Kitchen Drawers Clean!!

BEFORE

AFTER

Whew! Just looking at these pictures makes me feel better! And YOU held me accountable. I did the first drawer and in usual Missy form, I put off the second drawer and moved onto another project. I put off that second drawer until today when I knew that I had to clean it so I could post my after picture. There was so much in those drawers that just didn't belong there. I now have a place for coupons, rubberbands, scissors, note pads, and calculators. I started with containers for organizing...but somewhere along the line we got lazy. I want to stick with it this time. I found things that we need: Sam's "Progress Towards Ranks" chubbiest shirt tag, a game piece we've been missing, a Schnucks coupon for $10 off a $75 purchase. I threw away all the pencils with no erasers. I had to resist the urge to keep them because I thought I could go out and buy those eraser caps. Then, I told myself I might NEVER get around to doing that and that we always have plenty of pencils. I threw the Spiderman watch away because the new battery will never happen. Sam's getting a new watch for Christmas. It was someone else's junk given to me. Why do I always accept other people's junk?? Am I afraid of hurting their feelings? I need to be STRONG! Or be weak and take it and then get rid of it.

Either way, my clean drawers are a good motivator to keep them that way. The project I got distracted by was Abby's room. Abby has so many knick knacks that have accumulated. Stuff she never plays with. I threw out a bunch of this little stuff and organized all that she wants to keep. You see, we are in the middle of painting her room. Which, to me, is a GREAT excuse to organize her stuff. Since we had to pull everything out anyway, how could I put all that junk back in?? So I'm taking the opportunity to get it clean. In fact, I wish I did before and after pictures on Abby's closet. I bought some three drawer containers for her closet and boy has it made a difference! We had a lot of wasted vertical space in her closet. The drawers helped utilize the space so we could gain some floor space. I'm not finished, but it's already a world of a difference.

We are painting Abby's room now and all of the upstairs so we can be ready to replace the baseboards and doors which are all a cheap dark wood circa 1980. The white six panel doors and baseboards will totally brighten up her room. I'll try to find an old picture of her room so I can post before and after pictures. We need to do the whole upstairs. My sister asked me if I was crazy doing this during Christmas season. It's really not too big of a deal because I'm not hosting anyone at my house (well actually, I probably will have Theresa--visiting from Australia--over for dinner). My Christmas shopping is mostly done and presents are mostly wrapped...and it's upstairs. I don't have to stare at it. I don't know, maybe I am crazy. I just want to get it done this winter. And I know how we do things. If we never start chipping away at the big old block, it will never happen. I have to be the one to say, "OK! It's time...LET'S GO!" persistence pays off, and the end product is my reward. We've gotten a lot done on the first level and I know we can do the same on the second level. We just do it one income tax check at a time.