category: organize



 

our house: office update

So after I decided what I wanted for my office, I couldn’t stop myself from going RIGHT out and getting it. Now my QUICK trip to the new (& big!) Ikea didn’t end up being as quick as I thought. We got there 10 minutes after opening and the kids wanted to try the new playroom/ballroom. And of course there was a line up. A big line up. And so we waited. And waited. And waited. Only to be told when it was our turn, that we had to wait some more (15 minutes they told us but in actually it ended up being 45 minutes). So the first part of the shopping trip was me taking the kids through the showrooms until our playland buzzer went off.

I was so close to giving up and leaving but finally we got the call and the kids got to go here:

happy ball room kidlets

And then once I was kidless, I headed STRAIGHT to the self serve aisles, picked up 8 boxes, paid and went out and packed my car up. Which took almost the exact amount of time I had before I had to go pick up the kids.

Once home, I left all the boxes in the garage and just had a regular ol’ ‘juggling kids and work’ day. But behind me, all I could see was this:

even blurry it is SO bad!!!

At the end of the day, once the kids were eating supper, I got to work! I moved everything out that was currently in my way (Yes, a lot of things got shoved behind those doors!). And I was left with this:

empty! so nice.

First, I started to put together the Billy Bookcases. When I had them assembled (2 wide & 1 narrow), I screwed them together with brackets so that they would be flush together and look like one large unit. Also, in the back of the bookcase there is a little cut out “u” for attaching the bookcase to the wall with an “L” bracket. Because I don’t want these cabinets moving ANYWHERE, I found the studs along that wall and cut my own little notches to make sure my brackets were all attached directly into studs.

Now the office looked like this:

yay! shelving!!

(Yes, it was late at night, hence the lamp. Actually, to be honest, because I was SO excited to get these cabinets up, I brought the lamp in from the other room instead of using the overhead light because that was blown out which would have required me to go upstairs and find a bulb, and a chair to change it. This was faster!! And to be COMPLETELY honest, the bulb has yet to be changed. Oops.)

And now, even though the room is technically no more organized then it was last week, (hopefully that will change by end of month) this is what it currently looks like:

I love my Billy Bookcases!

Love.

What is left to do in the office:

  1. Paint the upper cabinets to match the lower
  2. Get matching knobs (maybe something pretty? like this, or this?)
  3. Hang my gallery wall
  4. New rug (this? which I have upstairs and LOVE.)
  5. Window treatment
  6. Create organized paperwork system for behind doors
  7. Create kids art supplies station

Now I love my office. I love how I can focus and go in their and NOT stare at the mess that greeted me before. And once the stuff behind those doors is pretty too. Wow! I will be in heaven.
:)

 

free printable – meal planner – updated

Since I originally posted about my meal planning, I have made some tweaks based on my own use and some comments from people. I added 2 more days for those who like to plan the whole week, turned the paper upright, reduced the amount of groceries and added an area for notes (or a recipe). I am adding this version to download but keeping the original as well. Let me know what you guys think.

free printable: meal planner v.2

Download this free printable PDF (for personal use only).


So I have been meal planning for about 2 months now and can’t get over how awesome it is. We save money on groceries, but more than that, we aren’t throwing out rotten food that never got used, and I don’t stress in the evenings on what to make.

Now my meal planning system is based on advice I have been given from good friends and is very simple:

  • Pick 5 evening meals per week and buy groceries for those. (I don’t meal plan breakfast or lunch, just supper.)
  • Don’t decide what meal for what day, on your first day pick the meal you feel like cooking and cross it off your list.
  • Work your way through the list until you have made all five meals.

The reason you choose five meals is because two of the days will be leftovers. That depends really on what you make and how much you make. Often I find day 3 is a good leftover meal of day 1 & 2.

I love that this system is simple and flexible and just allows me to decide daily what I want to make but also removes the “what should we have for dinner” frustration in the kitchen.

I have made myself a pretty meal planning PDF that I am now using in my kitchen household files that combines my meal list with my grocery list. I added checkboxes to my grocery list as I HATE missing things when I am at the store.

free printable: meal planner

Download this free printable PDF (for personal use only). Enjoy!

Linking up to: I’m an Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday

 

planning my office

So I am sitting amidst the mess. Right now. Trying to focus on work yet really wanting to deal with the mess behind me. The one I have already posted:

my office - the "before" picture

It is frustrating to say the least. But one thing I have thought over and over about in regards to this mess is how the solution is not what I have it set as. That I am going to have to spend some money to create an office that I would enjoy showing off. First things first, I am going to need more hidden storage. I want this room to feel calm when I enter it every day. Easy to hide things I don’t want to see at that moment. :)

So this is my new plan:

layout for new office bookcases

I will replace what I have with a Billy Bookcase layout from Ikea. This will almost be the exact width of the upper cabinets I currently have. And then paint the above cabinets to match. This will create a whole wall of hidden storage. Except the small shelving in the centre where I plan to store my cd boxes that I use for work daily.

I also plan to purchase this desk for the kids area:

kids art desk

This is because the desk I have in their currently only fits one chair at a time and often it is both kids who want to be working with me in the space and I like the idea of a wider, simpler desk that will allow them the room to work side by side.

Beyond that I plan to also:

  • create a gallery wall of inspiring images and quotes
  • organize my paperwork using a document sorter instead of a file cabinet (does NOT work with my personality!)
  • get an easel & create a painting space

And I think that is it for now. Hopefully I can get started this week and start the new year off in a space that inspires me!

 

a new year – resolutions and reflections

peaceful

So this is the last day of 2011. Wow! I am not sure what that should feel like, but it doesn’t feel like that. I think this low key holiday we had didn’t quite create the build up to the “finale” as usual.

I am o.k. with that. I like this quieter, softer start to the new year. I feel more reflective. Less inclined to pick the typical “lose weight/get healthy” as my go to resolution. Nope. This year I want something a little smaller, but that is so much more than that.

This year I want peace.

Not peace on earth (although that would be nice) but peace within myself. Peace to accept my decisions, to follow my gut, to not sweat the small stuff, to enjoy the little moments. To notice the little moments. To simplify my household routines so that I remove as much stress on myself as I can, and just go with the flow more. (a post on how I plan to do this to follow)

Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t a plan to stop doing projects or making stuff. Oh no, I have a list of 2012 projects a mile long, including dealing with this:

my office - embarrassing!

Yes, it is THAT bad. It has been ignored and neglected for too long. And since I am in that space mostly everyday, it will be the first space I am set to improve on.

Bring on 2012! I am ready!!!

 

our house: boy’s room – lego table

So I posted a while back a bunch of pictures of Little Man’s bedroom but didn’t show you the side of the room where he has his lego table. He LOVES lego and so last Christmas I wanted to make him a table and an area that allowed him to build and keep that stuff together.

I showed you the view towards the bed

view from the door

But never towards the corner

view of his lego table

Here is a closeup of the table. I made it with a Lack side table from Ikea (no longer showing on Cdn site and no longer in blue on their US site) and four large blue Lego bases glued down with Gorilla Glue.

lego table

I also found a storage bin that fit perfectly under the table on casters (again from Ikea) to house all his lego pieces.

lego storage bin

One tip when you are gluing down the bases: Make sure you use a lego piece to space them properly apart. I started to push them flush together before I wondered if the pieces would work across the seam. I am glad I did as there is a TINY gap required between the plates.

use lego for spacing

Now I have to say, I love lego. It is the one toy I am definitely willing to sit down and build and create alongside my kids. Yes, I did have something to do with these rainbow coloured houses. :)

my rainbow creation

And what I love even more is how my “houses” are suddenly taken over by Star Wars soldiers and command central.

command central

Awesome. :)

I am linking up to

 

the path of least resistance

I will let you in on a little secret. I am NOT disciplined. I like being organized but hate any effort required on my part to put stuff away. Hence, I try to always find the path of least resistance to where I store things (all coffee items with mugs together in kitchen, etc).

For instance, here is a corner of our master bedroom:

corner of the master bedroom


This is the area that I sit ever other night and blow dry our daughter’s hair after her bath or shower. This was the routine we started a while back and works for us (she can watch tv from this location and therefore sits still the whole time). For a couple of months I either had to drag the hair dryer back and forth to the kids washroom OR it sat on the side table.

Until, I did this:

basket for hair dryer and brush


I put a basket on the shelf whose SOLE purpose it to hold her hair dryer and her brush. That way it gets put away the second after it gets used and I never have to look at it.

Figure out where you USE things and then the path of least resistance for putting it away. Who cares if you think it SHOULD be in “this room” or in “that location”. The only thing it should be is easy.

I’m linking up to: