Finally a SPARK of Motivation

I’m trying to get my motivation and creativity back after last trip. There are so many unfinished projects here, I get so mad at myself for not being more productive. I can’t blame the end of summer/kids back to school any more!

A big project that I have planned for a year is to put all my dishes and random goblets, ranging from my beloved hand made and hand painted “Dine on the Bayou”, Wedding China set, 2 Christmas sets, and this white ironstone for 8 from American Atelier called Baroque into these lovely quilted protective packs from Hagerty. I bought them from SPACE SAVERS.com and need to get a few more sets for dishes. My REASON for doing this is to keep them clean and dust free, so if and when I want to use any different set, I don’t have to take that set out and run it through the dishwasher. Make sense? It does to me, I hope it works. The cases are quite airtight and should keep any dust, allergens, or who knows what….off these dishes!

Here’s the Baroque dishes….I use them occasionally, they need to be clean in their little packs as I like to use them in a pinch!

8 bowls do not fit into anything…

A set of 10 Hors D’oeuvres plates, use them at parties or special occasions…

The filler/protective sheets that go between dishes

The stemware box is meant to hold 12 long stem glasses

My 12 water goblets that go with my Dine on the Bayou set….

I could only fit 6 in one box as these goblets have a very wide rim at the top…

the 6 clear…

the 6 aqua…

Here’s the 8 salad plates all snug and packed…

and 8 dinner plates…

these 8 bowls do not fit into any of the packs…..hhmmm?

the goblets all packed up

the 10 square appetizers plates packed up..

So now I need to rearrange some cabinets, hutches, and storage places to fit these in. AND I need to but some more Hagerty storage sets.

AAHHH!!! It feels so good to accomplish something, cleaning or organizing!

MARTHA, YOU GOOFED!

***Martha's boxes came from Michael's, they carry a lot of Martha's scrap booking products. Some of the photo boxes came from Save On Crafts. The silly letters are just stick ons from Michael's.
Some of the photo boxes came from Organize.com . Cigar boxes from hubby!



Martha, I bought 3 of your ribbon boxes, 4 photo boxes, 1 CD box and this great PAPER BOX below. Your paper box and the ribbon boxes are all 13 1/2 inches deep. Did you forget that most standard American cabinets are only 12 inches deep? I'm devastated since I can not use your lovely boxes to fill my cabinet space to the maximum.
I'll likely keep this paper box and use it some where else.
Well, once I accepted the fact that Martha's products would make me have to redo all 4 upper cabinets, I got to work. I took everything out and practically dumped all the junk in the kitchen. I forced myself to go through it all and finish this never ending project.
So, here are my 4 upper cabinets, completely redone, organized , and labeled. Martha's ribbon boxes stayed, but they are not as efficient as they could be.

I painted a few canvas and floral containers to stay with the aqua & black/white theme.

I love that everything is labeled, well almost everything is. Just a little more work.

Martha's ribbon boxes waste depth space.

I still need to label these great little cigars boxes (Thanks, hubby, for your addiction to cigars)

Still have a few more boxes to add or subtract as needed.

Now I need to conquer the 3 drawers and 1 double lower cabinet!

A WHOLE LOTTA....

painting, sewing and reorganizing going on here. In my last post, that 1 cabinet in my laundry room looked great but made the other 4 cabinets stand out in all their disorganized horrible messiness. So I'm working on those, what a mess. I'm MULTITASKING here, because when I get discouraged or tired of one project I switch to a different one. I know, I know...I should finish one before I move on. So I'm sewing slipcovers... below is not finished but I like it so far. did a few extra pillows ...

and I'm painting. I think I'm creating more messiness then I getting rid of. Hopefully by the end of next week, I'll have some completed projects to show!

DECLUTTER PART III

Here is 40 years worth of photos. These mismatched albums have been in an upper cabinet in laundry room. Luckily, they didn't get wet. So I had the brainstorm to take all the photos out and store them in photo boxes. Photo boxes take up so much less space. I found these at Organize.com. I ordered way too many, I can fit 2 albums + in one box. They can be shoe boxes, too. So maybe my closet will be next.

Then I found these at Target online. They are the same boxes made by Storage Sense that I had bought at Hobby Lobby a while back. This stack of 5 was only $49.99 so they were actually cheaper through Target. Shipping was certainly less then what gas would have cost!

Storage Sense make beautiful boxes in many different colors & patterns.

BATH CLOSET DONE!

I found these cheap cardboard boxes at Hobby Lobby, and the scrap booking sheets. The 12 X 9 sheets were perfect, one for each side of the box. The 2 " extra I just folded over and hot glued. The larger 12 X 12 sheet was perfect for the top. The only cutting needed was the little snip at the four corners. I needed these taller boxes for the long containers like hair spray, mousse, pump bottles, etc. that I use every day. They are not perfect but they were cheap and went together in minutes.

Here's what my bath closet looks like now. Makes me feel good when I open the doors. There's something about black and white that gives a clean feeling but yet mixing all the patterns sure gives a design punch! I'm happy and motivated to move to bigger and worse cluttered ignored cabinets....like my photo albums of 30+ years!

DECLUTTER PART II

I've been searching all over to find more Black and Cream containers to further my Master Declutter Plan. You would think one could google "Raymond Waites storage boxes" and find tons of hits. Nope. Can't find any.

Went back to the TJMXX in Gulfport, all they had was the striped container. Went to Marshalls and found the paisley pecieces on top the middle and last stack. Went to Target...nothing. Went to Hobby Lobby and found the 3 larger floral pieces. They had tons, also had similar boxes in a black and cream toile. Had about 10 in basket, put the toile back as they were expensive. Lo and behold they were 50% off at register. I was too lazy to go back to get more after waiting for 20 minutes in line to check out. Also had the brainstorm of using paper, craft or wrapping to cover cheap boxes. Found those at Hobby Lobby. So I've got a start for now. At least I know I can go back to Hobby Lobby before Saturday when the 50% off sale ends. They had lots of other colors and fabrics. Great selection if you need boxes.

So here is my bathroom cabinet that needs a fix. It is so hard to keep it neat, as the shelves are deep. They need units that can be pulled out easily.

Don't be shocked....this is the inside. Very messy and not organized. Well, off to work. I hope to fix before the end of the day!

One of my latest DECLUTTER PROJECTS

I've been working for the past 2 weeks on CLUTTER. I hate having junk spilling out of junk drawers, cabinets, and closets. Seems no matter how ofter I declutter, new stuff reappears after a month or so. You would think that with just the 2 of us, it would be easy. HA! I found some of these Raymond Waites black and cream storage boxes at TJ Maxx in Shreveport last month. I bought all that store had and was determined to find more. Yesterday we went to the Maxx here in Gulfport and found the larger paisley black and cream boxes. I bought all I could fit in one cart. I am obsessed with these boxes now. I think I'll go back for more.
Such a pretty way to hide the stuff you just have to keep but may never use...for instance, husband's collection of "Cigar Aficionado" magazines that are his bibles.

Yes, I want more of these....I could use them in every closet for a much neater appearance. Daughter....have you checked at TJ's and Marshall's for me yet?