Day #10 Organization Challenge - Sheets Day

Hello Organizing Buddies! Did any of you complete yesterday's challenge? If you did, send a photo of your organized towels and I'll post it on the blog. I'd love to see it and I'm sure others would too!

Above is a photo of my empty linen closet. I think it's more like linen cabinets, huh? It's located at one of the hallways upstairs. It's nice because it's very accessible. We have another linen shelving in my closet but that's a whole other situation. . .it'll be our challenge tomorrow so I won't discuss it right now. As you can see, my linen closet is empty. I wanted to show you that I actually do the challenges.

Well, let's get down to business. Today's challenge is multi -step again; similar to the towels.

1. Remove all the contents from your linen closet if you haven't done so yet (this was part of yesterday"s challenge)

2. Gather all of your sheets including the fitted sheets, fold your sheets following the video tutorial.

3. Return the sheets back into the linen closet. Organize them by color and size.

Got it? Simple, huh? Well, let's get going! Before you know it, your linen closet will look spectacular!!!

Yesterday I worked on yesterday's challenge. I got rid of some of my ratty looking towels and donated them to our dogs. LOL! Yes, our dogs. Whenever we bath our dogs, I don't like to use the newer towels because ugggh, I just don't like the idea of sharing towels with our dogs.

Here are the doggy towels. I store them under the dryer. I don't want them mixed up with our towels. If you have any old towels, rather than throwing them away, there are several things you can do with them:

1. Donate them to your dogs.

2. Donate them to the Goodwill or Salvation Army.

3. Cut them into hand towel size and you can use them to wipe your counters or dishes.

4. Cut them in half and use them to wipe your car.

5. Sell them at a garage sale.

I'm sure there are other ways to recycle them, can you think of any other ideas? Share them with us.

Well, I hope you'll play along . . .comment this post if you are planning to do this challenge. I'd love to hear from you!!!

I'll see you all tomorrow! Happy organizing, folks!!

Day #9 Organization Challenge - Project Linen Closet

Hi Organizing Buddies! Yesterday the challenge was to wash and dry your towels. Did you have a chance to do it? Well if you did, today we will start the first day of organizing our linen closet. I'm going to cut to the chase today because I still need to work on this challenge myself. LOL! I started off late today so I can't show you my completed task. I'll upload a photo when I'm done.

Today's challenge will be a multi-step challenge. Organizing your linen closet may take a few days so we'll start off with the towels and work our way through the other linens.

Here is today's challenge:

1. Remove every towel and linen from your closet. (Yes, you read it right. . .we want to start off fresh)

2. Pick out all the towels from your linen.

3. Fold all your towel as shown in the video tutorial, including the towels that you washed yesterday.

4. When you've completed folding the towels, organize your towels by color, type, and size.

5. Place your towels on the shelves of your linen closet based on the color, type, and size.

Can you manage that? I have a LOT of towels so it may take me a while but I'll try to get it done today.

Tomorrow we'll work on the next step on organizing our linen closet. I'll cut the chit-chat short today. . .I need to get on the ball so I'll see ya' all tomorrow! Hope you'll play along. Comment this post if you want to join in the challenge!! Happy organizing!!!

Day #8 Organization Challenge - Darn, That's A Lot of Towels!

No kidding! That is a lot of towels. Blame it on the department store Marshalls. LOL! Really! When they were closing down, their towels were 50 to 75% off so I went nuts and bought a whole bunch of them. The problem is . . .knowing we have a lot of towels, I don't wash all of them on a regular basis. I'll wait until there's two basket full of towels before I wash them.

Well, I decided to gather all of our towels and wash all of them! Look at that pile! LOL! No, I'm not going to keep it that way. After the towels were dried, I folded them immediately but come back tomorrow and we'll re-haul our linen closet. We'll even fold them nicely.

The organization challenge today is to simply wash the towels and dry them. If you want to quickly fold them just to get them out of the dryer, you may do so. Tomorrow, we'll fold them nicely and we'll work on making our linen closet pretty, okay!

Hope you'll participate in today's challenge. Comment this post if you plan on playing along. Come on. . .let's get the towels out of the way! Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!

Day #7 Organization Challenge - How Many Lotions and Potions Do You Need?

Look at that? What a mess! Actually, I don't think it's too bad. What do you think? Nothing too crazy! What are they? Well, they're stuff I've stored below my bathroom sink. I don't think I've opened this cabinet for over 6 months. LOL! I didn't realize the condition of my cabinet until I opened it this morning!

This is one of my drawers. Okay, now that I look at it. . .it is a bit messy. Honestly, I'm very low maintenance when it comes to pampering myself but I do have a lot of stuff regardless. Although I don't spend a lot of time pampering myself or putting on make-up, I really should take care of my skin better. . .considering I do have a lot of lotions and potions, some of which were quite pricey. There was a time when I did take the time to exfoliate, mask, moisturize, and all that good stuff but ugggh, it takes so much time and effort that I no longer bother with them.

I decided to tackle my bathroom today and not only organize the drawers and cabinets but clean the whole bathroom including the sinks, toilet, shower, bath tub, the floor, and so on.

This is my side of the sink. My husband has his own sink and I also organized his sink, drawers, and cabinets. I want to share a few sites that I came across that provides tips on cleaning your bathroom.

How to Clean Your Bathroom
Bathroom Cleaning Tips

The first thing I did was dump all the contents of the containers on to the floor and sort through all my things. I made separate piles for hair, facial, and other items then threw away old or unwanted items. I then organized the items by the different categories. Rather than buying new containers, I decided to reuse the old containers I already had.



In this photo, I stored all of my hair accessories and brushes in one container and the hair tools such as curling and flat irons in another container. I also stored all my makeup and nail items in bags.



Here are a few sites with helpful tips on organizing your bathroom:

Bathroom Organization Ideas
Vanity and Cabinet Organization Tips


Today's challenge is to clean out your bathroom cabinets and drawers by throwing away old items and organize the items you're keeping. If you are ambitious, why not clean your sink or your whole bathroom if you have the time!!

Okay! Are you up to the challenge? Come on. . .today is a good day to organize your bathroom. Hope you'll play along!! Happy organizing, Friends!!!!

Day #6 Organization Challenge - I Love Reading Celebrity Magazines

Yeah. . .I do. I have a subscription for People, Us, and Star magazines. I have my daily fix right before I go to bed. LOL! Reading about the antics of celebrities help me fall asleep! We also have a subscription for the Smithsonian, Discovery, Popular Science, Scrapbook Etc., and Bon Apetit. I also buy a lot of craft magazines! Hello! I blame Publishers Clearing House. . .they sent us those discounted subscription offers and well, we couldn't help ourselves. Rather than subscribing to one or two magazines, we went nuts and ordered like 7 of them. We really need some self-control. I'm not the only one with this problem, my husband likes to order science magazines so put the two of us together. . .we have a magazine subscription problem. I think we need an intervention here.

Actually, the problem isn't that we have a lot of magazines but the real problem is that we don't throw away any of them away. We have them all over the house. Well, today I decided to gather all my magazines and sort through them and made two piles: the keep pile and a throw away pile. Unfortunately, the "keep" pile was bigger than the "throw away" pile. LOL!

I went to the store and was going to buy a magazine holder but dang, they're expensive and so small. I would have needed to buy at least 4 of them. Uh-uh! I decided rather than buying them, I was just going to make my own magazine holder. Looking through the Internet, I found this simple tutorial on creating a magazine holder using a cereal box: Click Here

Well, I had only one cereal box and I needed at least 4 of them so instead, I used a cardboard box and created this larger magazine holder. I applied the same concept as the cereal box. The cardboard box was harder to cut but it's do-able. I then covered it with pattern paper (scrapbook paper) and applied "Mod Podge" glue all over which helps to protect the paper.

Okay, are you ready for a new challenge? Of course you are. Today's challenge is to gather ALL of you magazines and sort them in two piles: the keep pile and the throw away pile. Rather than throw away the magazines, why don't you drop them off at your doctor's office. I'm sure they'll want them. If you're ambitious, create a DIY Magazine Holder following the tutorial.

Well, I hope you'll fit some time to play along. Be sure to visit the previous challenges. I'm sure you'll be able to find one that you can work on! Comment this post if you want to play along! Hey, let me know how you're doing with the previous challenges. .. I'd love to hear your story. ***the comment button is at the top of this post****

Hope you have a wonderful Sunday!!

Day #5 - Ogranization Challenge - Junk Mail are Killing our Trees

Dang, so many junk mail!!!! Can you imagine how many trees could be saved if companies would stop sending junk mail! Junk mail is contributing to global warming! Sheesh! We receive at least 10 pieces of junk mail a day. I usually sort through my mail once a week but there was a time when I would just throw all my mail in a box with the intention of shredding them and throwing out the junk mail. Unfortunately, the mail kept piling up and one day, when I had guests over, I decided to gather the boxes from under my desk in the kitchen and throw them in the hallway closet and there they sat for the past 6 months. I know. . .shameful!

You're like. . ."hey, your challenge is posted late"! Yeah, I know but I was busy. . . .organizing and cleaning the house. Later in the afternoon, I decided to work on sorting and shredding our mail and darn, it took me about 3 hours to finish. Gosh, it feels great to rid of the boxes of junk mail that I've been storing in my closet.

Now to today's challenge.. . . the challenge for today (or tomorrow) is to sort through your mail and shred/throw away your junk mail. . . including those that you have under your desk, closet, drawer or where ever else you've been storing them. .:)

This picture shows the bag of junk mail that I threw away today! Isn't it nuts? From this point on, I promise to sort through my mail regularly and throw away the junk mail right away! Just a little tip. . .when shredding your junk mail, rather than shredding the whole content of your junk mail, rip out the section that has your name, address, and other personal information and shred only that section. It actually saves a lot of time.

Okay, Organizing Buddies. . .let's get rid of our junk mail and from now on, don't let them pile up! Comment this post if you're planning to play along!! I would love to hear from you! Tell me your story. . .I love reading them!

Hope you all have a wonderful day organizing your stuff!!!

Day#4 Organization Challenge - Where Are My Socks

Yeah, that is what my daughter and husband are always asking me. . .. "where are my socks?". How the heck would I know??? Actually, I do know. . .it's in that laundry basket! That's where they are and none of them are matched.

You're saying. . ."I thought you were moving on and was going to post a different type of challenge, Maria?" Well, I was going to move on to something else but after my last load of laundry yesterday, I noticed I had a ton of socks that I gathered in the basket and needed to put them away into the drawer. I decided to surf the Internet to find a great organizer to hold all the socks. I did find one but I didn't like the tutorial so guess what! Yup, I created my own tutorial! LOL!

The video below shows how to create this great sock organizer! Whoohoo. Look at all my socks! They are all organized and pretty inside the drawers. Not only that. . .but they're all matched and easily accessible! Boy, I just love it!

What's today's challenge? Well today's organization challenge is to match all your socks and organize them nicely into your sock drawer!

Simple, huh? You can do it while you're organizing your closet. Any of you working on the last 3 challenges? Let me know. . .tell me your progress or. . .non-progress! If you've completed any of the challenges, take a picture and email me with the picture and I'll post it on the blog. My email address is cardinspired@gmail.com!

Hope y'all have a wonderful Friday. . .organizing! LOL! Have a great weekend too. Be sure to stop by tomorrow for a new challenge. To comment this post, the comment link is at the top of this post.

Day #3 Organization Challenge: Help! My Closet is a Mess

Happy Thursday, Organizing Buddies!! Actually, my closet isn't a mess but yours may be. "Show off!" Yeah. . .my closet is actually organized. Shocking! Here is the reason why. . .for the past few years, I've been a sweat pants, jeans and tank top/t-shirt sort of girl so the majority of my nice clothes go untouched. If you don't touch them, they don't get messy! LOL!!! That's the truth. Furthermore, I can't fit half of the clothes in my closet. It's sad. But the good news is, besides becoming a more organized person, I'm also on a fitness/healthy lifestyle journey. . . .I'll tell you more about it later. . .right now, let's concentrate on our disorganized messy house.

Because we've been challenging ourselves to organize our laundry room and clothes, I decided before we move on to something else. . . .why don't you organize your closet. If your closet is a mess, start with one section at a time. Maybe start with gathering all of your long sleeve shirts today and hanging them together, then tomorrow work on the short sleeves and so on.

I do have a large walk-in closet so I'm sort of at an advantage. I have shelves and drawers built in too so it's easy to be organized in my closet. My husband has his own section so we don't clash with one another. He has more clothes than I do, believe it or not!!!

Okay. . .today's organization challenge is to organize your closet by hanging all the long sleeves together, then short sleeves, and so on. This can be a 3 or 4 day process. If you can do it all in one day. . .fabulous but if not, allow yourself a few days to get organized. The point is to get started.

Comment this post (the comment button is at the top of this post) if you'd like to play along. If you want to, you can send me a photo of your organized closet when you're done and I'll post it on the blog. . .:) Show it off when you're done!!!

Hope you have a happy organizing day!!

Day #2 Organization Challenge - Yikes, My Washing Machine is my Underwear Drawer

Happy Wednesday, Friends! Remember yesterday's challenge? Well, the challenge was to clear out your laundry room of clean clothing and to put the clothing away in your closet. Did you have the chance to complete the task?

I have a confession to make. What motivates me to do the laundry is when I'm running out of underwear! Seriously!! When I notice I have only a few left, it'll prompt me to do the laundry. Okay, I can handle reusing my jeans or a t-shirt but there is no way I can reuse my underwear. LOL!!!!

Well, I'll do a few loads of clothes and usually, wash my underwear last. . . .. and it sort of stays in the dryer. Why? Because it's easy to find and when there's only one or two underwear left in the dryer, I know it's time to wash the clothes again! Too funny!!

I know. . .it's weird! I do have some sort of system of organization and unfortunately, this is it.


Do you see the drawer? Well, it's my underwear drawer. It's empty, you say. . . . .ugggh, yeah! It's because my underwear are in the dryer. After completing the challenge yesterday, I decided to create a handmade organizer for my underwear. I probably could buy a few plastic containers at the dollar store but who looks in my drawer anyway? I mean, it don't have to be fancy or anything like that.

Today's organization challenge is to fold your underwear nicely and create some sort of organization so your underwear are easily accessible and organized.

Here are my bras. . .I can't believe I'm posting my underwear for all the world to see! LOL! But, hey . . .you want credibility, right? I organized my bra by color and by type. . .you know, strapless, padded, etc.

Here is a tutorial on how to create a super cheap underwear organizer:

Measure you drawer. . .both depth, length and width. Using card boards (use a cereal box or poster board), measure and cut the card board based on your drawer measurement into 4 pieces (3 for the length and 1 for the width).


If the card boards are too short, tape two pieces together



With 3 of the card boards that measures the length of your drawer, cut a notch at the center of the cardboard about 3/4" of the width of the cardboard. Do not cut the cardboard completely in half.

Using the cardboard that measures the width of your drawer, cut 3 notches in equal distance between each notch. Start with cutting a notch at the center of the cardboard then cut one notch to the left and right of the center notch.

Interlock the card boards by inserting the cardboard through the notches. This will create a total of 8 compartments.


Here is the picture of the completed cardboard organizer . . .simple and cheap! Gotta love it!

Okay, gang. . .are you up for today's challenge? If you have any ideas for a great underwear organizer. . .share it with us by commenting this post! I'll do some research and see what I can find to share with all of you. Hope you all have a wonderful day organizing your underwear drawer!!! ***the comment link is at the top of this post***

Day #1 Organization Challenge - My Laundry Room Has Turned into a Closet

Yes, my laundry room has turned into a closet. LOL! Due to sheer busy-ness or maybe, laziness. . .not sure which one right now. . .rather than putting away the folded and hung clothing, I'll leave them in the laundry basket and and on the clothing rack. Sadly, whenever we need clothes, rather than walking into our closets, we walk into our laundry room. LOL!!

Oh I'm embarrassed to admit this but there are days when I would leave the clothing in the dryer and worse, leave the clothing in the washer.

Has that happened to you? Have you left the wet laundry in the washer and forgot to dry them. I'm guilty of doing this and I have to rewash them because they have that yucky, moldy smell. Am I terrible or what???









Here is one of the laundry basket and it's piled high ready to tip over. It annoys the heck out of my husband to have to look for his shorts in the basket rather than in the drawers.

Today's challenge is to fold and hang all your clothes after they've been washed and put them away in your "bedroom" closet. Clear out your laundry room of clean clothing!

Are you up for the challenge? Comment this post if you want to play along! The comment button is up at the top of each post, not at the bottom.

Welcome to Project Organization

What is this blog about?

I created this blog to help me clean up my house. LOL! I've decided to turn my chores into a hobby. I love blogging so I decided to create a challenge blog. Everyday I will post a challenge which will consist of at least one organizational task. It can be of anything from organizing your closet to the garage.

The goal is to de-clutter and reorganize and to turn a chaotic room into a Zen-sational area. Sometimes de-cluttering and re-organizing can be a spiritual experience. LOL!

Each day I'll post a organization challenge and when I'm done, I'll post an update with a photo with the completed task.

Come join me each day and together, we can work towards finding peace in our chaotic disorganized life.

Maria