Sew Nice

When we went to Boise last Saturday, one of our goals was to purchase some stuff to help us get a little more organized due to our lack of closets. I (Carissa) was especially looking forward to getting my fabric more orderly. I enjoy sewing and suddenly realized I had quite a collection of fabric going-some left over from various projects and some snagged for dirt cheap at yard sales. I had devised a method in my head to tidy it up and was eager to see if it would actually work. It did! And I'm so excited to share it!

To get the full picture of just how well it worked, this is what I started with; an overflowing cardboard box accompanied by a falling-apart cardboard set of drawers. Not pretty.

And THIS is what it looks like now! I am thrilled with the change. I can actually see what I have now and I think (hope) it will be fairly easy to maintain. The tub on the left contains my big bulky fabric (like the 12ish yards of wool I scored at a yard sale for only $5 this summer!), blankets that have been donated to my fabric pile for repurposing, batting, and my small bit of yarn in the little green box. The tub on the right is what I'm most proud of though.

I bought a box of 2.5 gallon zippy bags and sorted my fabrics by color, so for the most part each bag holds a different color fabric. So instead of rifting through a big tub of fabric, I simply have to pull out the baggy of the color I'm looking for while the rest of my tub of fabric remains undisturbed. This part I didn't plan, but I was delighted to discover that the bags fit perfectly in my 20 gallon tub so I was able to line them up on end making it even easier to sort through them.I have high hopes for my new system, but I will give you an update after a while and let you know how it's working out.

Organization, Here We Come

We cannot wait to go to the big city tomorrow and do some shopping! That may sound strange coming from us, but this isn't just any shopping this is shopping to help us get our home more organized, to pick up some supplies for upcoming house projects, and of course to soak up any fresh new ideas for the house that might hit us as we peruse the stores. I'm excited about it all but for myself, I think I am most excited about the organizing part.

We have spent the last few days going through nearly all of our stuff, sorting out tons of things that we don't use, don't need or don't have room for into an ever growing garage sale pile in our attic (we plan to have one this spring or summer, once the snow melts...) and finding permanent residences for the things we do want to keep.

One of the most frustrating things about our house right now is it has ZERO closets. Not one. Which makes it challenging to keep things tidy and organized, particularly for someone like myself who does NOT come by it naturally. But in addition to getting rid of a bunch of stuff, we are planning to spring for some of those super handy Rubbermaid tubs when we go down to Boise,

which just happen to be on sale at HD through the end of the month! Maybe it's strange to be so excited about a plastic container, but I am stoked! When it comes to organizing I need all the help I can get and I've got some big plans for those containers!