Organizing gift wrap

Today I want to share with you how I organize my gift wrap, gift bags, tissue paper, bows and ribbon.  I know there are lots of great organizational systems out there and mine may not be as "pretty" as some of them but I like it and it works really well for me.  Sorry I don't have "before" pictures but I completed this organizational project before I started blogging. 

I can be a bit of a hoarder when it comes to gift wrap.  It's probably the Dutch in me, but I do not like to throw things out if they still have life in them, especially if I know I'll need to spend money on the very same things in the future.   Keeping lots of gift wrap, bags, bows, ribbon, etc. can get overwhelming though, and if it takes me a long time to find what I need, then it's not helpful.  I needed an organized system for all of it. 

Storage Shelves Makeover

We inherited some metal shelves in our basement when we bought this house.  The previous owners used them for canning so each of the shelves is somewhat short.  We've changed what types of items we've stored on them over the years, but their height (or lack thereof!) has always been a bit of an issue.  I like shelves that are big enough to put big bins on so I can keep lots of things organized and accessible but these are too small for those.

Currently the shelves are in the furnace room and things just kind of get crammed in there.  See??

Garage Clean Out Part 2

In Garage Clean Out Part 1 I told you I joined the Great Garage Clean-Out Challenge and showed you how I followed the first 3 steps of Laura from OrgJunkie's PROCESS.  Today I'll show you the last 4 steps and reveal what the garage looks like now.  Here's a before and after shot of the whole garage:

Garage Clean Out Part 1

For the last few weeks I've been "watching" other people clean out and organize their garages through the pictures they've shared on their blogs.  It inspired me to tackle our garage so I'm joining the Great Garage Clean Out Challenge (a few weeks late but better late than never right?!).  This challenge was designed to be completed over the course of 4 weeks (and 4 blogs) but I'm catching up so I'll do this in 2 blogs.

First of all, let me say that our garage was LONG overdue for a major clean out.  The amount of stuff that gets dumped there or accumulates there makes this an overwhelming area so we keep putting it off.  But no more!  Last weekend my husband and I took on the challenge.  Here's a "before" picture of the whole garage:

Organizing Our Backyard Deck Box

We've had this deckbox in our backyard for about 5 or 6 years and in that time it has accumulated many things.  I knew it wasn't being used to it's fullest potential because we had too much stuff in it and we only ever use the items near the top (unless we're looking for something in particular but then we had to dig around to find it which often meant taking a bunch of other things out first).  Here's a look at it before:

Crazy eh?!  This is the only place where we can really store things in the backyard so everything gets dumped in there.  It was getting overwhelming so the other day I took to organizing it! 

The Launch of my Blog!

I'm excited to officially start an organizing blog.  I've been reading lots of other blogs with organizing tips and ideas and I keep thinking, "I could do that!".  I've always been an organized person and I love finding organized solutions to big and small problems.  Lately I've been giving our house a total overhaul and this blog will partly be a way for my friends and family to see what I've been up to.  I also have been inspired by so many other organizational bloggers and I hope the things I do can inspire others too.  I look forward to sharing this journey with you.  Stay tuned for posts on the projects I've been working on!