Getting Organized (Post 1- Junk drawers and laundry closet)

One of my goals this summer has been to try to get a bit more organized.  We've been in this house for 6 years and there are areas that have just gotten junky.  I have been scouring one of my favorite websites, Pinterest, for ideas and inspiration. 


I started out small.  We have two junk drawers in our kitchen that were almost impossible to use because there was so much...well, er, ... junk in them.  This is what I started out with:

First, I went through the drawers and emptied them out.  I went through and trashed a lot of stuff that I'm not sure why we even kept in the first place.  After a trip to the Dollar Tree and Dollar General and spending less than $10 on baskets and spending a couple of hours sorting, this is what I ended up with:

Every basket has a purpose (even if that purpose is broad, ex. there is a basket for "connectors" such as tape, clips, etc).  Of course, there is also a miscellaneous basket, but I tried to keep that to a minimum.  If you look closely, you can learn a about us: one of us is addicted to pens (can you guess?  I'll give you a hint: it's not me), we have way too many bottles of krazy glue (mostly because we could never find any when we needed it), and our kids must not be too safe since we have an awful lot of child-proofing materials that are not being used...  (Also- a note to other wives: I did give Robbie a lesson in how to use the baskets and what goes in each one since they are not labeled. So far, that has helped :).)

The next organizing project I tackled was our laundry room.  Well, it's more like a laundry closet actually.  I saw this on Pinterest and was inspired.  I don't have a "before" picture of our laundry closet, but suffice it to say: we had 1 shelf and a bunk of junk on it.  Since we are doing laundry almost constantly at our house, this closet is open a lot of the time and I hated it.  Now, I love it and won't be embarrassed to have visitors see inside!

Check it out!  Here is what $12 in cute, color-coordinated baskets from Dollar Tree, a second shelf hung by my handy hubby, Robbie, a few cup hooks, some wooden clothespins, and some free printable labels will get you!

You'll notice a few of the labels are blank.  I laminated them all for durability plus that way I can write on the blank ones with a dry-erase pen and change them up as needed.  The little basket on the dryer is labeled "pocket treasures" for all the little things I dig out of pockets.

Be on the lookout for more Getting Organized posts!  Do you have any organization tips?  I'd love to hear them!