Off-Season Gardening Supplies Organized!

Okay! We left off yesterday  emptying a shelf in the basement of tons of gardening supplies. The shelf was emptied and cleaned and I was left with a ton of items all over the basement floor. 

Well when you've got a pile of items, what should you do with them? Sort them of course!

I started off small, literally. I took the small items and sorted them into corresponding piles- gardening tools, hardware, gardening gloves, decorations, etc...

Having so many small bins turned out to be a positive thing. I was able to use all the baskets and bins in order to sort items more effectively. I placed each item in its own category and then found a bin to suit that category.

Then I put all the plant pots on the shelf, along with all the decor...

Finally...everything has a place.

Gardening tools have their own caddy.

Some hardware is located in this bin on a close-by shelf.

Gardening gloves and aprons are inside their own basket.

Twine, string, and packets of seeds found a home in this basket.

And the shelves have never looked better....

I even managed to put together a pile of items to donate/recycle.

Ready for some before and afters?

The bottom two shelved before on the bottom and after on the top. Much more organized this way. Now my mom can actually see everything that she has on these shelves and know what she has to work with!
The bottom shelf now has two larger sized pots (that are no longer stuck inside each other- you're welcome mom!) and the fountain I refused to move.
The second shelf up now only houses pots that are arranged by size. I also put the bee-hives and a bird house on this shelf because they fit perfectly. Now everything is arranged so you can see what is there.

The top two shelves. The before is on the top and the after is on the bottom. Much more organized now. All garden decor is located on the second shelf instead of being scattered all over. A basket is
filled with hardware. Meanwhile on the top shelf, there are extra baskets, some garden grow corralled and a couple of extra items on the side- a bird feeder and a wooden box that I have no idea what it's meant for!

Overall, this was definitely a challenging space to make work and it could definitely use to be beautified a little bit. I am excited with how it turned out considering nothing was purchased for this product, and I only used items that I had on hand right in the area!

I'm considering tackling the entire basement this month...but we will see!

What organization projects are you working on this month?!

Spring Has Sprung

Despite terrible things that are going on in the country these days, spring still has sprung here at our home.  I am still praying for Boston, a city that is not only close in distance but also in my heart. I know many childhood friends who now live in the city (all are luckily okay), also one of my best friends lives close to the city, her dad works in a hospital there and her brother is attending Harvard. One of my other best friends attended Suffolk and has a ton of friends who live in the city. So many connections, so many chances of someone connected being injured. It is so scary how these acts of terrorism can bring the country together but also completely horrify us.

I'll move on to a happier topic, but first I want to leave you with this quote from the classically brilliant Mr. Rogers:

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping."

Life hasn't stopped around these parts, we have spent quite a bit of time getting our less-frequently-used areas and outdoor areas ready for the change in weather and temperature. Recently we have been focusing on the following projects...

1. Cleaning up the basement, removing unnecessary items and cleaning and tidying what needs to say down there.
2. Bringing all outdoor furniture out of the basement and placing it around the yard and decks, etc..
3. Cleaning up the gardens, pulling weeds and junk out of there. 

Basically, everything that has to do with places we try to avoid all winter. There is definitely a ton more work to do, but in case you're looking for some ways to touch up your yard this spring, here are some ideas based on what we have done.

All of our outdoor furniture is stored in our walk-out basement during the off season so it does tend to get a bit cluttered. Having the walk-out basement is truly a godsend when it comes to moving lawn furniture in and out. Some of it, such as wooden benches can be quite heavy! I definitely recommend storing your furniture inside a basement, garage, or shed during the winter if you get harsh snowstorms like we tend to get in New England.

I have to say the furniture does look infinitely better outside =)

Another sign spring is here? Daffodils! What is spring without daffodils?

We have been spending quite a bit of time in the gardens out back this week. Weeding, pulling leaves and junk out, cutting down branches, and just making things look better in general.

Roxy loves spending more time outside too. Especially when you bring her bed outside. She is such a princess.

When cleaning out the basement, the two products I used to get the dust and grime out were: Pledge Multisurface and Windex Wipes.

The windows needed some serious help as spiders were starting to take residence and there was so much dust everywhere.

Our "screen room" as we refer to it, was filled with dirt and leaves so out came the shop-vac. Yes, we're nuts, I'm totally aware. The bench in the below picture is going to be re-stained and put out with the other outdoor furniture.

Those above pictures look so much better right?!

The other side looks pretty nice too! 

When taking out your furniture for summer it's a great idea to clean it off since lots of dust tends to cover it in storage. 

We had a HUGE Salvation Army pile to donate in our basement as well, that will be dropped off later this week. We also found plenty more items to donate when tidying up the space as well!

There is a ton of projects going on around here this week so check in over the next week or two to hear more!