52 Weeks of Organizing~Week 4

This week is kids stuff! Just like with the silverware I had a problem with too many plates, bowls and cups. I recently ditched about 70% of them but our current set up is still not working for me.

Before we get into that, last week was not so great!

Our drawer by the stove is tiny, I was having a hard time finding a silverware tray that will fit in it and has 6 spots. I did go through the kids stuff and it is way more manageable. I had to do some moving around of stuff to make room for it somewhere else! And I ordered a bigger one on Amazon that should be here soon! Let's see how many times I try to put the hot pads in the wrong drawer though!

That is probably half of the amount of silverware we used to have!

I have been waiting for these plastic dishes to be on clearance. They finally went on clearance, we snagged enough to have a couple meals worth for the kids. Now I have even more of a reason to deal with the kid stuff!  I didn't take a picture of the lunch box drawer, but let me tell you, it is a MESS! We have about 10 sandwich holders, but our kids rarely take a sandwich to school for lunch anymore.
We splurged a little and got them each a thermos that keeps food hot for 5 hours. That is plenty of time between when we leave the house and they have lunch at school. Best purchase we have made in a while. They are so silly excited about their hot lunches and leftovers are the easiest thing to reheat and stick in a thermos, win win for us and them!

I am pretty sure the kids stuff will be moved to a different drawer and those pink blue and green stuff will be gone!

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52 Weeks of Organizing~ Week #4

Week 4 is the silverware drawer.

I went a little crazy a couple weeks ago and moved silverware, so the job is already partway done.

But first, lets look at last week!

I keep the lids under the oven, cause I rarely use them.

That shelf? Yeah, it was at the bottom of the cabinet just sitting there! I had NO idea it was another shelf! Got some pegs for a couple bucks and now the space is much better! Our big pots fit just fine in the back, they were being used though!

I am a sucker for the Target Dollar Spot silverware, always so cute!

I also think I would have an easier time if we were using half our silverware.

We have too much, it is well past time for a purge of kids silverware for sure!

Come back next week :)

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Organizing~Week 2

Week 1 was fun! I finally got rid of some cake pans I have had far too long, reduced some baking stuff and did some overall purging of dishes!

 

See the before HERE.

 

After

 

 

 

Donated a lot of mixing bowls, I still have too many, but they all fit with plenty of room so I am keeping them! The plastic  ones with the pour spouts are my favorite to use, the colorful are my favorite to look at :)

 

Week 2 is still in the kitchen, serving stuff. I have SO MUCH. I rarely use it but I don't see me getting rid of nearly as much. I keep a lot of it above my craft stuff which is a crazy mess right now. 2 birthday parties coming up in a few weeks.

Our kitchen looks like the clearance isle after Easter and Halloween.

I can still do a little work around the chaos. 

 

Goodness these ones are horrible!

 

Some of this stuff just is going to have to stay here but hopefully I can eliminate a little and get it set up better.

 

Anyone else start some organizing this last week? I love to see how others make things work for them! Share your posts, Instagram or Pinterest!


 



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Friday!!! Finally

This week of getting back in the swing of things has gone well as far as keeping house goes, but that whole balance thing still isn't happening, I've only been to the gym once and we didn't do much "fun" stuff this week.

I'd like to blame it on being super busy but I'm just not good at getting it ALL done.

Spending this week getting the house fluff done will for sure make it easier though!

I didn't get to organize anything really today, I was home for 1 hour before dinner, I don't know how workin' mamas get anything done!!

I tidied up the pantry a little, no major overhaul or anything. Looks the same as before but with groceries now!

And now I can see I really need to re attach some of that shelf liner!

Maybe next Friday, as long as next week goes as planned!!

Hope y'all have a lovely weekend and that it doesn't rain, it's dumping here!!

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Spring Cleaning Kitchen

Now that the cleaning out is done I can get started on the real cleaning!

I start with the kitchen, it takes the longest usually and it takes the most abuse!

I can usually get most of this done in 1-2 days depending on what else we have going on that week.

And I like to have a good reward planned for when it's over. I will have to think about what it should be! Usually something for that room, something use full or pretty! 

And I HAVE to have good music! I doubt I would get anything done without it!

I listen to everything! I like a good mix but it has to be ok for the kids too. The Civil Wars are my very fave! I saw them last year when they were here the band that opened for them has grown on me SO much!

Milo Greene! They only had a 3 song CD at the show but youtube has so many live songs, love them all!

This is my fave though!

ok now that I got just slightly off track, here is my list. It's not much different than last year, just a couple things added I noticed needed attention.

~Start the oven on self clean

~Vacuum on top of cabinets and ceiling corners

~Take everything out of cabinets and wipe down (I do 1 at a time)

~Polish the outside of the cabinets

~Clean the microwave and put fan filters in dishwasher

~Clean out the fridge/freezer (if you don't do that more often)

~Clean the top of the fridge

~Pull fridge out and vacuum sides and coils

~wash silverware tray (in dishwasher)

~Clean the inside of the dishwasher 

~Replace felt pads on all the chairs

~Tidy the pantry

~Clean under the sink

~make vinegar ice cubes (for weekly disposal cleaning)

~Clean Toaster and Mixer really good

~Clean oven sides and underneath once it's cooled

~wash windows

~wipe down moldings and doors

And the other stuff I need to do this year is

~Clean party cabinet

~Clean craft cabinet

~Clean the junk drawer (again!)

Check out all the past Spring Cleaning

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Meal Plan Monday

The next 2 weeks I am NOT sticking with our regular dinner schedule.

 We have too much stuff in our freezer!

My FAVE Apron Lately

Monday~Chicken and rice with veggies

Tuesday~Taco's

Wednesday~mini pizza's

Thursday~Chili and Cornbread

Friday~Stew

Saturday~Leftovers

Sunday~Take Out

Monday~Chicken Stir Fry

Tuesday~Chicken Tortilla Soup

Wednesday~Spaghetti and Meatballs

Thursday~Potato Soup and Salad

Friday~Meatball Subs

Saturday~Turkey Burgers

Sunday~Mini Pizzas

Not planning on trying any new recipes this time either, unless something comes along on Pinterest that I HAVE to try and have everything for. I don't really want to go back to the grocery store. Lots of Birthday Party planning to be done so I am making easy stuff! Kind of feel like I am cheating.

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Meal Plan Tuesday!

Since I totally forgot yesterday!

Nothing special going on the next couple weeks so should all be easy stuff! But since we are already off our schedule this week, I am not about to try to get it back!

Tuesday~Leftover Ham and Veggies

Wednesday~Turkey Burgers and roasted potatoes

Thursday~Pasta and Meatballs

Friday~Pork Roast

Saturday~Pizza and salads

Sunday~Roasted Turkey (since we have 2 big ones taking up space in our freezer)

Monday~ Leftover turkey and rice with veggies

Tuesday~Turkey tacos

Wednesday~Spaghetti and Meatballs

Thursday~Salad and Turkey Noodle soup

Friday ~Meatball Subs

Saturday~Turkey Burgers

Sunday~Homemade Mini Pizzas

Not really trying anything new this time (well I guess I could with the Turkey)

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Menu Monday and a couple recipes

I can't believe it's that time again already!

But I do like that this 2 weeks has all kinds of fun stuff going on so I have less meals to plan!
I explained 2 weeks ago how I plan our meals here. As students who are studying cooking at online accredited colleges know, planning meals can be beneficial for numerous reasons.
So December 19th through New Years is what I am planning now.


19th~ Chicken and wild rice and some veggies
20th~Those White Chicken Enchiladas AGAIN, cause they were delicious!
21st~Spaghetti and meatballs (unless we have family plans)
22nd~I am taking our girly to The Nutcracker so I think the boys will have to find something to do!
23rd~Meatball Subs (making extra meatballs this time!)
24th~Family stuff
25th~Family stuff
26th~Chicken Stir fry
27th~Tacos
28th~Chicken with pasta and veggies
29th~It's my birthday so we are going out!
30th~Stew
31st~Pizza


In case you didn't see the recipe for the White Chicken Enchiladas it's HERE.
Don't they look yummy?! ( These weren't baked yet)

I did them a little different because Hubby doesn't like chile's, I just dumped the can of chile's in the magic bullet for a swirl first, so we still got the flavor, but NOT the chunks/texture!
And the Cowhand Stew I have shared a couple times, it is a favorite around here!
Link to the Recipe right HERE :)

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Menu Monday

I did my grocery shopping on Friday for the next 2 weeks (except a milk and produce stop). I'm pretty sure I have shared before that when I am on task we have the same "style" of thing every Monday-Friday. It makes grocery shopping less expensive because I am not buying that 1 ingredient I won't use again before it goes bad, I can stock up when stuff is on sale because I KNOW we will use it!

Monday's are Chicken (usually with rice or pasta)

Tuesday's are Mexican

Wednesday is a pasta meal and occasionally a meatless one

Thursday is Soup or Salad (or both)

Fridays are usually sandwiches of some kind

Weekends are when I get to do the more elaborate cooking or try new recipe's.

This is what we will be having the next 2 weeks, starting today. And we have fruit and veggies with every meal but I don't always plan exactly what it will be.

Monday~Chicken with rice and veggies and chicken sauce

Tuesday~Turkey Taco's

Wednesday~Spaghetti and meatballs 

Thursday~Grilled chicken salad

Friday~Turkey Burgers (unless there are leftover meatballs)

Saturday~Pork Tenderloin and potatoes

Sunday~Cowboy Stew

Monday~Teriyaki chicken and stir fry veggies with rice

Tuesday~ White Chicken Enchiladas (it's new for me, but looks amazing!) recipe HERE

Wednesday~ Baked Chicken Parmesan

Thursday~Loaded Baked Potatoes and Salad

Friday~ Turkey Burgers( if we didn't have them last week) or grilled cheese and tomato soup

Saturday~undecided, something with pork though!

Sunday~Probably Pizza

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Fall Cleaning List ~Kitchen~

Finally got my kitchen list done, and I can't wait to start next week!

I usually do the kitchen first because it takes the most time!

I like to start at the top and work my way down before I clean the floors. But if there is something that takes a while to soak or work, start those first. Like a self cleaning oven, or filling in nail holes that need to be painted.

~Take picture down above doors

~Stuff that needs to work, or dry (nail holes, self cleaning oven, microwave vents)

~Dust, and get all the corners

~Vacuum tops of cabinets

~ Wash windows (ours are hard to reach for me, so I don't do it every week)

~Clean out cabinets. For me this means, purge, clean cabinet insides and organize.

~Polish the cabinets

~Clean out under the sink

~Empty and Clean the fridge and freezer (sides and back too)

~Empty and clean pantry

~Go through cookie cutters (and purge!)

~Clean baseboard

~Touch up cabinet stain

~Touch up wall paint

~Touch up baseboard paint

Obviously some of these won't apply to you (unless you are a cookie cutter hoarder like me,

or have recently taken down some stuff that left nail holes)

I actually have already started on a few of these! Those cookie cutters were bugging me.

I'm hoping I can get this whole list done next Monday!

How are your lists coming? What's on them?

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Snack and Breakfast Prep

I went ahead and spent about 30 minutes today (Monday's are my usual kitchen day anyway) and put together a bin full of snacks for the pantry and a few for the fridge, once you see our fridge you will see I really need to make it to the grocery store :)

First I just picked up a couple bins at the store while I was there the other day, then just filled whatever snack size bags, and containers we had around here with the bulk stuff we had. Bulk snacks are so much less expensive than the individually packaged stuff! I am happy to spend 30 minutes or so a week and save some money!

Here are the non fridge snacks

These should last a week, easily. And we are pretty much out of fridge stuff,

so it's a little empty but it still works for now.

And normally I would cut the peach up, but I don't think they will eat it today, and I like them whole!

String cheese, yogurt, bananas and some cucumbers in there.

 

Now for breakfast stuff I didn't have a whole lot to work with right now so I just have our brown sugar and granola and a couple smaller spoons in a bowl I can grab when I get the other breakfast stuff out. I am going to try to find something that isn't glass to hold everything

 

When I make it to the store again, I will grab some more containers so I can get some frozen and fresh fruit ready for breakfasts, and split up the big thing of yogurt into kid size portions ahead of time.

I still need to make a few batches of pancakes to freeze, so I have a little head start for a couple of weeks.

I still feel like we have a huge to do list to get ready for the school year! Haircuts and that kind of stuff!

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Back to School Organization

Feeling a little rushed now! Just over 2 weeks until the first day for our kiddos and I feel like our current routines are just NOT going to work! Hoping to have a schedule worked out and get a week in of practice before school really starts.

I have already been getting up an hour or so earlier than the kids, well most days anyway, so I have time to prep breakfast and get as much done before the day starts. If these kids wake up any earlier I might have to change it to a bedtime routine instead. 

We haven't really had a breakfast schedule like we do for dinner, but I think we might need to try one this year, and especially since I am not really a fan of cereal for the kids, not very often anyway.

I'm thinking

Mondays~Pancakes, fruit and sausage.. everyone needs Monday to be a good day!

Tuesdays~Oatmeal and stuff

Wednesday~Yogurt and fruit or granola

Thursdays~Waffles with peanut butter and fruit

Fridays~Cereal and fruit

Our kids LOVE this chocolate PB, and I like that it is better calorie and fat wise than the regular pb!

I am hoping I can make things easier and do most of the prep work ahead of time, like cutting all the fruit ahead of time and making the pancakes and freeze them. And keeping small things for the oatmeal so it's not getting everything out, just a little basket with little containers instead of the bag of brown sugar, because kids and bags of sugar do not mix in the morning!

Snacks could easily get out of control if I just let the kids have whatever they want. So I need to have stuff organized and easy for them to access (and easy for me to manage what they are getting)  I liked Real Simple Magazines idea about keeping all the snacks in one spot.

and already having stuff pre portioned out. Those single serving size snacks are so expensive when I could just put them in separate bags and save a bunch! I think giving the kids choices makes it easier for me and them, no fighting, no "I don't like that" problems.  We don't really do cookies or sweets here very often, but I don't want to restrict it so much that they don't know how to make good choices either. 

So I will probably make certain things a 1x a week treat, they can pick the

 day but I am not stocking those up everytime they are empty.

 I will work on snack organization and share what I come up with.. I'm pretty sure these will be involved

 

I like that they are re-usable and kid sized, and not breakable! And I am totally wishing I would have kept those plastic baby food containers now.

I plan on having a LOT of snacks ready so the kids can just pick out what they want in their lunchbox too and I will make the main part. I think they will do a better job of eating it if they pick it out.

I can tell already I will be adding another to do one day a week in my HMB!

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Managing Monday!

Today I am working on this weeks meal plan then the kids and I are putting together a list of some of the things they want to do this summer, counting down the days until school is out (3!!)

This week for dinner we are having

Pork Roast~gotta love the crock pot on busy nights!

Tacos~Also good for busy days since the chicken is done and in the freezer

Spaghetti~I try to do 1 meat free meal a week
Meatball subs~using leftover sauce
Salmon~Since hubby will be out of town, he doesn't like it but the kids do!
And I just bought andouille sausage for the first time, not sure what to do with it yet!
And Pizza out on Saturday

I have to know ahead of time what we are having the whole week or I
think we would be eating pb&j every night!

There are soo many good meal planning sites that helped me figure out what worked for us!
Once a Month Mom has great recipes and a plan to do the majority of the cooking all at once.  I don't cook ALL at once, but we do buy ground turkey, and chicken in bulk and I cook a bunch of that all at once and package it into meal size bags for the freezer.

A Year of Slow Cooking has a TON of crock pot recipes! I LOVE the slow cooker, some days we can be out of the house from early in the morning until dinner time and there is no time to cook dinner.

There are some cute meal planning forms here!

How do you all meal plan?

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Organzing Friday's!

Things are slowing down here (yay!) and I have all kinds of drawers, cabinets and so on that could use some attention! I am trying to get back in the habit and starting with the kitchen drawers. I have a tiny little major obsession with sprinkles, so much that they have taken over almost 1 entire drawer.

There are all kinds of random cupcake/cake stuff in there but I think it is mostly sprinkles!

 I decided since I was going to empty it out anyway I might as well do all the drawers and move some stuff around, like our silverware, I think it needs a new drawer and I have random stuff in some drawers that would probably be better somewhere else, and I am sure I have a few things I can get rid of! I am hoping to empty at least 1 drawer for just summer things! Chalk, sunscreen, sunglasses and that kind of stuff, as close to the backdoor as we can get!

Then while I was working on a new spot for the sprinkles and stuff in the pantry I realized how unorganized it is. There is a huge bag of lunchbox stuff, lunchboxes, containers, baggies, all that kind of stuff and it was hard to get to so then I started on that and it ends up being a a whole process of moving, purging, tidying and sorting!

See the plaid big bag on the bottom left? FULL of lunchbox stuff!

SO embarrassing how bad it WAS in there!
So much better now!

and the white cd boxes from ikea on the top is where I moved and sorted EVERYTHING from the sprinkles and stuff drawer!

Lunchbox drawer before

all kinds of randomness..

After

 

No more rushing to find a container lid or baggie!

I was able to get 1 entire drawer empty to make a summer drawer, now to find all the sunglasses and other backyard summer stuff!

And I purged my huge stack of cook books!  I worked at a bookstore for a while and with the employee discount on their clearance books I was getting a bunch for just a couple of dollars. I don't want to keep the whole book for just a couple of recipe's so I picked my favorites and copied them down or found them online and have a stack to donate!  More room in the pantry even after I added all the sprinkles and stuff!

So glad I could get this done today, feels better in the kitchen already! Next week I need to re organize the closet with all our cd's and stuff again! It's only been a few months but it hasn't been kept up very well. I will probably work on it a little each day next week because I don't think Friday will be enough time to do it all since that is the first day of summer break and the kids have a HUGE list of all the stuff they want to do!

Off to enjoy the sunshine the rest of the day!

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Something I wish I was better at as a wife was making sure things were mellow and clean (enough) and happy when hubby gets home. But honestly, some days that just seems impossible.  There are a bunch of great ideas HERE on how to welcome our hubby's home.

Some things I do are

~Having a drink ready for him when he gets home. Water, coffee or whatever he likes!

~Sometimes if dinner is going to be late or take a while, or be after a t-ball game,

 I try to have a small snack ready.

~Happy kids make a huge difference! Can't MAKE them be happy, but they usually pick up on our attitudes. Being cheerful even if we are doing the 10th load of laundry that day or cleaning up all the toys we cleaned up 10 minutes ago AGAIN. Being grumpy about it just doesn't help.

And who wants to come home to a grump?

~The one I am for sure most guilty of is having kid shows on when he gets home! We don't let them watch many cartoons, most days that is the only one, but I am sure coming home and hearing Yo Gabba Gabba is not his idea of peaceful. Having the TV on a channel hubby would enjoy,

or turned off and the radio on instead would probably be better.

This is what I am working on, making it a routine and something I put effort into.

There are 6 days of school left here and I can't wait for it to be over! The big kids and I are working on a list of all the things they want to do this summer. So far visiting Grandma and Grandpa's cabin and eating otter pops seem to be the most popular with Ramsey and Carsyn is SO excited for school she is already talking about pencil shopping!

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Spring Cleaning Week 1 {Kitchen}

I can't believe it is time to start already!

 But this week is a good week for me to start and not feel bad about missing anything, it is supposed to be cold and wet here anyway, and no school 1 day (I am sure our oldest would rather skip nap and help).

This is my list for the week (mostly during naptimes)

• Start Oven Cleaning

• Start Stove Top Cleaning

• Wash Curtains

• Dust/Vacuum Top of Cabinets

• Re-organize/Purge Cabinets and Clean shelves

• Polish Cabinets

• Clean Bottom of Microwave and Wash Filters

• Clean Out Fridge and Freezer

• Pull Oven Out and Clean Sides

• Clean Out Under the Sink

• Clean Inside of Dishwasher

• Make Vinegar Cubes

• Clean Toaster (finally gave in and got one) and Mixer

• Replace Furniture Felt

• Tidy Pantry

• Clean Pantry Door

• Vacuum and Steam Floors

WHEW! Lots to do this week but I have some fun stuff planned for the weekend if I get it all done!
And I am pretty sure there will be a few craft breaks too!

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Valentine's Day Menu

Only about a week and a half until Valentine's Day! Still being in Birthday mode I haven't thought a whole lot about what we be doing that day but I am thinking we for sure need to have some heart shaped stuff! This is what I have planned so far~

Heart Shaped Pizza



source

And I think we will probably have heart shaped sandwiches for lunch, just using our Wilton cookie cutter, this one is pretty big so you don't lose as much bread!

We don't usually let our kids have flavored milk ( tooo much sugar!!) but we do let them have special stuff on special days sometimes, and really who wouldn't love pink milk?!  So here is what I do to make their little treat extra special.. I used my favorite old jelly jars, dipped the edge in some melted white chocolate (it's easiest if you put the chocolate on a saucer or small plate,and I don't put on too much because I don't want any drips, then cover the chocolate in some sprinkles!

I am sure heart shaped pancakes will be around at breakfast time with whip cream and sprinkles, pretty much cause the mini heart sprinkles are just TOO cute!

I have a heart shaped mini pancake pan that makes these perfectly every time, although I think it is easier if you make your pancake batter a little more runny than usual, you kind of have to spread the batter around a little and if it is too thick it doesn't work as well.

Think it is this one, and I haven't seen it anywhere but ebay lately.. there are some other really cute ones though!

And this year for a dessert I think I am going to use a heart shaped ice cube mold like this one

And fill it with the Yoplait Whips Raspberry or Strawberry yogurt and freeze them, they are SO good frozen, better than ice cream! And I won't feel too guilty about the strawberry milk then!
I am using a bigger mold because I think it will be easier to get the yogurt in.. here is what I hope to do, scoop some yogurt in and tap it on the counter to get the air out, you can't really stir the yogurt or it loses its mousse consistency.  I might have to do a test run before next week! If I have sprinkles left over I might put some of those in the bottom too!  Then they can each have a few little frozen hearts for a treat! I think they will love em!

Previous Years
HERE, HERE, and HERE

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Office In A Cupboard

We don't have a dedicated room as an office at our house, and I am just not a fan of looking at office type stuff, so having it out in one of the rooms really just wouldn't work for us. We used to keep one side of the pantry for office stuff.. you can see part of that disaster HERE.

Wow, SO glad we got away from that! But then it was all a big mess in a box and hard to find anything!

I didn't take before pictures (because I do these things on a whim I guess?!) But I can say this cupboard was full of pie plates, pans and other cooking and baking stuff we don't use very often. So I purged stuff  I know we haven't used in over a year (and no plans to in the immediate future) and since I have been trying to replace Teflon coated stuff with cast iron, I just donated the pans, and found a better spot for the stuff that was left.

I used to be a office supply hoarder, I still have my moments!  But now I try to only keep pens I LOVE and not all pens, and I tried to minimize everything, like no regular stapler, I just found a mini one, and since we rarely staple, it should be just fine!

I have a shelf for HMB stuff and supplies, with some room leftover!

The the next shelf I keep our camera's and stuff, phonebook and printer paper on, then the most used shelf is the bottom! Stores my HMB, a basket with all our pens and scissors, cd's and cases and a cup for change. I left room on one side for our laptops, I like to have a safe place for them to go when we have a lot of people over.. kids especially!

And on the inside of the door I added a sheet of tin (I think) It's magnetic but not very attractive, so I added a cutesy piece of paper over it. I keep frequent used numbers there, a magnetic tin that holds thumb drives and a container for chalk for the pantry chalkboard, which is right next to it, oh and a magnetic tape measure, which might be the most frequently used thing in there!

The cabinet underneath has always stored our printer and filing stuff, but I organized the cords and stuff that comes with everything so we can get to it when we need it. The black box stores cards, envelopes, extra pens and garage sale stickers!

I really love that we can close those 2 cabients and not have to look at ugly office stuff! Best move of stuff yet!

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