Home Organization Progress Update!

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This time of year, so many of us are focused on decluttering and home organization! I know this has been a big (HUGE) task for me here in the farmhouse!! I am one of those people who usually starts off strong, but sometimes I need that extra push to keep going with big projects like this… and maybe you are too? When this happens to me, I like hopping on Pinterest or IG to find new inspiration and motivation to finish strong! Seeing the progress and the beautifully organized and functional spaces is very motivating for me. And that’s what I’m hoping this post can do for some of you as well!

So today, I wanted to share my home organization progress with y’all! I started with my kids’ areas and removed the toys they’ve outgrown or no longer play with. We also added some more storage to the playroom and kids bedrooms, and I shared that in this blog post here in case you missed it.

After tackling the the toys, I shifted my focus to packing away our holiday decor. I updated our ornament storage this year by purchasing some ornament storage bins with dividers. The bins hold almost all of our Christmas ornaments. So much better than the 5000 individual boxes!! Not only do these bins contain and protect the ornaments, but they fit so much better in our closets! This was a huge improvement, and a really affordable switch for the impact it had on our storage space!! I highly recommend purchasing these to save space and sanity, and I linked some similar options below.

Ornament Storage Solutions

The next problem area for me was the kitchen. When we moved in, we were so excited to be unpacking and yet so overwhelmed with the sheer amount of the boxes to be unpacked! We ended up just putting stuff in drawers and cabinets without much of a plan or a feel for the space. And now two years later things just didn’t seem to be in the right spots. So my first task, as per Allie Casazza’s advice in the Declutter Like a Mother Challenge was to set the intention for the space.

I literally sat down and thought about how we use the kitchen, where we typically make plates, prep food, bake, do art projects, etc. And I based my cabinet and drawer contents off of that info. During the holidays we like to bake, and so I knew I wanted a designated spot to house all those supplies together. Also the kids like to do playdough and art projects at the island. But because all their supplies were housed in the office closet, it was often inconvenient to get to them out without disturbing my husband during the workday. So I really wanted to find a home for these items in the kitchen as well.

After figuring out a rough plan for the kitchen, I went through each drawer and cabinet to get rid of the excess, the duplicates, and the items we rarely (never) use. For some reason, we had accumulated enough coffee mugs to fill two entire drawers! Why?! Literally my husband is the only one in the house who drinks coffee! After decluttering, and after moving things to an area that made more sense to me, a different drawer, or a drawer instead of a cabinet, etc… I had a couple empty areas in the kitchen. And I knew I could make this space more functional.

I’m happy to share some of the ways I reorganized the kitchen in a way that made sense for our family. This drawer beside the stove became our spice drawer! I purchased this handy spice organizer specifically designed for housing your spices in a drawer, and I love it! No more digging around in the lazy susan corner cabinet, and no more buying duplicates because we weren’t able to see what we had! I also included a few links to similar spice drawer organizers below.

Spice Drawer Organizers

This cabinet under the sink got a total overhaul. There was so much crammed into here that you could barely see what you needed. And now it’s functional, it’s organized, and it’s way less cluttered!

And this little drawer became our baking drawer! It holds the hand mixer, the kitchenaid mixer attachments, cookie cutters, sprinkles, etc. We don’t use this stuff all the time, but when we do it’ll all be together and in one location. No more rummaging to find the supplies and tools we need.

This cabinet is one of my favorite additions to the kitchen this month! The art cabinet!! Our kitchen is where most of the art projects happen around here. And it’s where messes are made because clean up is just easier. Both my kids really enjoy things like painting and playdough, and these activities are so much more accessible to us on a daily basis now.

I had hoped to be further along in my home organization progress by now. But truthfully, I spent a lot of time and energy completely reorganizing the kitchen, and I’m so happy with this room now! It feels like everything is finally in the space it belongs. There’s finally room for everything without all the excess clutter. So progress won out over perfection for me! And I’m happy I get to share my progress here!

One of my big goals in 2021 is to post here on the blog more consistently for y’all! I want this blog, and my little corner of the internet, to be a place full of inspiration and new ideas. And to make that happen, I plan to share new content here twice a week. That’s the goal at least! This month, I wasn’t quite able to swing that, in part because I’ve really prioritized decluttering and organizing some of the problem areas here in our home. That’s where my focus has been, and it’s how I’ve been spending my time. But I hope seeing my progress here is helpful to you in some way! I hope it inspires you to keep going, keep decluttering. Make the changes that will help your home be more functional for your family and your real life!

And if you’re looking for even more decluttering and home organization inspo, check out this post next! And as always, thanks for being here and following along…

Love, Brittany