Let’s be organized, shall we?

Growing up I always thought “I’ll never be like my mother.” Not that there is anything wrong with my mother, I love her dearly and am grateful for all she does for me. However, growing up there was one thing in particular that I absolutely hated – her insane cleanliness.

But it was more than just cleanliness, it was an overwhelming need for things to be clean. When she was mad – she would clean. And a reason for her being mad may have been because something was not clean in the first place. (My brother and I could make a real mess sometimes) It was a vicious cycle – lol. Growing up, however, I  was made to do it all as well- I cleaned and scrubbed bathrooms, vacuumed the living room in such a way that the vacuum head left my mothers distinct pattern in the grain of the carpet (my family members will know this one!) – in a room that we were never allowed to step in unless company was over, might I add.

Yes, I had lysol’ed and Vim’ed every inch of our house growing up. I remember spending my Saturdays or Sundays with my mother cleaning out the drawers of the bathroom, organizing our hair products, sorting and arranging the cupboard pantry in the kitchen and re-stocking the linen closet so it was tidy. Heck, we even stood in the dirt and washed the entire outside of our house in TSP one summer before we painted  it (by the end we threw the ‘protective gloves’ to the side and were pretty much bathing in it, hey, we lived)

We laugh about it now, my mother and I, about her insane cleaning ways. I remember having some pretty good fights about not cleaning up. She hated beds that were not made in the morning. She’s still pretty ridiculous at times, my mom. Although I am all for her visiting and cleaning at the same time (Thanks mom). No one can clean / organize quite like my mother. Her love for the smell of a clean house cannot be beat.

However, just like my Zia probably said she would never be like my Nonna (the QUEEN of clean – seriously. She would come over to visit and end up cleaning our outside windows with newspaper and windex. You know that episode of Everybody Loves Raymond when Deborah can’t find a SPECK of dirt at Ray’s moms house? Nonna is THAT kind of clean) – Just like she said she wouldn’t be like my Nonna, and is probably on equal terms now in terms of a clean home, I fear I am well on my way to becoming my mother too. Sorry to my future children – I might get clean-angry.

I love clean. I love organizing, I love wiping things down – although I won’t go as far as laundry/dishes. Still my most hated things (perhaps a childhood nightmare due to the insanity lol), Thankfully Adam is an all star in both categories (Thank you!)

{The Before – A big fat mess. Things teetering on things, half falling out. Chaotic}

Since moving into the house it’s been trial and error as to where everything is going. So far the bedroom is still a work in progress, and the living room is on it’s way now that the couch and coffee table are in. However, the kitchen needed to be done now. Somehow moving into a larger kitchen = our stuff from the old house not even fitting. I may have just a feeeeewwww kitchen gadgets / items.. and they seem to be taking over. Thankfully a little DIY we are working on is going to help majorly in that department.

The #1 problem we were seeing right now was the large pantry. Large in the fact that it is soooo deep. It’s 13″ wide and 22″ deep. This just means that things get shoved right to the very back only never to be seen again. Try digging through two layers of cans to find some soup (turns out we had none – lots of canned tomatoes though). Once something is put at the back you really could not see it. Things were piled on top of things, on top of things. Something had to be done.

So – Last week I ventured out to get some organizational tools.

• Baskets
• Mason Jars
• Spice Jars
• Funnel (necessary to fill the jars)

{A whole basket just for Pasta – I am Italian}

{I was all excited for glass spice jars, but for now they can all stay in their own containers}

{The cracker / rice cakes basket}

{My favourite shelf}

{The bottom shelf is buckling at it’s seams due to my hoarding of canned tomatoes. Whenever they are on sale, anywhere, I buy them. We also may have too many cans of coconut milk}

Yes, I am well on my way to becoming my mother. And I’m ok with that. However I probably won’t vacuum in consecutive patterns.

{Before and Afters make me happy}