Under the window seat in the library, we have baskets of toys to occupy guests’ children. These baskets fit perfectly under the seat, are a good size for the toys, and are very sturdy. The kids turn them over and sit on them and the baskets handle it just fine. The hand holds make them easy to cart from room to room. One basket has kitchen toys, one has baby toys, and one has toddler toys. The baskets came from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. We used to have six of these baskets under the window seat with toys for DD#3 when she was younger.

This basket of baby/toddler toys is in the guest room for the convenience of our company with small children. Another basket from Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

Another basket in the guest room armoire holds snacks, paper plates, napkins, etc., in case company needs a bite to eat. The basket came from Wal-Mart.

This basket, which I found at The Container Store, holds DD#3′s shoes under the pew in the front hall. Makes it a lot easier to find her tennies when it’s time to head out the door.

The pantry is kept under control with the use of plastic tubs to hold like things together. The first tub on the bottom (from the back forward) holds chocolate chips, baking chocolates, and candy coating. The next tub holds nuts. And the one in the foreground holds snacks. The shelf above has a tub for beans and pasta, and a tub for napkins and plastic utensils for parties.

I love these lined baskets for the coat closet. From the left, the first one holds light bulbs, the next holds electrical things like extension cords, electric outlet adapters, etc. The top and bottom shelves at the back hold cleaning supplies. The ones on the top are seldom used things, like refill bottles, extra swiffer supplies, etc. I think I found these baskets (sold in sets of three nesting sizes) at Joann’s (a fabric store).

One of my favorites is this basket which is just the right size to sit between the front seats in our car. It holds snacks for travel, an extra bottle of water, my planner, usually the camera, a tube of hand lotion, and anything else that happens to need contained in the front seat. The handles make it very easy to carry into the house when it needs to be cleaned out and/or refilled. This basket came as a Christmas gift full of delicious fruit.

And then there’s the attic…where I have more than 100 storage tubs of Christmas decorations. We won’t go there today, but you can get a taste of it here.

Contain it, define the boundaries. ~~Rhonda

Here is the cabinet after. Mug free and lots of new space. I am not sure what will go up there. Maybe a couple of casserole dishes I have in the pantry.

The cabinet to the right had quite a few things in it that I never or rarely use. A cheese grater, a veggie chopper (do use that at Christmas time for nuts), a couple of boxes of coffee filters (moved one to the pantry), bread pans (to the pantry), old postage scale (charity), a measuring cup for skimming fat (charity).

I moved the bowls I don’t use as often to the top. The serving bowls I use all the time and they stayed on the bottom. I love having these at the stove. Makes it so easy to dish food for the table, right off the stove or out of the oven. Most of my measuring cups are in the dishwasher. They will go on the middle shelf. The red object on the bottom shelf is my Thermapen. It’s an instant read digital thermometer, a Christmas gift from DH. Love it! The papers on the door are recipes we use often: Homemade rolls, Cranberry Bread, Pancakes, and Pie Crust.

The next drawer (to the right of the stove) didn’t have much in it and I didn’t take a before picture. The large whisk is in this drawer because it doesn’t fit in the kitchen tool drawer.

Spices. This drawer smells good! I do have other spices…oregano, basil, parsley, dried onion, etc., that I buy in larger quantities and those are contained in a box in the corner cabinet.

I got rid of some. And found I have some duplicates. The drawer is less crowded now. This drawer is the second one to the right of the stove. I love having my spices in a drawer. So easy to see, so easy to grab. The drawer is between the stove and the corner of the counter, right below where I put together recipes, assemble dishes, etc. Very convenient.

The lower cabinet to the left of the stove holds garbage bags for the most part. I wasn’t even sure what was in the back of this cabinet.

I removed old floral foam, an ice shaver, two bowls I didn’t recognize, a dozen tiny flower pots, and three cooling racks I never use. The top shelf now holds a plastic bin for my bouquet supplies which I use every week from March through November, and it holds DH’s fudge pan. Fudge is the only thing this pan is used for, so we store it here rather than in the pots and pans cupboard. When I begin making bouquets again, I will store floral foam behind the garbage bags.

The drawer over the garbage bag cabinet was a sort of catch-all. Labels for school, coupons for the store, two long wooden spoons, a ladle, miscellaneous junk, etc. And it had a few recipes in it.

Whoa! Where’d it all go?? The labels are going to school tomorrow, the spoons and ladle are going to church, and the recipes went to the recipe binder. The red kitchen took belonged to my MIL and DH uses it when he makes fudge. I don’t know what will go in the drawer now. Maybe I’ll move a few things over from the kitchen tool drawer when I get to it.

The pots and pans cupboard had a few unneeded items in it. I got rid of the juicer, the teapot, and the old green Dutch oven. Now we have more space for the pots and pans. The toaster was moved to the shelf as we do not use it unless we have company at breakfast.

After I put everything away and had lunch, I took Christmas down in the bedrooms of our two older daughters. DD#1 will be home for a wedding in a few weeks and DD#2′s room will be occupied by guests coming for the same wedding. Once DH gets all those Christmas boxes carried on up to the attic, the rooms will be ready for occupancy. While I was upstairs, I cleaned out under the sink in the hall bathroom. I wanted to tell someone “it’s not MY fault!” when I looked under there. Quite a mess.

But now it’s neat and tidy. Everything else was put away elsewhere.

Back downstairs, I tackled the knife drawer. Not tooooo bad before…

But definitely nicer after. I got rid of a few old knives and did some rearranging.

The kitchen tool drawer was the worst thing I decluttered today. Too much stuff in too small a space.

But look at the after!

I moved the chip clips to the drawer to the right of the stove.

And all serving utensils went to the drawer to the left of the stove. I *knew* I’d find something to put there. I plan to find some boxes or dividers to organize these items, but I think they are going to work well here.

We spent about an hour and a half in the basement this evening while severe storms rumbled through. Now it’s about time to get DD ready for bed and I am going to spend some time reading. I’ve had a productive day…now for some down time. ~~Rhonda