It has been quite some time since I have worked on Operation Clean & Organize. Now that the kids are back in school I have been able to snag a free ½ hour here and there to work on a project. Seriously, my biggest obstacle is the upkeep. I’ve been trying to take a few moments each day to clear problem areas but my whole house could be considered a problem. However, I must admit the areas I’ve already organized are sooo much easier to keep clean on a daily basis.

I finished a small project and I especially love when I can get rid of a mess and add a touch of simple beauty instead. As you may remember, I organized the “school” bookshelf in the family room. Beside it we have a shorter shelf of kids’ books as well as a section for baby supplies like diapers, wipes, tissues etc. We recently moved the kids’ two fish tanks to the family room on top of that shelf. Originally, above the shelf, I had a large cork board with our family calendar, Brian’s schedule, church bulletins and various other information. Unfortunately, to make room for Rocky and Spike’s tanks I had to raise the cork board and it became impossible to use. Besides, since putting together our Home Management Binders, I really didn’t need all that info displayed on the wall since I had it in a central location in the binders. I didn’t take a before photo but you can get a little glimpse of the cork board on the wall before I added the fish tanks. It looks so cluttered and messy. (Photo courtesy of John-Paul, who likes to go around the house and take countless random photos with my iPhone.)

I removed the board off the wall and found a smaller unused cork board I had stored in my closet. I hung it up in the kitchen behind the swing door that leads to the family room. Below it I added the family calendar. It’s nothing fancy but it serves its purpose.

Next I had to decide what to do with the blank spot where the old cork board used to be. I loved the ideas Postal Pix had on their Pinterest board where customers hung up their Instagram photos on what looked like a garland clothes line such as this:

http://pinterest.com/pin/155514993353528263/

A couple weeks ago I was browsing Target (a favorite pastime) and found this cute photo display with two birds holding up a line for your photos. (There were three more birds but I’m debating whether to add those or not.) Then I saw an unframed canvas with a picture that had the same theme. I loved the work “HOME” and thought they would look perfect together. Here is the result.

So now instead of that ugly, unsightly corkboard I have this cute reminder of the people that make our house a true HOME.

PS – If you want to know where I prefer to print my Instagrams, see this post.