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Thursday, November 19, 2015

UHeart Organizing: A "Pretty" Fantastic Pantry

As I mentioned yesterday, I can never get enough pantry organization. Not to be confused with the often mis-typed panty organization.... that is a different topic all together.

What is it about seeing how others store their food? Creative labeling? Storage containers? Accessibility? Thoughtfulness? I think all of those things intrigue me when it comes to organized kitchens and pantries. And since I am a few weeks out from organizing my own pantry, Karen from A House Full of Sunshine, is swooping in to share her recent makeover. You may remember Karen from her amazing home office nook feature here, I hope you love her work as much as I do because I invited her to come by more often as an iHeart contributing writer!

Hey there, friends! I've been all fan-girl crazy over Jen and her beautiful blog since the day I first stumbled across iHeart Organizing, so I couldn't be more excited to be one of the new gals on the block as part of Jen's contributor team! I'm trying my hardest to be on my best behavior today. Which means I TOTALLY can't believe I'm just about to show you this:

Ohhhhhh boy. Yep, I'm embarrassed. I started out with a sort-of-system in my pantry, and then life happened and I didn't have a place for everything and stuff got dumped in front of other stuff and before you know it, I'm the next hot prospect for a pantry intervention.

Time for a plan. I decided to start by prettying up the outside, because after all it's what's on the outside that counts. (Wait... no. Never mind.)

We had a plain white pantry door, which I decided to turn into a giant chalkboard menu. I started by giving it a quick hand-sand to take off a bit of the gloss. Then I taped up the edges and wrapped the handle in cling wrap.

Two coats of chalk paint later, and already we were seeing a vast improvement in our kitchen.

While I was on a roll with the chalkboard paint, I decided to paint the edges of each shelf inside the pantry. This way I could easily label the different zones within the pantry and store food by category.

I decided on eight major categories, or zones:

Servingware and containers
Snacks
Pantry staples (like flour, rice and pasta)
Canned goods
Bottled goods (sauces, oils, vinegars, spreads)
Whole foods (nuts, seeds, etc)
Stocks and seasonings
Breakfast cereals

I used a liquid chalk marker to label my shelves, and I love that it doesn't smudge, but wipes off easily with water if ever I want to re-label.

Because I like a touch of pretty, I added a contrasting strip of washi tape at the edge of each shelf.

One of the biggest problems with my previous "system" was that I had nowhere to put boxes and packets that came home from the shops, so they ended up getting piled in front of the storage containers, like this:

I solved this problem by installing a simple door-mounted rack with baskets that can adjust up and down. Plenty of room to corral all that visual clutter, which leaves my shelves looking streamlined and lovely!

We made the kids' water bottles accessible to them by putting them in the lowest basket.

We're also trying to teach the kids to get their own breakfast if they get up before us in the morning, so I moved the cereals down to the bottom shelf of the pantry, within easy reach.

On the floor I added some storage crates for bulky goods like juice or long-life milk, and one for lunch boxes - easily accessible by the kids so they can put their own lunch box away when they get home.

Each crate was given its own chalkboard label, placed inside a Martha Stewart labelholder.

I've always used a step-shelf to stack cans so the labels are visible, but this time I purchased an extra shelf so I could also sort my stocks and seasonings. No more scrabbling around lifting and replacing twenty things to find what I'm after!

I love Tupperware for storing my pantry staples - the containers stack so easily in a variety of useful configurations - but over the years I'd managed to accumulate a mixture of lids in all colours. I decided to streamline the look of my pantry by ordering all black lids. It didn't cost much to upgrade, and it looks so much smarter.

I also replaced my tired old labels (I had the ones you print from a labelmaker on white vinyl) with some more sophisticated-looking chalkboard labels, which tie in really nicely with the chalkboard door and shelves.

Next, I organised all the loose packets and bags of nuts, seeds and grains into pretty glass jars. I couldn't find a shelf of exactly the right dimensions to hold the jars, so I made my own using a plank of wood cut to size at the hardware store, and pieces of round dowel screwed in for legs.

I love how pretty the grains and seeds look inside the clear glass jars.

And lastly, I found some lovely industrial metal storage baskets to conceal the clutter that comes with storing bottles of oil and vinegar, sauces and spreads.

All in all, a total transformation, and I couldn't be happier with it!

Thanks so much for having me here today. I'm sorry if I scared anyone with my "before" pictures, but hopefully you're inspired by the "afters". If you'd like to see more of my kitchen and home, you can take my home tour here. Until next time, friends!

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Hi friends, I’m Karen from A House Full of Sunshine. Do you see that grin I can’t wipe off my face? That’s how thrilled I am to be here! I live in Australia where I’m blessed to be a stay-home mummy to my three little people. I’m also a part-time interior decorator and a former teacher of Creative Arts. Basically, I’m happiest when I’m squeezing every drop of creativity out of life – whether that means decorating a room, inventing a fun new activity to do with the kids, thinking up pretty organizing solutions or putting together a DIY project. I believe life is meant to be beautiful, and home is an expression of the heart. My blog, A house full of sunshine, is the place where I share my adventures in creative home-making with kids. The coffee’s on and the welcome mat is out – I’d love to see you there!

UHeart Organizing: Upcycled Toiletry Storage

When it comes to organizing and searching for storage solutions, I always recommend shopping your home first. It is amazing what you might find to solve a problem at hand. Recycled food packaging is always my "go-to" and if that doesn't work out, I start looking through cabinets, drawers and my donate pile. If all else fails, I may even try to DIY something just to save a little cash and create something specific to fit my needs. My friend Karen blogs at A House Full of Sunshine, and she recently upcycled some unused storage boxes she already had on hand. She is here today to share more about her special toiletry project and inspire us to search our homes prior to heading out to the stores as well.

My bathroom storage situation has been feeling a little uninspired lately. Bottles and jars that start out lined up neatly inside the cupboard seem to always end up in a messy clutter all over the shelf.

I wanted some way to dedicate an area for face products and fragrances and make those bottles look neat and orderly, but also keep them easily accessible so I could see and grab what I needed.

Solution: a pair of old CD storage boxes. I don't know about you, but CDs are practically redundant at our place now. Time to repurpose! (If you don't have any unwanted CD boxes lying around, these pretty birch boxes would be a fun starting point as well.)

I used thin masking tape to mark out a simple geometric pattern on each box.

I also taped two of the inside surfaces with clear packing tape, to preserve the wood finish for a bit of contrast. Because it's not a painted surface, there's no danger of paint lifting off when you remove the tape, so you don't need to worry about using painter's tape.

Since the wood had a varnished finish, I gave the boxes a quick coat of primer to ensure the paint would adhere properly.

Then I rolled on my colors using a small foam roller. I chose a pretty peach...

Soft mint...

And lipstick pink for a pop of fun.

Time to remove the tape.

I love the contrast of the blonde timber against the colour-blocked pastels.

The last step was to spraypaint a pair of adhesive bookplates with gold, and print some labels to slip inside. The font I used is Peinture.

I debated about what to "call" my boxes (Face and Fragrance? Skin and Scent?) but in the end went with "Lotions and Potions" purely for the fun factor.

All loaded up with bottles of product, these sweet little caddies would be fun peeking out from a bathroom cupboard, but I think they're also pretty enough to display on a dressing table in plain sight.

I hope you feel inspired to repurpose some unwanted storage boxes in your home and tame that lotion and perfume clutter.

Thanks so much for having me here today, Jen!

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UHeart Organizing: Creating a School Memory Bank

Once every year or two, my husband and I pull out our family memory bins and take trips down memory lane. It is fun to shuffle through items that are from our childhood days, and to share stories about elementary school friendships, the homes we lived in and those adventurous family road trips. We are thankful that our parents held on to a few of our school moments; report cards, photos and writing assignments are always the first things we grab for. Not everything requires a spot on the wall or even needs to be saved for future reminiscing sessions, but it is nice when you can offer your kiddos a condensed version of their life during their school years to look back on.

With that, one of the reasons I heart having a contributing team of writers is because they often times inspire me to rethink my own systems. They bring so much more to the organizing table than I could do all on my own, and for that I am very grateful. We have been using our school paperwork organization method for quite a few years now (and it still ranks as one of my most popular posts), but Karen of A House Full of Sunshine has added a few new twists that I am majorly crushing over. I am so glad that she is here today to share her process for preserving her children's school memories and milestones so that one day they can share their stories with their own families.

Nothing leads to chaos in the home so much as lack of a system. So when your kids start at school and you haven't yet worked out what to do with all the masses of stuff they come home with... Let's just say that things can end up in a giant muddle verrrrry quickly. (Can you tell I'm talking from experience here?)

You kind of get thrown in the deep end when your kids hit school age. I was a teacher for goodness' sake, and yet I still had NO IDEA about the quantity of paperwork I'd have to deal with as a mom. It truly is mind-boggling. And I'm not just talking about permission notes and information letters, which can be dealt with and tossed. The real problem in this house are the things with sentimental value that we want to keep (or the ones we haven't decided yet whether we should keep); the artwork, merit certificates, sporting ribbons, school photos, report cards, and writing samples. All the memorabilia of school life.

Over the past couple of years I've stuffed things in drawers, thrown things in the filing cabinet, stuck paperwork in folders, and no doubt misplaced a lot of things along the way.

My problem? Lack of a centralized system. I was making it up as I went along, and getting myself into a bigger and bigger mess as time went by.

No more!

I had a think about what my ideal system would look like, and decided that I wanted a box for each child, with a folder for each grade level. I decided on folders because they keep the contents protected and can be taken out and flipped through at a glance.

I started by purchasing a whole stack of display folders, one per grade level per child, plus an extra for before-school-age art and memorabilia.

The first thing I always do when using a display folder is to slip the spine out and flip it over backwards so the display pockets can be refilled from the back. There's nothing more annoying than running out of room in your folder and having to take every single slippery page out in order to add a few extra pockets at the end. This way, you merely have to remove the back cover to refill it - the pages all stay in place.

Next, I labelled the spines by grade level, using my label maker with transparent tape.

I found opaque hanging files, which I love for their clean and streamlined look.

I used clear plastic file boxes and added the kids' names using pre-cut vinyl letter stickers.

Each child is allocated a different color, so it's easy to see at a glance which folder belongs to who.

I started by printing personalized cover sheets for each folder. If you want to make your own custom cover sheets, you can do it easily in Word - it only took me about fifteen minutes to make and print all 27 covers I needed. I inserted a box a little bigger than 5" x 7" to fit a standard-sized school photo. The font for the child's name is Always in my Heart and for the Grade level I used Bebas Neue. Then I just kept changing the grade level and printing as I went, until I had a full set for each child.

I then designed a series of cover pages to divide each folder into categories, with sections allocated for school reports, awards, artworks and writing samples. I kept mine simple and graphic so they won't quickly date.

You can download a free copy of the Childhood Questionnaire and cover pages HERE.

I printed the cover pages onto cardstock so that the slightly heavier weight guides navigation through the folder by touch - you feel the thicker cover pages as you flip through. You could also add tabs to the top of your pages if desired, but personally I didn't want anything sticking out. I've found the system is very easy to navigate as-is.

I also designed a simple memory-catcher questionnaire to fill out with your child each year. It has basic stats like age, height and weight, as well as space to record your child's best friends, their favorite activities at school, things they love to do, and what they want to be when they grow up. There's room for a smaller photo in the top corner, or you could have your child draw a self-portrait there.

Down at the bottom is space for a hand print so you can keep a record of your child's growth over the years.

I've ordered my folders as follows:

1. Personalized cover sheet with photo
2. Class photo
3. Questionnaire sheet

4. Report cards

5. Awards

6. Art works

7. Writing

Lastly, I purchased a clear acrylic magazine holder (Jen is so amazing she would probably be able to whip one of these up herself) so I can keep the folders for my kids' current year levels at my fingertips in the cupboard. Now, as they come home from school or day-care with their latest masterpiece, I can easily slip it into the appropriate section of the folder.

At the end of the year I'll go through the folder and tidy it up, culling some pieces if need be, and then file it into that child's school memory box.

I can't tell you how good it feels to have a system! My eldest child is in Grade One this year, so I'm glad I started sooner rather than later. Now my kids' precious memories have the home they deserve. They already love flipping through their "books" and seeing what they've produced and achieved over the course of a year.

Thanks so much for having me here today, Jen!

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Karen lives in Australia and has listed all of the sources for her project on her blog as well:

Clear file boxes - Howard's Storage World
Pre-cut vinyl letters - Officeworks
Clear hanging files - K-mart
Display folders - Officeworks.

I am working to locate and add a few similar sources for the U.S. as well (it seems here in the US we call these "presentation books").

You can download a free copy of the Childhood Questionnaire and cover pages HERE.

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Take Photo

Thursday, November 19, 2015

UHeart Organizing: A "Pretty" Fantastic Pantry

Saturday, November 14, 2015

UHeart Organizing: Upcycled Toiletry Storage

Friday, November 6, 2015

UHeart Organizing: Creating a School Memory Bank