It has been a long time since I’ve done a Operation Clean and Organize post! As family and long time readers know, I am always on a quest to tame my mess. In 2012 I was working on a number of home improvement projects but in 2013 I got a little side tracked when Brian got cancer and our focus turned to survival and family time. Now things have eased up with Brian being healthy and the kids being a little older so I can go back to focusing on getting our house in order.

I have to admit that something is happening within in me. It used to be that I could turn a blind eye to the piles of junk and the crap shoved on shelves. I sort of zoned it out. But now, it’s bugging me. I mean, driving me nuts bugging me. I’m sick of the disorder and the interior chaos it is causing me. And I just want to purge and organize. I don’t know what it means. Maybe I am finally growing up. Maybe I am having some kind of spiritual epiphany. Maybe it’s a sign of an upcoming apocalypse and the end of the world as we know it. (Cue REM.)  Whatever, I just know I’ve got to seize the moment while it is still strong. 😉

Shortly before I cam became pregnant with Matthew, we were able to remodel our home to convert our garage into a third bedroom. It included a bathroom that I love. Unlike our other bathroom, it is fresh, bright and clean. Well, except for this narrow shelving section next to the tub. I use it to hold to towels, toiletries, hair accessories etc.

However, over time it had become a catch-all of random junk. (Don’t ask me why there are tinker toys in there.)

I have been following Mystie Winkler over at Simplified Organization (more about that in a bit) and one of her mottoes is for everything to have a home. So I went through the piles of junk and got rid of trash, gave away what I no longer used and found a spot for what I did use. The results? Drum roll please…

The photos are not great because the lighting was bad but you get the idea. Order!

 I used bins and containers I found at Target to hold my stuff. One has products, another hair accessories, blow dryer, etc.

Confession time. Along with having hoarding tendencies I am also a sucker for a sale and clearance items. I may or may not have actually bought a cute baby item before I was even married because I knew one day I would use it for my own baby. (To my credit, years later I did use it for my child.) This wall organizer is one of those sale items that have been sitting in my closet forever.

I finally hung it and used it for my necklaces and bracelets. I added a couple of S-hooks to the very top to add a few more items.

In the 80’s, it was the style to wear hairbands with huge hair. I’ve sorta tamed the wild hair (no more hair sprayed mile-high bangs!) but I still love me a hair scarf whether it is out of style or not. I can’t follow trends. Mama ain’t got no time for that!

Now I keep my scarves here. This handy little holder was given to me as a gift from one of my coworkers. (Do I admit that it was from a job that I left 14 years ago, which mean this holder has been sitting in a closet for 14 years…no, I won’t admit it. That’s just plain creepy.)

I am a sucker for colorful paper beads bracelets. These have been made by women in Africa trying to better their lives and their family’s life. Some of these I have bought at Costco during their fair trade product fairs and others I purchased from Outreach Uganda. (Wife to hubby: “It’s really more of an act of charity that I buy these bracelets. We are helping feed African children!” Hubby: Insert eye roll.)

They sit on my bathroom sink along with these cute yet inexpensive little bird jewelry holders.

I found them at The Farm, an organic farm in nearby Salinas, CA.

They have amazing produce and…

A collection of country life goods. I don’t go there often but when I do, I always find a little treasure. If you are ever in that area, stop by and take a look. 🙂

So that is one of the projects I competed over the summer. When everything is orderly and tidy,  it brings me such peace. It’s far form perfect but it is a big improvement. No more scrambling around and yelling, “Where is my !@#$ hair dryer! I’m late! UGH!” Now I know exactly were my hair dryer is and I MAKE SURE to return it to it’s proper place when I am done. I’m constantly reminding myself to just put it away, right away! Leaving things laying around is a hard habit to break and I know I need more than just a few Before and After moments to keep my house in order. I need an attitude readjustment!  This is where Mystie comes in with some guidance. I was reading her blog and she wrote:

I’ve always been a slob by nature, and I’ve been actively combating that tendency for 7 years now.

Sometimes I even think there’s hope. I want to share what I’ve learned along the way, moving from thinking that housecleaning was a waste of time to trying to keep the house decently in order. Though I’ve always been a slob, I’ve also always been a planner and a list-maker. My problem wasn’t not knowing what to do. My problem was not caring.

I have learned to care. It is better to care. It does matter. It is good work.

I could make a plan, but I then I would rebel against it. “You can’t tell me what to do!” my inner two-year-old would scoff at my written list, “Who made you the boss?”

Add five kids to the mix, and the problem becomes not only my own lack of desire to follow a good plan, but also the fact that life doesn’t actually happen according to my plan when I do want it.

These are my struggles, and I know I’m not alone. So I write to share what I’ve learned, hoping to help others not only know there is a way out of the frustration, but also that they are not alone.

I provide not just another housekeeping plan to try, but a paradigm shift. I want you to see

— that your work matters.

— that your attitude matters.

— that you can tame your inner fussy two-year-old.

— that there is a way out of chaos and frustration, even though it isn’t easy or once-and-done.

I want to show you how to turn your frustration into momentum, your chaos into growth, and your plans into actions.

A slob by nature? She loves planners and lists but didn’t care about cleaning. That is so me! Do you see why I love this girl?? Go read the rest of her story here.

So in upcoming posts, I will share with you about her course I’m taking and how my progress is going. It is not about spending money and buying lots of matching bins and label makers (although I would have liked that too) 😉 but it is about keeping it simple, tidy (even with messy family life) and changing the attitude so you learn to love what must be done. Genius.

Okay, my time is up and kiddos need to be fed so I’ll stop here.

Have you been working on organizing lately? If not, what it the one area you’d love to tackle? Do tell. 🙂

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, GoodReads Letterboxd, Spotify or Instagram. 😉
PPS – This post may contain affiliate links.