The Haven Conference & A Little Down Time

I'm not even going to try to explain where I've been since Easter but I will share where I've been the last few days (in case you were wondering).

For those of you who might not be familiar with the Haven Conference, it's a conference that is held in Atlanta, Georgia for roughly 350 bloggers (a lot of great DIY "stuff" but also very informative  about blogging, in general).

I missed the Haven Conference last year because I was a fairly new blogger and didn't find out about it until tickets were already sold out. This year I ordered my ticket early to guarantee a spot.

Too Busy for a Lizard

Let me first preface this post by saying that it would be an understatement to say I have a terrible phobia of lizards…..I hate them so much I’m considering therapy!

When I last posted, I certainly didn’t plan to be gone for a week...but so glad to be back!

I guess sometimes our lives get busier than we can anticipate, no matter how organized we are.

I knew that last week would be busy; for starters, I would be putting the finishing touches on my refrigerator makeover.  I also knew that I would be changing our cable, internet and phone service. Additionally, I knew that I would be going to New Orleans for a quick day visit with Kelly and to bring her some containers that came in for her refrigerator makeover.

What I didn’t know was that I was going to lose a FULL day of internet service.  I also didn’t know that the containers I was bringing to Kelly weren’t going to arrive at my house until 7 pm that evening. And, I definitely didn’t know that when I got to Kelly’s we were going to Annie Sloan 3 pieces of furniture, yes I said “3”, rearrange the master bedroom, and go on a shopping excursion.    I should say that Kelly didn’t know that either…it just kind of happened, which, by the way, I’m not complaining about!!  Thank goodness I packed an overnight bag just in case!

Side note:  We were in such a hurry to go shopping for new items for her bedroom that when I changed my clothes, I put my shirt on inside out, only to have a lady in line at the store inform me of such!

Here I am trying to hide that fact that had just been pointed out to me!!

Unfortunately, I managed to leave her house without taking A SINGLE after picture of the three pieces of furniture or the bedroom.  When I get the pictures from her, I will be sure to share.  Everything came out really nice and I’m anxious to show it all off!

Likewise, I’m just as anxious to share my newly organized refrigerator!

Here is my refrigerator before I got started.

And here it is after.

After reading A LOT of blogs about Fridge Coasters, I knew I had to have them.  They are super absorbent “liners” and are easily installed into the fridge. They come in 3 different sizes and patterns and help keep the shelves clean!

 I love how they provide a consistent look in the fridge!

After doing an inventory of my staple items, I decided which ones I wanted in food storage containers and then determined where I would place them in the fridge. 

Love these for our yogurt and cheeses.

Look at this little guy!  Don’t you hate an opened stick of butter and no where to put it!

Love this one for bacon!

Fruits and vegetables BEFORE

and AFTER

If you are interested in purchasing Fridge Coasters you can go to their website here.

All of my containers were purchased from The Container Store and some are currently on sale at the time of this posting.

How is your Kitchen Makeover Challenge progressing?   Have you found any great items to help organize your kitchen that you would like to share with us?  Please post your comments!

Oh yeah, about the lizard….when we were getting ready to go shopping I heard a loud scream from the other room, which was followed with “Mom, there’s a lizard in the house!”  OMG!!!  I guess when we rearranged the master bedroom, we must have disturbed our little house guest!  Thank goodness for her next door neighbors’ son who was more than happy to catch the sucker and remove him!  Yuck!  I’m getting goosies just writing about it!

Happy Organizing!

Kim  

Kitchen Cabinet Storage

While organizing your kitchen this month, are you having any dilemmas as to how to reorganize some of your cabinets?

Just so you know, you aren’t alone.

Today, let’s break down the cabinet that houses Tupperware/Rubbermaid/Martha Stewart or any other type of plastic food storage containers.

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The first thing you will want to do is take everything out of the cabinet .

Remove any containers that don’t have matching lids!  For that matter, remove any lids that don’t have matching containers as well!

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Consider another area that these containers without lids may be used and move them to that area.

Remove any containers that have been melted and/or stained that you really don’t want to keep anymore.  You know the kind I’m talking about!  Go ahead, let them go!!

Take an inventory of the remaining containers and determine if you need to purchase new containers and if so, identify sizes.  Here are some options for replacement.

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Some people prefer to have the lids attached to the container while being stored.  If you have enough space available, that’s a great option.

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You may already know that my favorite containers are Martha Stewart’s collection, which I used here when this pantry was reorganized.  

For those of us, who don’t have plenty of storage space for our containers, the lids are better stored separately.

Here are some interesting items to keep these containers and lids in order.

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Now that our food storage containers dilemma is solved, what’s our next victim???

Happy Organizing!

A Gift that Keeps on Giving

This past Christmas, my daughter, Katie pleasantly surprised me with this interesting table.

Why interesting, you ask -  (assuming, of course, that you are asking).

Let’s start with where she found it.  Katie has a friend who was renting an old house in Baton Rouge and there was some furniture that was left behind in the house.  That make's for some mystery as to the origin of this table which, for me, is very interesting.

Her friend was moving out of state and didn’t want to take the table with her and Katie just knew I had to have it!!

However, the table came with a disclaimer.  Katie wanted me to know that the table was in need of repair and that she wanted to be a part of refurbishing it!

I was skeptical about changing anything about the table because it was just so unique.  However, I knew that she really wanted to do this with me and I will never shy away from time I can spend with my children.  You empty nesters out there can relate!

About a month ago, she and I discussed planning a day to work on the table. Not putting two and two together, we scheduled it for April 4th (the one year anniversary of Mom’s passing).

I woke up that morning, feeling sad and missing Mom.  Wondering, why did I say this day to work on the table?  Shouldn’t I be spending it doing things that would remind me of Mom?  I didn’t really know how this day was going to turn out, but I have to admit I wasn’t very optimistic!

And then Katie showed up and it was as if my mom had tapped me on the shoulder or nudged me in the heart and said, “Spend this day with your daughter and enjoy every minute of every second you have with her today.”

So, after a trip to a local decor shop to pick out the paint colors and a great lunch (very "undiet" like) we headed home and got started.

 How about that for color?

We started out painting the table Barcelona Orange.  WOW!!! I wasn't too concerned because I knew I had the blue that I would be covering the table with later.

After the blue paint dried, we randomly sanded to distress the table and bring out some of the orange (a little bit) and the natural wood.

This picture was taken after we finished waxing one drawer with the clear wax.  You can see how much it really changes the color.

It was one of the best days I’ve had with Katie in a long time.  Now when I look at the table, which sits in my keeping room and kitchen area, so I see it a lot, I think about that day and I am so glad it happened just like it was suppose to!

Thanks Katie, for a gift that keeps on giving!

Linking up to http://twelveoeight.blogspot.com , http://www.alderberryhill.com

It's Favorite Things Tuesday!

These are a few of my Favorite Things

Meet my 

Cheese Grater

What does that have to do with organizing?

Not exactly sure...but I guess I could come up with something.....like.....

How nicely it stores (all of the lids snap together)...

or

Okay...so maybe not so much...but

It really is one of my favorite things!

and here's why:

It comes with three different grater sizes that are have different colors which makes it easy to identify which size you are looking for.

You can place one of the lids on the bottom so that it won't move around while grating.

There is also a solid lid that can be used to store the cheese right in the container that you grated it in.  One less item to clean!

It even has the measurements printed on one side of the container to use for a recipe.

Probably my most favorite part is no more cut knuckles!!!!

Where can one find this awesome little gal..................Sur la Table!

(Definitely not receiving any compensation to advertise.  This is just my personal opinion based on my experience using this product for the last couple of years.)

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This one is available at Ikea for significantly less which does have some of the same features.

Tonight I will be putting my grater to good use when making Chicken Ranch Tacos, a recipe from Six Sisters Stuff blog.  Yummmmm!

Have a grate, I mean, great day!

Corny, I know!

 

Under the Kitchen Sink – Revisited

The weather was so nice this past weekend that I found myself out on our back porch more than I probably should have been.  You know the feeling when you have that list of things to do that you keep hoping someone will sprinkle magic dust and puff, it’s done!

I would like to say I was productive while sitting on my rump and searching the internet world for new ideas for under my kitchen sink!  But, that would be a real s t r e t c hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I did organize it last October, and for the most part, I would say it has been working well for us.  But, there’s always room for improvement, as “they” say.

Here are some ideas that I came across that I think would work great under the sink but also in other areas in the kitchen:

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 It's a little pricey (just under $43), but sure looks nice!

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 FYI - these are also available in white.

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Great for hanging items on the back of cabinet doors!

I guess I have no excuse now for making some improvements under my sink.  How about you?  What are you working on in your kitchen this week?  Have you found any ideas that you just know we would love to hear about?

Send in your comments, please!!

Happy Organizing!

Kim