Ok, I admit it. I totally dropped the ball on posting the weekly challenges here on the site. I hope that you can forgive me. If you're ever wondering what they are (because I yet again forgot to post them), they all are up on the Facebook group. It's pretty quiet over there but don't let that put you off. Just jump right in!

This week's challenge was to tackle our hobby supplies. Since I feel like the queen of hobbies, I chose just one and decided to tackle it. Since it's going to be getting cold here soon, I decided I ought to try to make some sense of our barn/garage. It's a total disaster and you're lucky if you can find a path through it. Don't believe me? Here's the corner that I decided to turn into our gardening/tool area before I started:

See what I mean? Things are stacked everywhere! Right after I took this picture, I spent about 20 minutes just rearranging things and throwing some stuff out.  This got it to here:


It's amazing what a mere 20 minutes can do to a space, isn't it? I created a path and discovered that there really was a workbench under all of that, just like I remembered! The next steps required three..yes, three trips into Lowes. I decided to tear down the old peg board (it was cheap and filthy and badly hung) and replace it with some new and improved peg board. Then, I decided I didn't want it to be brown...and here's where I made my mistake. For some unknown reason, I thought it would be easiest to spray paint it. So, I bought one can of spray paint...yep, just one...now you see where this is going right? One can got me this far:



Another trip into town and 4 more cans of spray paint later and I had this :



Yep, this required a 3rd trip into town and 2.5 cans of spray paint more and finally all of the peg board was painted :


Then, I grabbed the gallon of yellow paint that we had bought for the kitchen (right before I decided I wanted to paint it red!) and I painted the top of the work bench. It took 3 coats and needed a 4th but since it's a workbench, I don't mind it looking a bit scruffy.

Today, I headed back out to the barn and after...well, we won't say how long or repeat a few of the words I may/may not have said...I managed to get the peg board hung up.  It's not the prettiest job but my nails kept bending and I was trying to hammer and hold at the same time :


Ta da! Badly seamed peg board! That's ok because I promptly went to work covering all that up. First, I added this cabinet that I picked up on the side of the road last summer. It was missing an interior shelf, but a quick look around the barn/garage and I came up with a scrap that fit perfectly!


Up next was sorting out the tools and getting things onto the workbench itself.

Last but certainly not least, I hung up the tools that I saw laying around (I'm sure there are more somewhere!) and put those pretty flowers into a larger vase. They probably won't survive too much longer but I'll enjoy them while they do.  When it was all said and done, here's the final look:



Oh! I forgot to mention that I did do one little side project while I was doing this. I had 2 partial and 1 full bag of potting soil laying around. Since nobody has invented a bucket on wheels, I bought a 5 gallon paint bucket, wrote potting soil on it and put it on top of a plant dolly. Now, whenever I need potting soil, I can just pull it out. I filled it with both of the partial bags. The full bag is going to end up in my composter as soon as I drag it out back.


My thanks go out to the guys at Lowes who good naturedly teased me every time I walked back in the door to buy just a few more cans of spray paint. I hope y'all enjoyed this little step by step walk through of the first but certainly not the last of the home improvement projects I have scheduled for around here!



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I have to say a serious shout out to Kate because now that she's sucked me into the artist chat, I'm becoming far more productive online. I sit there in a virtual room, watching artists work and feel like a slacker, so I pull out a project and get to work.

Of course, it keeps me sitting here at the computer so not much else gets done during that time. Although, it's so late at night that nothing else would get done anyway so it balances out!

Last week, I was camping all week long though I did manage to add half a dozen more items to our Goodwill clothing bag. This week is going to be totally insane, as well. Roger starts football camp tomorrow and that runs until Thursday night. Then, on Friday, I fly to Phoenix for 10 days! I'm going to do my best to actually write up next week's challenge ahead of time and schedule it to post for y'all on time. We'll see how successful I am, though. The best of intentions and all that...

This week, the challenge is to head back to your living/family rooms and check out those dvd/video game racks. Do you have any that you never watch or never play? Pass them on to someone who might love to have them. How about those that have scratches or don't play? If you want to replace them, add them to something like an Amazon wishlist to remind yourself and get rid of the broken ones. There's no reason to hold onto them. Clear the space and smile at the organization!



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I know we're an entire day early and that I could have just scheduled this, but nah...I'm taking my kids camping tomorrow so let's just give y'all a sneak peak and then you can start tomorrow.

Last week was a make up week and I was going to tackle that top dresser drawer. Instead, I ended up tackling my top 4 dresser drawers! I collected half a trash bag of clothes that I'll be donating.  I know it's mostly empty at this point (we're doing a massive laundry catch up right now!), but here is my after picture:



It's nice to actually be able to see what's in there and know that there's plenty of room for when I track down the rest of my underclothes!

This week, the challenge is clothing and I swear I didn't remember that so I could work ahead! I just thought it'd be a good thing to do since we have a ton of clothes that are getting washed up and needed homes.

So, for all of you..pick a drawer, pick a closet, pick a kid and go through the clothes. Toss what can't be salvaged, donate what's still in good condition and put back only what you love and what fits!

Since I already did my dressers, I'll be purging as more loads of laundry get caught up on and only putting away what I really love and will actually wear.



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Week 28?!? We are somehow over halfway through this year and I honestly don't have the first clue how that even went and happened. It's been a mad whirlwind and it's just been over the past couple of weeks that I've been starting to feel like I have some control over things again. This is a good thing. It means that things are getting done. Things  getting done means that I'm a calmer, more contented person. All in all..things are good.

So, know what that means? I got last week's challenge done! Now, I'll confess and say that some of the items were stacked in another location. This is because I need to come up with some new organizational plan for "The Wall" aka my studio aka the office. That and I need to do some purging in there. For now though, here is my finished space!



Ta da! I have space! It's a lovely thing. This week will be a continuation of the never ending attempt at catching up on laundry. Since it's also a make up week, I'm going to go back and tackle one of my drawers. It's time to purge some clothes and to just generally tidy it up so that I can actually fit the clean clothes in the drawer again! Let's see if I can score a picture of my top drawer for you...I'm honestly a bit afraid to open it up and see just how bad it's gotten...


Hmm..I suppose it could be worse but there is certainly work to be done. I wonder when the last time I purged this drawer was..Well, I guess next week I'll be able to answer that question for you. Until then, don't forget that I love to see your before and after pictures, so please feel free to link up to your posts here!



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Since we started the Facebook group for this challenge, I have gotten lazier and lazier about posting these here and I apologize for that. This started as a blog challenge and I really would like for it to continue that way. For those who prefer the Facebook Group, please don't hesitate to head over there and send a request for an invite if you need it.

Until then, let's just jump right back in where we are, ok? This week, we're tackling our desks. Now, in this house that could be any number of spaces. There's the desk in the boys room, the desk in the office, the folding table in the office and my two tables in there as well. For this week, I decided to tackle the table where my laptop currently resides. Ready for the picture? It's not as scary as some of the spaces I've posted, but it still makes me cringe!


Yick, right?!? It looks like the dying ground of technology or something. Oh and let's just ignore the fact that I *may* have been playing a game instead of cleaning when this picture was taken. Well, it's just a starting point and not an ending point and by next Monday, I should have a much tidier space to show you. Until then, don't forget...you're not behind. Just jump in on this week's challenge. Any tidy space is better than no space!


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Wow, I am so totally still getting used to this new format for writing posts. I hope it becomes second nature sometime soon! So, we're back for another Monday. Did anyone else's weekend go by in a flash? I could swear it was just Friday. No matter. The days change whether or not we're ready and here it is Monday again and I'm back with a new challenge.

Sadly, there will be no before/after pictures this week because to be honest, Monday snuck up on me and I forgot to take before pictures of my van to show you..so yeah, way to go me! I refuse to feel too bad though because the back of my van is now unloaded! Woo!

This week, we're all back in our living rooms (or wherever this piece of furniture exists) and we're clearing off the tops of our entertainment centers. Mine was lovely for quite a while but as I started cleaning and painting in other rooms, somehow it became the catch all again. Time to clear it off and wipe it down! Next week, I'm hoping to actually have some pictures to show you!

Until then..happy cleaning, organizing and creating yay spots in your home!



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Oh holy canoles. I went to bed and when I came back, the blog software I use to blog has gone all weird with a new look. I don't like new looks. I like old looks that I know how to do things and where to find things. Eek!

Ok, deep breath...I can do this. I can still post. Now, y'all may have noticed that we lost a couple of weeks on our challenge. I'm so sorry for that. I swear I haven't abandoned you. Life got tough and for a bit I was unable to post. I'm back now and I have a new challenge for all of you! I will confess right off the top that I wont' be doing this challenge because I have to finish handling boxes from my grandma's house. However, this challenge is for you and I know you'll get right on it!

For this week, head to wherever you store your bed linens. How many sets of sheets do you have for your bed? For me, it's 4 for each of the boys and 5 for me. We each get 2 sets of flannels (remember we have no heat in our bedrooms!) and 2 sets of regular light weight sheets. For mom (aka me), I also get one set of sexy feel really good against your skin sheets. Yep, mama gets sexy sheets (even if she's not..well..nevermind.).

If you're unsure of what to do with any extra sheets you may have, here's a quick list of places you can donate them to:

• Animal Shelter
• Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc.
• Women's Shelter
• Young person moving into their first place

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I'm so sorry that this is late. In all of the drama that has started happening since my grandma's death, I just didn't get this posted yesterday. I do hope you can forgive me. These last few days have been really hard on me and I'm trying hard to make sure I do what needs to be done.

In the spirit of keep on keeping on, I bring you this week's challenge. This week, we're back in our bedrooms We're going to open up that top drawer and we're going to get rid of anything that we don't love or that doesn't fit. For me, this is my underclothes drawer and I can guarantee that some purging is going to get done. I swear I have bras in there that haven't fit since I started having kids! Here's a peek into what I mean:

Aren't slipper socks sexy?

I'm looking forward to being able to reach into that drawer and actually find what I want. Right now, it's dig around in the hopes it's in there. Not conducive to stress free living, I tell ya!

Speaking of stress (I'm the queen of transitions today!), I do have to say that having these yay locations in my home has really helped over the past few days. Granted, most of my house looks like a tornado hit it, but being able to walk into any room and see a space that's clean and tidy has helped calm down the chaos in my brain.  It even works in last week's challenge...the laundry shelf...

Everything in its place!

It's so nice to be able to walk into the laundry room and just throw in a load of laundry without digging around for where I put anything that I might need. Plus, my kids were super excited when I found this:


Yep, that's an entire container of batteries. This used to be our battery jar but somehow the lid got misplaced and I must have put the jar up on the shelf until I found the lid. Well, I haven't found the lid, but I did move this container out to the shelf that holds all of the Wii supplies and the kids now have an ample supply of batteries to run their remotes for a while. That's almost as good as finding cash, folks!



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Ahhh! Double digits week! How can we possibly be this far into the year already? This means that, in theory, we have tackled 9 different areas in our homes. I don't know about you, but seeing those yay areas still make me smile just a little bit when I walk into a room and see them. They still motivate me to work on the next area because I know that by the end of this year, I'm going to have the spaces and rooms that I want to have. I'm creating a better and healthier space for both me and the boys.

I don't have after pictures for last week's challenge because it was simply getting rid of old/expired medications and it turns out that I didn't really have much to get rid of. However, I do have a before picture for this week!

My laundry supplies shelf..wow! How did a pillow end up there?

This week, we're headed back into our laundry areas. I want you to take a look at the area where you store your laundry supplies. I honestly thought this wasn't going to be an area I needed to tackle. After all, I'm pretty good about throwing out empty bottles of laundry soap and things like that...Surprise! Look at that cluttered mess. I don't remember the last time I actually wiped down the shelf. I know what I'll be doing this week! Time to see just what else has moved in without me realizing or remembering that it's there. Time to clear it off, clean it out and wipe it down.

How many of you will be joining me?



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Wow, week 9. The last time I posted, it may have been week 6. I bet you're wondering what happened to 7 and 8, eh? I know there were really good reasons that they didn't get posted but blast if I can remember now what they were! I do hope you'll forgive me though!

This might be a good time to mention that if the challenges don't go live here, they are going live over at the Facebook group. It is a closed group so nobody outside of the group can see your before/after photos. If you'd like to join, just drop me a line and I'll get you added.

Now, on with the show....Since I didn't post my before and after photos for weeks 6, 7 and 8, I'm going to share them with you now. I don't want any of you thinking that I'm not right in there with you as we do these. Ready? Let's go!


This is my bedside table after I got it cleared off, but clearly before I dusted it. Eww! What I love most about this is the fact that I now have space to put my new table lamp..as soon as I remember where I put it! I do need to take some time and get those stickers off of there. I have no idea how they got there, but they need to go!  (Week 6)



 Week 7 - Before : The bookshelf of doom..Ok, it wasn't that bad but it was pretty ick. The challenge for the week was to tackle just one shelf in the living room. This was my choice. There were books falling off the shelf and about an inch of dust.

Week 7 - After: Far less dust and far less books. I actually pulled a dozen books off of this shelf and posted them to PaperBack Swap. I realized that as much as I love John Grisham, I rarely, if ever go back and read his books again so I kept only a few that really appealed to me and let the others go. Actually, they're still here so if you're a fan, find me over on the site and request them!

 Week 8 - Before: Last week, our goal was to tackle just one side of the kitchen counter. In this case, we started with the left side. This folks, was my left counter before I started. Food that needed to be put away mixed with dirty dishes waiting to be washed and all sorts of things! You see, I haven't had a functioning kitchen sink since before Thanksgiving. We did have a plumber come out but he didn't fix the problem and we haven't really had the money to try again since. What does this lead to? Using up all of the dishes in the house and then being completely overwhelmed with what to do about it. I'll tell you my solution below because I can't wait to show you the after picture!

Look! Clean counter! My favorite part? The labeled containers. This is something I've wanted to do for a while but never had the proper tools. Justin got me a new labeler for Christmas and I had the most fun labeling all of those containers. I still have a couple of empty containers that will get filled soon but for now, seeing the ones that are done puts a big smile on my face! Where did all the dirty dishes go, I'm sure you're asking yourself...Well, they went to my bathroom. That's right..this girl has been kneeling over her bathtub doing dishes. It's a slow process because I only have a small shelf in there that I'm able to use for drying, but bit by bit, I am catching up on all of those dishes. I refuse to let a goofed up drain/vent/whatever it is get in the way of me having an area that I can prepare food for my family. After all, there are those who don't even have running water, how can I complain about a few minutes kneeling on the floor doing dishes?

There we go. I think that has us all caught up until this week. I don't actually have a before picture because this is a task, that for me, is a relatively small one. This week, I challenge you to go into your bathrooms. Find wherever you store medications and check those expiration dates. If it's expired, let it go! That's it. Pretty simple, huh?

See you next week for a new challenge!


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I know I say this practically every week, but where the heck did last week go? Well, for me, it went curled up in bed as much as possible. Yep, I came down with some sort of stomach bug and it laid me out. I did manage to get last week's challenge done though! Ok, it's mostly done. Let me show you the after pictures and then, I'll fill you in.


Doesn't that look so much better? I say it's not done because I have a few more things that I want to do. First, I want to put labels on those two small totes. The bottom one holds spare cables that I keep finding. Eventually, I'll get those matched up to their devices and that will only hold extra cables. The top one holds things for the cats, like combs and such.  I also want to get rid of that second misc bin. Right now, it holds tools that I find laying around the house. I do have a tool box somewhere and as soon as I track that down, it will go into the laundry room and the tools will be placed in that. The only other thing I want to do is add to that grey case there. By add to it, I mean stack other things on top of it. I have a variety of small cases that hold nails, screws, etc and I want them to be all stacked up there. That will happen as I find them.

Now, for this week's challenge..We're going back into our bedrooms and we're going to tackle one of our nightstands. Now, for you overachievers out there who tackled your nightstands when we did the top of the dresser, don't think you get an off week. Nope! Instead, I want you to go back through the 5 areas that we've already covered and make sure that they're still yay locations in your home. Easy enough, right?

Here's what I have to tackle this week..if you're squeamish at all, I suggest you stop reading right now...


Horrible, right? Yes, that's a Halloween pumpkin sitting on the night stand. I have no idea why it's there unless it's there to hold up that cereal bowl. Yeesh!

Ok all, I'm off to tackle the world, but I can't wait to read your posts and see your before/after pictures. Remember to post your links here or pop over to our Facebook group and join us there. :)


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