My Story

I wanted to give you guys a glimpse into my life and to let you in on a secret - just because I have an organizational blog doesn't mean I have my life and home organized perfectly.  Gasp.  Gasp.  I'll give you a minute to catch your breath.  Ready to move on?  Great. 

We live in a 1926 home with lots of character.  Character is so charming and delightful, but hard to organize.  We bought our home back in 2008 with the future intention of renovating the home.  It began as a small 1778 square foot house with 2 bedrooms and 1.5 baths.  Not much closet space, pantry was TINY (literally 4 shelves that were 12 inches wide and 12 inches deep), small bathroom, you get the idea.  We were basically busting at the seams and then we added our first child to the mix.  I repeat: busting at the seams.
 

Our house pre-reno

Charming, right?

So the idea was borne to add a second story and renovate the downstairs.  Our plans started small, as all plans do and grew larger as we put pencil to the paper.  Side note: my husband literally mapped out and drew the addition to the house.  Our architect was pretty impressed.

Our renovation went very smoothly and we can now have our own space and relax and get more stuff and stuff it in new closets and .... you get the idea.  With more space comes the opportunity for more junk.  That can be your life lesson for the day.

Our house post-reno

 Oh-la-la! Love it. 


My original solution to the clutter/junk problem was baskets and then closets and then baskets in closets and then garage storage and attic storage.  It was a slippery slope and I was sliding fast.

I tried to keep things organized and tidied up, but without a good system in place, the whole house felt messy all. the. time.  Not good for me, not good for my husband and not good for my sanity.  So, I started working slowly on "easy" spaces - like kitchen drawers and the pantry.  Then, I got bold and did my laundry room extreme makeover (this may not seem extreme to most, but it was extreme to me and I'm sticking to it!)

Then I got a bit addicted to other organizational blogs (like my all-time favorite Jen at iheartorganizing.blogspot.com) and realized the potential within my own home.  Instead of feeling overwhelmed with the chaos/mess, I started to feel powerful.  I can conquer this one project at a time.  Some of my favorite solutions have been the smallest/easiest ones!  Seriously!

So, if you are reading this blog thinking to yourself, "this girl has too much time on her hands" or "I can't make that happen in my home" or even "I'm too overwhelmed and I don't even know where to start."  Then show yourself some grace.  You are making life happen each day.  Keeping up with laundry, grocery shopping, caring for husbands, taking care of kiddos, feeding the dog, etc.  You are doing ALL of those things.  Let's take this slow.  One step at a time.  Why not just think of one area that you would like to address?  What's your hot button?  Your kid's toy storage?  A place to hang your purse by the door?  Your laundry room?  What is it?

I'm just taking my home one project at a time, why don't you join me on this journey?  We can make change happen one space at a time. 

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Because I heart before and after pictures, I will do one of the pre and post-reno.  Love. The end.