My Organized Makeup

My makeup is typically pretty organized, but every area of my home needs a touch up once in awhile.  Yesterday, I cleaned out our main bathroom and decided that my makeup needed some attention.  The first thing I did was bring every piece of makeup that I have to the dining room table.  This also included anything I had in my purse.  I also brought out my plastic bin of sample sized products.  I watched some of my favorite YouTubers while I sorted.

The next step was to sort everything into categories so that I could assess what I have of each type.  

Once everything was sorted, I went through each piece and decided if it was worth keeping.  Some things were old and gross and others just didn't suite my taste anymore and were never being used.  They either went into the garbage or into a bag that I can give to someone who will use them.  A good tip to help you avoid using expired makeup is to use a sharpie and write the date you opened a product on it's packaging somewhere.  Honestly, I have not done this in the past, but I may try it going forward.  Many products tell you how long they are good for right on the packaging.  It's a little symbol of a container showing how many months (6M, 12M, etc) to keep the product for.  Whenever I am going through my makeup, I use this symbol to determine if I have had the product that long.  You can see how it would be helpful if I had the date of opening written on them.  

I have a small plastic container where I throw sample sizes whenever I come across them.  I kept it on a shelf in my linen closet and barely ever looked in it.  I came to find that many of the products were expired.  I kept only what I really wanted to try and decided to keep those in a drawer in the bathroom where I am more likely to actually use them.  

Once I was done sorting, it was time to put everything away.  I keep the majority of my makeup on an etagere over the toilet.  Space is limited in our small bathroom.  I know etageres are not everyone's cup of tea, but I need the extra storage space that it provides.  In my previous bathroom post, some readers were concerned about having my makeup (specifically the brushes) over the toilet where they might be contaminated.  I really haven't found any issues with this, as all of the products have lids to protect them.  I have moved my face brushes into a small acrylic drawer, but my eye shadow brushes still live out in the open.  I have never experienced any bouts of bad skin or sickness from having my brushes on a shelf over the toilet, but I understand it's better overall to have them in a drawer.  My ideal situation would be to have a big, beautiful bathroom with my own vanity space or a dressing room of some sort.  I will keep dreaming for now.  :)

If you have seen my previous bathroom post, you will notices that I have new acrylic organizers.  I purchased these 3 pieces (the drawers are two sets stacked on top of each other) from TJ Maxx and I love them.  I enjoy this look with the drawers much better and find it easier to keep things organized in them.  

The small organizer on the left contains all of my lipsticks and glosses, my most used blushes, bronzer, primer, foundations and eye shadow palette.  It's also where I keep all of my eye brushes, eyeliners and eyebrow pencils and gels.  

Now for a tour of the drawers starting at the top.  Two small eye shadows and a pot of eyeliner in the small left drawer and two yet-to-be-opened concealers in the right drawer.

Next, just a larger lipstick palette.  

Mascaras next.

Primers, foundations and concealers.

A larger face palette and highlighters.

Face brushes.

Here is my little helper admiring our good work.  Surprisingly, neither her nor any of my older children have never gotten into my makeup.  I am not going to hold my breath, but so far so good!  

The remainder of my makeup and some skin care can be found in a small drawer of our vanity.  In here I keep my larger eye shadow palettes, some small skin care items, magnifying mirrors, a few nail files and nail clippers and our Emoji Micro-Pedi callus remover and refills.  I suppose I could keep the mani and pedi items with my nail polishes in the linen closet, but our family uses these products much more often than I paint my nails.  So this central location is best.  

Last but not least, my makeup bag was overflowing with too many lipsticks and glosses, so I just pared it down to one lip gloss, a powder, some blotting papers, a small nail file, dental floss and some hair ties.  I can guarantee that more lip products will make their way in sooner or later.  

That completes my organized makeup tour.  Hopefully you found some ideas that you can utilize in your own space!

Organized Homework Station, Office & Command Center

It's back to school time in our neck of the woods and we are pretty set as far as homework and school supply organization go.  I thought I would share our homework area, "office" and command center. Basically, they are all one area in our home.  My kids do their homework at our kitchen table.  The table is right next to my "office," and most of the homework supplies are in our laundry room which is right off of the kitchen.  Sorry that some of the picture are a bit dark, as I took them later in the evening.

On top of my desk is a magazine file where I keep my receipt accordion and a few file folders with different items in them, the printer, a small desk organizer, pens and our tablets.  The white wall system is from Pottery Barn and I absolutely love it!  The calendar has all of our sports, events and appointments on it, while the board on the other wall is where I put invitations, birth announcements, photos, etc.

I keep a container of wipes here simply because I have four children under the age of 8.  I use these every single day, so it's handy to have them right near the kitchen table.  

I shop too much and I return things just as much.  Therefore, it's imperative that I save all of my receipts and keep them organized in this accordion file.  

The cabinets under the desk hold all of my office supplies.  That includes extra supplies such as tape and staples, printer supplies, computer software, small electronics, hole punchers, blank CDs, my laminator, notebooks, binders, sheet protectors, folders, printer paper, cardstock, construction paper, etc.  

Pardon the ugly magazine files.  I had other labels on them before and they ripped during removal.  

All of the kids' supplies and arts and crafts are in our laundry room.  I keep the majority of it in our 9-drawer Alex unit from Ikea.  This is where they can pull from when doing arts and crafts at home.  I have a separate container of supplies that are specifically for refilling their school pencil boxes throughout the year.  The blue container on top of the shelves is their new homework caddy.  

Crayons, markers and pencils.

All types of glue, including a hot glue gun in the pencil case.  

Paint.

Stickers.

Tattoos.

Miscellaneous arts and crafts.

The bottom three drawers are for coloring and activity books.  

 I keep all of their pencil box refills in this two-tier container.  I also have the pencil sharpener plugged in behind this shelf.  That little container in the back is for collecting Box Tops.  

This thing is well stocked.  The kids are constantly being asked to bring new supplies in throughout the year.  I refill everything as needed.  

This year I also decided to put together a homework caddy.  I plan to set it on the table during homework time.  This way they should have what they need right there and then I can just put it back in the laundry room when they're done.  I found this caddy at Target and it's perfect!  I just popped in a few mason jars to hold the pencils and markers.  

Lastly is the kids' command center.  I did a complete post about this here.  You don't see their backpacks there yet, but the kids hang them on these hooks when they get home each day.  The Thirty One wall organizer is where I keep all of their calendars, newsletters, reminders and homework.  This year I will have a 2nd grader, 1st grader and a preschooler.  They each have a pocket for their homework.  I usually take everything out of their backpacks when we get home and stick any homework in their pockets until we have homework time.  

It's in the perfect spot, as we often come in through the garage and they can hang up their backpacks right away.  

That about sums it up!  Our whole setup worked out really well last year, so I have high hopes that this year will be the same.  I feel very prepared as far as school supplies and a homework "station" go.  Best of luck to all of the kids, parents and teachers embarking on a new school year!

Weekend Touch-ups

I didn't have any plans for this past weekend, so I made big plans to clean and organize some spaces in the house that were getting a bit out of control and needed to be touched up.  Don't get me wrong, I love a good weekend plan with friends and family, but I also love when the schedule is clear and I can work on things around the house instead.  I am one of those people who can always see those messy areas in the back of my mind even when I should be focusing on other things.  Anyway, this weekend I made a list and I accomplished a lot and it felt great!  I will just take you on a quick tour of what I worked on.

The laundry room was getting a bit out of control and just needed some straightening up.  Also, that Ikea 9-drawer Alex unit needed an overhaul.  That is where I keep all of the kids' art supplies.  You can read how I originally set it up here.  I never planned for it to stay super neat and organized with four kids under the age of 8, but I need to do a better job of looking into it and straightening it up more often to keep from having to completely empty it like I did this weekend.  Some of the photos were taken with my phone, so please excuse their blurriness.

Everything came out and I wiped out the drawers.  I filled a whole garbage bag of broken crayons, old art projects, leaky glue, used coloring books, etc.

I checked all of the markers and threw out the duds.  I put the keepers into Crayola tins and pencil cases and put everything else away as well.  

I was keeping all of the kids' extra school supplies in a small white box (which you can see in my laundry room post), but when they brought their pencil cases back home at the end of the school year, everything didn't fit.  I had a plastic stacking bin lying around in the basement that works perfectly for storing the supplies.  

I have a cabinet in our laundry room that is dedicated to my candles, vases, etc.  It also needed a bit of cleanup.  I even filled a small diaper box with things to donate.  I added a few more baskets and now I don't fear things falling out when I open the door.  

Once the art supplies and candles were organized, I just swept the floor and wiped down the washing machine and dryer and the laundry room was looking much better!  

My desk was also starting to look unsightly, so I went through it and got rid of what didn't belong or things that I never use.  Seriously, what's with all of those scissors?!  These pictures are mid-organizing, but it typically does get messy like this with all sorts of stuff.  

The after picture never disappoints!

I also updated our medicine cabinet.  Got rid of anything that had expired and wiped off the shelves.  Just a few minutes later, it was much better.  You can read a full post about our medicine cabinet here.

I had frames and wall art stacked on our dining room table for weeks now with intentions of getting them up on our living room wall.  I dusted and vacuumed the living room and then hung everything up.  Can you tell that I am going for a coastal feel with this space?  Unfortunately, our hideous dark green microfiber sofas just keep sticking around and will until we can afford new ones.  Also, we have a 2, 3, 6 and 7 year old, so new sofas probably wouldn't be the best idea at the moment anyway.  But they are the farthest thing from coastal.  Bleh!  

Everything looks much better on the walls than they did on the dining room table.  Speaking of the dining room, I also updated our seasonal bucket list.  It's my favorite season to do!  You can read more about that chalkboard here and here.  

That's about all I have to show with photos.  I also touched up our master, linen and hall closets, my craft room, the game and puzzle cabinets, my makeup organizers and the pantry!  I also finished all of the laundry, though by now I am sure there is another load (or two!) ready to go!  I was a woman on a mission this weekend and would you believe I didn't even cross everything off of my list?  What can I say, my list is never ending, but what are you gonna do?!  I feel so accomplished and I woke up this morning feeling a lot better and refreshed knowing that all of those spaces were clean and organized back to where they should be.