Tackle It Tuesday-All Tied Up

 

If you are like me then you are surrounded by cords.  Everything plugs in, syncs, or charges these days.  We have a surplus of power cords, usb cords, audio/visual cables, cables for televisions and computers, adapters, data cords, etc.  It is a challenge to keep it organized.

I regularly go through the piles to thin it out but inevitably it spreads across the house as devices die or move.  Another issue we face as military is moving which means we might need that cord at the next house.

Today I organized the piles.  First I found everything around the house and garage.  There were several locations that developed as I have tried to organize over the years.

Next my husband went thru the pile disposing items we no longer used.  Below is what was left after the decluttering.  2 large boxes to one small pile!

Then he wound each cord, zip tied it, and sorted according to type.  He had to do this because I have no idea what each cord does or if it was important.  I placed each type in a plastic bag and labeled it.  We ended up with 6 different bags. I thought about just writing with a sharpie on the bag but it wouldn’t show up as well as the white label.

Large easy to read labels will prevent digging through the box and putting new cords away easier in the future.  Items left out  were too large for a plastic bag or in their own bag and unique so easy to identify.

Finally, I put them sitting up with the labels showing in this Rubbermaid 10 gallon bin I bought at Lowe’s last year.  I put this bin on the storage shelf next to the door going into the house coming from the garage.  Then I labeled the bin and dated it.  The date was so I would know the last time I decluttered it and when it is time to do it again. 

This is a busy door and it is easy to reach.  Because we look for cords once or twice a month it is best to keep it convenient.  Otherwise I am more likely to either forget where it is or put off a task because it is too hard to get the box down.  I feel much better now and I have some free space in the office.  I wonder what I can put there next week.

Tackle It Tuesday–Organizing the Kitchen

 

On Tuesdays I am going to begin posting about a weekly organizing project.

This week it was a major rearrange of a shelf to provide more storage in my cozy kitchen.

The first step was to get the shelf out of the office.  After I determined that I didn’t actually need the shelf and could simply declutter it I started unloading.  Then DH helped me carry it into the kitchen.

(the metal shelf in the left corner – great one to pick huh? see Where is Your Office for the lowdown on my crazy office space)

Now it does block a window but the view isn’t great.  We live in a rental property that has too many trees.  In fact so many trees grass cannot grow.  Trust me.  I tried.  I counted the trees. 32 in the backyard alone, 52 total on the property.  That is a lot to this Texas girl from the land where you can see for 100 miles.  I supplement Vitamin D now.

Anyway, because of the trees we don’t get a lot of light on a sunny day.  Moving the shelf there wasn’t going to change much and would solve a ton of problems.

I have recently started baking 3 to 4 times a week, some times more (see Cheesecake Saturday).  My baking supplies were not easily accessible for that amount of baking.  I have this huge mixer that I LOVE and it was too big for the counter where it was.  My pans were down low where every dust ball & bunny, dying insect, dog hair, and leaves would accumulate.  Not what you want in your baking pans.  I washed them before and after I used them.  Who has that kind of time?

(Please ignore the awful paint job and butcher block laminate counter top. It is a rent house. There is nothing I can do.)

So now they are up, out of danger.  I moved the microwave because my kids are finally old enough not to use it to microwave their action figures. 

That also opened up space to move my beloved mixer within arms reach.  This opened up the other side of the counter which meant I could get the cabinet cleared above by moving some canisters out of there.  So now I have organized, viewable, baking supplies with more counter and cabinet space. 

I then moved the bins from the pantry/shelf to the rolling cart shelf where the baking pans used to be.  I also pulled out a punch bowl that didn’t fit in a cabinet above the refrigerator and put it on the large shelf. 

It was my husband’s grandmother’s punch bowl she had forever.  I love to keep those things out and hopefully use.  They make me feel connected and fuzzy inside.  Besides if you aren’t going to use it why do you have it? (not always true with antique items but most things)

You might wonder why many of my pantry items are in plastic containers with lids?  Well that story is for another post.  It involves a large rodent with opposable thumbs or at least it seemed like he had some.

Happy Organizing!