Works for Me Wednesday - Kitchen Drawers

I wanted to share something that I have been thinking about doing for year, but just recently tried and I am so glad I did.  Several years ago I was going through the Good Things of Martha's Mag and spotted some major eye candy for me!  An organized Knife and cooking utensil drawer.  It was beautiful....what made it so beautiful and how did she keep it that way (oh yeah, I forgot - she has a staff)?  I loved it so much I vowed to do that very thing to make my new kitchen (new is now 6 years old) even better.  Sooo, I happened to be in the neighborhood of our local fabric store and that eye candy popped into my head!  Straight over to the felt I went and now for a little over two weeks, I have had the most perfect knife and gadget drawers.  Take a peek!

I would have never showed you this drawer before...wait what am I talking about, I showed you PC's sock drawer!

Seeeee! I told you it's pretty!  I know, I know, my knives are all dull and a mix-mox - but don't they look nice on the grey flannel?  Yep that's the secret...Martha has her drawers lined with grey flannel.  It makes the knives pop for easy visual recognition (I was looking for a different word than "spotting") AND they don't move around! They little organizer in the back holds all the steak knives.

Sorry, I'm just in love with this drawer : )

And this one!  Nothing shifts around and when I put the dishes away - everything has a place!

This is another  little secret (not Martha's) that I wanted to share...I got this little secret SitsaM...she's a little Italian cook, who has been teaching me the art of "sauces". While I was in her kitchen, I noticed that she has silverware in two drawers, one near the table (where mine is) and one next to her stove. The one next to the stove only has a few spoons, forks and knives, but I watched her reach for those while she was cooking instead of taking from the "tableware".  Smart! Huh?  If you already do this - I think you are a genius! Well, it just so happens I have one set of silverware that is not a complete set and now it has a home and everybody knows where they go based on their pattern.  So that's what works for me (and Martha) Grey Flannel!  I'm going to go organize another drawer or something, Tata for now!

Tackle-it Tuesday (Airing My Dirty Laundry Room)

My contribution to Tackle-it-Tuesday, hosted by Five Minutes for Mom, is Laundry!! Or I should say my Laundry room. The inspiration for this post came from Pickles and Cheese - her laundry Room Redo is so lovely ad it looks completely functional - check her out! Okay - here goes -My PC and I were in Costco just before Christmas, doing some shopping; we go down every aisle, just to be sure not to miss anything, and it's a good thing or we would have missed this:Pretty, huh? Well, I thought so because I thought this is the answer to all my laundry troubles! Troubles, you ask? Yes, troubles. My laundry room and master closet are on opposite ends of the house and I thought this would keep me organized and in clean laundry. The helps my back but that's about all. I have posted photos of my cute little laundry room before, you know the photo post that we all do, right after we have cleaned (or thrown everything into a corner you can't see on the blog) and everything looks perfect. Like this: But today here is the everyday reality: Those are clean clothes that I just keep taking out of the dryer and putting them in my pretty little cart and the hamper is Bubba's I have no idea if the clothes are clean or not and the other hamper is baby girls but I sort of kidnapped it when I put in dish towels. So what's the problem here? I have no interim space...a space where clean clothes can live and dirty dishtowels can hide. I really need to think about this and would love any suggestions. The problem with not having the cart in there is that three different people do laundry all week long and just take out the other persons laundry and throw it on the counter...not very pretty. I want to pretty it up and make it functional. Help Blogland - what would you do?

Okay- gotta go fold some of this before I go to work- Tata for now and thank you in advance for any help you may offer!

Summertime Day 3

Oh! I'm so excited! My Momma sent me a thunderstorm all the way from Ohio! It is the perfect day to putter around the house and organize my closet! I chose this project for my Tackle it Tuesday and Works for Me Wednesday because I was procrastinating and letting it get worse by the day AND I already knew that Color-coding my closet shaves at least 10-15 minutes off of my morning routine. Added bonus: I used Tracy Porter's idea for creating a Jewelery Nook - because my Jewelry is always a mess in my drawer. Not anymore! Isn't it Darling! What a beautiful day and it's only 9:00!

Here are a few Before shots:

See, everything is just thrown on a hanger and hung on the rod - no rhyme or reason, looking through this just frustrates me!

My shoes are the worst - I have shelves - but for some reason, they end up here.

This little chest is at the end of the closet, serves it's purpose with the drawers, but I am about to spice it up (it's a little boring).

Now the After shots (I Love this part)Color Coded - ROY G BIV then Black, Gray, white, Cream, Brown

Shoes back in their place on the shelves , window seat to sit and get dressed. Lovely!

My brand new Jewelry nook! Pay no attention to the men's clothes to the side - he has to have somewhere to put his clothes.

I don't have a lot- so this is too perfect. The Picture, the relish plate and boxes were bought at yard sales, the scarf in Paris, the Cake plate was a birthday gift from a friend. I think it needs a mirror of some sort.

Oh, this so something my Momma would do!

I hope ya'all enjoyed the post - have a great day!

Empty Nest Syndome?

I think I have definitely hit the wall. Yesterday I spent the day ecstatic about the fact that I had cleaned, organized and completely labeled our 2 refrigerator/freezer combos & our pantry. While my husband and daughter were working and my son, while up for a visit, had made himself scarce, I was giggling to myself while I peeled my carefully crafted labels off the sheet and adhered them to their respective shelves. How much joy can a fairly scarce but well organized, labeled refrigerator bring? Well, let me tell you; my husband has opened the refrigerator 4 to5 times in the last 24 hours and has yet to ask..."Babe, where is ____?" OMG! I do believe Avery could save many marriages with those little 5267 return address labels. Take a look at my pride and joy.

I know - I need to go shopping.


A semi close-up of the "The Sandwich Shoppe" All the fixin's for the sammy's go here except the bread, which is now located in the Deli Drawer.

















The Door


















Beautiful!



















The Freezer



















Thanks for looking!