Hello lovelies!  I hope you’re having a great week – I’m so thankful we are officially over the hump towards the weekend.  Homeschooling has been tough with four kids, trying to blog and now with my new e-commerce #cleancrafted wine business, take care of a house and four chickens!  Life is a fun and crazy mess sometimes, am I right?  So thankful we have such supportive and wonderful teachers trying to help us in every way right now and that my kids can continue their studies this year.   Let’s give them a shout-out!!

As if I didn’t have enough to do, I have been a little stir crazy staring at four walls that I’ve been systematically organizing my house.  BK (also known as Before Kids), I was living a highly organized and clean life.  I was the person who had my CD’s and books alphabetized.  While that level of organization is nearly impossible now, I am doing what I can to revamp messy areas of my house.  So, I wanted to share with you some of the great organizing items I’ve found and some simple tips to help you!

1\\ Think small not big –

If you think of big projects, it’s easy to get overwhelmed.  I.e. Let’s reorganize and clean the entire kitchen!!  Instead, start with a drawer or cabinet.  I recently reorganized our “utility” drawer and threw out a bunch of unnecessary coupons and broken pens/pencils.  Now I can easily find what I need in the drawer.

2\\ Use containers for a simpler look and help reduce clutter –

I found some amazing containers at Target recently and have been redoing my “baking” cabinet.  Getting rid of the mis-matched and messy packaging of flour, sugar, etc has made a huge difference.  I can easily find what I need now and my supplies will stay fresh in their new containers.

3\\ Get rid of things you haven’t used in the past year –

I hate clutter and often wonder why we have so many things?!  Less is more.  You can find things easier when you have less.  Just ask Marie Kondo!  If it does not bring you joy, chuck it or donate it.  If you have patience, you can always try to sell it or do a yard sale.  Someone’s junk is someone else’s treasure.  You’d be surprised what people will take if it’s free on Craigslist.  We had an old mattress we didn’t need – put it on Craigslist and got 5 replies immediately.  A man ended up taking it and told us he was so thankful because he was recently in a divorce and had nothing.  It made us feel good to help him out!

4\\ Keep your desk and workspaces clean –

So, I totally got this wonderful idea from LiveSimplyPGH– she is Pittsburgh’s #1 home organizer!  I love her inspiring posts on insta and her blog.  You should check her out and follow!  She makes these children’s school and artwork DIY kits you can purchase directly from her site.  I purchased her kits for my kids and am in the process of going through YEARS of stuff to organize.  I love it!  It will be such a nice keepsake for the kids and its helping to keep my sanity with a nice organized workspace!

Check out some of my favorite organizing items:

Happy organizing!

xo,

J