Week 4: Closet

Whoops! It's been two weeks with no posts. I've been very busy. We had a death in the family and we were gone for funerals and such.

But I'm back! I have a busy week this week with a birthday party to plan , so I am choosing a small project to work on this week. I am going to clean and organize our hall closet. It's nice and warm (kind of) so I am going to pack away all of our winter coats and hats and things and make room in our closet.

If you want to join me on this project, great! Send in your before and after pics. If you want to do a different project, send in your pics also.

Good luck!

Week 3: Catch Up

I haven't had much response this week so I decided to make this week a catch up week. Either work on your fridge or your pantry. If you've already done both, then take a break!

We will start a new project next week. Please take the poll to the right to help me decide what areas we should do in future weeks.

And as a reminder, please email me your before and after pics to cleanbyspring@gmail.com.

Week 2 Results

So I finished my pantry yesterday! It was a great time to do it since I just got stocked up on canned food from Smiths case lot sale. I moved some of my appliances into a different shelf to make room for more food. I thought having our canned food eye level will help me keep better track of my food and make sure I use it.

I'm happy with my results and it only took me about two hours to finish. Here are my before and after pics.

Before

After

Here are the pics from my friend Shae. Great job!!!

Before

After

Send me your before and after pics to cleanbyspring@gmail.com

Week 2: The Pantry

We are now moving into our second project. I picked one that I have been wanting to work on for a awhile now. The pantry! I recently was at a friend of a friends house and she had the most organized and clean house I've ever seen, and she has four kids. I was in awe. I was most impressed with her pantry. Everything had a place. She had all opened food in containers. All her canned food was organized and stacked. It had nice shelf liner on all of the shelves. It was beautiful. It inspired me.

A website that I enjoy is called Real Simple. They give some tips on cleaning and organizing your pantry. For a link to the article click here. They are:

1) Empty and categorize

The first step is to get everything out of your pantry so you can see what you have and start sorting. Separate items into these four categories:

• Items you use every day
• Items you use less frequently
• Unopened items that can be donated to a food pantry
• Expired or suspicious items to trash

2) Clean the shelves

Now that your pantry is completely empty, take this opportunity to vacuum any crumbs off of shelves and the floor. Then wipe down each shelf with a damp cloth and let dry before reloading. If you need to buy extra containers or organizers to corral items like spice jars, now is the time to do it.

3)Restock smartly

Refilling your pantry in organized zones is the best way to ensure you don’t have to do another pantry overhaul in a couple of months. Start by putting baking items (flour, sugar, baking soda, etc.) in one section and breakfast items in another. If you have kids, set up a snack zone so they can find what they need easily and don’t rifle through the other shelves. Keep heavy items, like jugs of olive oil, on the bottom shelf, and the stuff you reach for every day—lunch ingredients, pet food—at eye level.

Finally, stash a stepstool in the pantry, if you have room, or nearby to make reaching high shelves easy. You’ll be amazed at how much time you can save by being able to locate the

couscous on the first try.

Good luck and don't forget to send in your pictures to cleanbyspring@gmail.com.

Week 1 Results

How is everyone doing on cleaning their fridge? I got mine done today and it really didn't take that long, maybe 40 minutes? It was nice going through everything and throwing out any old or expired food. After I went through all the food I just wiped down the shelves and cleaned the drawers. Here are the results:

Before

After

Here are the pictures from my cousin Jamie. Way to go Jamie, she had hers done the same day she joined.

Before

After

Here are the pictures from my friend Teresa. Although they look the same, she says the fridge is much cleaner. I feel the same way about mine. Teresa is a mom of twin toddlers and she found the time to clean her fridge. That is awesome!

Before

AfterGreat job Teresa!!!

Keep working on your fridges and don't forget to email me pics at cleanbyspring@gmail.com

p.s. Next week's project is going to be the pantry!

Week 1: Fridge

Welcome to my new blog! Last year a friend of mine invited me to be part of her organization club. We basically took turns picking one space in our house that desperately needed some cleaning and then emailed each other sharing our experiences and pictures. It was really motivating for me and helped me get my house in order. Well it's been a year and my house is in need again for some organizing! I decided to create my own organization club and hope you will join it and benefit from it like I did.

For week #1 I chose the refrigerator. It's something I look at several times a day and for some reason never want to clean. I think it is a perfect starting point. Here is a picture of my lovely (but messy) fridge.

It needs help, and yours probably does too! Email me your before and after pictures to cleanbyspring@gmail.com and I will post them on the blog.