The Shoe Maddess

Shoes. Everyone has them and hardly anyone I know has a good place to actually store their shoes. I tried mine in the front hall with the hopes that everyone will take off their shoes at the door instead of dragging in dirt from outside and god knows where. This did not help. Instead, we mostly come in through our sliding glass door (especially when we have already been home) thus leaving the dirt to be trailed through our apartment anyways. Oh well have to give me props for trying at least, right?

So the problem. I have attempted this in the past, as I said. I have two shoe shelves. I wouldn't call them exactly nice but they suit their purpose. I mean they are only for shoes who have dirt usually caked all over the soles. (We like to be outside)

My Goals:

To clean up the front entry instead of using it as a shoe play ground and move most of them into the master bedroom closet. Get hanging baskets for the front entry for gardening tools, slipper socks for guests. Also want a bench with area underneath to put shoes we regularly wear. Get coat rack to hang purses on (since I like to change mine out a lot).

My Accomplishments:

I removed all the shoes and put them neatly in the master bedroom closet. I also threw out the broken lamp (yes that is what it was) and the boxes that I was just too lazy to throw away. Instead of getting baskets to hang on the wall, since I did such a great job cleaning out the front coat closet. I decided to instead get hooks to hang purses and bags on above the bench. The bench has room underneath for the shoes we use the most often and also a place where we can kick off our shoes without feeling like we have to go all the way to the bedroom.

I also want to make/get a rug for the front hall that has a little more traction to it. I want to be able to collect a lot of the dirt and grim before it tracks out onto the carpet. I was thinking of knitting one out of twine but we will see how my projects line up. If I have time I don't, if I do, GREAT!

I know this isn't the master bedroom closet but I swear I will get to that!

Until next time.

The Front Coat Closet - Oh The Nightmare

Oh the nightmare is right. This closet is a mess. Coats flung in there in no neat organized matter, the top shelf just cluttered with anything that will fit up there that doesn't have a home. And the floor? I didn't know the floor could get so cluttered either. Good thing it has been summer and I haven't had to go in there for anything.

See what I mean? It is a mess. Oh big pile of mess on top of mess. 

Goals:

Have the closet a nice organized place where gloves, hats, scarves are in easy, organized access. Coats organized by person and on nice hangers. See what needs to be dry cleaned and have it done. 

Plans to Achieve Goals:

Take all coats out of the closet. What do we still use? What can be donated to a family that actually needs it? Take everything out of the closet. Sort out what is closet items and what are not. Make pile of dry clean items to be brought in to be cleaned. Find baskets to hold mittens, scarves, and hats (basket for each). Figure out something to do with the extra shoes in the closet (donate, store, etc)

End Result:

Wow. What a difference! 

I have yet to dry clean the coats or put them in a different pile even but the difference is amazing. I cleaned all the crap, and lets face it most of it was crap, out from the closet and put it on my stack of "Need To Sort Out." I then took the box that was hats and mittens and went through them and sorted them out by if they were hats, scarves and mittens/gloves. I then neatly folded them all and put them in a corresponding bins. I then cleaned out all the clutter and threw most of it away because it was just that clutter. Something things I forgot I had and most things I went "Why the hell did I keep that?" I much happier with this current closet and so much more organized. I have things to donate and I have things still that I need to sort through but my closet is looking much better.

Next task, master bedroom closet. At least it doesn't look at bad as this closet started out. 

Organizing The Game Closet

So I have this closet. It is a closet that had become so ridden with junk and debris I couldn't even really call it a closet. I shudder every time I had to open the door because I know it is so cluttered and full of stuff we never use that I just don't want to even go there. However, we love games. And our games are forced to be stored in this closet but so does everything else. So my mission was to clean it out and make it into a useful space and hopefully free up some space in other parts of our apartment too.

I suck by the way at taking before and after pictures. I completed this just last week but because I forgot to take before pictures you can't see its glorious make over. I do promise for the next project I will take before pictures.

Like I describe before it was a mess. Movies we never watched cluttered the shelves. Computer and Video games we haven't played in years shoved so close together that I swear some of the disks were close to breaking. But that wasn't all that stood in the way of our game closet and organization. No, not even close. I had a bin. I will admit it was my bin and not anyone else's of complete crap. I do mean that. I tend to be a pack rat who likes to keep everything (working on it) and store it places I think I will use it again. Broken alarm clock? Really? Papers that were old receipt of useless items I no longer even cared I had (might have even thrown some of those items out.) It was bad. Bad might be even an understatement.

My plan:

To remove said movies and games and clean out bin and not have it anywhere close to that closet and use the bin for actually organization instead of cluttered junk.

The Outcome:

I removed all the movies and put them in some extra Tupperware containers we had. The huge storage kind. Moved all the CD's, games, movies, everything related to media in there. I kept out the few blue rays we have and some movies we actually do watch quite often. (remind self to actually go through those bins sometime and throw out cases with no movies left in them.). Removing the movies gave me four shelves to do with what I will.

Well M, my partner in crime and fiance, is studying in the IT field. He has lots, and I do mean lots of IT books. School books, hobby books, text books, Cert Studying books, the whole nine yards. Before this drastic make over they were scattered throughout the entire apartment. There were computer books in our bedroom on our bookshelf, in the storage closet, in the dining room bookshelves. They were in nearly every room of the house. So I came up with the great idea to use those shelves for those books that didn't have a home but yet were still in easy access of him using them and finding them.

Now the shelves are lined with his computer books. But wait there is more. M also loves chess so naturally in our book fiendish ways he has tons of chess books. Those also found a home in the closet. So now the closet is half computer books, partially chess books and our games. The games are not in a neat stack by any means yet but I don't know if they ever will. When you have huge board games it is hard to find a place to organize them perfectly, especially in an apartment.

See how lovely it looks?  My next project is the front coat closet. I promise I will take pictures.

Anyone else have any similar projects they have done or wish to do? Let me know! I would love to see the before and after pictures!

My Cleaning Secret

Now I cannot claim to say this secret is just my own or that I have been using it forever. My secret is Vinegar. There I said it. I told you the great and powerful secret. Honestly though it is one of the best things I have ever used. And I want to tell you the reasons why I love it.

1. It is vinegar, you ingest it. It is safe for anyone, it is safe for around pets, it is safe around kids, it is perfectly and wonderfully safe
2. It is so darrrrrrn cheap. And when I mean cheap I mean you can get a gallon of it for less than $5 dollars and it lasts you close to forever. 
3. You only need a little bit and some love to make it go a long way. 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water is my solution. I have heard you can use less you can use more, depending on what you are cleaning. Use what you find works the best for you. I even put a few drops of essential oil in mine so that when I am cleaning it doesn't have such a strong vinegar smell. But honestly you get used to it so quickly, on your second bottle you probably won't even need to use the essential oil. 
4. It cleans everything! And I do mean everything. Counters, bathrooms, sinks, grime, soap scum. I use it for everything except windows. I am still trying to find a solution for windows because Vinegar can be a little harsh on glass. But that same thing that makes it bad for glass makes it great for everything else. It's acid. The acid kills the mold and fungal bacteria because of its high acid content. 
5. The smell disappears when it dries. Truly. I didn't believe it when I first tired it either but when it dries it really doesn't smell at all. And much much better for you than bleach or ammonia or whatever other horrible chemicals are in the standard cleaning solutions.

I literally do use vinegar on almost everything (besides my windows.) And honestly I will never go back to harsh chemicals ever again for my basic cleaning. It was the best secret find that I have ever come across.

Try it and tell me what you think. I would love to hear from you about your cleaning secrets or your first attempts at using vinegar!

This Is Me, or Rather What I Want To Be

I would love to say I am the most perfectly organized person in the entire world. I would love to even say that everything inside my apartment is in its perfect place and nothing is ever without a home. I would even love to say I have just enough stuff to manage and I never feel at all stressed about trying to figure out what to clean and what to organize first. But I cannot say any of those things.

I would love to say I allow no chemicals into my home and I never eat processed foods and I only grow my own vegetables. I would love to say I make every single one of my and my families meals completely and fully by scratch. I would love to say I do this all very inexpensively. But I cannot say any of those things either.

What I can say is that I try and I am trying to get better. You see I am on a mission. I am on a mission to have a  healthier life. I am on a mission to have my entire apartment organized and to do all of the things I have stated above. But honestly it is hard work. It is hard going from a life of almost the complete opposite and changing yourself and all your habits to match the perfect pictures you see all over the web. It is down right impossible at time. However, this is what I am attempting to do.

This is my journey. This is my frustrations, my excitement and my tips at how I accomplished my organizing nightmare and how I try to do it naturally and environmentally friendly. I will also share tips on crafts, recipes and other things along the way that I find very useful in life.

So come join me along this bumping ride because lets be honest it is going to be just that.