it’s the little things – day 1

Jun 4

welcome to day 1 of my week-long series about the little things on my to-do list! i’m excited to get these things knocked out, but also happy to share them here with you. i hope along the way this week i can motivate you to knock out the little things on your own to-do list.
this series was created for several reasons…
1. recently, i’ve found some great and inexpensive organization solutions at the dollar store and other stores,
2. while looking over my organization to-do list, i noticed i had too many annoying small jobs to take care of,
and
3. with all 3 kids home for the summer, i can’t complete any major organization projects. so, i decided to just tackle what *i can* get done. and this week, it’s the little things!
each day i’ll share several small organization tasks i have knocked off my list. today i am sharing 3 of them :-).
first up – i needed a spot in the house where those random, but important, papers could collect but also be found in a pinch. things like birthday invitations and “that form my husband wanted me to bring to the dentist” last week.
regarding birthday invitations, i always enter the date/time/location info into our family calendar, but i also like to keep the invite so i know what the birthday boy or girl likes. for example, we have a star wars themed party coming up. i know this because the invite that arrived is a star wars theme. when i receive a themed invite, i like to buy a gift related to that theme for the birthday child. but after i enter the party details into our calendar, a few weeks later i would be scurrying around looking for that invite.
the form my husband asked me to bring to the dentist would have also been lost on my project table in the office. so, that needed to be somewhere i could easily locate it when i took the boys to the dentist last week.
i figured out the best spot to keep papers/items like this would be at our family command center. before leaving the house most days, that is the last spot i check – and that is where my keys hang. and since i had been eyeing that awesome martha stewart organization line at staples, i figured it was a great time to grab one of these…

it’s her pocket organizer with a removable adhesive backing…

i had been eyeing it for a while and knew it would work well on our command center white board…

i purchased it for the low price of $6.99 and popped it on the lower right corner of the board. now those papers/invites i need to find in a pinch are right here when i need them…

the next big little issue that was totally making me itch was the inside of this cabinet…

thankfully, it was hidden away behind 2 doors. but i knew the issue was there and that bothered me. i love love love this cabinet, but knew i could do a better job of organizing the contents. i found this great utility organizer at the container store for under $20…

it’s called “the grook” and it’s awesome! it comes in 2 sizes. i chose the larger of the 2 based on how many items i needed to hang.

this is the best $20 i have spent in a long time because not only is this little solution going to solve my problem, but it also came with the hardware and an easy to use mounting template on the back….

i emptied the cabinet and picked 2 items that needed to go – both were items i didn’t use anymore….

then my handsome hubby helped me install it…

i know, you are only seeing his back. trust me, he’s gorgeous from the front. 🙂

after a quick install, here is proof of why this is the best $20 i have spent in a while…

hellooooooo!!! can you believe it! i can see the bottom of the cabinet – which meant i had MORE room to add our handheld vacuum, which previously didn’t fit in here with everything else.

to keep even more of the floor space open, i added a small command adhesive hook for hanging our mop bucket…

and here is the after…

that small $20 Grook made this cabinet work much harder…and i was able to place our handheld vacuum inside too, which created more room elsewhere.

for those who enjoy a before and after shot…

i’m telling you – it’s the little things that make this girl smile!

(by the way, am really contemplating painting all of our red accent areas a different color. especially after seeing photos on the blog. hummm, will be thinking about that….)

for the final little thing today…i was looking for a simple stand for my iPad. i frequently us my iPad while cooking/viewing online recipes, but was having a tough time keeping the iPad propped up. the stand/cover you can purchase for your iPad 2 always makes me nervous. i feel like if i breath wrong or the kids run by too quickly it’s going to flop right over and break. i was looking for something a bit more sturdy with a taller back for propping up.

i found this great 5″ acrylic plate stand at the container store for $7 that i thought may work…

and it did! not only does the stand prop up our family recipe binder…

but it also holds my iPad upright very well…

now i can view online recipes with ease while cooking. an added bonus = when we are entertaining, the iPad puts on a great slideshow…

i looks like a digital frame sitting in the corner of our kitchen…

ooooooor, if i’m in the mood to hear my “back-up husband” sing a few songs for me…

i can open my pandora account and turn the volume up really loud. 😉

the container store also sells a larger 8″ version for $13 if you prefer a taller stand. this smaller stand works just fine for me and i like that the stand is clear. this girl loves to keep it simple – what can i say? 🙂

i hope you enjoyed day 1 of my little things series. don’t forget to enter the giveaway going on all week!

comments +

  1. Great job getting those little things done. I really like the grook that you got I need one of those bad.

  2. Ha! I love how you dubbed him your "back up husband". That cracked me up. 😀 By the way – great ideas!

    • hi ginny!

      haha! i've been calling him that for more years than i've been married – i love him! but not as much as i love my husband 😉

      thank you for the sweet comment!
      samantha 🙂

  3. The cupboard makeover is fantastic, love how one great organisational tool can make a much more efficient use of space, must find one of those hooks

    • hi there!

      thank you so much for the nice comment! yes, amazing how one little tool can change your life – for the better!

      you can find that hook at the container store – or you can find various other hooks on amazon. i had a great time researching.

      xo,
      samantha

  4. Love your ideas I love the paper one especially. Amee

  5. These are great ideas thanks for sharing

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