During the month of April, I’m encouraging my readers to participate in a 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge (read more here, if you missed my announcement about this challenge last week). Every week day morning at 9 a.m., I’ll post the daily project and every evening around 6 p.m. EST, I’ll post an update and link-up.
I have another very embarrassing batch of pictures to show you tonight. Honestly, I considered sprucing the drawers up a little before posting them here. But then I reminded myself that I really want to keep it real.
So you just get to see all my unedited mess in all its ugly glory. And you have my permission to be astonished at how disorganized some parts of my house are. 🙂
Drawer #1
Drawer #2
Drawer #3 (Clearly, the labeling of the drawer contents ain’t working out too well for us!)
There was all sorts of icky gunk to wipe out of the drawers. Yuck!
Cleaned Drawer #1
Cleaned Drawer #2
Cleaned Drawer #3
Join in the Chatter
::Want to blog about this challenge? If you’re blogging through this challenge with me, be sure to leave your link to your direct post on linky below. Plus, if you’d like to post your daily posts to the 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge Pinterest Group, just shoot me an email (moneysavingmom @ gmail dot com) and I’ll invite you.
::Want to follow along on Twitter or Instagram? I’ll also be sharing some of my cleaning pictures on my Facebook Page, my Twitter account, and my Instagram account. I’d love to have you do the same or join in the discussion on Twitter and Instagram. Just follow hashtag #Cleanin30 to see what others are tweeting and Instagramming about this challenge!
Denise says
My bathroom drawers are pretty similar to your before picture. I should have gone that route instead of an overall cleaning of the bathrooms. Hopefully there is a deep cleaning challenge for the bathroom in my future! 🙂
You did a great job on your bathroom drawers!
Denise 🙂
lindsey says
Thanks! I was just thinking about cleaning my drawer in the bathroom! 🙂 This was a perfectly timed post.
Pam says
Is anyone else here married to a stuffer? Crystal’s before drawers look cleaner than my drawers after they have been organized. Our problem in our home is my stuffer. He pretends to be helping me clean while he stuffs totally unrelated items in any drawer in our home. My desk is constantly in disorder, our basement is so bad I refuse to have any thing to do with it. When he does clean the basement he throws out my new extra large crockpot’s that I bought to use during the holidays and keeps cardboard boxes. The only reason those said cardboard boxes are in basement is because they won’t fit into the drawers.
It is now 5 minutes later. My husband just called to check in and to tell me he loves me.
And now you know why I keep him.
Courtney says
Do you have any MoneySavingMom ideas for getting good prices on Mary Kay products? I try not to splurge on those kind of things, but I do like Mary Kay. I did host one party before but I don’t have that opportunity anymore.
Theresa says
Crystal your drawers look great!
I tackled our bathroom closet today. I am not sure where all this stuff comes from!
BScott says
Love this one! Thanks for being real!!
Sarah says
Everyone’s drawers end up looking like that over time! Well at least mine do. 🙂
I finished up my tasks and am thrilled to have clean bathrooms! This challenge has been so inspirational for me because it has made me clean things that are not yet really dirty, which is the key to having a manageable house. I would always wait until something looked like it needed cleaning, which is generally too late. No more!
K Quinn says
LOL! I wanted to edit my pics too. Our bathroom was soooo messy! I did one of the drawers last week. This is inspiring me to keep going. I’m editing the countertops right now. This will take me a few days to find my footing.
Angie F. says
I’m so envious of you gals with bathroom drawers! There are only two doors, and a big wide open space, under each vanity in the two bathrooms in our older home. Total organizational nightmare!
I did get some inexpensive stacking plastic bins a while back. That helps, but stuff still overflows or disappears into the dark abyss beneath! I store other items in small baskets on the counter next to the sink and the narrow ledge over the toilet. I’d love to get rid of (hide) that clutter though.
psst Crystal…I’m a Mary Kay girl too! 😉
Emily says
Yeah, we don’t have drawers either. I have a bunch of baskets and buckets in the vanity to keep things “organized.” (It works pretty well) I also have boxes and bins in the closet.
Chris says
But where did all the stuff go??
Lisa says
That was my thought, too! 😀
I’m also loving this series! I’m not following it exactly but on the days I don’t do the assigned project, I’m at least doing SOMETHING extra. Today, I cleaned out and wiped down all surfaces in my fridge.
Crystal says
A lot of it went into the medicine tub or other bathroom cupboard where it belonged, a few things went into other parts of the house where they belonged, and a few things went into the trash. 🙂
Shelly says
I cleaned my bathroom drawers last month and they were just awful. I forgot to take a picture of the shower curtain today at one end it builds up this muck. I tried a new homemade cleaner and it worked great to take the muck off. I didn’t even need to take the curtain down. 🙂 Which is always a plus.
Amy R says
Please share your cleaner recipe!!!!
Shelly says
Amy, I have seen this recipe in a few different places and on Pinterest.
This is how I made it,
1/2 vinegar
1/2 cup dawn liquid dish soap, (I have read it is best to use the original blue one)
Heat the vinegar until warm. Add in the Dawn dish soap. Then gently shake to mix. I put it into an old spray bottle. I used it on the countertop, toilet, shower, and shower curtain.
I found it is a little sudsy. So next time I will spray less onto the surface to clean. But it worked just as well as the store bought cleaners.
Denise says
So glad for the good reason to finally tackle my linen closet in the bathroom. It was a serious mess! Thanks for prodding me!
deborah says
I’m always amazed at the extra space in a drawer of cupboard after I’ve rearranged it and organized it!
Marie says
I clearly have an issue with magazines! I know organizer Peter Walsh has a rule of not keeping magazines more then two months old. This is great is theory but lately I’ve had no time to read my magazines so that wouldn’t work. I get Rachael Ray, All You, Real Simple and Family Fun. (There were others but I finally threw them all out today!) My RR mags I didn’t realize went back to 2010!! I need to purge! But I am struggling with just throwing them out because they are full of recipes. I also realize I haven’t opened them since 2010 so probably not missing anything. So why this internal struggle? I started this afternoon going through every magazine but it is taking forever!!! Should I just abandon the thought and throw them?
Next is my coupon inserts!!! This season right now I’ve barely had time. I have a bin overflowing. I think I will just keep the past two months and throw the rest. And from there figure out what I need. The days of my large coupon binder are not serving me right now and just making things feel cluttered.
michelle says
Check with your local women’s shelter or city mission, some use magazines for kids crafts. Our local Goodwill accepts and sells magazines. I used lots as sources for art projects in college.
Heather says
Elementary teachers might like them also.
Kris says
I get a bunch of magazines too. I cut out the pages I want then post the rest on freecycle.org
Donating them is a good idea as well. Sometimes city hall or justice departments like them for jury duty waiting rooms.
Joy says
I struggle with this too. Dh calls me a magazine hoarder. I do sometimes purge after I have read them but I’m about 2 years behind, too. My All You is the only one I actually finish on time. I keep mine in totes and pretty baskets but they are overtaken my house, but can’t bring myself to toss until have chance to read or at least glance at.
Angie F. says
Oh Joy, glad to hear I’m not the only one! I have a bunch of baskets and such too. DH just shakes his head. He says the real problem is that I’m an information hoarder, hence all the magazines. Don’t really know why it’s so hard to chuck them, especially if I haven’t completely read them! I was collecting Sunset and Women’s World’s, (and occasionally others) but my latest obsession is Fitness Magazines. Like I’m really going to do all the latest greatest workouts they feature! Lol
Marie, I’m pretty sure some of my magazine piles go back farther then 2010! I relate to your struggle, especially with tossing recipes. My mother had the same issue. When she passed away, I found that there were thick manilla folders full of them in one of her kitchen drawers. Our daughter just gave us a portable scanner, so I’m thinking there may be hope for me yet. Scanning articles, and then electronically filing and organizing everything on my computer, or to an external hard drive, might just be the answer to the magazine clutter that I’ve been looking for! This might take awhile though. 😉
Theresa says
Information Hoarder! I have never heard this, but I can admit to being one.
I am a reforming magazine hoarder, I just purged a huge stack of knitting magazines. Some were almost 10 years old. (Seriously, if I haven’t knit it in ten years will I ever?)
Getting rid of these magazines was so hard, it felt like I was giving up on dreams. But I rationalized that A. If the projects or recipes were projects I really wanted to do, I would have by now. B. Most patterns/info is available online now.
I cannot wait to tell my hubby that there is a term for my disease, Information Hoarder. 😉
Abigail says
Do you mean that you subscribe to these magazines but haven’t read some of them in two years? Maybe it would be worth canceling your subscriptions at least until you’ve caught up in reading/organizing?
Helen says
LOVE the challenge. Feels great to have clean bathrooms!!
Carla says
We have to have little organizer bins in each drawer. My makeup drawer has a nice wooden silverware organizer to separate blush, eyeshadow, lipgloss, etc. I throw each brush in with the matching products. Never lost again!
The Prudent Homemaker says
Where did you get yours? I want some but I haven’t seen any nice ones anywhere. I would love some suggestions!
Carla says
I’ve had mine for ages, used for actual silverware. If you search for “wood silverware tray” on Amazon, mine is a lot like the first one there.
The Prudent Homemaker says
Thanks. I actually want some small containers that will fit in our skinny drawers that can be moved to fit the space and what I have in the drawers. A silverware container is too wide.
Jenny says
We got some like what you are describing at the container Store. The ones we have are plastic, but they have wood ones, too. FYI- We did not pay full price. I love that they can be rearranged so easily to fit our drawers.
http://www.containerstore.com/shop?productId=10012726&N=&Nao=60&Ntt=plastic+clear+
Sarah says
I got little plastic containers from the Dollar Tree. They aren’t the prettiest things, but they fit and are certainly functional for my skinny bathroom drawers. I have two long skinny ones that hold my hairbrushes and toothbrushes/toothpaste and two smaller square ones that hold my dental floss, earrings, hair bands and lip glosses. I believe that both different sizes came in a set of 4, so for .25 each they are certainly doing a fine job!
Carla says
For the rest we use clear ones by rubbermaid
Tracy S says
Fabulous! I actually cleaned out the drawers (minus my hubbys) and inside the cabinets a few weeks ago (I was on a cleaning out binge!). We didn’t do anything inside the house today unfortunately. I was sick this morning, then had to get the kids home from school. We have been busy planting our garden and cleaning up the yards/mowing and weedeating this week. It is supposed to rain tomorrow, so that is when my kids will be cleaning the bathrooms. I will be in the kitchen….baking banana bread (for a church function) and cleaning.
Charlene @ A Virtuous Woman says
I’m not working on drawers and inside cabinets until next week–I hope my results are as good as yours!
Brandi @ Savvy Student Shopper says
Looks much better! 🙂