It just went though a thorough cleaning again. I’m loving the open floor. I was tripping over things. Now, I can actually walk in there and turn around without some type of calamity happening.

This is hard to look at, I know. It’s almost never this bad but it had reached an all time low.

But look! It cleaned up real well.

My appliance counter before. Just awful!!

And here’s my handy tip I wanted to share. I added a 6-plug outlet to my appliance counter so that all my appliances can be used whenever needed without having to find the end of the cord and plugging it in. Such a little thing but it is really nice to have.

(Kaitlyn, you see that Wallace Wagon Train Outfitters on the wall? I’ve had that since our Pioneer Days. I just can’t seem to let it go. )

Several years ago I did an overhaul on my pantry and added some DIY organizers using 2×4’s. They are still working great for me.

You stack them as needed. In my pantry I have a row with nothing and then directly behind that I have 1-2×4 and then behind that I have 2 stacked.

This picture shows how it looks with just 1-2×4.

How’s your pantry looking these days? Is it time for an overhaul or does it stay pretty organized most of the time?

What’s the handiest thing you’ve ever done in your pantry?

Seth’s wedding is only 34 days away which means I have to get a mother-of-the-groom outfit which causes me no end of grief! And I have to get something for my hubby and daughter to wear. Oh dear! These are the kinds of things that stress me!

I have so many things I want to get started on around here. Organizational projects and decorating projects. I’m feeling like I really need to pare down what I keep. I’m a sentimental soul and I have a lot of interests so it’s really hard for me but using the Kon Mari question of “Does it spark joy?”, I think I can finally approach my “stuff” in a more objective manner and start minimizing what I keep.

I have talked to more than one person who said that the more things they got rid of, the more freer they felt, and then it becomes addicting and makes you want to pare down even more.

So whatever decluttering project I start, my #1 question will be, “Does this spark joy?” Some of the items I will just have to be realistic about because even though it may not spark joy that doesn’t mean I will get rid of the item (like my faded-from-the-sun couches). I will keep them until I am able to replace them but for many, many items, I will ask that one simple question. “Does this bring me joy?”

Why Do I Want to Do This?

I want to have a place for everything and everything in its place.

I want all piles gone! This means papers, clothes and miscellaneous. Papers are the worst for me. I bought a great little scanner and I’m hoping to go paperless for a lot of things. (fingers crossed that I can pull that off)  Then there are the small piles of clothing I always have going in the laundry room – clothes that the kids have outgrown. I seriously need to do a big clothing purge with my two youngest.

I have my work cut out in the decluttering department, so I’m sure you’ll be seeing a lot of posts coming up on the subject. After all, organization is a love of mine!

Question for you

What is the one thing in your homemaking that you wish you could wave a magic wand and it be done? What are some of the problems you face in regards to homemaking?

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So I tried it and I was impressed. It may seem like extra steps to fold but really it goes just as fast as normal folding once you’ve learned how to do it. I didn’t get a chance to put a video together but here is one that is quite thorough.

The idea is to have a small rectangular package when you are finished that can stand on its own and that when you open your drawer you can see everything at a glance. I really like this part of it. For example, if you stack your clothing but need something at the bottom of the stack, how easy it is to get things a little messed up. But when your things are sitting side by side to each other, you can see not only what you have but can remove it without causing everything to get untidy and your drawer seems to hold more this way.

Here’s one drawer where the clothes are folded the KonMari way.

and another one with hoisery…

Marie Kondo suggests using shoe boxes to hold things and since I had a few around I used them. Maybe it would be impracticable for a lot of people if they were heavy into clothing. Like I said above I’m willing to at least give her suggestion a try.

Socks can even be folded in the KonMari way.

What do I think about the KonMari method so far? Well I think asking yourself the question, “Does this spark joy?” simplifies things SO much. That’s just taking what can seem kind of big in our minds and bringing it down real simple. As far as folding clothes this way, I’m really liking it as well. It makes sense, it’s easy to do and I think long-term your items will stay neater than the traditional way. Time will tell. I haven’t used this method long enough to truly know if it is something I will really want to continue. But for now, I’m really liking it!

But over time my closet shelves have become cluttered with just a lot of this n that. It was unsightly and there was always something on the floor that would get in the way of my feet. It was an embarrassing mess, let me tell you.

Using the suggestions of Marie Kondo that she outlines in her book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing I began to declutter starting with my clothing. You’re not to walk into your closet and give it a cursory glance while asking yourself, “Does this spark joy?” Instead, you are to removed all your clothing and then hold each item in your hands and ask yourself if it brings you joy. Believe me, this simple question will have you weeding out a lot of things!

I’m all about Before and After photos but my friend, I forgot this time until I had removed all my clothing. Rats! Before and After photos are so motivating and help you remember just how bad it was and how far you’ve come!

My brain did kick in eventually and reminded me that I needed some photos so here you go.

I went through all my hoisery wear. Look at this hoisery bag I’ve had for YEARS. Seriously! Missing it’s little hanger, I improvised and attached another hanger. Well, it was okay when I really needed it, but I didn’t wear half of what I had in here. It was time for it to go bye-bye.

Look at those suntan colored nylons. Oh dear, I can’t even remember the last time I wore that color.

Check out these leotards. I mean really, I have never had a waist this small. This is like asking for my body to be cut in half. Maybe a 6 month old child would have this size of waist? We shall find out. I gave them to my 10 year old daughter to see if they perhaps will fit her.

A photo showing the shelf under where my clothes usually hang. It was where I stored my magazines and a few other books.

I removed all the books/magazines even though I am not to be focusing on that right now. That’s supposed to be the next thing I declutter (Marie Kondo has a particular order she wants you to follow when decluttering.) because I decided to store my shoes on this shelf. The books/magazine are now in my room awaiting the time I start going through books.

If you saw these shelves before, you would be amazed that they are empty. I honestly don’t know what all I could have had on these shelves that made them so  unkempt but thus it was. It’s so bare, it looks like it needs something more!

There is a particular way that Marie Kondo suggests you fold clothes if you’re wondering why my clothes are on end. I’ll share that with you next time.

I’m not a clotheshorse but I found enough clothes in my closet that didn’t spark joy that I filled 3 trash bags!

I’ve pretty much finished my clothing but now a few others want to go through theirs. But it should be easier than what I just went through. We’ll see.

How does your closet look? Does everything hanging or what is folded spark joy for you or are you keeping things you feel guilty to discard?

Several months back I heard about a book called The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. Since I love anything to do with organizing, I had to take a look at it. This book is different than any book you will have read on the subject, bringing new thoughts to the table on how to finally say goodbye to things you’ve had for a very long time and are reluctant to give away or discard.

The author, Marie Kondo, says that the KonMari Method isn’t just a set of rules for organizing your home but a “guide to acquiring the right mind-set for creating order and becoming a tidy person.”

Some of the basic thoughts in the book are these:

#1 Sort by category, not by location.

Marie Kondo says you must gather all similar items together in one place before you begin making the decision to discard or keep. For example, when you are sorting through  clothing (which she says is the first thing you should start with), you collect your clothes no matter where they are located. They could be in the hall closet, a second closet or maybe even in the mending pile. Once you have gathered everything in one place then you ask yourself #2.

When we disperse storage of a particular item throughout the house and tidy one place at a time, we can never grasp the overall volume and therefore can never finish. To escape this negative spiral, tidy by category, not by place. –pg. 25 the life-changing magic of tidying up

#2 Does it spark joy?

Wow! This question is a game changer for me. It kind of just simplifies everything, doesn’t it? Hold each item in your hand as you go through the process of decluttering and ask yourself the question, “Does this spark joy?” For example, if, when sorting through your clothes, you see clothes you never wear, ask yourself why. Maybe it’s because you decided it didn’t suit you once you brought it home. But a new way to look at it is that it fulfilled it’s duty and taught you what doesn’t look good and what you don’t want to purchase next time. Now let it go. If an item doesn’t bring us joy, how many times will we wear it anyways? Probably very few. Only keep what brings you joy.

To get rid of what you no longer need is neither wasteful or shameful. Can you truthfully say that you treasure something buried so deeply in a closet or drawer that you have forgotten its existence? –pg. 61 the life-changing magic of tidying up

Marie doesn’t say you have to own only so many items. She doesn’t say you have to get rid of things that are old or have lost their usefulness if it brings you joy. It it brings you joy, keep it. But you must handle every item and ask yourself the question, “Does it spark joy.”

Although Marie Kondo has some ideas that I can’t support (such as treating inanimate objects as if they have feelings) over all, I think this book is an excellent approach to organizing and decluttering.

She also suggests a specific order when you start to declutter.

• clothing
• books
• papers
• miscellaneous items
• sentimental items

I recommend you get the book from your library or purchase it. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing.

Most of us typically have too much stuff – things we forget about even owning and/or things that we plan to go through when we are older.  How much better it would be to enjoy what you have now instead of thinking “Someday, when I’m retired and have nothing to do, I’ll look at all these cards.” (a famous line heard around here!) And so we store these items for years and never find the time to get to them.

If you’re interested in joining a decluttering challenge using the KonMari Method, She Holds Dearly is having a 10-week decluttering challenge and has started a closed Facebook group where she posts the area that we are to work on as well as videos that outline the method. You can also share or ask questions. Click on this link and leave a comment for Sarah and she’ll add you to the group.

How do you feel about decluttering? Is it something you really need to do in your home?

I don’t know why I would even care to show you how messy I can be except that I like to see others Before and Afters. Do you feel the same?

 I love to see how others find solutions to their problems and hope that something I share inspires you, too.

This idea for making my own DIY dividers came from Kevin and Amanda’s blog and specifically this post.

But my husband wouldn’t hear of just using glue like Kevin & Amanda did on their dividers because he felt that wouldn’t be sturdy enough – so we he used a staple gun.

The first thing you will want to do is to organize into piles the different types of items you have in your drawer because once you’ve made your dividers you do not want to have to reconfigure them again.

We purchased the wood for the dividers at Home Depot. It runs $1/foot.

Here is the empty drawer that the dividers went into.

And 1 1/2 hours later – after much measuring and cutting, my drawer was completed. One more thing we need to do is purchase full extension drawer slides. I never realized how much wasted space you have at the back of your drawers. Space, my friends, for organizing items!

So I am very happy with this little project and I thank my husband for taking the time to do it. I really don’t know what it would have looked like if I had attempted to put it all together but it would most certainly have not have been so nice. Guaranteed!

Here’s what’s been suggested thus far.

Once a name has been decided I want to make a sign to hang on the exterior, so we’ll see how that goes.

On to my pantry pictures!

When we first began the process of building the pantry.

In the painting stage…

And now…

No food will be in here as I mentioned before, just supplies and the things I need to host a large crowd.

We built an area just to hang my tablecloths. They had been hanging in my coat closet but no longer!

Please excuse that one lone pant hanger that doesn’t match anything else. I didn’t take the time to make it picture perfect.

Above the tablecloths I wanted to use the space for my place mats and cloth napkins.

An abundance of paper products are stored on the left side of the pantry.

Some small vases I have for the dining tables.

For these platters I am getting some plate holders so that the platters are not stacked one on top of another, making it easy to grab the ones I want to use.

The pegboard wall that I really wanted.

The right side of the pantry holds my large equipment.

And the left side…

The little table at the end of the pantry is very special to me. It was my husband’s grandmother’s and was used to set the wash basin on where everyone would wash their hands before going into the house. I use it quite often when entertaining and I wanted it in a protected and accessible place, thus we planned for it to go in here.

Another project my husband can check off as FINISHED!  I am really thrilled to have this space. Thank you to my sweetheart for his desire for me to have this area and for getting it done.

Linking up with:

Between Naps on the Front Porch

By Stephanie Lynn

Sand & Sisal

Really pantry is not a good name for my room. Maybe you all can help me name it. There will be no food in it but it will have equipment, supplies (paper products, serving implements, platters, etc.) tablecloths and cloth napkins. It’s a storeroom but I want it to sound cuter than that.

Help me out here?

The pantry is long and narrow.  At the far end of the pantry I wanted some pegboard to hang my extra cooking utensils, ice bucket and a very large bowl I have.

Strips of wood were placed on the wall for the pegboard to be screwed into.

But you’ll have to wait to see the finished wall.

Then we had to finish the area where my tablecloths will hang and closet rod brackets were screwed into place.

And here’s a little sneak peak of what I’ve been doing in the “Storeroom”. (Remember, help me out with a name. )

This was an old wire basket my husband picked up from one of our rentals. He couldn’t imagine me wanting it since it was all rusty but I told him that it added to its overall look of charm.

It was quite rusty so I added some material to the inside and placed miscellaneous plastic cutlery into it. All my kids were wondering what the numbers were supposed to mean. They didn’t really care that it was the trend right now but wanted to know what purpose it served. haha

So to make it more acceptable I told them forks were at 1, spoons at 2 and knives at 3.

This is one of my favorite shelves in the pantry.

And I had to add a little chalkboard to the pegboard.

“Never trust a skinny chef.”

And Monday I hope to be able to show you the entire pantry, storeroom, room!

Menus

Camping Checklists

Groceries

Gear

Warm Bedding

Warm Clothing

and the list goes on.

But what a good time we have. This year there’s about 42 of us heading out to the great outdoors. I’ll once again be staying in our wall tent (which I’m loving) with a wood burning stove to keep me toasty if I should get too chilled.

One of my goal is to figure out ways to organize my kitchen set-up in the tent. I think this will be my 3rd year sleeping in it and each year you get to see what needs should be tweaked to make things easier. The other day I saw an idea on the Internet for a camper trailer using pegboard and I think it might just work for our tent as well. We had a lot of pegboard given to us, so I had my husband bring home a piece. I think the piece he brought home measures 4’x3′. I had a box of pegboard hooks left over from a laundry room project but I needed some extra big ones so I purchased a couple more as well as some basket organizers.

I did some experimenting to see how it would work and I’m really pleased. I think it’s going to be great.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

There’s 6 elk tags to be filled this year – all by kids. It’s easier for them to get drawn than us adults!

The Before Picture

It Was a Long Process

If you can’t I don’t blame you since that was almost 1 year ago. Precisely 342 days.  We were so close to being done but then I had those 7 boxes of boys clothing that I had to get rid of. I wanted to give it to others who might need them and so I waited and waited forgot over and over again until the day it finally worked out I finally remembered.  Those beloved clothes of my sons found a good home and now other little delightful boys are getting the use of them.

I didn’t want to show you a half finished job, so I didn’t post.  Then it became messy again. Oh, the shame of it all!

But people, I am so happy to tell you it is C.L.E.A.N and in order.

This is the after picture of the above mess. We built shelves up to the ceiling to hold all our camping gear.  We use all of this every year at our hunting camp and parts of it in between. (Did you notice that you can see the floor??)

Isn’t it a beautiful morning? The sun is shining, the birds are singing. (Feeling happy!)

All those waters you see on the left and the food in the middle will be gone this weekend. We’re having youth meetings at our church this weekend with a luncheon here on Saturday.

Did you see it?

You’re wondering what in the world I’m talking about aren’t you?  I’m referring to that gray thing at the bottom left hand side of the picture.

Yes!

It’s the floor.

Oh, the joy of it all!

And another picture of our delightfully organized clutter with lots of gray showing…

Compared to the mess it used to be It feels so restful to me now. No, it’s not picture perfect but hey we celebrate the not so perfect things around here, too. So much so that I may just grab a cup of tea and go and admire it some more.

Have a delightful day and if you want to feel really good, go find a place in your home that needs decluttered or organized and just do it! It may be a small job or a big one but guaranteed you will feel better!

Then grab your cup of tea and celebrate your own progress.