selection. And to do that, I need to see what all is in there. I don't want to have to pull out baskets and peek inside to see what's available to eat, know what I mean? 

So for now, I don't use baskets in my pantry. I just try my best to line things up and organize them by category. 

I know I could use clear bins (like Khloe does) and that would solve that problem, but everything is still "contained" and it would take longer to retrieve stuff, with having to remove lids, etc. And not to mention it would also take longer to unload everything from a trip to the grocery store, with having to remove lids, stock everything properly, put lids back, etc. Of course you could always leave the lids off, but then they don't look as pretty. And you'd also have to wash all those jars periodically. 

So in my pantry, I want to see what's in there. But in my bathroom linen closet for example, I don't "browse" in there, so I don't necessarily need to see the contents. I don't ever stand in front of the linen closet, trying to decide what I need. So for me, it's perfectly acceptable to use solid bins or baskets to store things like toothpaste and nail polish. You just have to decide where your priorities are and do what works best for you and your family. 

So, here are some ways I got organized...

The kitchen cabinets...

Inside the buffet in the kitchen...

The linen closet in my master bath...

See the bins? I'm totally okay with having them in here because they store things like extra soap and toothpaste, and that's not something I need to see several times a day. 

And Logan's linen closet in his bathroom. He doesn't like having his stuff in bins, so I let this one slide as long as it's still neat.

The silverware drawer. I've had that green caddy for probably 20 years or more. I just can't bring myself to update it with a new color... 

The buffet drawers in the dining room...

This is mostly seasonal stuff that's only used once a year, so it should be easy to keep organized. 

This little kidney table used to also store picture easels. What?! I don't know why I had them in there, lol. 

Ah...the bombay chest. It's still not perfect, but it's cleared out a little more than it was. I store a lot of extra home decor items and candles in here.

And my Kondo-ed pajama drawer! I'm telling you...if nothing else, at least google Marie Kondo's video on folding clothes (and Khloe's Oreo video) Life changing, y'all! These p.j.s used to take up THREE drawers! But then I folded them using Marie's special technique and it saved so much space! 

The infamous kitchen junk drawer. We all have one (or two) right? I have to keep the rubber bands in a ziplock to make sure they don't fall into the paws of a kitty. 

Definitely not Pinterest worthy, but it works for us. 

I literally went through my entire house and organized everything. I donated all kinds of stuff...a crockpot (I got a new one years ago and still had the old one...guess I thought I might need two for a really big meal?) a foot massager, juicer, tons and tons of clothing and shoes, books (an entire Harry Potter collection, as well as all the Twilight books) and my Baby Blues comic strip books! That's my favorite comic and I purchased about 20 of those books throughout the years. They're filled with a collection of daily comic strips. I used to love browsing through them during nap time, but I haven't cracked them open in over a decade. Plus they're all available online now, so there was no need to keep them.

Just for laughs, this is my all time favorite from Baby Blues...

 Ha ha! Love it!

I'll just say one more thing about organizing. I run a tight ship at this house and I know it. But you have to stay on top of things so they don't get out of control. My kids have never been allowed to leave their dishes on the table and walk off. They've been trained from day one to rinse their dishes and put them in the dishwasher immediately.

But my point is, you have to have order and consistency to live an organized life. And your people have to be on board with it. If things are already a mess, it's much easier to just add to it by tossing stray mail, etc. onto the messy counter and forgetting about it. What's one more random item up there, right? Or not knowing what to do with something, so you just stuff it into the corner of a closet. But...if things are already organized, it's much harder (psychologically) to mess it back up. It makes you not want to throw junk mail onto a perfectly clean counter. You want to keep it clean, so you immediately recycle said junk mail. I know once I got my closet organized, there was no way I was going to mess it back up by storing random things in there that I really didn't need. 

A place for everything and everything in its place. Words to live by, my friends. 

I hope I inspired you to get organized too! Thanks for stopping by!

~Lisa