52 Weeks of Printables: Week 31 - School Supply Shopping List

Oh hi, August! (Where did the summer go?) This month's printable theme is focused on all things Back to School. We'll start off with a school supply shopping list. Keep track of the items you need and if you possibly already have those items at your home, so that when you go school supply shopping, you aren't buying things you already have! Click the image below to grab yours:

52 Weeks of Printables: Week 30 - Media Inventory

Today is the last Friday of the month and we've got a great printable to keep track of all of your media! DVD's, CD's, VHS, vinyl records, cassette tapes...anything! You can fill in the type in the "Media" column. Click the image below to grab yours:

52 Weeks of Printables: Week 29 - Home Inventory

Nobody ever wants to be a victim of theft or natural disaster, but unfortunately, those things happen. Be prepared by keeping a home inventory of your belongings. You can be as specific or broad as you want...from home electronics to your mattress. Click the image below to grab a copy:

52 Weeks of Printables: Week 28 - Feezer Inventory

Last week, we took inventory of our pantry and this week, we're taking inventory of our freezer. We have a freezer that is attached to our refrigerator and we also have a chest freezer in our garage. I especially love having inventory of our chest freezer, as I don't look in it as often to remember what we have. Click the image below to grab a copy:

52 Weeks of Printables: Week 27 - Pantry Inventory

The printable theme for July is all about taking inventory. We'll start off with a Pantry Inventory printable. I use this sheet to know what is buried in the depths of my pantry. It is extremely helpful when meal planning and writing my grocery shopping list. I make sure to update it when I come home from the store as I am putting things away. Click the image below to grab yours:

Laundry Closet Organization

I love having our laundry closet upstairs by the bedrooms. I do not however, love that it is a closet. There is a serious lack of storage space with the one wire shelf we have in there. I wanted to keep all of my extra cleaning supplies in one place, but there just wasn't enough room. Here is what I started with:

Lovely, isn't it? I really wanted to install two cabinets with open shelving in between, but my handyman hubby said there wouldn't be enough room with where the light fixture is located. :(

So then I thought about installing another wire shelf above the existing one. But again, there wouldn't be enough room with the brackets (we would want to get a shelf that matched the one we already had). Plus, I already have had to climb onto the washer to reach the items located at the back of the shelf, so it just wasn't realistic. Back to the drawing board...

I finally decided to utilize the space under the shelf since it was just kind of wasted area (and I'd be able to reach it!). We hit up the dollar store and bought four baskets with handles. I chose blue to add a pop of color amongst all the white going on in there. We also bought some S hooks from the hardware store to hang the baskets from the wire shelf.

When we got home, I started by taking everything out of the closet. Then I wiped down everything...walls, floor, doors, washer and dryer, the wire shelf itself. There was spilled laundry detergent on the walls and wire shelf from the previous owners, plus a ton of lint everywhere!

I started to put everything back in the closet by grouping like things together. I put the extras toward the back of the shelf so as to hopefully eliminate the need to climb on top of the washer to reach them.

I think it still looks a little bit cluttered, but I had a lot to fit on that little shelf. I would have containerized more, but a lot of the items were large and somewhat bulky and I don't think I would have been able to get them out of the containers easily. Here are some close ups of the baskets:

Left: Laundry Supplies (dryer sheets, bleach pens, sample dryer sheets, sample laundry detergent, etc)
Right: Laundry Detergent Making Supplies (grater, baking soda, extra laundry bars, measuring cups, etc)

Left: Cleaning Supplies (microfiber cloths, extra cleaning gloves, etc)
Right: Miscellaneous light bulbs

Let's get one more before and after side-by-side:

Project Cost: $7.54

Linked up at Pretty Well Organized

52 Weeks of Printables: Week 25 - Library Book Log

One of our favorite summertime activities to participate in is the Summer Reading Program at our local library. Unfortunately, it also means there are a lot of library books scattered throughout our home, and they are all checked out on various library cards. One way to keep track of all the madness is to have a Library Book Log. This way, we can make sure we get all the books returned on time and avoid fines! Click the image below to grab a copy:

52 Weeks of Printables: Week 24 - Packing List

What summer would be complete without a few vacations? And how many times have you or a family member forgotten to bring something with you? Don't let it happen again by using this packing list! Click the image below to grab yours:

52 Weeks of Printables: Week 23 - Summer Bucket List

School's out for summer! The printables theme for June is Vacation & Travel. We'll start off by creating a summer bucket list. Here are a few items on our family's summer bucket list (you can tell we have little ones):

- Go to a zoo                                  - Play in the sprinkler              - Make a blanket fort
- Go to a museum                         - Play with bubbles                  - Make something with Play-doh
- Go to a story time                       - Have a picnic                        - Paint
- Go to an outdoor pool                 - Eat a popsicle                        - Draw with sidewalk chalk


Click the image below to grab your copy and start filling it in!

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 31 - Floors

We made it! The final day! Today we finish by cleaning the floors. Mine were in need of a good cleaning. I usually just vacuum the floors and wipe up spills as they happen, but I miss probably more than half of the spills. Plus, our little one has been throwing more food on the floor lately, so yeah, it was time.

We have dark laminate floors. I like the way the dark wood looks, but it shows crumbs very easily. I started by vacuuming up the crumbs. I recommend vacuuming in the direction of the planks, so to get all the crumbs that happen to fall between the cracks. I then followed up with a wet microfiber cloth. I just used warm/hot water, but you could also use vinegar diluted with water. You'll want to make sure not to let the water just sit on the floor, so I wiped it dry with another microfiber cloth.

Thank you for joining me in Taking Back Our Kitchens in 31 Days. Enjoy your newly cleaned and organized kitchen!

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 30 - Baseboards

Today, we are focusing on our baseboards and trim. The baseboards in our kitchen get covered with food splatters and dust mostly. I actually use Scrubbing Bubbles shower foam to clean my baseboards and wipe with a wet microfiber cloth followed by a dry microfiber cloth. As always, a Magic Eraser can come in handy for those tougher spots. What I discovered while doing this task was how badly our baseboards need to be painted! The pictures don't do the difference from cleaning justice:

Tomorrow is our final day in the Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days series and we'll finish by cleaning the floors.

52 Weeks of Printables: Week 22 - Repairman Sheet

Here is a sheet to keep track of all those various repairmen we need! Auto mechanics, plumbers, heating and air, and more! Click the image below to grab yours:

 

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 29 - Doors

Just a few more days left...how are we holding up?

Today, we're wiping down the doors. We have two french doors that lead to our patio as well as a pantry door. My process for cleaning doors is similar to wiping down the walls...wipe with a wet microfiber cloth (with plain water) followed by a dry microfiber cloth. For those tough spots (like those blue marks you see below), I get out a Magic Eraser...and voila!

Tomorrow we will scrub down the baseboards!

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 28 - Walls

Today's task took me a little while to complete, but the results were well worth it. There was so much dust, fingerprints and grease on the walls and I was happy to see it go!

All I did was wipe the walls down from top to bottom with a wet microfiber cloth (I just used plain water), and then went over the area with a dry microfiber cloth. Just look at the difference!

Tomorrow, we're going to wipe down the doors!

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 27 - Blinds

Today we're cleaning the window treatments. We have wooden blinds, but you may have plastic blinds or curtains.

I started by dusting them with a Swiffer duster to get the loose dust off. Then I gave each slat a good look over for any spots that needed to be wiped. We have french doors right by our kitchen table so they often see splatters like the one below:

But it's nothing a Magic Eraser can't wipe off!

Tomorrow, we'll wipe down the walls.

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 26 - Windows

this week, we're focusing on cleaning the kitchen room itself and we're starting off today with the windows. I have two small windows over our sink and two large windows that are part of our french doors off the patio. The windows on the doors get a lot of fingerprints on them, and they needed to be cleaned. I just use water and a microfiber cloth to clean our windows. I usually use paper towels when cleaning the outer windows because they are much dirtier. Now is also a good time to vacuum out/wipe down the window tracks, too.

I started on the inside and then moved to the outside. (and I decided that it is difficult to photograph glass!)

Tomorrow, we'll clean the window treatments.

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 25 - Catch Up

We are in the home stretch of Taking Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days! Here's a recap of what we've done so far:

Introduction
Day 1 - Declutter
Day 2 - Oven Exterior
Day 3 - Oven Interior
Day 4 - Catch Up
Day 5 - Dishwasher
Day 6 - Microwave
Day 7 - Small Appliances
Day 8 - Ice Dispenser
Day 9 - Fridge Exterior
Day 10 - Fridge Interior
Day 11 - Catch Up
Day 12 - Upper Cabinet Interiors
Day 13 - Drawers
Day 14 - Lower Cabinet Interiors
Day 15 - Under the Sink
Day 16 - Upper Cabinet Exteriors
Day 17 - Lower Cabinet Exteriors
Day 18 - Catch Up
Day 19 - Lights
Day 20 - Light Switches
Day 21 - Sink
Day 22 - Garbage Disposal
Day 23 - Trashcan
Day 24 - Pantry
Enjoy the day off if you have done everything so far! This week, we are focusing on the finishing touches...the room itself. Walls, doors, floors, and more!

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 24 - Pantry

Ah, the pantry. Ours goes through quite the daily beating with all the hands involved. I of course have a system and have foods grouped together, but my husband doesn't understand the system, and my daughter just likes to take things out of the pantry and scatter them all over the house. :) Honestly, it wasn't in that bad of shape today, but I feel better just knowing what is in the pantry right now. Here's what I started with:

I just went shelf by shelf. I took everything off the shelf and assessed what I had in front of me. We do a bit of our grocery shopping at Costco, so we have a lot of bigger packages of food. I tried to take things out of boxes, and put things in other containers like OXO Pop Containers. I also refilled my baking canisters that are on our counter. I was able to get a whole bag of brown sugar out of the pantry!

I also took the opportunity to update my pantry inventory. I don't put everything on it, just things that I often forget we have that I can use for dinners.

Here is how my pantry is organized now:

Tomorrow is our last catch up day before our final week!

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 23 - Trashcan

Today we're wiping down the trash can. I was lucky in that the trash actually needed to be emptied yesterday, so I was able to get a chance to wipe it down today. Mostly it was just dusty, but there were some spots on it too. I just wipe it down with an all-purpose cleaner. I like to use one that smells like lemon because it helps keep the inside of the trash can smelling better than the trash!

Tomorrow, we're tackling a big one...the pantry!

52 Weeks of Printables: Week 21 - Pet Care Sheet

A few weeks ago, we had a babysitter information sheet for our kids. This week, we have an information sheet for our furry kids! Click the image below to grab yours:

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 22 - Garbage Disposal

No pictures today, as cleaning the garbage disposal is kind of an inside job.

1. Put a handful of ice down into the garbage disposal and turn it on. This helps to get the food that is stuck on any of the blades.

2. Give the rubber part (the visible part of the disposal) a good scrubbing.

3. Run the disposal with some citrus peels (like lemons or oranges). Enjoy the smell!

And that's it!

Tomorrow, we'll wipe down the stinky trash can.

Take Back Your Kitchen in 31 Days: Day 21 - Sink

Our sink was getting pretty gross, so I was kind of excited to tackle this one today. This is typical of how our sink looks after breakfast each day:

So first, I did the dishes.

Then, I cleared everything off of the sink.

We have a stainless steel sink and I use Comet Stainless Steel powder cleaner. We are in the process of switching over to natural cleaners, so I have been trying to use this stuff up. Per the instructions, it says to sprinkle the powder on the surface

then take a wet cloth or sponge and create a paste and let sit for 5 minutes

After 5 minutes, scrub and wipe with a wet cloth, then dry/buff with a dry cloth.

And put everything back (I threw away the nasty sponges. We don't even use them anyway!)

I also cleaned the back splash at this time. So much better!

Tomorrow, we'll clean up the garbage disposal.