I have steadily been working to make things better around our home. I keep it neat, clean and tidy. I've been decluttering on a regular basis and I'm still always amazed at what I find to get rid of. As I've worked in my home I've managed to pull quite a few more items out of drawers, cabinets and closets and added them to the bag we have in our garage to collect donation items in. I've added quite a bit to our recycle bin as well.
I have decorated for fall and this year I decided to use fewer items and have a grocery bag of items in the storage bin that I'm probably going to donate this year. I'm ready to let them go and make room for something new or maybe nothing at all. At the same time I gathered up all of my spent candles and melted the leftover wax in the bottoms of the glass jars. I had enough wax to make a "new" candle using a wood wick and a glass candle holder I already had. The empty glass candle jars went into our glass recycle bin and then were hauled to the local collection pin at our neighborhood grocery store.
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| This area has always been a challenge to work with and keep tidy |
Our garage is still very much a work in progress. Not too long ago I added more storage shelves to our garage but I'm still working at decluttering and organizing what we keep there. Last year I got our décor culled down and finally into labeled bins. This year I wanted to work on the tools and DIY items I have on our metal shelving next to our chest freezer. I went through everything and was able to corral all of my power tools along with their blades and manuals into a new bin I picked up at Wal-Mart. I got rid of items I no longer need or use and re-organized what was left. Each shelf has a purpose - the top shelf is for automotive, the next shelf if for my tool box, fasteners and my compound miter saw. The next shelf houses my new power tool bin and some DIY items. The bottom shelf is for lawn and garden supplies. I am very pleased with how I have things now and with how much I was able to part with.
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| So far this is working much better for me Getting rid of things I no longer need, use or want has helped a lot! |
Other than the one bin I purchased everything else I used to organize this set of garage shelves were items I already had. I love that the bins I've downsized and decluttered are now available for other organizing projects.
Something small that makes a huge difference was to order replacement lids for some of my Pyrex storage bowls. They get cracked over time and it is so nice to get new ones. I'm able to keep my favorite storage container fully functioning and they look nice too.
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| 💖 Love!!! 💖 |
I mentioned before that I gave my laundry room a mini makeover by swapping the washer and dryer as well as re-running the vent, lines and drain. It has made a huge difference in how this room looks and feels now simply because the appliances fit better in that room. I never realized just how having them sticking out a few inches further than they should've would impact the function of that room. Now that the appliances sit back it makes the room feel more spacious and everything looks so much neater. I absolutely love it. Now my laundry room is definitely not Pinterest worthy by any means, but I do like it to look nice and I've place the items we have and use in there in such a way to make it not only useful but also decorative. It has been really nice and I enjoy doing our laundry even more now.
And another small fun project I did was to upcycle another glass peanut butter jar as well as one of my Snapple bottles. It was super quick and involved some copper spray paint I had in the garage. I gave the lid to the jar and the bottle a few coats of the paint and allowed them to dry overnight. Now I have a new canister for my flavored coffee as well as a bottle for olive oil I keep in my spice cupboard. Just that little extra touch makes such a difference in how they look and feel to me. No extra cost for me to repurpose a couple items that most people would toss in the recycle bin or trash and I fulfilled a need I had for a couple containers. I added some new coffee scoops to my Amazon order and I just love my new coffee canister.
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| From peanut butter jar to coffee cannister |
It always amazes me how making simple little improvements can add so much to our lives and rejuvenate us in ways you just don't think they will. But, any time you can improve something, your life will always be better as a result from it. 😊