Kitchen Makeover: Part 2

Today, I want to show you a pantry transformation for one of my recent clients. (If you missed Part 1 of the Makeover, which included the cabinets, countertops, and under the sink.....click here.)

 This pantry was a great space, but just not being utilized properly. In the upper shelves, there were odds & ends like rubbermaids, a mixer, and lots of cups not being used. The goal for this pantry was to ONLY house food & drinks, so we found those items a new home in the newly de-cluttered cabinets. (Well, some went into the "donate" pile :)

We were able to leave the upper shelf almost completely clear! Right now, it is storing a few (new) pyrex dishes that are not being used, but they wanted to keep. The 2nd shelf now holds all their cereals and breakfast items, while the 3rd shelf holds one of their daughter's medication, plus a turntable for their spices & oils.

 Let's take a close-up at this turntable! I love these for soooo many reasons....

 The biggest challenge for this pantry was to utilize the depth of it. (It is 18" deep!!) To do that, I used a "shelf helper" on the top shelf to hold some snack bars, and put other - larger - boxes of snacks at the back. Additionally, the kids now have a designated snack bin on the front of the shelf, and 2 small bins house miscellaneous items and sauces.

 The middle shelf now houses all of their baking items. A vacant jar now holds all of their baking chips, and we made a small bin for all of their sprinkles, toppings, etc.

Last but not least, on the bottom shelf, there is a designated bin for pastas & grains, and lots of overflow room on the right for baby items like formula, jugs of water, etc.

Stay tuned for Part 3 of the makeover!

A Client's New Command Center

Recently, I had a client who was in desperate need of a family command center. (If you've never heard that term, click here to read a blogpost I did about them. Every family needs a command center in their home!)

She has 3 daughters, and was on the right track with her set-up (pictured below). She had each girl's backpack hung at their height, and then she intended to put a picture into each frame to denote whose hook belonged to who. While I DO love that idea, she really needed a system to deal with all the paper coming into the house.....birthday invitations, dance schedules, notices about school, mail, etc.

 So, since this was the biggest wall in her entryway, we moved the backpacks over to an adjacent wall, and my client purchased a new piece of furniture to serve as the heart of our new command center. As a bonus, she found 4 canvas bins that fit perfectly inside! Each family member now has a bin to hold purses, gym bags, dance bags, or even soccer items. She let each girl pick out their own colored bin, AND write their name on their hanging chalkboard, giving each of them a bit of ownership in the whole process. (And hopefully this will make them more willing to actually put their things in the cubbies!)

Other notable aspects of the command center, from top to bottom:

-A dry erase calendar, where a different colored marker can denote each child's activities

-3 cork tiles (one for each girl) to hold invitations, important notices, etc.

-A wooden "D" on the wall; just a little personal touch for their family's last name

-3 letter trays: the top tray will have two folders for mail, one marked ACTION and one marked INFORMATION. The other two trays will be for the girls school notices, etc.

-A small tray will hold keys & sunglasses

-A letter organizer will transform into a charging station once the family loads up all their devices and gets a surge protector to fit all the cords :)

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While the command center is not 100% complete yet (they still need to add a family picture to the frame, as you can see!),  I still wanted to show it because I absolutely ADORE this space! Let's take one more look at the before & after, side-by-side:

I'm hopeful that having ONE central place for this busy family of 5 will help streamline the process of all the paper coming into their house. I know all too well how overwhelming that can be!

A Master Bathroom Makeover!

Y'all....it's official! I have finally found my dream master bathroom!

Seriously, it is the most beautiful thing and bigger than my bedroom. If I had a master bathroom like this, I think I'd take baths all day in the claw foot tub, and spend hours sitting at the pretty vanity getting ready.

Needless to say, I had SO much fun helping a recent client de-clutter her bathroom....

The focal point right when you walk in is this beautiful open shelving & cabinet system. It was pretty much functioning as a medicine cabinet, so we decided to move those items

elsewhere and make it "pretty!"

Much better, right?!

 We created "Daily" and "Nightly" drawers for both husband & wife.

(Of course, the wife has a *few* more items in hers!)

We used simple bins from the Dollar Tree and acrylic dividers from Target.

Some of my faves!

Under one of the sinks, there was a little bit of everything. We created a Sun Care bin and a Travel bin, which holds all those travel-sized toiletries (and freebies you get from hotels)! My client travels often for work, so we left her large Ziplock bag ready made with travel toiletries for her next trip on top of the Travel bin.

 On the other side of the bathroom sits this amazing vanity!!! As you can see, it just was a little bit cluttered and didn't have a rhyme or reason to it. We transformed this spot by dedicating these shelves & drawers to all things "beauty".....hair tools & products, nail care, make-up, lotions, etc.

And the best part is - now she has empty shelves & room to grow!

Close-up on the shelving on the right

Close-up of shelving on the left

We just needed an acrylic organizer to hold all of her pretty make-up!

 Last but not least, there was a medicine cabinet over the toilet that was not being utilized properly. (I apologize - no "before" picture.) It was holding SOME of the family's medicine, but it was also spread out in 3 other locations in the house. We corralled it all, and I organized it into a few categories: Pain Relief, Stomach Relief, Medicine, and Prescriptions.

Now there is one central spot for medicine, and it's out of their children's reach.

Win-win!

Who would have thought that organizing a bathroom could be so much fun!?

(Well, my client may not have thought it was fun, but I did!)

Before & After: Nursery for a Sweet Baby Boy

A recent client was in full-on nesting mode, and asked me to help get her baby boy's nursery closet ready for his arrival. I always jump at the chance to organize little bitty baby clothes! :)

This job didn't take long....we just needed to clear the clutter and move a few things from the closet to their rightful home - like, big brother's room, changing table drawers, and even a "donate" pile.

I added a hanging organizer for linens, and the bins are labeled for "winter" and "summer."

(Think: leg warmers & hats for winter; bathing suits for summer.)

The wooden box in the middle is for keepsakes....items from the baby shower, birth, and little mementos from the first year.

I relocated all the diapers & wipes to the changing table drawers,

and stacked the 2 shoes shelves on top of each other to make room for the hanging organizer.

* Let's take one last look! *

It's a simple closet, but will soon be filled up with lots more clothes and baby items.

Best of all, there is room to grow!

A Pantry Transformation

I helped transform another pantry recently! Look at these amazing before & after pictures! (Yes, I'm aware that I sound like a broken record. I think I just need to change my business name to Pantry Organizing Plus :)

 

Just kidding....you know I love to organize pantries. And that seems to be the #1 space I'm doing these days, which is fine by me!

My recent client had a *great* pantry to work with.....very large space, good quality shelving, and L-shaped so it had plenty of room & depth. Her biggest issue was the floor, and how it was hard to walk in there to reach anything off the shelves. Though I wish I could have cleared her floors completely, I did tidy them up a bin with bins designated for: dog supplies, craft items, kid beverages and adult beverages :)

 And yet another client that likes to bake! (Seriously, I'm starting to get a complex. I own one type of flour and 2 types of sugar. My recent clients have about 10x that much, ha!) So clearly, we needed bins to store baking items. Plus her canned goods & jars of homemade jam needed a bit of purging and organizing. Same for adult & kid snacks.

 Up top, we tucked away a few items in the corners of those L-shaped shelves that aren't used often. Plus, left some room for easy-to-reach cereal boxes and cookbooks.

 Down below, the name of the game was *containment!* If you have a bin designated for a certain item like juice & soda, it helps prevent you from going to the store to buy more until that bin is almost empty! Because if you know you only have a certain amount of room to store that item, than it will cut down on over-buying.

 A few last things to point out:

 

-I used two Lazy Susans to corral all their salad dressings, oils, marinades, etc. These are a great choice, especially for corner shelves!

 

-I put all of the peanuts & nut products in one bin because one of their children has an allergy. It was important to keep these away from the snack bin!

 

-I created a bin for rice & noodles, as well as one for dried beans, quinoa, etc. This is one healthy family!

Another pantry transformation in the books! I think my count is up to 7,462 now............ :)

Another Pantry Reveal!

I've already helped with two pantry transformations this week, and could not have asked for better clients!!

 

Check out this before & after of my first pantry of the week:

This client informed me I have a "signature" look for pantries that I organize. If she means that I use the same white bins for all of them, then yes, that is true, ha! You can't go wrong with these bins from Target...they are inexpensive yet great quality and the perfect size for most standard pantries.

Some of these shelves were a little precarious, so it was a challenge to not only place items where it made sense, but also, I had to take into consideration the weight of each item/basket. I'm pretty happy with the results though, and even more so that we ended up with some blank shelves! :)

Left side of the pantry

 This client already had many items grouped together (i.e: baking supplies, snacks, etc) but just needed a little help tweaking some areas :)

Top part of the pantry

 The floors of pantries are NOTORIOUS for collecting clutter. It's so easy to just throw stuff in there when you're in hurry. Which is.....always! (Am I right??) So it was my goal to get as much stuff off the floor as possible and tucked away, so there was room to walk & stand in there! :)

We designated bins for things like snacks, grains, baking, and oils & marinades so that it was easy to find each "zone."

Right side of the pantry

 This client had quite the collection of baking items, so it was only natural that we needed to upgrade & organize her existing canisters. I even found a few extra when I was clearing out the pantry! Now everything is nice & labeled, thanks to my favorite adhesive chalk labels.

 Does your pantry need some TLC?!

Before & After: A Little Girl's Closet

A recent client needed help organizing her daughter's closet.....too many bows, shoes, toys, blankets, coats, clothes, and a few odds & ends too.

 

We moved out-of-season clothes into under-bed boxes, which made room for relocated dress-up clothes & accessories from the playroom. The client also purchased these large hinge-top canvas boxes that we designated for keepsake items.

These large pink bins were causing havoc too - they were just too big and her daughter created a mess every time she had to look through them. We moved socks into the dresser (in the bedroom) and lined up her shoes on the shelves (as a trial run. If those become a mess, the next option is a hanging shoe organizer for the back of the door).

The left side shelves needed some TLC too! And some purging :) We made bins for hair bows, purses, blankets, and winter gear (gloves, hats, etc). And placed a large bin on top for sleeping bags.

 And this little wall on the right was not being utilized at all!! The client wanted a good bit of her daughter's toys & books moved from the bedroom to the closet. This cube organizer did the trick, and we re-used a few bins the client already had. Now this little girl has organized bins with doll accessories and dress-up accessories/shoes.

 Happy organizing!

Pantry: Before & After

Remember a few weeks ago when I referred to myself as the Pantry Queen?!

Well, here is one of my latest masterpieces....

 

I have helped transform multiple spaces in this client's home, but her pantry may be my favorite!! She had a really large space to work with (it even had a window on one wall!) and I adore the custom shelves. Possibilities for days! 

Ahhhh, how I love a "before & after!" (And I apologize for the crooked "After" picture....not sure what happened there!)

We created a few snack bins for her kids, on lower shelves so they can reach them easily!

On the right side of the pantry, we created a few bins for her husband. His snacks, drink mixes, and even a bin for his Big Green Egg utensils & supplies!

Like I mentioned earlier, this client's beautiful pantry had a window inside! She used the shelf as an office area, so her kitchen countertops would not be cluttered. (Brilliant!) We transformed it with a few paper sorters and some blue mason jars she already had on hand.

Close-up. Oh how I love organized office supplies!

The spices got an little help from a cabinet stair-step shelf. Now they are so much easier to see!

Another great before & after

Look at all of those paper products, now organized and much more accessible!

 

One more before & after.

 

 I've mentioned it before, but pantries are my *absolute favorite* spaces to help organized.

Please comment or email me if I can help transform yours!