Quick Declutter project

I've been working a lot on decluttering and getting rid of the random messes in my house. One thing I've noticed is that my fridge area can tend to look cluttered , even if there isn't a ton of 'stuff' there.

I do tend to put a ton of stuff on the fridge - pictures, notes, phone numbers, etc. and for some reason I have a habit of putting my cereal on top of the fridge. The basket with the lunch bag doesn't belong up there but I stashed it there at some point and never got around to taking it down.

To go along with my decluttering theme, I gave my fridge a quick makeover.


I put the cereal boxes in the pantry (where they belong!!) and put the basket and lunch bag in their proper places as well. For the magnet clutter - I got rid of some of the older pictures and moved a lot of the magnets to the side between the fridge and the wall where I can keep them until they are needed. Some of the fridge stuff is necessary/wanted but overall I think this 5-minute makeover made a huge difference!

Now I just need to keep it that way!

Menu plan, week of 1/17/11

I am still eating from the pantry so this week will focus on getting through some more pantry items! I am going to need to replenish the produce a bit to get through this week!

Dinners:
Pasta with tomato sauce and meatballs from the freezer

Lunches:
Peanut butter sandwiches
Leftovers

Breakfasts:
Muffins
Cereal

Snacks:
Fig Newtons
Fruit
Veggies

Mickey Mouse

We now interrupt this blog to bring you some exciting news. I am currently in the happiest place on earth. You may experience a slight delay in blog programming due to this development.

Please be patient. We will be back to your regularly scheduled blog as soon as possible.

New Recipe: Chicken and Dumplings

As you may remember, one of my 2011 goals is to try new recipes on a more regular basis. In the spirit of this, I made Chicken and Dumplings tonight. Holy deliciousness Batman! This may not be a diet friendly meal (there is a bit of butter in this pan) but it is definitely delicious!

I think you could probably cut out some of the butter without impacting the outcome too much.

Anyway, this will definitely be going into my rotation of go-to recipes.

Home Remodeling: Master Bathroom Tour

Since I've 'finished' my master bathroom (it is finished for now, I would like to replace the light fixture at some point but that is not a 2011 goal), I wanted to give my faithful reader(s) a tour of the finished product!

So this is the view as you stand in the door from the master bedroom. I have a circle theme going on which is why I chose fixtures that also have a circular element.


Standing next to the toilet you can see the shower curtain and other corner. There really isn't anything exciting over here but I wanted to highlight more of the circle theme.

Finally this is the view of the other side of the door. You can see the hand towel rack that I replaced and the rest of the counter.

So that's my master bathroom! It is pretty hard to take pictures of this room because it isn't huge but hopefully this gives you a good idea!

Home Remodeling: Master Bathroom

One of my home remodeling goals was to change the towel racks in all bathrooms. The current towel racks are cheaply made and not my style.

The first project I wanted to tackle this year was to replace the master bathroom towel rack, hand towel rack, and toilet paper holder. To do this I used a gift card I received for Christmas so the total cost for this project was around $3.00 (what my gift card did not cover).

Here is the old towel rack. It is functional but because it is pretty flimsy you can see that the weight of a wet towel is starting to cause a bend in the middle. So, while it is functional now, it may not be functional for too long!


So for those of you who haven't ever changed out your bathroom fixtures before, I will walk you through the steps. First, remove the old hardware from the wall. Next repair the holes with spackle. I used a color changing spackle that goes on pink and changes to white when dry.

This is now a good time to make muffins because you have to wait for the spackle to dry in order to start the next step.

Once the spackle is dry, the next step is to touch up the paint. This is also a good time to touch up any other areas in the room.

When the paint is completely dry, drill holes to line up with the installation hardware. The hardware may vary depending on the product you buy but in general you have a bracket that you install on the wall and then attach the towel rack to this bracket.

It is all pretty simple if you ask me!

Here is the finished towel rack on the wall.



I also replaced the toilet paper holder and the hand towel rack so that they all match. I am loving this new look. It is a simple and relatively inexpensive way to change the look of a room.

Stay tuned for a tour of my 'finished' master bathroom!

2011: The purging continues!

The purging continues!

I was in the mood to go through more things today after work and managed to come up with quite a few more items to give to charity.

This time around I added:
1 stuffed animal
2 books
1 dress
3 shirts
1 pair slippers
1 bathing suit
1 ipod accessory
1 jewelry box
19 pairs socks
1 hairclip
5 necklaces
1 ring
4 necklace charms
1 pin
2 bracelets
5 pairs of shoes
2 storage baskets

For a total of 51 items added to the pile. That brings my 2011 donation total to 179 items! It feels good to get these items I am not using out of my house and I am happy to know that they will be going to someone who will be getting some use out of them. There is no point in keeping stuff around just to have more stuff, especially when it can be used by someone else.

Here is the impressive donation pile:

Yay! I love how clean and tidy my house feels and I love knowing that my house isn't full of clutter!