Hello, Beautiful Friends! I am catching my breath as I have just completed reorganizing my stash of makeup. What began as a simple project evolved as I gave myself time to think about the possibilities.
In case you don’t remember what my counter looked like the last time I wrote about this… here is a reminder to show you the clutter I was dealing with:
The Current Makeup Situation
It is hard to use makeup when it is stored like this
Makeup is taking over
Originally, I was going to clear off a shelf in the storage unit between the vanity and the whirlpool tub, which is also known as my kitten’s racetrack. I had previously started storing crafts on it. There was room to shift things to clear one or two shelves for my makeup.
The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to make a bigger change.
Not that long ago, I took the bottom half of a closet storage set and moved it to the bedroom. When I did it, I was sure it would stay, so I screwed it into the wall and put it to use.
Fast forward to January 2020 and the annual cleaning challenge I participate in. I usually choose one project to improve our home. We don’t have a lot of extra funds set aside for home improvement, so one project is all I can really manage to purchase supplies for. With this in mind, I am preparing to makeover my mini laundry closet. Therefore, if I am going to make any other changes in y home, I need to work with what I already have here.
As the project grew from a simple reorganization of makeup to a shelf system swap, I started by taking more pictures, before I started.
Before: In the master BedroomBefore: In the Master Bathroom
In the top picture, above, you can see the two white cube storage pieces I had repurposed from my master closet. In the second picture, you can see the cluttered counter, and the shelving unit I wrote about above.
I went to work.
After getting a screwdriver and a duster, I cleared off the black shelving unit enough to slide it out of the place it was in. Then I unscrewed the white cube storage pieces from the wall in the bedroom, one at a time, and moved them to where the black stand was.
Finally, I had them switched, and I began placing items where I wanted them. This process may not be entirely complete at the moment, but for now, the main parts are done!
Craft storage moved into the bedroom.More room by the jacuzzi tubFrom craft storage to makeup storageThe new look in the Master Bathroom
I have not gone through all of my craft supplies at this point. It was more important to get the bed cleared off to sleep tonight. It is ready for the clean and dry comforter. I changed the sheets before I got going. I am sure I will sleep well tonight.
Here is one final look at the project.
Being able to access all of my makeup is important. I am learning new tips and tricks, and I need to be able to access it easily to enable me to continue. I am glad I decided to take on this project. Here are some final looks.
3 shelves hold my makeup and supplies now.Makeup is easy to find, and neatly organizedNow there is more room on the counter.Clutter-free!
When I get to the week for organizing craft supplies, I already have a great start on it. When I get to the week for the Master Suite, I can focus on cleaning and not have to work at reorganizing. I am also closer to tackling the laundry closet with these steps done because I needed to empty the clothes basket at the foot of the bed and change the bedding. This is now done, so I can keep working towards the next project.
I feel like I have accomplished a lot in a short amount of time. I also know that when I want to wear my makeup, it will be so much easier to take out what I need now that the counter is clutter-free! How do you store and organize your makeup? Do you take on a project every year to improve your home? Let me know in the comments what you think about this new setup!
Well, I decided it was time to give a progress report. The tunes are cranked. I am motivated. So what did I get done?
I have decided to publish this first thing Saturday morning so I can keep the momentum going that I found last weekend. I worked on my kitchen DURING THE WEEK! I am really happy with my progress.
I moved the dish drainer out of the way to create a new Coffee Station. I blogged about that on Monday, because I was so excited that I had to share what I did. For a recap of that short story, here is a link: Coffee Station Complete!
I washed the curtains, and they are all hung back up. I also had to flip the windowsill decorations to match the flip of the coffee station. The curtain has to be at the opposite side of the window, which caused the rearrangement of the items. I have put the dish drainer on the other side of the sink. It is a better place because the dishes are on that side of the kitchen. Most of them. Then I continued to the last section of the countertop. Breadbox, toaster and blender are shuffled. The electric stand mixer is by the dish drainer now. It meant I could tuck the toaster beside the breadbox, instead of it being in front of the breadbox like it was before.
Then I ran out of steam. My husband helped during the week, which can help me to get going. I have plans to start my day with paying it forward. I am off to help another friend in the land of blogging and website design. I will do what I can to help, and we will see how far we get. The last friend I helped has 2 blog posts published and is still figuring it all out. I plan to help her again when our schedules align, and also to share her blog in the future when it is developed further. I am also planning to share blogs from others that I help, even if they do all the work and I just gave them ideas to run with. There is at least one person I know that is doing this, and it is nice to see them happy about their progress.
After I finish helping my friend today, I am going to go back into my kitchen, and get the house bouncing again! I need to keep the momentum going so that I CAN finish, otherwise I will NEVER finish, and that is just not acceptable to me. I need to do this cleaning challenge, more than ever! I need to prepare my home for neglect while I am writing. I know, it will still need maintenance cleaning, and I shall be looking into that when I am at that stage. For now, I will leave you knowing I am fighting through the procrastination and laziness, doing good in the world by helping friends, and getting my kitchen ready for spring, with a promise of more pictures as I complete different areas.
I am rethinking storage in my kitchen. I sense more reorganization in my future of 4 areas. I have very little room for storage, so I have to plan any changes in detail before tacki\ling them because any changes are critical, and need to improve on how things are now, rather than just add more confusion and not maximize the storage space that I have available. I am preparing to take this project on this weekend.
Have a productive Saturday! Who knows, maybe that next Weekend Warrior will be tomorrow’s story, with those pics I am preparing to share.
Well, look at that. I made it to another weekend. It is unplanned, as of yet, and that could be dangerous. In terms of making the most of my weekend off, that is.
Looking around, I can get overwhelmed at the amount of work I still need to do. But just looking at it won’t fix that.
So I have to make a list. It will be for both days, as I never seem to finish the list I make in one day, so I’ll be realistic. Then I will pick some small things to get me going. It is motivating to cross things off of the list.
Eggs and Avs (THM) A nice filling breakfast. I love poached eggs, but you can fry them if you prefer. I love this quick, healthy breakfast on weekends.
We do have to run errands today. So I’ve filled the Overthinkin and Coffee Drinkin mug to sip my coffee while I Brunch and write. Tomorrow I’ll need to prep cook, and my husband doesn’t know it yet, but there is a package of bacon for tomorrow’s breakfast. He wouldn’t eat this with me, but he loves bacon and eggs.
I am still struggling with the cleaning challenge. I feel like this weekend might be when I get back on track. I set the goals at the start of the year, and I intend to keep them. But where to begin? I am overwhelmed by a number of things to do on an exponentially growing to do list and underwhelmed with the energy to attack it. How do I fight my way to doing instead of dreading?
The lists and music are the answer. Even if I take an hour to make the list, it is a start. Do I write down everything, share it with my husband, and tackle it with him? Will we bicker if we tackle the same thing together? Sometimes that happens. If we are both working in the kitchen, there is not a lot of space when we are doing the dishes. My kitchen is deceptive. It looks spacious but has very little cupboard space. I have had to be creative in what I have and where I store things. I have a bookcase, an open pantry, and a large standing shelf with a door on it.
This is the final result of the only thing I really accomplished in the first year I joined the Cleaning Challenge. I need to tidy it up this year, but for the most part, it is still in good shape, and just needs a good dusting job. It is my Open Shelf Pantry.
We have often talked about how to get more efficient storage in the kitchen. We are planning to get some furniture “someday” at Ikea. It will be mostly to set up the living room, but the kitchen will get a boost too. It will happen, it is hard sometimes to make do and stay motivated, but it is what it is.
This afternoon we went to get our taxes finished up. Done for another year. We then made an afternoon trip of going to two local SPCA animal shelters. We are starting to think about getting our first dog, and saw a lot of cats too. We will get another cat too, someday, but we needed a break, after having been a cat only home for so long.
This evening we went to visit some friends. It was nice to get out and socialize as a couple with another couple that we are friends with, but haven’t been to visit in quite some time.
Another productive day outside of the house. I will have to work really hard tomorrow to catch up. It can be done. It will be done. It has to. I hope the energy is still with me tomorrow. The house needs a bouncing!
Today started with Scotch Lick and grab and go. I had scheduled my morning to help a friend look into setting up her own blog. I am in no way an expert at blogging, and I don’t claim to be. But as a few friends helped me get this Blog up and running, I decided to pay it forward.
It was really neat to see someone else put their own creativity into action! We started with some basic conversation, and she figured things out. She has some work left to do and is capable enough with her own experience and training to move forward on her own. I am only a message away if she needs any more help.
I am fighting to stay awake. Waiting to find out the plans for the evening. If it is a Game night, I will have to start preparing snacks and get done what I can here in the meantime. If it ends up being a guys gaming night, I will work on the cleaning challenge. Either way, I will be busy. I have the kitchen to clean, a grocery list to make, and general cleaning to do.
I have had 2 cups of coffee with breakfast. I am having a sugar free vanilla iced coffee now. I AM STILL TIRED! So I have cranked the tunes and will make 1 more coffee. Soon it will be too late to have any more coffee, but if I am busy enough, I can still tire myself out enough to sleep tonight. I need the help today. I am a night owl with a day job. So I tend to be more active in the evenings. Sometimes a little too late. I struggle with it, but my health is better with the 9-5 schedule, so I try to go to bed early when I need to. Sometimes I even make it to bed early. Not on the weekends, though. That is the problem I am having right now. So I am going to make 1 more coffee. A power snooze might have to happen, though. When my body wants sleep this desperately, I have to consider if it is necessary or not. A power nap may just what I need, followed by that one more cup of coffee. Then I’ll head into the kitchen, and unload that dishwasher, that I ran last night. I need to focus, and that is a good place to start.
Had the nap. Never found any energy. I have spent some time on Linked In today. It was time for an update, and it is another way to share this Blog. I am disappointed that I did not get more accomplished around the house today, but the networking has to be worked on also.
I have been a little lacking in the cleaning department in February. I have been planning but not doing. This weekend will be different, and therefore today’s story will be short.
I added to the mess, last night. My butt bumped a tray of beads. So along with my list, I have to play a game with my broom called 5 million pick-up! Ugh. At least I had the covers on the bead containers I had already finished sorting. 10 million pick-up would have been much worse!
I am going to work on my house this weekend. In the words of a sport I do not understand enough to actually spend a lot of time watching, I plan to, “Hurry, hurry, hurry hard!” at it today. I will be Bouncing the House today and tomorrow.
So a brief outline will involve the never ending dishes, prep cooking for the week, and laundry. I am not good at the putting away part of cleaning. If I manage to get this all done today, (or most of it) I will then tackle the bathrooms, which really need me to get to them THIS weekend. I need to get the basic chores out of the way so I can get to the Spring Cleaning. I need to get this done, it is holding me back from other goals for the year, the biggest one being writing a book.
I value the benefits of an organized house, so I am trying to better my environment with the challenges I have set out for myself. It will also help me be more efficient in my daily life when all the cleaning is done.
There is so much to do, and my coffee is calling me. I will report tomorrow. Maybe I will be able to start sharing progress pics by then. I plan to get a lot done today!
