Project Simplify

My friend, Rachel, invited her blog readers to join her in Project Simplify, a spring cleaning challenge.  I love finding better ways to organize the spaces in my house, especially since I have eight little hands helping to mess it all up.  So, I accepted the challenge and am proud to say that I have officially re-organized and cleaned four spaces already this week!  This weeks' focus is on drawers and shelves. 

I have a dream of walking into my bedroom and feeling like it is a quiet sanctuary full of peace and tranquility, safe from the clutter and congestion of the rest of the house.  

Not so much, as you can see in the before pictures.  This has to change!  Which led me to my first hot spots to tackle, my dresser and nightstand.

I hung a self-adhesive hook by the door to hang my purse on, rather than setting it on my dresser.  I also down-sized my lotion collection.  How many lotions does one person need, especially after they've been sitting on my dresser for years.

I used this old CD holder I found in the garage to keep my books nice and tidy on my nightstand shelf.  Someone at church gave B this cute little flowered suitcase (intended for kid use, but usurped by me) which I'm using to hold my bible study materials.  Then, when I want to do my devotionals/bible study, I just grab the suitcase and have my quiet time.

Next, I grabbed my handy-dandy label maker (love it!) and went to work on the hall closet.  I was able to free up space by donating a lot of unused towels to the thrift shop.  

My rags used to be stored in a paper grocery bag, so I relocated them to a cuter pink bucket.  I put all my extra pillowcases in a little basket and then put the sheet sets together by putting the sheets inside their matching pillowcase.  

On the door, I had a shoe holder that I had cut in half, for another project, and hung that with adhesive hooks to hold spray bottles, cleaners, etc.

Last, I attacked this catch-all area.  This is the spot where papers get tossed and electronics get charged.  

After perusing cord organizing ideas on the internet and Pinterest, I came up with this.  

I found an unused basket in the basement and put the cords through the woven basket pieces.  The devices being charged can sit in the basket while they are being charged.  At the moment, F's mp3 player is the only thing being charged.  

I labeled plastic fasteners (from bread bags) for each device and placed it on the corresponding cord.  This will make it easier to locate the cord needed as well as bind it up to keep things from getting messy and tangled.

I have a few more hot spots that I'd like to hit in this week's challenge, so we'll see if I get to them.  So far, this project has been very satisfying.  I hope we can maintain these spaces.