Sort of embarassing

I like to think that I keep a pretty clean and organized home. I actually enjoy cleaning and organizing. It's very therapeutic for me and when I'm done, I have a huge sense of accomplishment.

Unfortunately, I have had to let go of that for now and I really, REALLY hate it.


I know I've mentioned at least 10 times the fact that Jimmy, Harper, my 3 dogs and I are currently living in a sardine can. I thought today would be a fine time to show you what I mean.

Let's start with Harper's room. In our old house, his closet was organized to perfection. I think all newborn's start off with a perfect closet because we mother's "nest" incessantly. When we moved here, I was pretty proud of how much I was able to organize his closet, given that it was about half the size.

Now it looks like this


All the bags at the top and a lot of the floor space is devoted to clothes that Harper can no longer wear. A lot of what is hanging in his closet is also too small, so I am just folding the few fall/winter clothes that he has at the moment and putting them in his dresser. The bags at the bottom are Christmas gifts that have nowhere else to go. I have a plant stand that served as our unity candle table in there as well as stuffed animals and toys.

This is the other side



Here are his washclothes, medical things and socks in this shoe organizer that looked so much better in our old house. There is also a rug that will be used when we move, but again, I have nowhere else to put it. Underneath the rug is all of Harper's Christmas presents, his mobile and a TON of old clothes.

Let's move on to the kitchen.



The tenants before us installed these rubbermaid pull-out drawers in one of our few cabinets. I have organized and re-organized, but the best use of this cabinet is for a few casserole dishes, spices and our "junk food" as we call it. The drawers were practical for the people before us, but they don't work for us at all. We would actually have a bit more space in there if those drawers were gone.




Here are our cups, glasses, wedding china (at the top, still in plastic) and measuring cups. This isn't SO bad, however it is positioned at the corner of the kitchen and the sink is beneath it. Standing at 5'2, I have to stretch myself beyond what is acceptable to reach these things. If Jimmy isn't home, I usually avoid having to reach into this cabinet.

If you walk into our house, you will see our unassuming laundry closet.


But if you open those doors....


This makes my skin crawl. Right now there are 3 bags of trash that the hubs has not had time to take out sitting on the washer. Those are usually not there. On top of the dryer, however, I have a basket of linens that has no place to go. To the right of that are some dollar storage bins that I bought at Target for our future laundry room. In them, I have to store, puppy pads, dog food, dog biscuits and other small items. At the top, I store my gift bags, tissue paper and other crap.

Now, my closet


At the top there is a chandelier from our old home that we were unable to use here. You best believe we will be using it in our new house. There are mostly purses up there that I don't want to get rid of.




Then, my clothes. When I put my clothes away, I have to arm wrestle them into place because they are packed so tightly in there. My arm is usually sore the next day, no lie.



Here is my shoe collection. There is a shelf underneath my clothes where I could put them, but then I would have to push all of my clothes aside to find the right pair, so they stay in a pile on the floor. Not a great way to take care of nice shoes.



Here is our dirty clothes. I used to have it sectioned off for my clothes, Jimmy's uniforms and towels to the left, but now it's one big mish mash of clothes that I can't organize anymore.

Lastly, there is the guest bathroom. Here is what you would see if you visited..



But if you pulled that shower curtain back...



Harper hasn't used that baby tub since he was about 2 months old. It needs to be in storage until we are ready to use it again, but there is no storage!! I have to take it out, fill the tub up and leave it on top of the toilet, then drain the water after bathtime and put it back in the tub. SUCH. A. PAIN.

So, there you have it folks. Just keepin' it real. Anyone else out there packed tight as a tick??