Five Organizing Projects that Flopped

Alright, friends, it's about to get real up in here. Like, real people living real lives with real kids with real busy schedules, kind of real. No pretty, styled pictures today!

Last week, I showed you our top 5 organizing projects that actually worked and stood the test of time. Check out that post if you haven't already and burn the images in your brain, because you'll want to remember them after you see the pictures I'm about to show you. ;)

So, without further adieu, here's five organizing flops from around our house as well as my thoughts on what went wrong and what we're going to do about it. Be sure to check back over the next couple months to see how we remedy the problems!

#1- Under the Kitchen Sink

When we first organized under the sink, we put in a large basket for dish towels, two baskets for napkins and bibs, and a wire shelf for baggies. Not too bad for a cheap storage solution, right? Heh...

What went wrong? The gray basket was too small and is constantly overflowing. It was literally the biggest basket that would fit, so I tried to make it work. But, ultimately, it's too small. The little baskets are the same story. They're too small and hard to access, especially when they're overflowing. The shelf is too long, restricting the gray basket size and slides back and forth causing the baggies to fall everywhere.

What are we going to do about it? For this space, I think stackable storage baskets that actually fit the space is what we need. I'm thinking either of these would do the trick nicely! 

via Container Store

via Container Store

#2- Winter Accessory Storage

I'll be honest, this one surprises me. Back when I was pregnant with Little Girlie, I was overdue and nesting and threw this hanger and Command Hooks onto the back of the coat closet door to store our winter accessories. It wasn't pretty, but it worked other than having to swing the scarves in as you were closing the door. Because it was working pretty well, I finally broke down and bought an official scarf organizer at Ikea thinking now I'd have more room for scarves and wouldn't have to do any maneuvering to get the door shut. Wrong. It's worse now and driving me nuts!

What went wrong? First, I have accumulated too.many.scarves. I need to purge. Second, not all of our gloves have clips to hang them with, so they get shoved into the bottom of the coat closet. I recently reorganized the coat closet and repurposed the hat basket for wrapping paper storage thinking I could store the hats on the scarf holder. Dumb move! The hats fall off all the time. 

What are we going to do about it? We need two designated baskets on the back of the door to toss gloves and hats into as well as some type of storage for my scarves after I pare down my collection. I'm thinking an over the door Elfa rack would be a great way to go! I like this one, minus the jewelry part.

via The Container Store

#3- Kids Schoolwork Storage

I love the boxes I bought for Little Man's schoolwork, the bulletin board is great for displaying masterpieces, there's a paper tray for blank paper, and a mounted paper file for finished work. Each piece is useful and well thought out and we love them. 

So, if we love it so much, what in the world went wrong? This one goes to show you that organizational pieces are useless without a good, established organizational process. Instead of putting completed schoolwork into the "Inbox" and adding favorite pieces into the "Pre-K" box, the papers landed on the desktop because many of them were to finish at home or because I was in a hurry and simply didn't take the extra two seconds to put it in the box. Another reason they ended  up on the desktop is because there is a "waiting period" before papers can disappear, if you know what I mean!

The desk organization didn't work because I didn't spend the time to practice the process with Little Man. He creates several drawings a day, so the papers pile up quickly and in just a couple days the desk and paper trays are literally overflowing. Everything is a masterpiece to him, so getting rid of a papers is hard for him. And, he's 5. There's definitely that factor. :)

The left is the "messy" picture. Thankfully, even though the boxes are completely full and I've started a pile on top, it's not terrible looking yet. The right picture is a picture showing the paper tray and file that I rummaged up. I wish I had a real, messy picture for you, but I just recently helped Little Man go through all of his papers. 

What are we going to do about it? I've been working with Little Man, helping him keep up with his desk and remembering where to put things when he's done. The more we practice, the more it will become second nature to him. I've also been working with him, helping him understand why we can't keep every.single.piece.of.paper that enters our home and helping him purge. He threw away a paper from school the other day and I was so proud of him. It was just a paper that he had glued things to, so there was no sentimental value. The fine motor skill practice was accomplished, so there was no reason to keep the paper anymore and he recognized that. Progress! We also cleared the bulletin board and hung up a new slew of masterpieces that he's super proud to display! 

As for the boxes, I need to break my habit of dumping his papers on his desk and sort them as they come in. Basically, I need to buckle down and use the storage correctly! :) Anyone else get storage solutions and then not use them correctly? Anyone? Crickets?!

#4- Playroom Closet Shelves

Oh boy, this one is bad... Remember our gorgeous closet? Well, the three middle shelves don't look like that anymore, that's for sure. Whomp whomp. 

What went wrong? In a nutshell, it's totally my fault. We moved the printer to the office and I stole the baskets for my dining room cabinet, so suddenly I had shelves of random stuff and no storage bins to contain it all. This closet holds a bunch of random things which makes is so hard to organize. Party supplies, craft supplies, stationary, a file system, coloring books, kids toys, art supplies, camera accessories, electronic cords and accessories, board games, holiday decor... you name it, this is the closet it lives in. Now take that list of stuff and try to organize it using reusable shopping bags you have on hand and this is what you get. A hot mess. Honestly, though, we didn't have the money at the time for new baskets, so we didn't buy baskets. Then, we forgot to add baskets to the budget priority list and this mess is a result. I guess it was out of sight, out of mind?

What are we going to do about it? Get bins! I'm thinking of the same bins that I mentioned for under the sink because they are stackable and the contents are easily accessible without taking the entire bin out. Thankfully, the rest of the closet still looks great, so a few bins and we should be back in order!

#5- Breakfast Nook Basket 

After we installed our favorite shoe cabinet, we popped a cute basket on top for things like keys and sunglasses that we access as we walk in or out the door. However, looking at the bottom picture, you'll notice that keys and sunglasses aren't anywhere to be found in the heaping mess! This one may seem insignificant, but you'd be surprised how much a messy basket can make the entire breakfast nook look cluttered! 

What went wrong? The basket quickly became a place to toss receipts or notes. Then, because our garage is detached, it became the holding spot for tools or hardware/supplies as they came in or were ready to leave the house. At that point, it was messy already, so it further devolved into a spot to put things for Jeremy to sort. It spiraled out of control quickly and hasn't been neat since. 

What are we going to do about it? There's a couple things that need to happen to fix this problem. First, just like I have folders in my mail sorter slots for receipts and coupons, I need to make folders for Jeremy's mail slots, too, so that all of his papers have a clear home. Second, we need to stop making this a holding spot for things that belong in the garage! We have a bin for tools in the playroom cabinet, so we need to start adding project supplies from the garage to that bin while we're working on something instead of letting them pile up in the basket. 

There you have it! My Top 5 Organizing Flops! Do you have any organizing flops around your house? Spill the beans, I'd love to hear about them!

Don't forget to check back on Thursday to see how I framed our DIY Lettered Wood Sign!

Good Enough

With all the home blogs out there, featuring gorgeous, perfectly styled homes, it's very easy to think that everyone has it all together and their houses are clean and tidy all.the.time. I always straighten up before taking pictures for my blog posts. I do it, because if the post is about a rug, for example, I want you to be able to actually see the rug without the distraction of a dozen toys on it. But, in reality, my house always has toys sitting around, laundry waiting to be folded, and dishes waiting to be washed or put away.

I'm learning to be ok with the "good enough". I strive to keep our house tidy and clean, however, I realize we actually live here. I'm learning to re-adjust my expectations and be ok with the neat and relatively clean, but lived in look. I'm a perfectionist by nature, so it's not easy! The funny thing is, I'm greatly bothered when our house is messy, but I almost always choose time with my family and/or friends over cleaning. Because of this, adjusting my expectations to be ok with the "good enough" house is more freeing for my mind than my schedule. I can spend time with my family without the guilty, nagging feelings that I should be cleaning.

My friend Cary has been posting pictures of her home on facebook in their everyday look. Organized, neat, but lived in. And you know what? It's comfortable and beautiful! It's been so refreshing to see her pictures! I've been to her house a million times and it's always so welcoming. That is what I'm striving for--welcoming and comfortable.

So, today I'm posting photos of my house in its everyday state. Not trashed because that's not welcoming and comfortable either, but not perfectly styled. This is what I'm learning to be ok with. If I can maintain this, then I'll consider my house clean. This is the everyday.

There's usually always dishes drying and bills on the counter in the kitchen, but otherwise, I try to keep the kitchen clean. Nothing makes me more grumpy in the morning than a messy kitchen. Or no coffee. Ha!

Shoes, shoes, shoes, everywhere. And this is a good day! They're actually all in one spot!

Toys, toys, toys. I trip on toys approximately 572 times a day. :)

I reorganized the play room a couple days ago and Little Man has managed to keep his playroom relatively clean. Legos, trains, and stamps are out, but he plays with them constantly! This room is small and get get trashed so easily!

The dining room is one of the rooms that stays the neatest. But, it always has baby gear in it and frequently holds the remnants of our late night board games. :)

And the dreaded laundry... Always piles of laundry to fold. Always. In addition to this pile, there's currently two baskets of folded laundry upstairs waiting to be put away.

I hope it encourages you to embrace a balanced approach to your home, where toys and laundry are welcome and life is lived and enjoyed. The next time I trip over a toy or get frustrated that I haven't gotten to scrub my shower yet, someone call me and remind me of this post, ok? ;)

It's a Slippery Slope, People

Remember when the Snuggie first came out? Remember watching that ridiculous commercial and yelling at the people on the tv to just put on a flipping jacket already?! I mean really, right? Here's a refresher, just for kicks. 

My favorite is the guy that looks like Grand Moff Tarkin off of Star Wars. :)

Anywho... Hubby got me all excited tonight when he told me one of the companies his work has a contract with sent him a present. When he got home, it turned out the present was a giant Snuggie with the company name embroidered on it. You should have seen Hubby trying it on. Ha! 

Years of holding firm and refusing to own a Snuggie all undone with one gift. Tonight, we watched tv together covered up in the Snuggie. It's a pretty nice blanket and is big enough for both of us to fit under it, we just didn't use the goofy sleeves. No biggie? Not using the sleeves means we didn't completely cave in, right? 

Then it happened... Hubby was upstairs and I had just gotten a Little Debbie snack cake to munch on. It was chilly in the house. I was cold. The Snuggie was right next to me, just staring up at me. I covered up with it sans sleeves. But it wasn't enough...my arms were getting drafty. I needed my hands for the delicious Zebra Cake. My jacket was all the way in the other room. What to do?  

Hubby was still upstairs, so I figured I'd sneak my arms into the sleeves and eat my snack cake, then quietly remove them. No one had to know. I put my arms in, grabbed my snack cake, and relished the full body warmth. I took one bite and even thought, "Gee, this is kinda nice." Then I heard it. Footsteps on the stairs. Caught red handed. Hubby was totally amused and informed me that I should be lucky that his phone was full or else he'd take a picture. He is laughing at me and I may never live it down. 

Dessert always gets me in trouble. 

After years of resisting the Snuggie, I guess it isn't so bad. Only thing missing is the booklight. ;)

Caught Red Handed

More confessions... I'm a sugar-holic. I LOVE sugar and will eat just about anything sweet. I'm trying to be better about going for fruit instead of the bag of chocolate chips when I get a sweet craving, but sometimes I treat myself to a dessert. I try not to buy sweets too often because I know I will devour them and I hardly ever bake desserts for the same reason. Amy M, stop laughing. Just because every time we are in Target together I buy a package of Oreo's doesn't mean I do it every time! And we just won't discuss the Tootsie Rolls I eat on the way out of the gym, k? I mean, what's up with the gym having a giant bowl of Tootsie Rolls (one of my favs) setting out right by the door?! :) Hahaha!

Anywho...today, I'd eaten some grapes and was fine for a while, but I reeeeaaaalllly wanted a dessert. I'd been pretty good this week and only had dessert once at a friend's house and a couple chocolate chips here an there. And I mean only a couple, not a couple million handfuls--honest! I had refrained from buying Oreos and ice cream at the store this week so it wouldn't be so tempting. So...I resorted to my "emergency dessert". Thanks a lot Bake at 350 for that one. ;) We won't even mention how many of these I've made. Basically, you take a tortilla, sprinkle with chocolate chips (I added a little peanut butter and Nutella), fold it in half and cook it like you would I quesadilla, then sprinkle with powdered sugar. It's so good and we usually have the ingredients on hand. Dangerous!

Image Credit--Bake at 350

Fast forward... Little One is napping and Hubby is enjoying some down time playing a video game, and I'm chilling on the couch enjoying my dessert. I was intently reading something and subconsciously sticking out my tongue and dipping the tip in the giant pile of powdered sugar on my plate. About the third dip, with my tongue sticking out and the plate held up to my chin, I feel eyes on me. I freeze, look up with my tongue still out, and find Hubby turned around in his chair gawking at me with an amused grin on his face. Seriously?! You look up now?! So embarrassing and so hilarious. I could not stop laughing. Tears just streaming down my face. I am not a finger licker when I eat (gross) and am a bit OCD about being clean, so dipping my tongue in sugar right off my plate is way out there for me. And to be caught red handed?! Geesh. Hahahaha! Hubby had a good chuckle over it. Too bad I didn't catch his facial expressions on camera. He does not share my sugar love. This year for his birthday, he told me he didn't want cake or any dessert. Crazy man. He totally did not understand my sugar licking.

Needless to say, I won't be licking powdered sugar anymore (I'll go for the spoon next time!) and am definitely going to have to walk a couple miles tonight to burn all those calories off! Tell me you've been caught red handed doing something ridiculous, too??!!! Someone, anyone?!

Confessions

I have a confession... Of all the crafty, diy things that I love, there is one thing I hate. Sewing. It's not that I haven't been taught or tried, though. When I was younger, my mom tried to teach me to sew. She even bought me a sewing book for kids that made it "simple and easy". Her machine hated me. It wouldn't sew for me, but Mom could just come in, not change any knobs or settings, and it'd just work for her. That machine had favorites.

Then my grandma tried to teach me to sew. Her machine was at least 50 years old, but that was good. It was simple. I got the hang of the straight stitch and even sewed some placemat purses. Be impressed. But I never moved on to sewing with patterns and fabric you had to buy and cut.

Now it gets really ridiculous. When Hubby and I got married, we bought a couch together. I loved the couch, but it came with the most hideous pillows you've ever seen in your entire life. We did not have any room in our budget for non-essentials, so new pillows were out of the question. Plus, Hubby loved the old pillows. Figures, right? So, I got the grand idea to buy a $20 cheapo sewing machine at Target and recover the pillows. HAHAHA is all I have to say about that. The sewing machine would not stay put and I literally had to chase its crazy, rattling self all around the table while trying to sew. That problem, plus the whole, I-just-traced-around-the-other still-stuffed-pillow-to-get-a-pattern thing really made for a lovely (cough cough) product. Three sides of the pillow were livable. The fourth side was so wonky, you had to tuck and hide the crazy-long corner under the pillow. It basically had a tail. Ridiculous. Hubby has not let me live it down. I wish I had pictures of it.

After that, I gave up for a while and just stuck to paper crafts. Until that fateful day I saw a cross stitch of a cat holding a wine glass with a funny saying that I thought my aunt would love for Christmas. She had just adopted a cat, so it was going to be perfect for her. I worked and worked on that thing and got the farthest I've ever gotten on a cross stitch. I pretty much loathed every second because I'm NOT a patient person, but I kept thinking of her happy face when she opened it and that kept me stitching away. Then, halfway through sewing the head, I realized I did it in the wrong place and now the head and the body were quite detached from each other. Oops. I gave that project to my mom to save and gave my aunt some candles for Christmas. We'll see how Mom rescues the poor cat. It may turn out like a giraffe cat with a reeeeaaaaally long neck. Ha! Hubby AND his parents have not let me live that one down either.

Now you think I've learned my lesson, right? Nope. Mom gave me her sewing machine...yes the one that hates me. I found a great online tutorial for sewing scarves that one of my favorite bloggers did and decided I was gonna sew. I went to Joann's and picked out fabric which took approximately 10 years to do and raised my blood pressure to unhealthy heights, I'm sure. There was too much selection and I stink at mixing and matching when there's too many options. But, somehow I made it out of the store in one piece and started my scarves with excitement picturing how adorable they were going to turn out.

My scarf project was actually going pretty well at first. See how proud I am that I'm sewing? These pictures were to send to my mom so she could be all impressed with my mad skills.

And an obligatory "Sam is crazy" picture...

It was all peachy... until I ran out of thread. I couldn't remember how to thread the machine. Seriously. My friend Charity totally bailed me on that one and let me lug my million pound sewing machine over to her house, taught me how to thread my machine (I literally numbered my machine with a Sharpie. No joke.) and even taught me how to make a crib sheet. That was my finest sewing moment, by the way, and I feel like the inventor of the Magic Bullet when I put that sheet on Little One's bed. :) But back to the scarves...that were supposed to be Christmas presents for my cousin, sister, and friend Julia. Um yeah...that was 3 years ago. And they are still waiting to be finished in my sewing box. My blood pressure just couldn't take the machine tangling up my thread another time.

I've since donated everything else from my sewing box to my mom and swore I'd never try sewing again. I hate picking out fabric, I hate threading needles, I hate trying to fix jammed machines, I hate cutting fabric, I hate pinning fabric, I hate how much time it takes to finish something. I'm just too impatient for sewing. My blood pressure just can't handle it. Fabric is just not my friend.