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Managing your wardrobe: pregnancy, post-partum and all those sizes in between

Stephanie — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 04:01:46 +0000

The following guest post is written by my friend Stephanie Langford of Keeper of the Home.

I‘ve read plenty of good advice on wardrobe management and how to purge your closet, but there’s one piece of advice that doesn’t jive with this mama of four: get rid of anything that doesn’t fit or that you haven’t worn in the last year.

If I followed their advice, I would have to dispose of the four different sizes of clothing I rotate through to accomodate my various seasons of motherhood… skinny pre-pregnancy, early pregnancy (not showing, but nothing fits), full-on maternity, and post-baby (how did my hips spread this wide?).

It’s a fact of life. When you are in the midst of bearing sweet babies, your pant size goes up. And then down. And then back up again.

Being nine weeks out of having my fourth baby, I know this full well. The maternity clothes are now baggy and frumpy, yet the skinny clothes barely get over my hips. I’m lost somewhere in the middle. Fellow mothers, I know you feel my pain. Purging my closet fully isn’t an option, but I still needed a way to make peace with my wardrobe in the meantime.

My process

At around 6 weeks post-partum, it was time to clear out my closet. I yanked out every single item in there, which now included a mixture of maternity and non-maternity clothes in various sizes, as well as a bin of all of my pre-pregnancy clothes that I had stored away when the stick turned pink.

Using my master bathroom as my staging grounds, I made a huge pile of everything that needed to be sorted. Then I created four new piles:

Fits me now (regardless of whether it was maternity or regular)
Will fit within six months
No longer needed (which was mostly maternity at this particular point in time)
Get rid of completely

Anything I was unsure of, I tried on. When you’re size-shifting frequently (which happens particularly fast in the early post partum weeks), it’s important to actually try things on, not just rule them out automatically.

Most of these clothes hadn’t been worn for at least nine months to a year. Last year’s summer clothes weren’t worn at all because I was already pregnant, so I was actually dealing with clothes from almost two years ago. A lot can change in your preferences and style trends in that period of time.

I discovered there were plenty of things I simply didn’t like anymore. This is the part where traditional wardrobe management techniques really DO come in handy.These things are important to keep in mind as you sort through your clothes:

Is this color flattering on me?
Do I have other items that I will wear this with or specific outfits in mind?
If an item doesn’t fit, is it that it just doesn’t fit right now, or has it ever truly fit me well?
Will I actually reach for this item and wear it regularly?
If not, why? Does it need repair (buttons, mending, de-pilling, etc.)?

Only keep the items that look best on you or are the most classic in each of the different sizes. By holding on to these basics and favorites, you’ll have less to put in storage. When it comes time to put that particular wardrobe back into service again, all you’ll need are a couple new items to freshen things up.

My growing “give away” pile, testimony to the fact that I was holding on to a lot of clothes I just didn’t enjoy wearing!

Narrowing down what stays and what goes

Stick with colors that suit you

I am a winter and look best in neutrals like black and white, and also bold jewel tones. I’ve decided to focus my wardrobe on a few favorite colors that I know I enjoy wearing and look good in (for me, these include dark denim, black, white, chocolate brown, purple, navy, turquoise, and red).

Mostly down to colors I look good in. Just a little work to do yet.

Items you love, not just like

They say that most of us wear 20 percent of the clothing we own, 80 percent of the time. Which means, there’s no point in holding on to something that you just sort-of, kinda like.

I know it’s tempting when you feel you don’t have enough to wear, but the reality is that if you don’t feel good in it, you won’t wear it anyway.

Think classic, multi-use, and accessories

Skirts with elastic waists can fit into multiple-sized wardrobes. Cardigans can be worn pregnant or not—plus, they help transition summer tops into a fall or winter wardrobe.

Keeping your clothing choices classic and in mostly solid colors means that they will still look great a couple years down the road. By adding accessories like scarves and necklaces that are currently in style, you can navigate changing fashion trends.

Clothes for now and for later

The key for me was to separate the clothes I liked into what fits now and what will fit later. I hung up or put into drawers only what truly fit. If it was close, but not quite, it didn’t make the cut.

There’s nothing more depressing than to open your closet and realize that 2/3 of its contents don’t actually fit you yet. I knew that I wanted a closet with only those clothes that were truly wearable for me, NOW.

After re-stocking my closet, and dealing with the discards and maternity clothes for storage, I was left with a whole pile of clothes that I wanted to hang on to, but (literally) can’t squeeze into quite yet. The goal was to make them easily accessible, but not actually hang them up.

Rubbermaid bins are my storage method of choice for clothes, so I folded my too-tight items neatly and put them in a bin. Putting the smallest sizes on the bottom, and then work up to the ones that you will wear soon makes it easier to find the right ones when the time comes.

The bin now sits in my closet, waiting for me to use it. As I gradually move back into my pre-pregnancy clothes, the bin will shift in use to hold the in-between sizes I’m wearing now.

How do you handle all of the different sizes that come with the seasons of motherhood?

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Managing your wardrobe: pregnancy, post-partum and all those sizes in between is a post from Simple Mom

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One bite at a time together: Declutter toys (project 22)

Jeannett — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 04:01:16 +0000

Written by Jeannett Gibson of Life Rearranged.

This post is part of a series where we are working our way through Tsh’s ebook, One Bite at a Time. I get to write here and share how I felt about a task, if it was helpful, or even…if it was a complete bust for me and my very real and very crazy family.

As always, you are more than welcome to play along too! You don’t have to carry out the tasks in order, so you can jump in right now and be just fine. Come on, everything’s more fun when you do it together, right? Well, most everything…

Project 22: Declutter (and rotate) your kids’ toys

You know what I love about working through this book? The weeks when I can say “Hey! I do that already!” And then I can give myself a little pat on the back and feel really accomplished—without having actually done anything.

I really dislike toys. Actually, I don’t mind toys so long as they are actually played with. But if you have kids, you know that the number of toys that crunch under your bare feet versus the number of toys that are ever truly in use are nowhere near equal. I am forever donating toys to Goodwill and throwing away toys that have broken/missing pieces. (And we still have a shocking number of toys!).

We can’t much do the rotating thing because while our house isn’t small, there is NO storage space. So instead, I try to cull down every couple of months. And you want to know a secret? I don’t wait until my kids are napping to do it.

I know, it sounds insane, but it’s totally worth it. I’ve explained that there are kids whose mommies and daddies don’t have as much money to buy them toys, so we will give our toys to a special store where they can go and buy them inexpensively. Somehow, my son seems to embrace this concept and actually offers up toys for donation periodically. “Mommy, I don’t really play with this toy. We should give this to other kids.”

Maybe I got lucky, but I love that his little heart sees beyond hoarding and that he desires to share in his own four-year-old way. The jury is still out on if my girls will be as generous.

The toy thing is REALLY hard around here. You see, my kids are the first (and so far, only) grandchildren for both of our families. With ultra-excited grandparents just itching to love on their littles, it can be more than overwhelming. In fact, at one point, I threatened my mom, “If you buy them one. more. toy. please know that you are making a donation to the Goodwill. I will donate it brand new, in the box, and some other kid will get a real kick out of it.”

But the thing is, I hate being that way. I don’t want to take the joy away from their grandparent-hood. I don’t want to make it un-fun for them. But I also don’t want to pick up 8,000 plastic toys off my floor—particularly 8,000 plastic toys my kids only put on the floor in the first place because they were looking for the six toys they actually play with.

More importantly, the over-abundance was directly opposite of the values and lifestyle we wanted to instill in our children. So there was this really awkward tension there: allow grandparents to be grandparents, but not let my kids own more toys than a toy store.

My solution: coordination.

Before every major gift-giving occasion, I try to think of one larger thing the kids would actually play with. One year, I had everyone chip in for a trampoline. Last Christmas, I assigned certain elements for a play kitchen to each family member. My carpenter dad built the kitchen, my painter brother-in-law painted it, my crafty mother-in-law sewed ruffled aprons, my mom bought some of the food, and auntie bought the plates. This way, everyone was able to buy the kids a fun gift, and I wasn’t stuck with a bunch of random toys that would lose their novelty in three days’ time.

Other options for future gift-giving

Ask grandparents to pay for…

classes (karate, swim, art),
subscriptions to fun kid’s magazines (National Geographic for Kids, Highlights),
or books.

Books are always welcome and are the one thing I don’t think you can really have too much of. Just make sure you explain to your kids who bought the lessons and maybe have them write a thank you note mid-year. Grandparents like that kind of thing, especially my mom who doesn’t like that it’s not a tangible thing to be held in hand.

One last thing: no matter what I do, my kids still get more gear than I like at birthdays and holidays. Often, I’ll pull aside a few items and put them up in the closet. At Christmas, I set aside a couple of dolls and a board game, and on a particularly boredom-inducing rainy day in March, I pulled them out and gave myself bonafide Mommy Rockstar status.

It’s a win-win: my kids think I’m amazing, I didn’t have to spend a dime, and the gift giver gets individual recognition for their present, when it would have otherwise been lost in the shuffle.

Now it’s your turn: How do you handle toy clutter? Have you worked through project 22 from One Bite?

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One bite at a time together: Declutter toys (project 22) is a post from Simple Mom

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My files, organized: before and after photos

Tsh — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 08:15:21 +0000

It’s the end of March, which means it’s also the end of Project Simplify. Seriously, how did that happen? Fastest March ever, it seems.

In my household we’re busy sorting and decluttering because we’re getting ready to move. This also means we’re making some Ikea purchases and not necessarily reorganizing into “after” picture bliss.

So while my home isn’t completely decluttered (Is it ever? Not really…), it’s good enough for now. We honestly don’t have much stuff—our house is just small. I like looking around and confidently saying we value everything we have. I look forward to moving into a home that works better for us, so that we can truly enjoy those blessings.

Because of all this… I decided to declutter something different.

My computer files

Sure, I pared down some books and a few ill-fitting coats, but most of my focus this week was on the trusty ol’ laptop.

This is a screenshot of my desktop. I normally like to have it completely empty, but I’ve been working on a few design projects, and my default is to dump quick files there while I’m working. It needed decluttering.

There. That’s better.

It’s been a looooong time since I cleaned up my files. I’ve had art, notes, and writing drafts from the early stages of this blog. Really.

I decluttered my largest file, labeled SLM, oddly enough. It took all of Ocean’s Twelve.

Gone are the really old buttons, logos, and headers. I wasn’t holding on to them for sentimental reasons; I simply haven’t taken the time to go through them.

I also needed to sort through my current book project files. Notice how many chapter ones there are? Yeah…. My actual book doesn’t have four chapter ones. Nor does chapter one have a part two. Time to cull.

Sigh… much better. Now I can keep writing sanely.

I unearthed over 5 gigs of storage, and I’m still not done. Nice.

Your turn

Ten participants in this week’s Project Simplify will win a signed copy of my first book, Organized Simplicity! I’d love for you to pass it on to someone you think would enjoy it—or if you haven’t read it yet, keep it for yourself.

Head here to share your photos and to see everyone else’s!

I can’t wait to see what you’ve done this week! What hotspot did you work on?

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My files, organized: before and after photos is a post from Simple Mom

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Project Simplify, week 4: choose your own adventure

Tsh — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 05:49:15 +0000

I‘m sitting down tonight for the first time all day. After I write this post, I’m going to tackle Mt. Laundry, and then pack for an overnight trip to Portland. Just today, we decided it would be fun to start our spring break with a little overnight trip to Ikea and the children’s museum.

It’s been a tiring month, but a really good one. Project Simplify has made my March fly by, which is actually a good thing for this southerner trapped by mountains and random snowfalls. For me, March normally means saltwater wind from the Mediterranean or fields of Texas bluebonnets. This year, it’s…. snow.

(It’s honestly not that bad. I’ve just been dramatic about the whole where-the-heck-is-spring? thing this month.)

Having a weekly challenge that both makes me physically move about my cabin, and then make said cabin more live-able has been a good way to welcome in the spring.

I hope you feel the same. And I hope you’re ready for this week’s challenge—it’s the last!

Choose your own adventure

We’ve decluttered our kids’ rooms, our pantries and fridges, and some of our toughest drawers, closets, and countertops. This week’s is your choice—however your home could most benefit.

Perhaps you want to finish one of the hotspots from the earlier challenges that you didn’t get to finish. Or maybe you have a completely new idea to tackle.

To get you brainstorming, here are some ideas.

Your DVD (and other media) collection
The laundry room/area
Your own wardrobe
Gardening tools, shed, or other lawn care supplies
Go big—tackle the garage
Books and magazines

The craft or homeschool area
Your home office
Photo collections (digital or print)
Your computer files

Jewelry
Under the bathroom counters
The linen closet
Backyard toys
Outdoor and camping gear

…I could go on, but you get the idea. There’s plenty you could do. And I’d love to hear what you end up tackling.

My plan

My focus will be on making our move go as smoothly as possible, since it’s just a few weeks away. I’m going to cull my wardrobe, get ready to store a few winter items (though I’m still donning my wool coat and scarves), hoping that will force spring to come already.

I’d also like to tackle my bookshelves, and gather the ever-growing collection of duplicate books I’ve been sent to review (so that perhaps I can pass them on to one of you?).

Your turn

Ten participants from this last hotspot will get a signed copy of my first book, Organized Simplicity. This book is the impetus for this entire month of spring cleaning, now an annual thing. And I’d be so honored if it finds a home on your bookshelf.

I know you may already have a copy—and for that, I’m grateful. If you do? Go ahead and gift this next copy to a friend you think might enjoy it. Share your own experience as you pass it on, and perhaps he or she might find some hope inside the covers. Or you could even see if your local library would want a copy.

I truly love giving this book. And ten of you will either get to read my book for the first time, or pass it on to someone you love!

What hotspot will you be tackling this week, as a grand finale to Project Simplify 2012?

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Project Simplify, week 4: choose your own adventure is a post from Simple Mom

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Drawers & the closet organized: before and after photos

Tsh — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 07:40:34 +0000

Whoosh. Did you hear that? That was the week flying by. How did that happen? One minute, it was Monday, announcing this week’s hotspot. Then I blinked and it was Thursday evening.

Drawers, countertops, and closets…. Why are these places such clutter magnets? My theory is that a lot of the things that end up here don’t really have true homes. We’re not sure where to put this mirror, so…. here. I’ll just put it here.

Not saying there’s anything wrong with a junk drawer. I think we just need to limit those drawers so that we have space available for things that truly do need a home. Like coats. And markers. And cutting boards for slicing and dicing dinner.

But these places are also a lot of fun to declutter, I find. A finite space to empty and refill with good stuff, tossing the leftovers. Here’s that sort of work I did this week.

Craft cabinet

We call this blue dresser in our dining room the “craft cabinet,” I suppose because we used to have an actual cabinet in our home overseas. Now, no matter where we house our papers, pens, and googly eyes, it’s a cabinet.

The first photo above is the most-used drawer; it serves as our kids’ marker, pen, pencil, and crayon collection. It used to be organized. Not lately.

Kyle popped in a movie one night and had an absolute ball testing them all out.

Now they’re useful, useable, and easy to find.

Not bad, but it was a random hodge-podge of coloring books, stickers, and a few craft supplies.

Now the drawer is just spiral notebooks and coloring books.

This drawer housed our random collection of scrap paper that the kids were free to use whenever. Over time, they crammed other craft supplies here, too.

I tossed a good chunk of unusable paper in the recycling bin, put the plain white paper in a paper box top, and the rest of the paper to the right. Nothing fancy, but now the kids can find it.

Normally I store the kids’ drawings I want to keep in well-organized storage boxes, but I haven’t done much with them here in our temporary home. Naturally, this means they’ve been tossed into this drawer, along with a few other craft supplies.

I culled through the collection, kept what I wanted, and had plenty of room to house supplies for future craft ideas.

Again, another catch-all for coloring books and stickers. (On a side note, anyone else remember Music Machine?)

I corralled the stickers, pipe cleaners, craft sticks, and other fun-but-tends-to-multiply supplies into separate containers, and now they fit well.

The closet

Yep, the. We have one closet here. And honestly, it’s no problem, because we only had one overseas as well. We can fit our coats no problem, but our snow gear has been tossed in the closet’s floor all winter. Man, that stuff breeds on its own.

Ah. That’s better.

I love these cheap Ikea bags because they’re huge and they’re easy to grab and go. We often store picnic or sledding supplies in these bags, and then toss them in the car when we’re ready for an outing.

Now it’s your turn!

You’re welcome to focus on this hotspot at any time, of course, but if you’d like to be entered to win this week’s giveaway, you have until Saturday (tomorrow) at 11:59 p.m. PST to submit your before-and-after photos.

You absolutely don’t need to do as many photos as I have here—a simple before shot of a hotspot, followed by its after, is great.

NeatDesk

One participant this week will win a NeatDesk! Yep, you heard me right—a desktop scanner that batch processes a ton of documents. It can handle tiny receipts and your tax statements all at once, and then its software knows how to extract all the right information.

It’ll spit out expense reports, PDF documents, contracts, and tax records, and it’s all searchable. Then, you can export it into Excel, Turbo Tax, and more. Nifty, no?

We’ve been using it to digitize our mortgage papers during our house-buying process. And I’m really excited to tackle the rest of our files! I really detest paper clutter, so this NeatDesk will help me get it out of my life. Eliminating paper frees up our living space and our mental stress.

I’m thrilled to give this to one of you! Simply share your before and after pics from your work in this week’s Project Simplify, and you’ll be entered to win.

Head here to share your photos and to see everyone else’s!

What did you get done this week?

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Project Simplify, week 3: closets, countertops, and drawers (oh my)

Tsh — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 04:01:14 +0000

We’re halfway through Project Simplify! Feeling better yet? I’m excited about this week’s because it’s the cousin to my arch nemesis, paper clutter. Isn’t the note above hilarious? It’s from contributor Sarah Park‘s daughter. Perhaps she’s on to her.

This week, we’re focusing on closets, countertops, and drawers. Know that one spot in your house where everything is dumped? This week, you can clear it.

Or how about your coat closet where jackets are relegated to the floor because there’s no more hanging room? Now you can set aside time to weed through your collection and box some up for the thrift store.

Do yours kids have a craft station full of dried markers, like mine? Make a plan to cull through the defects and weed through the scrap paper pile.

Whatever’s giving you grief in your home in the department of closets, countertops, or drawers, this week it’s being tackled. Won’t it feel good to get this crossed off your list?

Paper: the beast that spawns

Paper tends to be cause for a lot of clutter in these specific areas, so here’s a few thoughts as you approach your hotspots this week.

Go paperless

Head online to your bill services and select the paperless option. You’ll receive an email when it’s time to pay, which can then obviously be done online. I don’t even know where my checkbook is anymore.

Opt out of junk mail

If you’re in the U.S., there isn’t one main government site to completely eradicate junk mail. Head here to be removed from Direct Mail’s “do not mail” list, though they can’t guarantee complete removal. At least it’s a start.

Head here if you’re in Canada. I’m not sure what’s available for those of you elsewhere, but if you know, please share in the comments below.

For any flier or notice related to an upcoming event, write down necessary info on your calendar, then toss the paper in the recycling bin.

Magazines

Honestly, Pinterest has changed how and why I keep magazines. So many mags have their photos online, so if it’s a picture of a particular wall color, or if they have a recipe I’d like to try, I first search online. If it’s there, then I pin it.

If I truly love a magazine from cover to cover, I’ll keep it. I’m keeping all my issues of Cottage Living (may my favorite defunct shelter mag rest in peace).

But if I haven’t flipped through the magazine in about six months or so, I usually recycle or donate it.

Receipts

This is a tricky one, because sometimes you need them, sometimes you don’t.

If they’re for a debit card purchase you know you’re not returning (or some other purchase that would otherwise show up online), toss it in the shred pile. You’ve got a digital record of that purchase, and you can use that to enter it in your budgeting record (we use Pear Budget).

If they’re for a cash purchase, grab the pen and label it with your budget category, then store it near your computer so you can add these to your budget record. After you record it, toss it in the shred box.

If you’re self-employed and the receipts are tax-deductible business expenses, store them somewhere logical and write down as much info on it you think you’ll need. (See below about a nifty receipt-handling tool you can week this week!)

Kids’ creations

There’s absolutely no way I can keep all my kids’ artwork, so some things just have to go. I love the advice to save three things from every age of each kid — one that shows handprint size, one that shows handwriting, and one drawing. Don’t ask me how to possibly decide which of those are the most save-worthy.

But I do love getting rid of stuff, so for me, unless it’s remarkably creative or unique, out it goes. I either stash it back in the scrap paper pile, to be drawn on the other side, I photograph it and store the digital file, it’s kept and reused as gift wrap, or — most commonly — it gets recycled.

I’m a fan of displaying kids’ artwork as unique and frugal home decor. I like framing it, displaying it on the fridge, and pinning artwork from a clothesline on the wall. I know other people take digital photos of artwork, too.

Tax info

I am not a CPA, so please, double-check with a professional who can talk with you if you have specific questions. But according to the IRS website, simple annual tax returns should be kept for a minimum of three years or a comfortable seven years. If you’re not sure, then plan on keeping them for life. They’re usually a few short pages, and since it holds all your necessary financial information for that year, more than likely you won’t need to keep “extras,” like W2s or 1099s.

Instruction manuals and warranties

I like to scan these things. Quickly scan them, store them as PDF files on a simple CD or hard drive, and then toss the paper.

Even better, you can easily find instruction manuals online for many common electronics and appliances, rendering their storage at home rather pointless.

My plan

We have this lovely dresser in the dining room that serves as our craft station. I refurbished it last year, so it looks great on the outside. The inside, however, is horrendous.

I’m going to show those crayon stubs and dried markers no mercy, and I’m going to make it a lot easier for the kids to find the glue, pipe cleaners, and stencils.

I’m also going to clear one particular countertop in the kitchen that seems to attract paper like white on rice.

And then I’ll clear out our one closet, organize the ski stuff (man, that puffy winter gear takes up a lot of room), and make it a little less scary to open.

Your turn

One participant in this week’s Project Simplify will win a NeatDesk. Seriously! I’ve wanted one forever (we have their smaller NeatReceipts), and it’s already helped us streamline our receipts, notes, and contracts. Helpful, as we’re in the home buying process. I’ll show you how we use it on Friday.

This baby will seriously help you handle the paper clutter in your home. And I’m thrilled that one of you will win it!

Update: See my before and after photos from this week’s hotspot here.

What spots are you targeting this week?

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Project Simplify, week 3: closets, countertops, and drawers (oh my) is a post from Simple Mom

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The pantry organized: before and after photos

Tsh — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 07:50:25 +0000

It was quite a week around here. I’ll spare the gory details and just say I got sick. So as you can imagine, I didn’t quite get as much accomplished on the kitchen as I had planned.

But that’s life, right? And Project Simplify is nothing if not about regular people and everyday households, so that’s why this week’s before and after is very much a Normal Life Edition.

I’ve also had a whole variety of kitchens in the past 10 years. 11, to be exact. And I’ve only really loved one of them (the one from our home overseas). I tell you this because if you’re not crazy about your kitchen, I know what that’s like.

We’re also moving soon (to a house a half mile away), so I’m more concerned with curbing clutter than about setting up a workable cooking environment right now.

Still, there are a few things I like to do with my pantry. Here ‘s what I did this week.

First things first—I pulled out everything from the pantry, one shelf at a time.

And then I honestly didn’t change a thing about our bottom shelf. Well, I take that back—I moved the bag of rice on top of the Crock Pot.

I didn’t have too much food to throw out. It was just a mess.

I rearranged some shelves and reassigned a few items to other places.

I’m a huge fan of glass jars and other see-through containers for food storage. There’s no need to buy new containers — when your pickles and salsa run out, wash out the jars and use those.

Not only will things be more stackable and stand up straighter, they’ll look prettier. I’m a fan of a pretty-looking pantry.

I mention in my book that my mother-in-law is known for not labeling her jars, so it’s often hard to tell what’s baking soda and what’s baking powder (though she always knows, of course). Do yourself a favor, and label your items well, especially those in repurposed jars.

I got this idea from my friend Rachel—label a glass jar with a dry erase marker, then affix Scotch tape on top. The tape will keep it from smearing off, and when you’re ready to relabel, simply peel it off—the marker comes off with it.

Before, there was no rhyme or reason as to why I had things in places. It was a catch-all.

Now, there’s a bit more logic.

I like to put my ingredients — spices, grains, beans, and the like — at eye level, where I can easily use them.

A lot of our cans were still in their original Costco-sized boxes. Drove me bananas.

I consolidated all the canned goods on to the same shelf, and I corralled our individually-wrapped teabags in a plastic school box.

I used these Lazy Susans for my cans, found at a local thrift store.

All our snack items are stored up high, making it more of a conscience decision to grab them. It’s also more difficult for the kids to see stuff there.

I keep any extra supplies—a second bag of powdered sugar; the baking soda refill—in the area above the fridge.

We also keep all our coffee supplies—beans, grinder, syrups, mugs, and the like—in its own section of the kitchen. There’s a canister of loose-leaf tea as well, along with wine supplies. It’s our Drink Station.

And of course, I had every intention of taking a photo of our spice area—it’s in a separate cabinet near our stove. I didn’t need to change anything there, so I accidentally forgot to show you. I will sometime in the future.

All in all, not bad. My less than savory health prevented me from doing the fridge and a few other cabinets I had in mind, but such is life and all is grace. I’ve got time to do that soon.

I did, however, manage to take a photo of Reed’s silverware organizing work.

Now it’s your turn!

You’re welcome to focus on this hotspot at any time, of course, but if you’d like to be entered to win this week’s giveaway, you have until Saturday (tomorrow) at 11:59 p.m. PST to submit your before-and-after photos.

You absolutely don’t need to do as many photos as I have here—a simple before shot of a room, followed by its after, is great. And as a reminder, if you don’t have kids at home, you’re welcome to do your own personal belongings.

Joy the Baker Cookbook

Ten randomly selected participants in this week’s hotspot will win a copy of the Joy the Baker Cookbook! Celebrate your newly organized kitchen by noshing on one of her delectable recipes. Joy is a gem, and so is her work. You don’t want to miss this book.

Head here to share your photos and to see everyone else’s!

How does your kitchen feel after your work this week?

CURRENT SPONSORS:

Plan to Eat - Meal planning made simple.
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Natural Health at Home - Whole food meal plans.
Clean Mama - Printables that really work for you and make your life easier.
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Oak Meadow - Creative homeschooling since 1975.

The pantry organized: before and after photos is a post from Simple Mom

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Project Simplify, week 2: the pantry & fridge

Tsh — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 04:01:11 +0000

Feel better about getting a hotspot accomplished in your home? I do. Didn’t get a chance to tackle last week’s? No worries at all. Today, we’re starting a new one for the week.

Head to the kitchen, because this week we’ll declutter, clean, and organize the pantry and fridge. And I mentioned this during last year’s Project Simplify, but it’s worth repeating: there’s an aspect of physical, mental, and habitual clutter we’ll be clearing here.

This may seem easy to you—great. If you don’t feel the need to rework your food storage areas, focusing on another part of the kitchen—some cabinets, or your countertops, perhaps.

Or maybe you need to start from scratch, toss a bunch of stuff, and start with a fresh plate of real, quality, seasonal food.
Either way, there’s something for everyone in this week’s project.

Our food

I’m a big believer in eating seasonally, locally, and in putting actual food into our bodies, not stuff made in a lab. But eating this way doesn’t have to be complicated, nor does it require a complete conversion in lifestyle.

If you mostly rely on boxed, prepackaged food, might I encourage you to try two weeks of eating from scratch? Then repeat this two-week menu again—a full month of eating real food. See how you feel.

I love desserts as much as the next gal, but we make a big deal out of it when we make them, so that it’s special. We put on music, cook together, and sit down with plates and forks to savor our concoction. Don’t feel like you have to completely swear off chocolate for kale—it’s all about moderation and quality ingredients.

There are so many good resources available to help you re-think our food system—here are a few places to start. (Please note that I can’t vouch for every single thing endorsed or prescribed with these resources, but they’re good on the whole.)

Websites:

Simple Bites (check out all the contributors’ sites as well)
Simple Organic
Cheeseslave
David Lebovitz
Frugal Granola
Joy the Baker
Kitchen Stewardship
Keeper of the Home
Mark Bittman
Modern Alternative Mama
Saving Naturally
The Well-Grounded Life
Use Real Butter
Local Harvest—for finding local farmer’s markets or CSAs
Plan to Eat—a nifty website that makes it super easy to menu plan

Books:

Documentaries on Netflix:

My plan

We eat well, for the most part, but we could do better. Since we moved to Oregon, we’ve sorta been on survival mode—in all our moving, we’ve learned that it takes awhile to locate the best sources for food. Plus, it takes awhile to completely move into a house, so sometimes, creating new recipes and having a completely organized pantry isn’t always first on the list.

Our current home is temporary, and we knew that the day we moved in. I haven’t given much attention to the pantry and fridge, I’ll confess. But we’re moving soon—to a longer-term home (for us, anyway), and I know it’ll be easier to set up an inspiring cooking environment with a well-stocked, well-organized kitchen.

So my focus will be on shaping up our food storage, tossing the old stuff, and inventorying what we need. I’ll also use this week to research the right CSA, meat, and egg sources in our area.

Your turn

Like last week, you’ll have Friday and Saturday to upload your before and after photos. A number of you have asked if it’s okay to not have “before” photos. You don’t need to take any photos at all, of course—if you want to silently and steadily follow along from home, you’re most welcome.

But if you want to be entered for this week’s giveaway, then yep, you’ll need to show us both your before and after shots. Nothing complicated—just a quick snapshot is fine.

On Sunday, I’ll draw the winners for this week’s prize—ten copies of my friend Joy‘s new cookbook, the Joy the Baker Cookbook! I’ll share more details about this scrumptious book on Friday—I love it already. And I’ll also share ideas on how to organize your pantry logically, use what you have, and make it as easy as possible to eat well.

What part of your kitchen will you focus on this week?

Update: See my before and after photos from this week’s hotspot here!

CURRENT SPONSORS:

Plan to Eat - Meal planning made simple.
MightyNest - Helping create healthy homes.
Natural Health at Home - Whole food meal plans.
Clean Mama - Printables that really work for you and make your life easier.
Again Bags - The reusable snack & sandwich bag.
UPrinting - Spread your message.
Oak Meadow - Creative homeschooling since 1975.

Project Simplify, week 2: the pantry & fridge is a post from Simple Mom

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Kids’ stuff organized: before and after photos

Tsh — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 07:24:02 +0000

You should know that I didn’t get everything done that I wanted to. I tell you this because I have a feeling some of you might be feeling the same way. Perhaps you haven’t even started yet; you’re waiting until today, the start of the weekend, to do what you need to do.

That’s okay! Such is life. Do what you can with this week’s hotspot, and give yourself a pat on the back when you cross it off the list. (My back-patting will look like skiing on Saturday.)

I’ll waste no more time, so here you go—my before and after shots. And at the end, I’ll explain how you can share your own photos.

Books

You can see the normal state of the kids’ books above. Not bad, but it’s a pain to trip over them as they tumble to the floor, seeing as they’re all in our living room. Pulling books off the shelves is Finn’s current favorite hobby.

There. At least they’re mostly reshelved (but from the looks of this photo, there’s still some scattered about on kids’ beds). We love all our books, and go out of our way to make sure they’re mostly twaddle-free. So, no donating of books this time around.

And because I get asked all the time—this is an Expedit bookshelf from Ikea.

My family will tell you I like our books alphabetized—even the kids’ ones. They would be correct. It’s not to be all uptight (really, I promise); it’s because it’s really SO much easier to find When You Give a Moose a Muffin under “N” for Numeroff than it is to search every single shelf.

It’s not easy to keep kids’ books in the right order, but Tate’s now old enough to understand alphabetical order. For now, I’m okay with general alphabetizing with the first letter. I won’t pitch a fit if Flack is reshelved before Falconer.

I sound like a lot of fun at cocktail parties, don’t I?

I made simple dividers from foam board and letter stickers. I know they won’t last forever, and that’s okay—they’ll be cheap to replace. This way, they won’t hurt when they’re used as swords.

Games & Puzzles

Our current home is temporary and very, very small. We don’t have the space (or inclination) to build long-term storage, so for the past year, kids’ games and puzzles have been stored in an old bench.

This works well. Unless you have a toddler who also enjoys emptying out the game and puzzle pieces in his spare time.

Once I reassigned all the pieces to the right box, I culled the ones we never play with. Their new home is our local thrift store. But I was still left with a number of loved puzzles and games with stepped-on, crunched boxes.

I cut the box top of the puzzles and tossed them in a zippered pouch with the pieces.

There. Better.

Toys

We don’t really have an issue with too many toys, either, because I like doing smaller purges every few months or so. We just needed a sprucing up.

We use the Expedit shelves here, too, along with the Trofast buckets. Great for open-ended toys.

I wanted more permanent labels that were easier to read. So, I used the same stickers as with the book dividers… which meant I ran out of letters.

So I’m going to the store this weekend to buy more letters. In the meantime, just trust me that we don’t have “car _racks,” “_inco_ _ _ogs,” “ne_f gun_,” or “ma_ble_.”

Clothes

This was the department where we needed to whittle down. I knew from pant cuffs that everyone was growing, so it was time to pass down and move on.

We love using buckets for our boys’ clothes—they’re easier to pull out and shove back for little hands. These are the Closetmaid Fabric Drawers from Target.

I ended with about half a grocery bag of clothes to donate, some of Reed’s went to storage to wait for Finn, and the rest just needed to be reshelved.

A few months ago I made drawer labels out of Shrinky Dinks… I finally put them on this week.

Just so you know, we mostly just shove our boys’ clothes into the buckets—minimal folding involved, except when fresh out of the dryer. It’s all cotton anyway.

Now it’s your turn!

Lay-n-Go

One randomly selected participant in this week’s hotspot will win one large and one small Lay-n-Go! We adore ours.

It’s a simple bag for carrying lots of small pieces.

But wait! It actually opens into a giant, five-foot playing mat.

Cool, eh? As you might guess, this is perfect for LEGO.

They have small ones, too. Perfect for restaurants, long car rides, and flights.

And one of you will win a large and small Lay-n-Go in the colors of your choice! I seriously want ten of these things.

Head here to share your photos and to see everyone else’s!

I can’t wait to see your results. What was the best part of your process this week? The hardest?

CURRENT SPONSORS:

Plan to Eat - Meal planning made simple.
MightyNest - Helping create healthy homes.
Natural Health at Home - Whole food meal plans.
Clean Mama - Printables that really work for you and make your life easier.
Again Bags - The reusable snack & sandwich bag.
UPrinting - Spread your message.
Oak Meadow - Creative homeschooling since 1975.

Kids’ stuff organized: before and after photos is a post from Simple Mom

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Project Simplify, week 1: kids’ stuff

Tsh — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 05:01:47 +0000

It’s here! Welcome to the first week of Project Simplify. Where I am, the weather is nearing into spring, but the flowers haven’t yet bloomed and there’s the very real chance of snowfall on any given day. Unpredictable. And a great time of year to freshen up our homes.

Our goal for the month is not to have a perfect house—because that will never happen. (At least it won’t in my house, with my clan living here.) Our purpose is to take a few intentional steps to declutter, clean, and organize four specific hotspots, which will hopefully give us that boost to continue with the rest of our home into April and May.

I hope it will encourage all the people in your household to take ownership of their living space. And I hope you spend a bit of this time bonding with each other. And I hope you don’t get frustrated.

Well, you probably will get a little frustrated, because there are times in the decluttering process where you wonder why on EARTH you have that thing, and can’t wait to finally send it to its new home at the thrift store.

Or you might need to look yourself square in the eye and dig deep for the reasons it’s so hard for you to let go of stuff. Perhaps it’s holding more meaning than it was ever intended to do so?

Or in this week’s case, you may need to lead your children by example and help them process why they want to keep every drawing and every rock and every Highlights magazine.

Kids’ stuff

I honestly was going to skip kids’ stuff this year, but I was blown away by how many of you begged for us to tackle this area. We did it last year, so I wanted to focus on something else.

But the more I thought of it (and the more I looked around my own house), I decided you were right. Kids’ stuff has the audacity to get everywhere. It’s small and has many pieces and is used constantly.

Plus, so many of us are parents, and I think it’s a great way to start off our month of cleaning—helping our brood learn necessary life skills.

A note: If you don’t have kids at home, no worries. Instead, focus on your own personal stuff—your wardrobe, or whatever else you’d find in your master bedroom. I wrote some tips about tackling that area during last year’s Project Simplify.

A few tips for your week:

1. Go a little at a time.

Don’t empty out your kid’s entire room—it’ll be overwhelming, and at some point you’ll have to stop, and then you’ll be stuck with stuff all out of place. Take small bites.

And actually, this goes for every hotspot this week.

2. Get them involved. Or not.

If your kids are old enough, or if they’d really care about certain items, have them do all this with you—pick an area of their room, and have them separate items into “keep,” “toss,” and “donate.” Use cardboard boxes, so that there’s finite space.

A caveat to this is if your kids are really young—there’s a chance they’d be more in the way than helpful. It’s impossible for me to go through all our puzzles and board games when my toddler is awake, for example, so that’ll be a naptime or evening project for me.

3. Show your struggles, too.

Talk with your kids about how it’s sometimes hard for you to let go of stuff, too. Share a specific example—the shirt in your closet that’s still too small, or the button collection from Aunt Elsa you took home only out of politeness.

It’ll help the kids see that letting go of stuff is a normal struggle, and that you’re walking right alongside them.

4. Make it fun for them.

Play music they like. Talk about fun stuff as you work in their rooms. Reward them with pizza and a movie at the end of the week. Encourage; don’t manipulate or condemn.

My plan

Our kids don’t have a lot of toys, but they do manage to amass random craft projects, party favors, and the like. Our game and puzzle collection is also a mess, thanks to a clever little 20-month-old who’s figured out where those things are stored. And, I need to pass along or store clothes that no longer fit, and pull down from storage the next garments in line.

Your turn

If you’d like to use my book, Organized Simplicity, for inspiration about the three step process of decluttering, cleaning, and organizing, well, that’d be fine by me. In fact, Amazon has the Kindle version on sale right now for $8.99, and Barnes & Noble has the Nook version for $2.99.

And specific for this week, chapter 13 goes into detail about dealing with kids’ stuff. But it’s not necessary for this series, so don’t feel pressured. You can completely immerse yourself into Project Simplify without the book.

On Friday and Saturday of this week, you’ll be able to share your before and after photos with all of us (more details on how are here, but I’ll remind you how again this weekend).

On Sunday, I’ll draw one random participant, who’ll receive this week’s reward—a set of Lay-n-Gos! I adore mine, and I’ll show you more how they work for us on Friday.

I’m excited to share this month with you!

Update: See my before and after photos from this week’s hotspot here!

What particular items this week—toys, clothes, books, or whatever—do you anticipate being the most challenging?

CURRENT SPONSORS:

Plan to Eat - Meal planning made simple.
MightyNest - Helping create healthy homes.
Natural Health at Home - Whole food meal plans.
Clean Mama - Printables that really work for you and make your life easier.
Again Bags - The reusable snack & sandwich bag.
UPrinting - Spread your message.
Oak Meadow - Creative homeschooling since 1975.

Project Simplify, week 1: kids’ stuff is a post from Simple Mom

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