Day #1 Challenge (Organizing the "junk" drawer)

A Bowl Full of Lemons has a daily organization challenge that I am going to participate in. Jump on over to her blog to join in the fun! Check back daily to see the progress I make on the house!!

Yesterday, it was to Organize the "junk" drawer. We all have a drawer we just toss things in. In my case, I toss everything in every drawer. I set out to tackle the actual "junk" drawers. Here is the before...

After taking everything out of the drawers and putting it in another box like was suggested, I re-lined the drawers with some fun polka-dot paper and pulled out my little baskets and got organized!


Here is the after!
Wow...I love how they look! It motivated me to start on the utensil and kitchen towel drawers. They were pretty bad as well.


And here are my beautifully organized utensil and towel drawers!
Then the organization bug REALLY bit! My cabinets have been a mess for years because I've just never taken the time to do something about them. This is our little guy's cabinet. He couldn't reach it and it had OLD stuff still hanging around.
We now have a large box to give to his new baby cousin with things he will need in the future!
He even helped sort through all of the cups and stack them for me.
While he stacked the cups, I turned to the MESSY cabinet that held our glasses and his candy. There was VALENTINE'S DAY candy still hanging around.
Now our cabinet is neat and old candy free!
Then I came across THIS mess when I was ready to put little guy's things in his arms' reach. YIKES! The Tupperware and plastic cup monster had to be handled.
Yes, all of this came out of that cabinet. I am so ashamed!
But after sorting through, we kept the cups we wanted and put little man's plates, bowls and cups where he can start helping himself. Aah...self serving child...this is going to be nice!
And we put the Tupperware where his mess was.
You see...what had happened was I kept opening cabinets and seeing messes like this. A busy mom in a hurry didn't have time to put things back...just throw it in there!
It was getting the job done, but when I needed something it took me forever to find what I needed. So.....
TA DA!
Nice, neat and organized. I can actually get to the steamer, tea maker and vacuum sealer now. What ever will I do with myself?
And then my cooking cabinets were in disarray! I couldn't let my organization kick skip over them!
Wow...I can get to my Pyrex and other cooking things with ease! I don't have to worry about opening the cabinet and it all come crashing down on me!
And lastly...I HAD to do something with the pantry. This is the one area I should not let slip this bad, but I have a bad habit of just shoving things where they will fit and slam the door shut. This is just embarrassing to even show.
But I have to show where I came from to where I am now! WOW. The amount of expired cans and boxes in the top is shameful. But how nice!
Yes, I was carried away and might think twice about Day #2 challenge for fear what I might get into! On the other hand, I LOVE my kitchen now and just think what I could do to the rest of the house!!!