Skipping ahead

Since it only took me an afternoon to do the kitchen project and the garage was mostly done, I'm going to start the next week's cleaning project.  Since the garage is a project I will be returning to as soon as I get to the laundry room, it will live in a mountain of boxes for a little while.  It's usable though, the car can go in and be parked for the first time in 20 years.

Our home does not have a pantry, so I will be skipping the project for Week #3.  I'll be moving on to the Week #4 project, which will help me to clean up the kitchen table and the rest of the Hoosier cabinet much quicker.  This will be the office space.  It's high time I got the files sorted out, organized, and made sense of some of the excess paper.  I usually keep on this pretty well, but it could always be better.  The goals of this project will obviously be to finish the budget binder, menu planning for the next shopping trip, organize the papers from previous years, fix my filing cabinet (or invade Mark's cabinet if need be), and create a clean, usable workspace at my writing desk (rather than the kitchen table).

First, though I had to put up some side by side comparisons from the kitchen.

Kitchen clean-up After

It took me about 6 hours on and off throughout the day to finish-- there was a visit from my mom in the middle, lunch, breaks, etc.  It's done though, minus the kitchen table since I'm still doing filing and budgeting and some of the drawers in the Hoosier cabinet that have phone books, etc (I'm cleaning though up right now).

I emptied out the bottom cupboard.  All pieces will be staying in the house, but Mark's wax spa for his hands will be moving to the bathroom cupboard.

From the cupboard between the stove and refrigerator.  This is what we will be keeping.

A before of the "big cupboard" that's basically a catch-all for all kitchen pieces.

The after of the bottom cupboard on the Hoosier cabinet

After: the cupboard between the stove and refrigerator.  The top shelf has a salad spinner and crockpot; the bottom has the food processor and it's attachments.

After: the cupboard above the refrigerator.

After: the "big cabinet."

After: counter tops

After: stove and countertop

After: dinner cooking and all cleaned up

After

After: The spices still need a better organizational system and the glasses will be less cramped when we get a shelf installed in the cupboard above the stove.

14 Week Organizing Challenge

I've gotten inspired to take the 14 week challenge over at A Bowl Full of Lemons.  Here are some before photos taken this morning.  The house is currently not too bad considering I switched jobs two weeks ago, had a birthday, and just finished tech week last week.  It's been a really crazy couple of weeks, but now it's time to clean things up and get organized again.  New job, new outlook on life, new attitude, etc.

Stove area.  Mostly clean, still trying to break the hubby of his habit of storing tortillas and bread on the toaster instead of the bread box.

Somehow, the cereal ended up on the top of the refrigerator again.  Sigh.  Must fix that.

Mostly clean.

Again, mostly organized and clean looking

A few things on the counter that need better homes, but overall, not too bad.

We just did the dishes since I decided that the sponge was not usable last night and somebody forgot to buy a new one yesterday.

Needs to be reorganized

Needs to be painted and have a shelf added.

This stuff can be consolidated and provide a new space for the wine glasses, etc.

Hot ass mess

Another hot ass mess

Not too messy

Ugh

Table is a disaster because I've been doing a budget binder

Dog food and paper napkins need to be put away, but overall, not too disorganized.

Budget binder building.  Oh yeah and the cover for the air conditioner broke yesterday, so ignore that.

Mark's super secret project

The first of four corner shelves for the more decorative items

I did manage to get the other three shelves installed last night, the electric drill crapped out on my so I had to do it by hand.  Ugh, hard work I tell you.  It looks great now though and there's a lot more usable storage space in the open cabinet now.  Plus, originally there was a corner piece mounted to the floor right below where I installed the shelves, this is a nod to the original.

new curtains in progress

I've still got to actually hem these so they can be hung instead of draped over the rod.  I love the look of it though.

new curtains

A huge improvement!  I'll be getting a cornice to go over the window eventually, but for now this is fine.

started painting the inside of the cabinets

All the cabinets and drawers will be pained inside, just like this.  It's much brighter and easier to clean now.

self adhesive floor tiles to line the shelves

I'm planning to do this with the other lower cabinets too.  It'll be easier to clean up and the paint won't get scratched up.  Hopefully they will adhere better on the other shelves, the one under the sink was really warped and nasty so things weren't sticking properly.  I'll settle for it as it is for now though.

I still have quite a bit to do before he gets home.  I need to finish the curtains, get a few spring loaded tension rods and a bit more fabric, more floor tiles, and get painting on the drawers and cabinets.  It's going to be so much cleaner and organized when I'm done!

I figured I'd share this here, it's easier to keep track of than a scrap of paper.  I'm going to be overly ambitious here about what I'm planning to do, most of it won't get done this year probably.

YARDWORK / OUTSIDE

1. Finish painting the house
2. Gutters for back side of house
3. New fascia boards for the other three sides of the house
4. Repair or replace broken/fallen house shingles
5. Replace "clapboard" style siding on garage exterior
6. Replace the garage window that cracked
7. New garage door
8. Dig hole in basement for sump pump
9. Repair concrete in basement

LIVING ROOM

1. New doors for fireplace
2. Repair mortar in firebox and facade
3. Install built-in bookcases
4. New cabinet for TV and stereo
5. Corner sofa for around the tv
6. Set up an "office" in living room with computer and printer

KITCHEN

1. Paint insides of cabinets
2. Install self stick tiles under the kitchen sink
3. Install under sink pull-out rack for cleaners, etc
4. Install corner cabinets on cupboards to display vintage collectables
5. New spice jars that all match with new three layer spice rack
6. Move stove to where refrigerator is and refrigerator to where stove is
7. Move stove hood
8. Completely clean out refrigerator
9. Purchase a complete set of food storage containers
10. Add more shelves to cupboards for organized storage
11. New curtains for kitchen
12. Get piece of glass cut for table top
13. Downsize quantity of appliances
14. Finish off silverware service

EXTRA ROOM

1. Fix closet doors

LAUNDRY ROOM

1. Repair or replace all sheetrock
2. Paint room a bright cheerful color
3. New light fixture
4. Install shelving units
5. Remove old built-in cabinet
6. Purchase dryer
7. Purchase new laundry basket

BATHROOM

1. Install ventilation system
2. New flooring
3. New pink tiles
4. Paint walls
5. Valence for above tub
6. New window
7. Remove shower insert and retile walls
8. Remove counters
9. Install pedestal sink

BEDROOM

1. Install headboard
2. New bedframe
3. Storage bench for under window

GARAGE 

1. Get rid of unnecessary furniture
2. Dump run
3. Cohesive organizational system
4. Replace water damaged old ceiling
5. Finish siding with sheetrock and paint

D Day progress

The mater bedroom without furniture

The Dinette area

Living room carpet

The original tiles saved beneath particle board and sheet linoleum

Wishing I could keep the original;  maybe someday I'll revisit the idea of restoring it

What's left of the carpet pad in the living room

The cleaned up master bedroom floor

This beauty was hiding in the master bedroom under the carpet

Just look at the detail!  I absolutely love it and plan to fully restore it one day in the future.

The hallway after being mopped.

Living room flooring, also original

The kitchen floor

Cleaning up the mess in the living room.

There's a ton of water damage to the tiles thanks to larger sized wet dogs, wet shoes, spilled drinks, and not caring for the carpet properly.

The fireplace as it is now that the doors have fallen off

The plan for the new hearth I'll be adding before we install the new laminate flooring.