I don’t know about you, but every January I feel the need to get my house decluttered, cleaned and organized. Â And every January, I struggle with how to do that correctly and really accomplish something. The older I get the more I am content with an “OK” house when it comes to deep cleaning and clutter. Â I just live with it most days and then get on a bender to do something about it eventually. It takes me so much longer to get in the mood to really get myself organized the way I need to be.
I know how to organize and declutter, I just don’t do it all the time.
Anyone else relate? Â I wish I was one of those people who gets an itch and runs with it, cleaning, organizing, and in general making my house a better place to live….all the time. Â But again, I don’t know if it’s age related or what, I can be the biggest procrastinator and lazy-butt that ever lived!
Tell me I’m not alone!
Since January is traditionally the time we start thinking about these things, I’m holding myself accountable to finally clear out some of the clutter in my house and finally tackle the garage that has been my nemesis since we finished renovating this house 4 years ago. Â Ugh, how could it be that long that I have left my garage in a shambles. Â In my defense, my garage does hold all my tools, including a riding lawn mower and push mower, as well as other large tools that I’m grateful to have, so there’s that too. Â It’s not all just stuff, it’s useful stuff. Â But, I know I need to get on it and I am vowing that this is the year. Â I might need a dumpster to get started!
{all photos via BHG bath and BHG kitchen}
So, today I thought I’d share some pretty and organized spaces that we can all draw inspiration from on those house projects we may have put off for far too long. Â I think this might be a bathroom space with perfectly organized baskets and bins, all written with cute little tags on what’s inside. Baskets are a great way to corral the clutter and at least have things all in one spot and they are attractive too.
This pretty blue and green bathroom has a built in cubby that is oh so pretty, housing towels and toiletries. I don’t have anything this pretty for my essentials, but a cute built-in like this is practical and pretty.
The old medicine cabinet still lives, I guess. Â I don’t think I’ve ever had a medicine cabinet even growing up, but I remember my parents having one in our old house growing up. Â All sorts of little bottles can be stored in here right in front of your face. Â Close the door and there’s the mirror.
Another beautiful blue and green bathroom that looks so serene and pretty. Wire bins below hold towels at the ready and blue glass jars hold other bath essentials, keeping them pretty to look at. This is a dreamy bathroom.
I do have some little plastic bins like this in my bathroom drawers, so they do help to keep things in order. Â A bathroom drawer can get out of control so fast, but these small bins hold a lot of little things and I highly recommend them.
We all know about clear glass jars with labels and how convenient they are for bathroom essential storage. Â Cotton balls, cotton swabs, and cotton discs all fit nicely in glass jars.
I loved this idea of a magnetized bar holding your small metal beauty items like scissors and clippers. Â Great way to keep them handy. I don’t think I’ve seen a bar like this before, but I’m sure they are out there. The little plastic caddies are cute too, but I’d need way more than this to store all my various makeup items.
Another great storage idea for the small bathroom, this pullout metal bin has built in compartments and stacks things on top as well for extra storage.
Moving to the kitchen, I love this idea of measuring spoons hanging from inside a door. Â What a handy way to keep these all organized. Mine are flung in a kitchen drawer and have to be dug out every time I use them. These are all stainless steel and look good too. Â I’d have to get rid of my Tupperware measuring cups and get something nicer for this idea.
Pantries are one of the most difficult areas to keep uncluttered.  I have a big Ikea pantry in my kitchen with pull out drawers and I do love it.  It’s easy to see everything with the drawers pulled out and it’s been the best pantry I’ve ever had.  I’ve never had a big walk in pantry like this in any of my houses but this sure is nice.  Even with wire shelving, they have managed to  make this look so organized and pretty. Note the chalkboard on the wall, to write down things needed from the grocery store and I love that wood crate holding the big bottles of water or wine. Not to mention that cute green wooden bin holding the rolling pins.  Someone had fun in this pantry and it’s charmingly organized.  I aspire to that!
Another beautiful pantry, this one is finished out so nicely with real wood shelves and millwork.  Cookbooks at the ready and all those clear storage containers easy to identify and some marked with tags. This is one beautiful pantry!
Now on to my biggest nemesis when it comes to organizing….my garage.
See this garage? Â Isn’t it a beautifully organized garage that would make anyone envious? Â It’s NOT my garage! Â Mine looks like a literal pigpen and I’m really ashamed to even show it. Â You’ve seen little glimpses of it before, but it’s worse than ever. It’s the only real storage space I have in my house for all the tools and garden equipment I have.
Meet Cyndy, from The Creativity Exchange, who is responsible for this garage! Â It’s gorgeous and I’m so envious of her orderly and neat garage. She took on a big project and made it look fantastic. Â Just look at the rows of paint cans and rows of spray paint, all in their place, not to mention all the painted pegboard above, housing all sorts of organized supplies.
She managed to get this tucked into such a small area, and I think it’s only as deep as those paint cans on the bottom of that first picture, so it takes up almost no room. Â I’m aspiring to do something not quite this grand in my garage, but at least get the pegboard up all across one side of my garage. I’ve got block walls halfway up in my garage, so mine won’t look exactly like this but I can definitely get inspiration from Cyndy’s project!
I love all the little details she added on this wall to get her entire garage all organized. Â Small bins and wire holders to hold every single thing at a glance. I love that! Â Go on over and see Cyndy’s entire project and how she put it all together, she has a great blog if you haven’t met her yet! I could definitely use some of her organizing skills.
So, I wanted to share with you some great ideas for storage and see if you are like me and put things off far too long. Â I really am determined to get my garage in order this year and declutter and get rid of things I don’t need. I’m about to start a pile for Goodwill and some will go straight into the trash can. The rest I want to organize, hang up off the floor and get things looking better around here. Â I’ve got a good sized garage, but it’s not being utilized to the fullest.
Are you with me? Â Who else needs to get something organized at your house? Â Owning a home comes with that as there’s always something to do and organize. Â It’s amazing how things can get so cluttered in just a few years!
After having to deal with cleaning out both my parent’s home first when they moved to a nursing home together and then later passed on and then helping my mother in law downsize drastically after my father in law passed on, I am the opposite at my age (1 year older than you). I never want my family to have to deal with the overwhelming process and messes I did. Just the sheer volume of stuff to sort through was overwhelming. Then not knowing what was valuable, what was junk, what may be something to keep in the family etc., that’s a whole other story. So I have been on a mission to organize every space in our home and only keep what we really need and use, and make sure family photos and documents are in order and labeled as well. That is what motivates me to keep at it.
Our garage is the last space to work on as well, so I will be looking forward to seeing what you do with yours! Thanks so much for sharing!
Hi,Linda, we are in the same situation with my parents. They have 2 houses that are both full and it will definitely be overwhelming for us if they don’t downsize some now. I’m definitely getting to the point where I don’t want a lot of extra stuff sitting around, but I have a ways to go to get my house as decluttered as it needs to be. I know this is a topic that many of us deal with!
Hello girl! It’s not often I comment but you were right on this morning! It’s so difficult to get motivated, especially in the cold weather. I’m happy staying cozy with my throw,my coffee and my laptop. I always find a theme word for myself at the beginning of the new year. Last year, I adopted “purge” and this year is “discipline”. Can you relate to both? It sorta helps me sometimes to motivate myself. My garage is full of furniture projects for my daughter and me. Will we have discipline to get them finished this year? I’ll let you know.
Hey, cuz! I know it’s so hard to stay motivated and actually carry through with the great ideas. I have put this off long enough and I really have to get busy cleaning out my garage. It’s time! And yes I can relate to both your words.
I can never seem to get my closet organized to suit me. I’m going to try once again. I seem to wind up having so many things in there that are not clothes or shoes. I want to be successful this time in finding a new home for those things.
Great post! So timely for all of us… As an aside, again I tried to click on one of the posted links, and instead was directed to a junk virus alert??? Not sure why but this consistently happens to me only on your site????? Thought you might want to know…
HI, Missy, thanks for letting me know. I know don’t how or why this happens. I have had a couple of complaints and I always have my ad guy check things out and he said my blog is clean, no viruses or anything. So sorry this happens!
I am so with you on this. My mother in law passed away in 2010 and we cleaned out her house. All I could think was I didn’t want our kids to have to do this for us. We have no storage in our home except the attic. I did manage to get that gone through. I still us it for decorations and a few more items. I moved all those tubs to the garage. We have a 4 car garage and can get 2 cars in there. We have things from Mother in law, an Aunt who moved to Houston, Grand-parents in laws, kids stuff from moving. It is on my list to get this stuff gone through. It will be a big feat, but will be so nice once I can get through it. I am in a purging mode right now.
The metallic bar (bathroom photo) is designed to hold knives. What a brilliant idea.
I am one of those disgustingly organized ladies that people love to hate! My husband got me a label maker, and I thought I had died and gone to heaven! But the garage…it looks like a bomb went off in there. Hubby is the exact opposite of me, when I straighten, he goes behind and clutters. 43 years of marital bliss. Your pictures make my heart sing!
Couple of thoughts…those ubiquitous wire shelves? My sister had them in her pantry, and bottles constantly toppled over. We went to Lowe’s, and they cut us heavy plexiglass to line the shelves. No charge for the custom cuts. And I always read your readers comments because everyone has so much wisdom to share! It is a sisterhood. Like Linda, we just moved same sis into my late mother’s house, and it IS overwhelming with so much “stuff”. And Cousin Judy, I have a word of the year too! Last year it was grace, but I haven’t come up with one for 2017.
OH, Roxanne, you made me laugh. OK I was a little aggravated that you are so organized and then I read about your garage, so I don’t feel so bad now! Great idea on the wire shelves. I really dislike those things. I’d rather have the old school wood shelves and brackets.
I seem to have a problem of wanting things organized but not having the discipline to keep it that way or the energy to get it done. Now we’re having most of our house painted and I’m forcing myself to only put back what I love. It’s hard to get rid of things that I think are pretty or I might use one day but Like others have said, I don’t want to leave it for my kids to have to deal with. My craft room is now a junk room and I have finally started clearing it out. That’s a big job but I’m going to try to get the house organized so I can enjoy being outside this summer. Can’t tell you have much I love your blog and your family.
Thank you, Jane, I think we all struggle in our later years to keep things organized and only keep what we love. So guilty of that, but I’ve found that usually when I get rid of things I never even think about them again. Oh to have this all conquered!
I could have written this today. I remember when I C outdoor clean my entire house in four hours. It’s taken me to the middle of January to get my house in order, and it’s still not ‘there’. We park both cas in the garage, so I don’t have a ton of room. Right now it’s too cold to work out there and in the summer it’s too hot. We need to do a ‘take everything out’ cleanup and Marie Kondo it. I struggle with the, “I may need this…”, but my house is only 1380 sq ft and I have small closets. Ack!!! And I love dishes…and stuff…and scrap booking…and crafts. The struggle is real.
How “could” became “outdoor” I’m not sure…darn autocorrect. Lol
Renee, I hear ya! How many times have I had the excuse, it’s too cold or too hot out there. THere’s a little window of opportunity for working in the garage, I’m determined to take it this year.
My mom passed away in 2014 and, heavens above, what a chore to go through the house. She had several boxes of pictures alone that took the four of us kids several hours to go through. It’s hard to pitch another person’s memories. But, as I told my sister, we don’t know who the people are or why the occasion was significant, which is unfortunate.
Jan, I’m so dreading this as I have a feeling that’s what we are going to deal with, with our parents 2 houses. I just don’t think the down sizing is going to happen soon and when it does, we are all going to have to pitch in. Oh, what a chore that will be!
That garage is great ! I had to laugh I can barely get my car in mine. But I have been doing some cleaning out….been putting things into a walk in closet that I am planning on have a big yard sale this spring if the Lord tarries ! I can just get the door closed. ?
I know, isn’t it?! I always say at least I can park my car in my garage. That’s where I draw the line, I can’t abide a garage SO full that you have to park the cars outside. To me, that’s just dumb!
It’s just amazing how I put things off!
When decluttering, I ask myself, ” am I using this, or just storing it?”
Enjoyed this segment because we all struggle with decluttering! Because we did the same thing with my parents home, I want to get rid of junk from my house that won’t mean a thing to the kids. One real suggestion to you on cleaning your parents home is to get your mom and dad to write on the backs of the pictures. I had to throw out so many pictures of people no one knew or places no one knew where they were and it’s really sad. I’m slowly getting more organized and it’s the best feeling!!!
Rhoda, I share your sentiments as I have gotten older about cleaning, organizing and decluttering. But once I get my mind right it’s on! I work full time and just don’t want to spend all of my free time on all of the above. After having to clean out my parents home last year, I should never have any problem getting motivated. My sister is the queen of organizing and decluttering. She doesn’t think twice about discarding items. I am too sentimental but am improving.