Spring Cleaning {part one}

I am in full swing of spring cleaning mode in my apartment. However, I will save you all the pain of seeing every single cleaning task that I do and pick just a few that have a nice before and after result. Today's focus happened to be the kitchen.
This is the cabinet above our sink. Storing coffee cups, shaker bottles, and water bottles seems like a waste of cupboard space, but we needed to keep them easily accessible.

Here's what it looked like when I started. A mega disaster. Lids everywhere. Some cups had their lid set on top nicely, and some had a lid nowhere in sight.

So I took everything out and gave it a quick wipe down with an antibacterial wipe and tossed all the lids into an extra basket that I had floating around. I debated on setting the lids on the coffee cups, but went with the basket since in all actuality, this will work better for the long run.

Everything gets put back in nice, neat rows. Another benefit of this way, is coffee cups can be stacked. I just didn't have to stack them at this point since a few cups were in the dishwasher.

Next I have the fridge a good cleaning. Obviously this has to happen more than just during spring cleaning time. I take everything out and wipe down the entire fridge with my favorite Method Kitchen Anti-bac spray. (including the wire racks) This is also a good time to check expiration dates on condiments and anything else lurking in the back of the fridge. I switched to the basket system a while ago, and I am still loving it. Super handy for packing my lunches in my morning rush.

ignore that foot. the door refused to stay open long enough for me to snap a photo.

And for my most favorite part. The nasty dip pans on my stove. They were DISGUSTING!! And since I have never had an electric stove before I had to double check with the next door neighbor/manager if I could just yank those coils out. I didn't want to be the girl that breaks the stove trying to clean it.

Take a peek at these nasty things!

Opened up the stove top so that could get a good cleaning too. Though it wasn't near as bad as the drip pans. And to think my food was close to these things! ICK.

Oh hey, don't forget to clean between the stove and countertop. That crack gets pretty packed full of nastyness too!

My neighbor was kind enough to send some cleaning essentials back with me. She assured me this was the best way to get these babies clean. Soft scrub and a trusty green scratchy pad.

You just give everything a wipe down with a wet cloth first. Then the scratchy pad with the soft scrub on it. Then let it sit for a minute and come back and wipe it clean. If only it was that easy for the drip pans too. Those took some serious scrubbing.

And wipe it off again, and it looks much better!

I did the same thing to the top of the stove. There was just a little ring where the edges of the drip pan sits that you can't get to with just a normal wipe down. Sorry I forgot a before picture.

I couldn't get my drip pans to look brand new again but they sure look a lot better than where I started.

I feel much better about cooking on this next time. I also cleaned the underside of the vent above the stove. That tends to get a little grease build up too. So it's good to give that a quick wipe down every time you clean your stove.

And a little before and after just for the impact.

So much better!

Here's the progress I've made on my spring cleaning checklist in the kitchen.

yep, that's a half X on clean out refrigerator and freezer. I have only done the fridge and not the freezer yet. Thinking about ordering containers from the container store to corral everything in our teeny freezer???? I think I'm making pretty good progress. I don't usually get more than an hour at a time to work on it my cleaning endeavors. So I just try to get as much done as I can.

How's your spring cleaning list coming along? Don't have a checklist? Go back and grab yours {here}

Challenge: Bathroom drawers, part dos

We are back in my bathroom. Welcome. Glad you stopped by! I'm sure you are happy to be here! Today we are finishing the vanity drawers. I know you were hanging on to the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens with two drawers in my vanity. So, here goes!

PS. You know Jen from I heart organizing challenged us to organize our linens and the loo, right? Have we mentioned that? And you know how much we love Jen. So if she challenges us, who are we to deny her?

I forgot to take a before picture. I was in such a rush to get organizing. Plus, I only had about 20 minutes. So, here it is after I sorted everything out.

That is a lot of stuff for such a little drawer. And there's more, that didn't fit in the picture. Holy spicy guacamole.

Here is the drawer after I put the be-u-tiful drawer liner in it:

Who doesn't want to see fantastic zebra lined drawers when they are getting all beautified in the morning? I know this girl is excited!



This drawer has my make-up box, my acne medication, my moisturizer, and other misc. things like my contacts, cotton balls, nail polish remover, stuff like that. I am so excited to open this drawer in the morning and get beautiful.

This is what my hair drawer looked like before. It was just a hodge podge of hair stuff and other stuff. Not so fantastic.

I will spare you the disgusting intermediate steps of cleaning out the drawer, sorting the stuff and throwing away a pile of stuff that is dried out or I no longer use.

Here is the beautiful after picture!

This is mostly my stuff, but I do have Faith's brush and some of her clear elastics in here too. I LOVE my Paul Mitchell straightener that my loving husband got me for Christmas a few years ago. I just recently grew enough hair to be able to use it again and I am so excited.

I don't have my hair gel in here, or my giant bottle of Kenra hairspray. I have a cupboard next to the drawer that has that kind of stuff. That guy is next in line. There will be a ton to purge over there.

Here is a great after of both drawers. I feel so much better!

Are you working on linens and the loo? Let us know what you are doing!

Challenge: Bathroom Drawer 2.0

No, you're not losing your mind, and neither are we. (well, that might be debatable actually) What I mean is, we aren't doing the same post twice. Last week Niki posted about cleaning up her bathroom drawers and this week I'm tackling mine.

Since our blogger bff, Jen at I heart organizing, is having linens and the loo month, we are totally game for joining in. She even has a cute name for a challenge about bathrooms. Seriously. If we were to name it, it would just be "bathroom challenge" or "towels and toilets" neither of which sounds like much fun.

I have the only, yep that's right just one, big drawer in the bathroom. There's one little midget drawer above it. However, until now, my drawer has been well in a state of disarray to put it nicely. But what I really mean is that crap was just dumped in there when we moved in and never organized or dealt with in any manner.
Really, just look at it, you'll understand.

So in true organizer fashion, I dumped everything out on the floor and gave the empty drawer a good wipe down with an antibacterial wipe.  ( I did just sweep and mop-so its not as bad as you think). I started separating things into categories, just to see where I was at with my supplies.

I may have an over abundance of hair accessories. Although I wouldn't have known that by looking that the drawer before. I had to dig just to find a hair tie. Clearly, I have plenty of them now.

Oh and some completely ridiculous unused storage devices. really?? These are what I was using in my bathroom cabinet before we moved- check that out here.

I put all of my less frequently used items way in the back. I left them in the bag, just to keep them contained. Then I started filling in, working my way towards the front. I popped this shelf in and was happily surprised that it actually fit! Where was that shelf before you ask? Oh in its most logical storage location, next to the entertainment center in the living room. (seriously the things I spaz out and ignore sometimes!)

Headbands got separated into two types and popped into the two larger bowls. They are under the shelf, but I can still easily reach in and grab one. And if for some reason I need a certain headband, the shelf just lifts up a bit without causing all the bowls on top to dump over.

So I popped that shelf in and put these pretty bowls in that I snagged at Hobby Lobby for 40% off. The small white bowl was reused from my former bathroom organization and the extra bowls found homes elsewhere. Since everything on top of the shelf is nicely contained, its no big deal to take them out quick and remove the shelf if I need something from the way back. I would rather have a smaller shelf that doesn't take up the whole width of the drawer, but that will have to wait. (there is currently one residing in my freezer that I would like to steal after my freezer reorganization)

the top shelf

watches, bracelets, and lip gloss that didn't fit in the small bowl

bobby pins and hair clips

hair ties and lip care

earrings

the front of the drawer

under the shelf

A few watches and bracelets are now easily accessible so that I might actually wear them more often. They were formerly in these baggies, yep still from the move 6 months ago. The necklaces made their way over to the closet to join the other necklaces that I already had hanging. (this is also the home of my "linens" with the exception of my sheets, which live on the shelving above the washer and dryer. As that is clearly the most logical place for storing them. My bathroom closet got its own makeover not too long ago, and I am happy to report that it is still looking just as good. Read about my closet clean up  here. 

What about the blowdryer and flat iron?? They have found the most wonderous home--on the back of the cabinet! Hello wonderful un-utilized space! I just popped two 3M Command hooks up and bam! instant storage. That made a huge impact on the space I had to use in the drawer. No idea how I couldn't think of this on my own---you know I found the idea on pinterest.

I am over the moon in love with my new functional bathroom drawer. I love that I can easily pick out pretty jewelry for the day and grab a headband for the gym without having to dig through anything.