One of the things that I am hoping to do more of this year, is not only start helping more individuals in person, but also raid the homes of those that are already blessed with that organizing gene {and share those spaces with you!} Every single time you accomplish any organizing project, big or small, is something to be excited about and proud of. And because I blog about home, DIY and organization for a living, I get to read and be apart of a lot of amazing success stories and do happy dances with you, whether virtually or in person.
I can't express the giddiness I had when Jillian invited me into her home and snap pictures of all of her incredible accomplishments. It was so much fun spending the morning with her, chatting about her beautiful house and seeing the transformations that have taken space. She let me snoop in all of her drawers and cabinets and closets, which is oddly thrilling.
Jillian wrote:
Hi Jen!
Anyone who knows me would know I've always been interested in design and decorating. We moved into our home four years ago and it's been so exciting working on each room individually and also consider house the whole how flows together.
My friends and family would be surprised, however, to know I never really considered the hidden spaces and how they functioned. In the past they would probably be shocked to open a drawer and see the mess and disorganization! Not anymore! I discovered your blog last fall and learned that not only do we live in the same town, but our boys are in the same class at school!
I was so inspired by your posts that last September I decided to begin a total house purge and added organizing to my list of hobbies. I started with one drawer, then a cupboard, then a closet, etc... I just kept going!
My absolutely favorite organizing makeover is our bathroom closet. It only had a few deep shelves so we couldn't even reach all the way into the back. I gutted it, painted, and installed narrow white shelving which almost makes it a bit of a walk-in closet now. The baskets from IKEA were a perfect fit and I reused our plastic storage. After some fun labels, it was completely pretty, functional and organized! I finished it in early December and it looks exactly the same today!
Other areas that are really working for our home are:
- The new office space including our household binder
- The kid's school binder and school drawer
- The baskets in the laundry room for sorting clothes
Jillian
Jillian and her hubby have really been working on making some lovely transformations to their home over the last couple of years! Would you believe that what once was this...
Is now this?
Which also opens up into their super cozy living room!
One of the things I adored about the living room is that Jillian smartly tucked their gaming system {along with accessories} into a pretty basket to avoid having it set out and create eye clutter:
And because storage space is at a premium, she condensed down all of those bulky DVD cases into a nice binder system!
One of my favorite spots is their art display! It's such a fun and happy moment in their home and it was simply created with curtain rods and drapery rings!
Jillian tucks her home office in an armoire...
As she mentioned in her note, it wasn't always so tidy - here are a couple of before and afters:
They also made some updates to brighten up the kitchen!
I love the use of wall space!
A couple of cabinet before and afters?
Her baking cabinet now has everything organized by type in baskets and labeled see through canisters for powdered goods!
Under the sink also received some love by covering some containers with pretty paper to hold bags and corralling like items:
At their peninsula, she created a "school" drawer, which has a binder with all of the kid's current school newsletters, reading logs, etc... along with items to work on their homework and their daily vitamins:
I really love the use of baskets, labels and twine!
They also make sure to stay on the same page by having a framed family calendar in a central location!
Her pantry area is nice and organized as well! It was a closet gut job that has made her life easier in the end!
Command hooks keep those longer cleaning tools nice and accessible:
Speaking of closet transformations, Jillian mentioned her favorite was her bathroom closet update, and I couldn't agree with her more! It's incredibly functional now and doesn't look an ounce like it did in it's previous life....
She removed the shelves, gave it a fresh coat of paint and added in new shelves that were so deep so she could better utilize the entire space:
Seriously, aren't those baskets and labels so sweet?
She even added some decorative knobs to hang her necklaces:
And even the floor of the closet got some love!
Who am I kidding! The whole bathroom received a lot of love! It's so pretty!
Before:
And now!
The last stop on the tour is the laundry room, which is equally as fantastic as the rest of their home. I just love it!
Before:
And now!
I just love that they pulled cabinet doors off to create a sorting station!
Jillian really has done such a lovely job brightening up her spaces with warm paint choices, updating the functionality of cabinets and closets by changing shelving systems, using wall space for storage and adding labels and systems that her whole family can manage.
A giant THANK YOU to Jillian for letting me walk through her home and chat about her space. I left there feeling inspired to go home and look for something to organize myself! We are just one giant ring of inspiration and ideas which is what makes it so fun and rewarding!
Can you just feel a weight lifted from their day to day life, by looking at her before and after photos? What's your favorite transformation? That bathroom cabinet is an organized dream... I could kiss it!
Have you been getting your organizing on? Are you interested in letting me raid your newly organized space and share it right here on the blog? Do you live in the Twin Cities area? Submit your story and some photos to iheartorganizing@gmail.com!
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