21 Day Organizing Challenge - Week 3 (ish)

Well, it's official - the 21 Day Organizing Challenge is complete!  Last week actually should have been the last week, but life got unexpectedly busy for our family so it didn't happen.  So, here is my final week!  (There aren't as many pictures as in prior weeks...)

Day 15 - Medicine/Vitamin Storage

All of my medicine and vitamin storage was done on days 4 (linen closet) and 13 (medicine cabinets).  I don't know where anyone else would store these items!  This was a welcomed moment to see that I already had this done!  

Day 16 - The Fridge

This was a job that I had been putting off for some time (I won't share how long, but let's just say that I'm lucky it wasn't worse than it was!).  Several years ago I spent much of one summer cleaning the grossest refrigerators you can imagine.  In fact, one refrigerator had to be disposed of because there was so much stuff growing in it that there was no hope of ever getting it properly cleaned and disinfected!  Thankfully, my refrigerator was nowhere near like that, but it got worse than I ever let it.  

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

 AFTER

  

Day 17 - The Mail

We may be some of those rare families who don't have mail piling up.  We're pretty good at throwing out junk mail and newspapers.  The only real problem we have is in filing away bills, statements, and important documents.  We have a basket that sits on top of our 2-drawer filing cabinet that collects all of these things until it's so full that we are forced to file.  (Hey, it may not be ideal, but it works for us!)  Way back on day 1 of this challenge (the desk) I took the opportunity to go through this basket and file away.  It's stayed pretty empty, too!  There really isn't anything to see as far as before and after, but here is a picture of the basket!  

 
Day 18 - Keepsakes (My Craft Supplies)

This was the biggest project of the entire 3 weeks.  Over the past couple of years I've gotten more in touch with my crafty side.  I've been into scrabooking for a while, but am now branching out now that I've got a basic handle on my sewing machine.  After some major scrapbooking accomplishments over the past few months, in addition to a few other projects, my craft supply was... a huge wreck.  :( 

 BEFORE

So the problem was not so much a lack of storage space as it was a lack of organization.  Now everything has its place and looks so wonderful.  It makes me want to go do something crafty (and put it all away in its spot!).  Props to my hubby for putting the shelves in the closet - at his suggestion!  No joke, he suggested it one morning and the shelves were installed that night!  So great!  

 AFTER

The only items purchased for this reorganization was the wood for the shelves and the baskets for my scrapbooking supplies ($1 each from the dollar spot in Target).  Everything else I already had.  The white container on the big cabinet is holding all of my fabric.  I decided it would be a good place to put my sewing basket.  The craft table in the closet is easy to pull out when I'm ready to craft and saves valuable space in our basement playroom.  I LOVE this!

Day 19 - Master Closet

This was easy... just some quick tidying.  I tackled this on my own accord a few months ago (since I was feeling guilty that there were still a couple of boxes in there that had not been unpacked from when we moved in over a year and a half ago!).  No pics of my closet, but it's looking good!  

Day 20 - Photos

I'm picky about my photo organization... have been for a while now.  So all of my pics are organized on the computer in folders by year, then by month - all the way back to 2006.  There was really nothing to be done to better this part of it.  I will say 2 things though that I need to do better.  1) Delete bad pictures ASAP or else you will have horrible pictures that you will never use taking up valuable space on your computer.  2) Back up your pictures (I need to do this).  

I have been feeling guilty that I've done nothing with any pictures of my son yet, other than a few in frames around the house - no scrapbooking or photo albums.  Since I had an offer from Shutterfly for a free 7x9 photo book, I decided that this would be a good way to actually use these pictures.  Since Jadon's 2nd birthday recently happened, I thought it would be fitting to do a photo book of his second year.  It came out great!  Shutterfly is incredible.  Jadon loves his book and it's something that is definitely his to keep.  In fact, I love it so much that the next time I get a free photo book offer I'm going to make one from his first year.  I'm thinking this will be something I keep doing each year from now on.  Here's a picture of the book I made on Shutterfly.  

Day 21 - My Pick (The Jelly Cabinet)

I didn't have to think too long about what I was going to do for this day.  The jelly cabinet is near the doorway between our living room and dining room.  It held a variety of items that include art supplies, games, candles, lined paper and notebooks, DVDs, and some decorative items.  I got rid of a lot of these things so that there's actually enough room to see everything!  

Cute on the outside... Scary on the inside!

BEFORE (Chaos)

AFTER (Sanity)

I can't believe it's actually done.  Tons of thanks to my hubby who has added his touch to a few things (shelves for my crafts and a shelf in the spice cabinet, to name a couple of things).  I also wanted to share that this was not a $-consuming project.  In fact, I'm quite certain that I spent less than $35 in the entire 3 weeks, mostly because I made use of things I already had.  This was a lot of fun and a stress reliever!  I hope you've been inspired to start your 21 Day Organizing Challenge!

~ Carrie ~