Jewerly Organizing--made easy!

I had been complaining to my husband forever that I needed a full length mirror! It was driving him nuts! One night I was looking at http://www.overstock.com, which is a site that I love, and found the perfect mirror! Plus it stores all my jewerly, which freed up so much space on my dresser and put everything in one place! For $119.99 and $2.95 shipping, it was mine!

Here is the link to the item I bought on http://www.overstock.com/:

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Silver-Finish-Jewelry-Armoire-Mirror/4118750/product.html

Here is the inside of the unit (bottom half in the pic, top half has a mirror inside), with ample room for necklaces, rings, bracelets, and watches.

Looking at the inside of the unit with the door open. The door has tons of room for earrings and more necklaces!

With nothing in it!

The mirror with the door shut. It has a magnet that holds the door shut.

This mirror/jewerly armoire was the perfect solution to my unorganized jewerly problem. Before I had to search for the piece of jewerly I wanted, and being a mom, time is crucial. Having everything at my fingertips is very important! Plus, I have my full length mirror that serves a very functional role!

Dresser Drawer Overhaul

I recently did a dresser drawer overhaul in our master bedroom. From start to finish (6 drawers), it took about 1 1/2 hours. I have before and after photos for you to see. I was frustrated with not being able to find what I wanted in our drawers. Moreover, my 15 month old son was having too much fun taking everything out of the drawers, which made my attempts at keeping the drawers neat worse.

Here are some before pics:

Sock Drawer (also contained tights, hose, slips, etc.)

Panty drawer, all types mixed up


Other side of pantry drawer, again all types mixed up

bra drawer, messy

other side of bra drawer, couldn't find straps to special occasion bras

In the dresser four drawers were for me, and two drawers for my husband. My drawers consisted of underclothing, socks, hose/tights, and bathing suits. My husband's drawers had socks and underwear in them.

These are the steps I took to organize the drawers.

1. Completely empty a drawer, one at a time.
2. Vacuum out the drawer with the hose of the vacuum.
3. Go through each item creating a donate pile, trash pile, and keep pile.
4. Items that were in the kept pile were then folded neatly and stacked into "like" piles (i.e. exercise bras, cotton panties, thongs, special panties/bras, maternity bras, nursing tanks, strapless bras, etc.).
5. Place neatly stacked piles back into the drawer. Place less-used items in the back of the drawer and more-used items in the front of the drawer. *Use drawer separaters if you choose (more on that below).

• I took out all my maternity bras and nursing tanks out of the drawers and put them into a large storage container to be stored in the basement. They were taking up precious space!
• I moved my sports bras and slips to the closet.
• Some of my special occasion bras have straps, so I put them into a zip-top bag so that I could find the straps when needed.
• Socks were inspected for holes, loss of elasticity, etc. and tossed into the trash.
• Pantyhose, tights, and thigh highs were inspected for holes and runs. The keepers were then put into individual zip-top bags to prevent snagging.

*Drawer dividers are a great way to keep piles in piles and looking neat. I researched several sites to order some of these. Unfortunately, I didn't find what I was looking for and need to go to a organizing store in a larger city to find what I am looking for. I tried to use sturdy pieces of cardboard (which you will see in some of the photos), but then didn't like these because they made my clothes smell like cardboard...not pleasant!*

After pics of the drawers:
half of my husband's underwear drawer

my sock drawer, each pair folded into each other, color cordinated, single layer

panty drawer, neat stacks in similar types

half of bra drawer, right side is special occasion bras (i.e. strapless, convertible, bustier)

other half of bra drawer, bras folded into cups, colour-cordinated

There are two drawers not pictures, my husband's sock drawer and my bathing suit drawer. I hope this gives you some ideas on how to organize your drawers and underclothing! If you have additional ideas, please feel free to post a comment. I can find anything now quickly and efficiently and save precious minutes in the morning getting ready!

Walk-In Closet Makeover--Part 1

As an organizer, I am embarrassed to say that the walk-in closet in our master bedroom has literally become a disaster! I have been wanting to install a custom walk-in closet system since we moved into our house. So for months now, I have been procrastinating and in the process of my procrastination, I have let our closet become the mess that it is! As for most of the "stuff" on the floor, it is due to my one-year-old son taking all the folded clothes off the shelves and playing with them!

There are SO many options out there for closet system makeovers from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars! I want something high quality, but I want a great deal! This makes a perfect winter project for me to complete! It has come to the point that I "just have to make a decision" and stick with it!

2010 Resolutions

As the new year is upon us, I am like most people, I have a few New Year's resolutions. The first one is to be more organized! That one might be a surprise to some as I am the one writing about being organized. However, wearing so many "hats" leaves me with little time.

Before becoming a mother, I was "neat freak." Everything always had to be clean, tidy, and organized! When I moved to Canada permanently, I was essentially "moving in" with my husband permanently as well. That meant that my step-son, who was eight years old at the time, stayed with us often. As most eight year olds, they are messy eaters at times! It drove me nuts! I was constantly vacuuming up the crumbs behind him. My in-laws laughed at me and told me to "get used to it." I didn't think it was going to be "that bad" having a baby around. Well, as my baby is approaching one year in a few days, he is the one making a MUCH BIGGER mess that the eight year ever could! I have had to learn to relax a little bit on my squeaky clean regime. Thus, this has taken a tole on my organized home!

One area that has gotten disorderly and is driving me crazy is the closets! Two closets being of particular concern, the master bedroom closet and the baby's room closet. In our master bedroom closet, the stacks of clothes are hardly neat anymore, there are hangers on the floor, laundry piles up quickly, clothes that need to be donated, and I have maternity and post-maternity clothes in a pile in the corner. It has gotten out of control!

The baby's room closet is a mess partly because of him digging in there for toys that I have already put away. I have a habit of finding amazing deals on things, so I have toys that he is still too young for which are piled on the shelf in the closet. Now there is way too much on the shelf! The floor in his closet is covered with books, old and new toys, a baby swing, an exersaucer, and so much more! It is a huge mess! I can't find anything!

A few other areas that are making me nuts are the dresser drawers. Again, my baby is partly to blame for this one! He is in the habit of taking everything out of them and throwing them onto the floor. Need less to say, his dresser drawers are no longer full of perfectly-folded, neat piles of clothing. In the master bedroom, the same problem is happening in our dresser drawers. I must say this one is my fault, probably because I am putting things away in a hurried manner.

So as 2010 is upon us, I will be taking some "before" pics of these areas and some "after" pics when I am finished. I intend on keeping these areas as neat as possible! In my defense, I organized our home when we moved into it a year and a half ago. It has stayed neat and organized up until probably November of 2009. I think part of the disorganization may be due to the holidays and being even more busy than normal! That may be just my excuse, but I am going to stick with it!