Monday, November 22, 2010

The Annual Week-Before-Thanksgiving Organizing Frenzy

Over the last few years, this last week has turned out to be the week I panic and start organizing so I'll be "ready for Christmas." Right. Like I could ever be organized enough things wouldn't be messy by the end of the holidays! But, this helps things go a lot more smoothly.

Some of the goals of this organizing session:
1. Create space in the pantry and fridge for goodies from neighbors, as well as Tony's students and co-workers.
2. Create spcae in the fridge for cookie and sweets ingredients, and a space in the pantry for the same.
3. Designate a place for gifts we recieve and don't know where to put yet. This year we have half a shelf in the linen closet for this purpose. Some years we have a laundry basket tucked away somewhere.
4. When I do the entry again, I will make an outgoing gifts area, with all our gifts and wrapping supplies.

My first task was cleaning out the very full and disgusting fridge. Here is the after, where you can actually see everything. That is my rule of thumb: Get everything in sight and easy reach, then stop.


Next was the pantry. Again, I got everything in sight and reach, then stopped. No need to go further. It would maybe look nicer with all matchy containers, but this works, and is a lot cheaper.




The horror, the horror! All of this stuff was crammed into our corner cabinet. We could never find anything. We had to take everything out to get to what we wanted. Things were getting smashed. It was awful!

Since we couldn't afford to remodel the kitchen, which is what I really wanted to do, I grabbed a bunch of boxes instead. I sorted things by type and frequency of use into boxes, then slid the boxes in.

Not everything needed a box - the oil is just lined up where I can easy grab, since it's a most frequently used item.

This is where we store all our extras I find  really cheap or free.



Now if I want something behind the boxes, I just pull the box out instead of having to unload the entire cabinet, one item at a time. It's just like having drawers! I'll post back in a couple weeks and let you know how this is working out.

Since I was at it, I did the pots and pans too:

I'm also redoing the entry closet, to make room for incoming and outgoing gifts.

I'd love to hear when you find yourself doing the most organizing. Is it before a major holiday? When the weather is nice? When you find a spot you just can't stand anymore? Are there places in your house  you have to work over and over again before you find something that works?

1 comment:

Laurie said...

I organize is spurts. There is usually something that sets me off, and then once I start- I just rip through my entire house until I realize there is no possible way to do it ALL in one day, or until someone- ernesto- makes me stop! LOL