Purge & Merge

Back for more? Woo hoo! Let’s clean!

Cleaning House

Yesterday I told you about my Purge & Merge method. Getting rid of unwanted items and grouping like things together. I use it when approaching any project from packing up a whole house for a move to tackling the pantry. Let’s use the latter as a for instance.

Does your pantry look like this? By the way, you have no idea how much anxiety this photo gives me.

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Start with the purge. This should be easy. Expired food? Gone! Unhealthy choices? Chucked. Cans with the labels off? No one likes surprises when hungry.

OK, that was easy right? On to the merge. Think of your pantry as your very own grocery store. Baking aisle, canned goods, snacks, international foods, etc. Group like items together and you’ll never have to wonder just how many jars of peanut butter may be lurking.

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And while you’re grouping, baskets are great tools to corral loose packaged items like granola bars or oatmeal packets. I like to put the small containers like baking powder, vanilla extract, and food coloring together. The basket comes with me to the counter when I’m ready to bake! And I love all the snack tips from the Mommy Blogs. Kids can basically pack their own lunches when the options are there for them!

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There’s really every canister and container under the sun for pantry items. Have fun with labels or colors but in the end, when organizing the pantry the Purge & Merge works every time. Happy cleaning!

Spring… err… Still Winter Cleaning

It’s no secret that I love to clean. And I know I’m not alone in wanting this damn winter to be over. I know it’s not quite spring, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to get a jump start on spring cleaning. Any takers? Eh?

Well even if you don’t love cleaning and organizing as much as I do, it’s a necessary evil. So I’m starting a two week series on arguably the thing that I do best… cleaning. From cutting clutter to scrubbing stains, follow my lead and we’ll have spring cleaning done before the vernal equinox!

Cleaning House

I start every cleaning project large or small with my patented (not really, but please don’t steal my idea and make millions) Purge & Merge. Tossing or donating unwanted/unloved items and moving like things together. It’s the basics of organizing. It’s Cutting Clutter 101.

People have such an attachment to things. I once worked for a professional organizer in Richmond, Virginia and on one job, a woman had enough craft supplies to fill two rooms. Trying to get her to toss a scrap of fabric was like getting her to give up her first born. I don’t understand it (and thus, I never committed to the professional organizer business). If something is in your home- it just has to have a purpose. Especially since most of us don’t live in thousands upon thousands of square feet of living space. So please, look at your things and ask yourself these three questions:

  1. Do I use it? (actually pick it up and use it within the last month or seasonally!)
  2. Do I love it? (does it make you happy? a piece of art or a pin that your grandmother owned)
  3. Will someone else love it or use it more than me? (be selfless people! yes, that third black handbag is cute but you have two others that you use (see question 1) and love (see question 2) so why not send that third bag off to Goodwill and free up closet space for say, a green one!?)

It really doesn’t have to be that difficult. Man yourself with black and white trash bags. Black for the garbage and white for the donations. And make the decision in one minute. That’s right- sixty seconds of decision-making. Use it? Love it? Will someone else? Done.

Good job! You’ll be cutting clutter in no time!

Wired

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When you have a husband that loves electronics you inevitably live among a variety of wires. And as a neat freak, nothing bothers me more than unruly wires.

Take the back of our TV for example.

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Look familiar?

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HDMI, ethernet, power cords, the Roku box, and I don’t even know what else. So it was time to get these under control. I called upon my arsenal of clips, zip ties, and labels.

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Honestly, wire organization is not a quick fix. I spent about an hour crouched behind the TV coiling wires and clipping them behind our console. The 3M Command clips worked perfectly to set the power strip cord along the baseboard.

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With all cords zip tied together, labels at the plug are essential to know what’s what.

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A little camouflage with pillows and throws left all those pesky wires out of sight and out of mind.

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Linen Closet Organization

 

Though she be but little, she is fierce! The linen closet, that is. It may be a shallow closet but since we never knew it existed until we ripped down this wall, it’s kind of an added bonus! 

Located directly across from our full bathroom on the second floor, this little gem is the perfect spot for towels, tissues, and extra supplies. 

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Life Doesn’t Come with an Instruction Manual

But everything you own seems to! So I wrangled all my instruction books and created this lovely organized binder. I had a ton from all the small appliances we received as wedding gifts. And a bunch from electronics over the years. But with the renovation, we had an influx of appliance manuals. And those, you’ll really want to save!

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So these went in first. I always try to write the date of purchase on my instruction books since something always seems to break right at that warranty mark and it isn’t always easy to remember in what month or even what year you bought something.

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I sorted my manuals by Major Appliances, Small Appliances, Cleaning (Hello iRobot!), and Electronics.

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It’s not something we’ll flip through regularly but it sure will come in handy when the juicer starts spewing vegetable guts or the ice maker gets stuck on crushed.