Organization Station

Since I've started blogging, I've come across a couple blogs dedicated to organizing, and I must say, I've been thoroughly inspired!  From I Heart Organizing, to Delightful Order, and Elementary Organization, these gals just bring up something inside of me that just wants to organize!  There was a time in my life when I was a neat freak.  My room was always meticulous, no clothes on the floor, the blinds open, it was beautiful.  Then one day, when I was still young, maybe 8 or so, I had someone over who spilt fruit juice on my carpet.  That fruit juice stained my carpet and my life.  Ahahah, we perhaps not so dramatic, but seriously!  After that incident I was never as clean as I was before, I think psychologically speaking, it had something to do with a feeling of lack of control.  Obviously there would have been more in my life than just that stain, I just associate it with being the tip of the iceberg.
Anyway, I've found that I've been better, not perfect mind you, but better.  When my parents went away for a week it seemed almost natural to take over the household chores.  I scrubbed the bathroom, swept the floor, and kept the kitchen clean (remember those fruit flies?).  So I knew I needed something for my room to keep me organized.

First off, I needed to organize my life.  So, I made myself a list of things I should be doing daily, weekly, and monthly.  I'm just now trying to figure out some sort of reward system for myself here.  I don't/can't eat anything at McDonalds so I don't even understand why I can't throw out coupons until they expire, haha!  And that other paper is for a future post!

And again, here's more life organization, work, classes, gym, all that good stuff.

And a weekly one, which I desperately need to edit.  This is from last month!  I made this with two Dry Erase peel and stick daily planners.  I used permanent marker to make lines so I could go by the half hour from 7am to 9pm, as I wanted to plan my days more efficiently than just writing down what's going on that day.  I need to see the open spaces so I can fill them!!  I got them at staples, for around $10 each.  Wall Pops have a ton of cute dry erase peel and stick products, and I believe that this is one of their products, but I had bought it at the beginning of last school year!  I'll update later with what my schedule looks like when it's not summer!

Now for my room,  First off, I have a very time closet and a whole lot of things, so I moved my clothes downstairs into the closet in the guest room, and left my closet for all my "things."  I have a couple hangers so I can easily access sweaters, and the two bottom holes in the left organizer hold my "current" clothes, PJS in one, work clothes in the other.  In the middle organizer I've got my workout clothes and some slippers, and on the left is a couple pj pants, work/pj tops, and yoga pants.  An AWESOME shoe rack on the left floor, and a shelf for my flip flops and my money jars.  That cheetah print on the floor in the right is my snuggie!  Up top is books from my previous school year, a memory box, and a clear plastic container with all my electronics in it.

Beside my bed I've used the rest of the shelf to hold a light and some other stuff.

I've just got to organize this thing now...

I really hate this thing and all these wires!  Any suggestions?

Oh, the things you can do with chalkboard paint!

I think I'm addicted to chalkboard paint.  Just saying the words "chalkboard paint" makes my mind start spinning with ideas of all the things I wish I could turn into chalkboards.  Obviously living with my parents seriously limits what I can paint, but if I could I would paint the inside of cabinets - for inventory, or meal planning. The front of the fridge - for reminders and a calendar.  The little bit of wall beside the front door - for last minute reminders before you head out.  Maybe it's because I have so many thoughts and I tend to forget them, but something about chalkboard paint is just so appealing.

My first dwabble in Chalkboard Paint was courtesy of Oh, Hello Friend, who had a post on making your own chalkboard paint and painting the lids of mason jars.  I use mason jars for everything.  I premake meals in them, I used them in my adventure to find a way to balance my budget (a la Gail Vaz Oxlade), I used them in North Bay to sort through my baking goods, so, as you can imagine my jar had lots of different writing on them, and it drove me crazy!

The pro to making your own chalkboard paint is that you can make it in any color you want!  The only thing is to make sure you take out the bigger clumps in the mixture before painting it on.  I'd also like to figure out a way to make my chalk sharper or something, because if you don't write carefully it's quite messy looking.

Next, I was sitting at my desk one day, when I suddenly thought I'd like to paint the side of my desk to put notes on it.  This time I went out and bought some chalkboard paint, so I wouldn't have to use up all my parents grout! Haha!

I may have gone a little crazy with the paint though, and I painted the top and other side of my desk as well.  I couldn't resist.  I thought painting the top would be great for when I have those random little thoughts that creep into my mind, and I thought I'd do the other side so that it would match, colorwise.

So I decided to put a little menu planning thing on the corner there, and above that is my Christmas list (which is pretty unimpressive and not a typical 20 year olds list, I'd say, seeing as how it consists of homesteading how-to books and coasters!)  Off to the left are my random notes, currently consisting of a using magnets to hold my kleenex box under my desk (didn't work), flip flop hangers (haven't tried yet), and a note to organize my white drawer system thing (one day...).  Those cute little containers and the towel rod I got from IKEA for a couple cents more than $10.  Soon they'll be up on the wall, I just hate having thing on my desk. 

And lastly just a little inspirational note for everyday, "You are stronger than you seem, braver than you feel, and smarter than you think you are."

That's it for chalkboard stuff right now!  But I was on a bit of an organization spree following this so I'll make a post about that too!