Organization – Page 3 – Unlikely Martha

junk drawer organization

I don’t think there is a kitchen in existence that doesn’t have a junk drawer. The drawer that catches all of the wayward items that

a. Don’t have a dedicated home

b. Have a home but someone is too lazy to take the few steps to place it there

c. It actually belongs in the kitchen but no time has been taken to give it a dedicated space there.

My junk drawer was getting a bit ridiculous. Went to stuff something else in there and couldn’t close it and decided it was time to do something about it.

I started by removing all of the items and going through them. Let’s be honest some of the stuff in those drawers need to be in the trash. After discarding everything I used some wire trays and plastic baskets from Dollar Tree to store everything else. I’ll come back around and make it pretty, think gold spray paint and a new drawer liner but I needed it to function now.

When it comes to what I keep in my junk drawer outside of the normal things like spare keys, batteries and pens I try to think of all of the things that go wrong when we are on or way out of the door. Somebody comes in the kitchen ready to go with a nasty or ashy face, there is lint on my black sweater that I didn’t see, I’ll be talking to people and need a stick of gum.

Think about how your life works and make your junk drawer not just a place to house “junk” but a place that stores last minute necessities so you don’t have to run back into the house when you are on your way out of the door.

I am slowly working through my drawers and cabinets. If you’ve missed any of these posts, here is how I organized my pantry, and coffee station.

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Kitchen Organization | DIY Coffee Station

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kitchen organization | coffee station

Coffee please.

Every. Morning.

I have not always been a coffee drinker but the magic of ground coffee beans mixed with hot water, sugar and creamer no longer eludes me. I am it’s biggest fan.

“but first coffee” printable found here

As with anything, my coffee space was a mess. The cabinet that houses my mugs is still a mess. I have figured one of the keys to creating a beautiful home is coming up with organized and aesthetically pleasing ways to solve your most pressing issues.

Cause you know fumbling for coffee essentials in the morning is not what I am about…anymore.

This year I’ll be working with Starbucks and I wanted to make sure my space was equipped to neatly store all of the the coffee goodies they will be sending me to try out and share with you and my house guests.

This drawer is just one in a row of four that sits under where the coffee maker is housed. I picked up the clear boxes from Dollar Tree and a total of five fit in the drawer. The ones in the back hold tea bags and hot chocolate. The ones on the side hold k-cups, creamer and stirring straws.

My coffee maker takes ground coffee as well so I made sure to leave space for coffee bags because you know K-cups aren’t always in the budget! (That said, I did find some reasonably priced k cup coffee makers that looked pretty good on a review site I found!)

I also created a space for my drinks on the go that I absolutely love. My favorite is the Starbucks VIA Instant Peppermint Mocha and my fancy Starbucks hot cocoa when I need a quick late afternoon boost of energy. While I am enjoying the Starbucks Holiday Blend, the VIA instant drink is everything, it really has the taste of grabbing a mocha in the store by just adding the mix to hot water. In the summer I’ll switch these on the go drink options out with something more seasonal. I’m still working through my holiday stash since I’m the only coffee drinker in the house.

Yes, I actually use that coffee and scoop it out with that mini Starbucks cup on mornings where I’m not in a complete rush and choose to make fresh coffee instead. I’m sure the espresso shot cup wasn’t made for scooping coffee but it works for me.

Getting your house organized starts with one little space at a time. I’m happy I took out the time to get my kitchen coffee station in order. It’s functional and makes sense for my habit and because I am smitten with how neat it looks I am more than certain it will stay this way.

I’ll be back once I get the cabinet together that stores my mug collection.

Do you have a coffee station? Does it make your life easier?

I was provided these coffee goodies by Starbucks. All opinions are mine.

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2015 in review | home projects and organization

2015 was a decent year. This time last year I vowed to get every space in my home organized and while I didn’t complete that resolution in its entirety, I learned a lot from the projects I did complete and I am holding onto my resolve to live a well organized life. In 2016 I’m taking you with me on the journey, we’re going to get our spaces together and not go crazy in the process, I promise!

One step at a time, we will do this in 2016! Make sure you are signed up for my newsletter. You will surely not want to miss out on the fun we’re going to have. There will be challenges and giveaways to help, and no you won’t need to have a blog to participate

My major home projects for 2016 include:

Repainting the accent wall in the kitchen
A master bathroom renovation
Carpet removal and replacement
Organization of every closet, drawer and hidden space
Laundry room floor makeover
His/Hers home office makeovers
Boys Room Makeover
DIY Farmtable

Seeing that we can’t move forward without acknowledging where we’ve been here are the top 4 home projects that I completed this year

Pantry Makeover

Started off 2015 with a much needed pantry makeover. Honestly, this is one of the only spaces that stayed organized the entire year. I know it was because of the time and effort I put in there to make sure there was sufficient storage for all of my essential items

Daughter’s Room Makeover

When we moved into this house her room was beige with black trim. We conquered painting it in 2014 but I didn’t finish up the majority of the decorating until 2015. I still have a ways to go but progress is good.

Son’s Room Paint Makeover

I’ll be the first to say I haven’t done such a great job of putting as much effort into my son’s room as I have my daughter’s. I have purchased quite a few things for his room that need to be put up. First things first I got rid of that ugly wall color and painted some pretty cool stripes on his wall. Finishing up his room will be one of my first projects in the new year.

A photo posted by M I M I (@unlikelymartha) on Dec 15, 2015 at 10:40am PST

Daughter’s Closet Makeover

My daughter’s closet was a hot mess. Not functional at all. Before school started I decided to go in and give her new elementary school wardrobe a nice place to live.

I even spray painted her hangers gold. Tutorial here. For those wondering the hangers are still looking good.

So excited for 2016 and all of the home projects we have in store. I am looking forward to sharing them with you.

See something you like be sure to Pin or share right from the black toolbar on the left or the share buttons at the bottom of each post. No need in keeping good things to yourself. Honestly, I appreciate all of the shares and love they help this space on the web to grow!

See you tomorrow when I recap my top recipes from 2015!

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Featured• Organization

cleaning out the laundry closet

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Goodwill of North Georgia. All opinions are 100% mine.

This time of year I get really intentional about decluttering. Like really intentional, if only that intention lasted throughout the year. In this post where I talked about the mudroom closet, I gave you a sneak peek at the other travesty of a closet in our laundry room.

Well here it is in all of it’s messy glory. Y’all want transparency? Here it is.

Not really sure how this closet got like this. Well yes I do. I’ve cleaned this closet out multiple times but the issue is I never put any effective solutions in there to ensure it stayed that way. Effective storage and getting rid of clutter is what makes these catchall spaces stay neat.

Initially I stored food items in here but I have more than enough cabinets in the kitchen, so I moved all of the food items into the kitchen and have decided to use this space to house crafting and decor items and laundry that I am not currently washing.

After much deliberation I decided on this storage solution to help people in my house assist me in keeping laundry together. One drawer will be for lights and whites and another for dark and denim. I’ll be back to update how it is working and how it looks all put together once I paint the closet and look at a few other storage solutions.

Looking at my pantry as an example, storage bins that work for your lifestyle are key to keeping these spaces together.

Coming up with storage solutions takes time and thought. Where to send your clutter/things you no longer need is a non issue. Hello Goodwill of North Georgia.

Goodwill is a household name in the thrifting community when it comes to finding amazing deals on clothing and other items but don’t forget the main mission of Goodwill is to put people to work.

Your donations and purchase of items will help educate and put people in your community to work. Here in North Georgia, Goodwill is celebrating its 90th birthday of helping people find employment and this year alone they have helped 20,000 people find jobs.

Another tip for keeping clutter to a minimum is when you are done cleaning, load your things up right then and take them to the Goodwill. Otherwise they will just sit and then children will catch a glimpse of old toys and its just easier to pull up and have them off load what will become someone else’s treasure.

In this season of giving donating to the Goodwill is the gift that will keep on giving. Donating goods helps you declutter your spaces, offers you last minute tax write offs for 2015 and ultimately helps put people to work.

Have you started getting your closets and hidden spaces decluttered for the new year?

Here are their Donation Locations

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