Kitchen Plates

I did some kitchen organization today with my mom. We went through almost all of our glass plates and got rid of the items that were too chipped.

We were able to pair down and eliminate 1 of the 2 plate stands we had sitting out on counters. We are now storing some everyday/microwaveable plates on a plate stand which makes them easily accessible. The other plates on the slide out shelf (pictured) are categorized and have a specific place. YAY! Whoever puts away the clean dishes should have no excuse for putting it away in the wrong place. :)

I'll repost in 3 months to see if this actually works for long term organization.

Is your kitchen bursting at the seams with dinnerware?

1- "Consult"[with yourself or family members] -Figure out the problems with the way your dinnerware is kept. What is your goal in going through them? To gain more space on counters? Need a place for a new item? Sick of pulling out chipped items or dishes you don't even like?

2- Sort through your items keeping your goals in mind. Only keep non-chipped items that you like and know you will use.

3- Implement -Categorize the items you are keeping and give them a specific place. Keep in mind accessibility, amount of use, etc. when deciding on a place.

Overwhelmed!?! Let me help you! spacecadetorganization@gmail.com

School/ Playroom Project- Post III

Here are the pictures of the full room (from the back and front wall). As you may notice the finishing touches are not present and one of their little friends had already come over and used the toy area before I got this shot!

Though the client said she had some questions regarding tweaking some things in the room, she wrote the following a few months after our organizing day:

"I do love the room! It has made a tremendous difference in my homeschooling--seriously. Before you came, I was struggling to have one school day for [sons name] each week, now we school three days each week, which is what we'd planned to do from the beginning. [Her son] loves to spend time in "the school room"--he loves to play in there just whenever, and he loves our school time in there, too. It truly is the welcoming place of wonder I'd dreamed it could be... I love my school room--our school room--and I'm so thankful to you for creating it! It is worth every penny we spent!"

As the 2011-2012 school year approaches, do you need help with your school room?

Let me help!

spacecadetorganization@gmail.com

School/ Playroom Project- Post II

Room Layout

The room was basically a long rectangle and I felt that it needed better definition and "flow".

One way that I defined the room was by giving it sections. The first picture here is of the play area! I love that the toys were able to be put at the back end of the room and in their own section (which hopefully would keep them from overflowing and getting mixed into school items). The area was next to the doorway to the kitchen which made it easy for the boy to be able to play while mom was in the kitchen,too! The next picture is of the reading corner (love it!) which was located at the opposite end of the room with the school table in between (as will be shown in the next post). The dining table (which I think we took a leaf out of) was next to the reading area at the front of the room and could be used by mom/teacher. The beautiful buffet is utilized to store craft/school supplies and some of her other belongings. This area was able to help separate kid stuff from mom stuff. Ideally the son would know that he needed to ask before getting into most of the items in this section. Notice the display wall above the buffet for displaying the sons artwork or homework. (string with clothespins...gotta' love it!).

Next to the buffet see the navy cube shelves sticking out. We purchased them at Target (and I think they were on sale!) to replace the cube shelves they already owned that were not very stable or as attractive! The project of transferring the items onto the new shelf (from the old) I was not able to stay and complete. As you can see mom's area could have used some more work but at least we were able to get the items in a general location!

I like that the room is able to grow with the sons needs as well as be somewhat flexible. Keeping the dining room table means more seating for guests and/or as the son gets older they can use it as a homework table. I love multipurposing furniture and making rooms "convertable"!

Stay Tuned for full room pics...

Please let me know if you have any questions or need help defining your room!

spacecadetorganization@gmail.com