How Pinterest saved my marriage

Another one of my goals this year is to get organized. I think it's got to be the number two resolution of all time after getting fit. I don't care about my health. But I do care about dying in a house that's decked out with cute homemade crafts.

Via

I didn't used to be this way... Homes that are super clean and organized remind me of Stepford wives and I don't have time for that crap. Problem is, that was the number one thing my husband and I would argue about... Keeping our place clean.

I'll admit, he does more than his fair share of cleaning. All of the dishes, the laundry, the bathrooms, the vacuuming, the sweeping and mopping... Heck, writing that all out made me realize he does a lot. Ok, so maybe he has a reason to complain about having my crap everywhere.

Lil' J doesn't help either. Any progress I make with cleaning quickly gets destroyed by her tornado path. And after a long day of work, picking her up from school, then feeding, bathing, making lunches and organizing clothes for the next day, I'm beat and the last thing I feel like doing is clean. I want to sit on my butt and blog. Or edit photos. Or read a book. Or watch Teen Mom... Heck, anything but clean!

When I was pregnant and read the "nesting" chapter of my pregnancy book to my husband he laughed and said "you'll never do that!" Well, I proved him wrong. But that was pretty much the last time I wanted to clean. ...Until now.

... ENTER PINTEREST...

I joined Pinterest last year and spent the first while re-pinning clothes I liked, and clothes I found for Lil' J. Photos I liked, hair styles... Stuff like that. I quickly scrolled past the home decor pins I saw in my feed because "those aren't me" I thought.

Then I began to craft more, sew more, and my crafting area quickly turned into a swamp mess. Disorder everywhere. I tried to shove things in the corner of the living room/ my craft area and warned my husband to stay away.

I blamed my disorder on our small living quarters. Two bedrooms just isn't enough for our family.

Then, one day while browsing Pinterest for sewing inspiration I can across a fabric organizer pin. It was genius. A glorious sight.

I read the tutorial and decided I needed to do this with my fabrics. I'm just getting started and have lots to go but this is already looking better than my heap of fabric stuffed in a picnic basket. I donated books from my bookshelf and created space for this!

But why stop there? If I'm organizing my fabric I might as well organize my ribbon, and my tulle, and why not my whole living room while I'm at it?

I was hungry for more suggestions for organization. I found pins for decorative mail holders you can hang in your kitchen, and keep your mail organized but hidden.

Via

I created a board I decided to call "Order in the court!" because order is what my house needs, and my house is... like a court? ... I don't know. But it seemed cool at the time.

Anyway, it's my new favorite board in progress. I'm constantly looking for ways to organize my daughter's toys, old clothes, books, tutus, bows. Plus my crafts, kitchen items, clothes, EVERYTHING! Here's what I did for my patters... This idea I didn't even find on Pinterest, I should pin it actually!

 

I spent all day Monday sorting through toys and areas of our living room we haven't touched in dare I say it... A year? Ok, maybe it wasn't that bad, but I will say that my fireplace mantle had random crap on it for longer than I can remember. I mean, I can't remember seeing it clean. But it's clean now!

I sorted through Lil' J's downstairs toys and donated a heap of them. Then I went to her upstairs toybox, which was full of only tutus, pettipants, pettiskirts and things like that. I took those out and put them in an old comforter bag I found when I was cleaning out the hall closet. I made a label for it "Dress up time!" and squished it under our bed. Now her toybox has a few toys in it but it's nice and neat! And all of the random tutus we had strung around the house have a neat place to call home.
Ah! It feels good to be getting organized. I never thought I'd enjoy it but Pinterest has seriously made it fun.

What does my husband think? Well at first he was like "uh huh, sure, I've heard this before..." as I told him about my goal to clean and get organized. I tried to give him a Pinterest tutorial and show him my organizational board but he was just like "Huh? is this like Twitter?" So I gave up and have just been showing him the ideas I stole as I accomplish them.

He's very impressed with my progress so far. He even complimented me on his favorite new addition... The basket I set aside for our TV remote controls, since we're constantly losing them.

"I used to think that mom stuff was kind of lame, but it's really cool" he told me. I wasn't sure what he meant by "mom stuff" so I asked him to clarify.

"Like the craft stuff. Like that mail holder thing you want to make, that's really cool." Ah, I get it. The organizational craft things. Not sure why he chose to classify that as a "mom thing" but I let it go. He's just excited to me married to a real life Martha Stewart, I would be too.

I'll document the little things I find and attempt throughout the year to hopefully keep me motivated and accountable. I also have some before/after pictures to show you but I'll wait until the "after" is where I want it to be. You can follow me on Pinterest to see what ideas and inspiration I have up my sleeve.

Has Pinterest changed you life too?  
PS: If you're not on it, let me know your email addy and I'll send you an invite to join!