Mom to 2 Busy Boys: August 2008

Front Entryway

3 comments Posted by Amanda at 7:22 PM

This month's focus at Org Junkie was the entryways.

Here is my front entryway before:

After:

All I did was put away couple coats, put away the odd things and added the shoe rack from Ikea. Its a small change but has made a huge difference so far. It's amazing with alittle bit of organizing does! To check out what others have done to improve their entryways, go check out here. How do you organzie your shoes in your entryway? What works for you?

Computer Desk

6 comments Posted by Amanda at 12:59 PM

Our computer desk was in the living room. It was the first surface you came across once you walked into the house. It was always piled with papers and things that didn't belong there. The computer desk was on my anti-clutter list but I kept putting it off. I was unsure of how I was going to solve the problem of the clutter building up.

I think we finally solved the problem for now. This week my husband, Jeremy is on holidays, so we have been busy rearranging the house and redoing half the living room floor to make the room look like two separate rooms. Jeremy wants to have a bar, entertaining section of the living room. So in order to do that we had to move the computer desk upstairs into my craft room (which is hardly used and is a catch all room right now.)

(Don't you love the wallpaper in the room. NOT!)

I am loving in this room because it feels more like an office space. There is a bulletin board and room for the filing cabinet. Hoping it stays cluttered free for a while. Unfortunately all the papers that were on it went into a bin to be sorted and filed at a later date.

How does your computer desk like? Could it use some tidying up?

Weekly Round up

4 comments Posted by Amanda at 3:03 PM

What I decluttered this week:

1. junk papers off computer desk

2. handful of old puzzle pieces

3. 20 magenzies I didnt read and probably wasnt going to soon. There were just passed onto me.

4. handful of fake rose petals.

5. carbboard boxes.. Put the stickers into a smaller box to make room.

6. Lid to a blender we dont have anymore.

7. empty leftover favour boxes that i made for my wedding reception. I kept 2 for a keepsake.

8. papers we dont need anymore (DH did this one. shocking!)

9. dried up marker

To see what others have decluttered this week, go check out: My Simpler Life

The Toyroom

5 comments Posted by Amanda at 10:33 AM

Acouple days ago I posted saying that I started to clean the toyroom. Friday I got the urge to really deep clean it and organize it.

The toyroom is suposse to be the master bedroom in the house. We didnt want to use it as a bedroom since its the only bedroom on the main floor. We wanted our bedroom near the boys bedroom. The master bedroom was perfect for the toyroom. its right off the dining room and has an ensuite bathroom. The boys have enough toys to fill a toystore. A lot of the toys are big and take up lots of room. The were all around of the edges of the room and didnt leave much room in the middle to play. The room has a big closet but was always very cluttered. We cleaned it all out. Put the boxes of baby clothes elsewhere till I give them to my sister-in-law.

Before pictures

We bought shelves for the closet. Place the large toys and containors of blocks and legos on the shelf. Clean out the big white bin from the right side of closet. Put all the baby toys in a bag for my sister-in-law and put small random toys that the boys dont play with in a containor to put away on the top shelf. That way the boys cant just dump those toys on the floor. The white bin went outside to use for outdoor toys.

We have been wanting to buy a new sectional couch for a while but didnt have the room to move the fouton anywhere. We finally had room for the fouton in the toyroom. Saturday we went and bougt a new sectional. Found an awesome deal and its going to be delivered Thursday. Yesterday we moved the Fouton in the toyroom and completed cleaning up the toys. We also moved the book shelf into th I think it looks awesome. I am loving it and think it'll stay a lot cleaner this way. I am hoping to find a good book and do some reading while the boys play now. That way I can keep an eye on them and try to teach them the rule of play with one toy and when you are done, put it away.

The after pictures

Yay for being able to cross another thing off my anti-clutter list. What did you accomplish over the weekend?

Week Round-up

3 comments Posted by Amanda at 7:15 PM

I just started the challenge on monday. So here is a list of what I decluttered this week.

Day 1

Put a scrapbook program, a name book and a potty training dvd in my yard sale box.

Threw out expired coupons, and an old college workbook from 3 years ago.

Day 2

Recycled 25 magazines

Day 3- threw out 3 broken toys

Day 4- deleted 459 emails out of my inbox.. still lots more to go..

Day 5 - Today I cleaned out the car and threw out a grocery bag of garbage.. gross I know..

What did you declutter today? It's not too late to still join in the challenge!!

the challenge

3 comments Posted by Amanda at 1:27 PM

DH just called to say he is on his way home from work. So I'm all done cleaning for the day. Here is what I accomplished this afternoon:

emptied dishwasher
cleared off kitchen counters
put in load of towels
threw away 6 moldy wash clothes
vacuumed kitchen floor
mopped kitchen floor
straighten up main bathroom
vacuumed bathroom
vacuumed back hallway
decluttered dining room
vacuumed dining room
straighten up living room
vacuumed living room
straighten up front hall way
vacuumed front hall way
folded & put away towels
folded 2 loads of laundry
picked clothes off bedroom floor
sorted the laundry
put a load of the boys clothes in

Boy am I tired now. I am glad I have a store bought lasagna in the oven. Now I can sit back and relax :)

What did you accomplish today? Did the challenge motivate you to get more accomplished today than you would of?

Thanks for joining me in the challenge!!

A Challenge

4 comments Posted by Amanda at 8:00 AM

Today I am feeling really lazy and have tons of housework that needs to be done. So I need some motivation. I am going to challenge myself to try to get as much as I can done, in fast mode. It'll be great exercise and hopefully get lots accomplished. I'm going to turn up the music too, for fun.
I changelle you too! Go try to get as much done and report back here with a list of what you've done! It can be anything as small as doing the dishes to tackling a cluttered area. Are you ready? Set, go!! Off to the races! :)

Day 3

0 comments Posted by Amanda at 7:45 AM

Yesterday I started cleaning this war zone that we call a toy room.. It's a never ending thing. I've blogged about it before.

What it looked like before I started cleaning yesterday. Yes, they have way too many toys. I'd love to get rid of half of them but unfortunally DH says we have to keep all of them. So little did he know, I was able to throw how 3 small broken toys. He'll never know they're gone.

I didnt get the chance to finish it before I had to make supper. I'll hopefully finish it today.

I dare you to declutter 1 broken thing today!

Day 2

7 comments Posted by Amanda at 8:32 AM

Day 2 of the August Declutter Challenge for me.. I decluttered my basket that held all my magenzies plus some junk. I wanted to use the basket to hold the library books.

Before

After

Ahhhhhhhh, A lot better!! I got rid of 25 magenzies (not all read but they were ones just passed on by a neighbour) and handful of papers.

What did you sort through today?

Day 1

1 comments Posted by Amanda at 1:45 PM

I joined in the August Declutter Challenge at Organising Queen

Yesterday I tackled more off my Anti-clutter list.

First my night stand table

Before

After

Nothing to get rid of except a pile of paper. Everything else went back to its homes. Looks a lot better. Hope it stays that clean for a while.

Next the book shelf in living room.

Before

After

Not a whole lot different. Put a scrapbook program, a name book and a potty training dvd in my yard sale box. I switched the diaper box with an old antique crate I found at my parents that was being unused. It doesnt hold as many diapers but I think it looks more beautiful.

Last night I organized the storage shelf in laundry room. This shelf wasnt on my list but I wanted to clear it off some to make room for my blue boxes. They were first in the basement but I hated walking downstairs everytime I had something to put in the bluebox. Next I had them in the front hall but they didnt look nice there and I had to walk from the back to the front of the house everytime I had a recyclable.

Before

After

The snowsuits and baby toys went to a pile of stuff I'm giving back to my sister-in-law who is due in November. The A/C cover went away in the main storage room. The rest was just organized nicely to the left side. Now there is room for the blue boxes. I'm going to test it out this week to see if I like them there. I think it'll work better since the laundry room is off the kitchen.

That was enough organizing for one day yesterday. Off to do more today. Thanks for reading!! What did you declutter?

Muffin Tin Monday

5 comments Posted by Amanda at 9:20 AM

This week's Muffin tin Monday is hosted by FrannyKate's Creative State

Contents: cooked ham, bluberry muffin, yo-go bites, animal crackers, cheese and pickles

Everything is doubled because my boys share 1 tin for lunch.

Do you have a fun idea for lunch?

Meal Plan

0 comments Posted by Amanda at 8:10 AM

Yesterday we did our grocery shopping for most the month. It feels great to have the pantry stocked up again. so I planned meals for the next 2 weeks.

Week 1

Monday
Breakfast: fruit
Lunch: Muffin tin lunch
Dinner: sausage on a bun, brown beans, corn on the cob

Tuesday
Breakfast: waffles
Lunch: grilled cheeses
Dinner: shake-n-bake chicken, butter n herb noodles, baked potatos and salad

Wednesday
Breakfast: french toast
Lunch: soup- boys pick
Dinner: lasanga, bread sticks and salad

Thursday
Breakfast: cereal
Lunch: picnic lunch
Dinner: pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, noodles

Friday
Breakfast: waffles
Lunch: soup- boys pick
Dinner: fish & chips

Week 2

Monday
Dinner: beef stir-fry

Tuesday
Dinner: chicken manicotti

Wednesday
Dinner: sausage, hash browns and brown beans

Thursday
Dinner: spaghetti

Friday
Dinner: pizza

For more meal ideas, head over to Meal Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie

Anti-clutter list

6 comments Posted by Amanda at 1:27 PM

I read most of the book 'Momstown: guide to getting it all' The first few chapters I found really good and learned some things from it.

In the book it says to make an anti-clutter list. Write a list of areas of your house that are cluttered. Be very specific when making your list. For example: Don't just list the living room. List the book shelve, entertainment centre, etc. Then when you have a spare moment or in a cleaning mood try to tackle one of the cluttered ares on the list.

Here is my long list:
(The ones in red I have completed)

top of filing cabinet
top of microwave
night stand
top of dresser
bathroom counter
bathroom drawers
book shelf
toy room closet
computer desk
magazine basket
end tables
kitchen junk drawer
underwear drawer
shoe closet
boys underwear drawer
craft room counter top

I am slowly tackling each cluttered area.

What would be on your anti-clutter list?

Bathroom Organization

2 comments Posted by Amanda at 8:16 PM

Tonight I acrossed another thing off my Anti-clutter list. I finally declutted and organized my master bathroom. This is the bathroom that we get ready for the day in. A lot piles up on the countertop and gets cluttered easily.

Here are the before pictures

One of the drawers

After

Oh how nice it looks. I'd love if it stayed that clean. In order to help keep it clean I bought baskets to keep the items we use everyday in. One basket for DH, one for me and one for the boys to share. I got the idea from Passionate Homemaking.

Ignore our lovely wallpaper in there. We havent painted/rewallpaper anything yet since we moved in 2 years ago. I dont think its been redorated since the '70s.

The drawers afterwards. I organized a drawer for DH and one for me.

The boxes in mine store my hair ties, bobby pins and my jewerly. Dh now has a basket to hold all his blades for his hair clipper.

Thanks for visiting. What have you decluttered recently?