Organizing the Messy Cupboard

Yesterday Ashley and I attended a seminar titled "Organize with Confidence." Some of the myths are:

1. It has to be perfect.


2. You must be born organized.


3. Organizing is all about the bins.

If you're like me - you go to put something away and then that you decided to orgainze that area and don't get back to what you originally were working on. Then you come back to it and you've had enough and put everything back and figure you can work on it another day. The speaker said to get a hoola hoop and lay it on the floor. You need to stay in that area until finished so that you don't become distracted. (I wonder what DH would say if I came home with a hoola hoop?

The area that I want to organize and get rid of clutter is the kitchen and I have a hard time getting rid of things. I need to remind myself that this is just stuff and not get caught up in the thought that I might need it some day(very scary!).

And because I want to work on the kitchen, I need to break it down even further to not become overwhelmed and not take action. Take a look at the chart where I've broke down each parts of the kitchen that I want to go through and do bits of it until it's completed.

I'm proud to say that I worked on the cupboard that spices are kept in and taken some before and after. I didn't realize that spices have expiration dates(DH says that's ridculous) and filled up a trash can. This cupboard took me exactly an hour and I'm glad that I didn't tear apart any other areas in the kitchen - pretty hard on a pack rat.

Before:

I couldn't find anything, wow this is bad!

And here's my after pictures:

Much nicer - would you agree?

I actually put items from another cupboard in this one.

I'm so proud of myself but not ready to take on another cupboard just yet, maybe tomorrow?? We're under a winter weather advisory with a blizzard warning for tomorrow. I told DH that if we can be luck enough to have a blizzard (my employer will probably also be closed - and I'll get a paid day off - crossing my fingers) - I'll be working on the dreaded pantry. I don't think my pantry is anything like this cupboard but I'll post before and after pictures as soon as I tackle it.

Here's wishing everyone a safe weekend!

Terry