The Clean team ~ Day #2

It was Day #2 & we dug in to overhaul the kitchen today. Since I rose at the crack of dawn to go with Dave to the Farmer's Market today I was ready to work much earlier than usual. The teen was in a dragon of a mood but we soon pulled her out of it with our dancing & a quick warning. =0) I hit the wall about 3 p.m. & had to lie down for an hour. I got back to work after that & dragged my way into the evening. I finally had to quit around 8p.m. b/c I simply couldn't stand up anymore. It kills me to leave a job unfinished & it wasn't easy to walk away but Dave insisted. The girls worked hard almost all day. I am very proud of them. Elvis worked the first hour or so and tried to join in later but most of it was stuff he couldn't do. He did help entertain Princess & did his regular chores. Bugs helped a little in the beginning but soon ran off to play. He managed to stay out of trouble today which was a huge help in itself. Lol!

I have some 'Before' shots I took Monday night. I had posted them asking for help from a frugal mamas group I belong to. Jenn, had some great suggestions & I printed them out to use them today as we worked. Thank you, Jenn! I have 'After' shots too. Some I still need to take but this is a good start.

We began with the storage containers. They had all been shoved in the cabinet.

Elvis, Boo & Bugs helped me sort, match & wash them.


We turned up the tunes & danced and sang with our buddy Trace.

Bugs played in the living room after he tired of the sorting.

Sweet Pea vacuuming out the cabinets.

Sorting, matching, sorting, matching......

There were lots of dishes to scrub especially when it came to the pots & pans.

The boys munched on some Quaker Snacks for a mid-morning snack.

Princess danced with us, played in her playpen & then passed out in the middle of snack time. So cute!

Next it was time to vacuum the tops of the cabinets. I don't think anyone has done that since they built this house! I was sneezing like crazy!

Jenn, that's your email of ideas on my frig!

Boo was my sidekick holding the vacuum up so I could reach with the hose.

All the drawers were emptied, cleaned, sorted & organized.

While I was up on the counter I cleaned out those cabinets over the fridge too. Later I did the top of the fridge & the top of the white pantry too. Here's a 'Before' picture of the top of the cabinets.

My "pretties" are now displayed above the sink.

And these are all nice & neat. I even found a spot for the tomatoes Dave canned this weekend!

Now for the upper cabinets!

Yes, this is a 'Before' picture! Lol!

And 'After'.

My spices & herbs are all in those containers. Easy access! One container holds the baking ones & the other hold the cooking ones.

Sweet Pea organized this shelf.

(She took this pic before we found a new home for the spices & herbs.)

A close up of the left side.

The cabinets by the fridge. Yikes!

Sweet Pea did these too. Nice!

We later moved the crackers to where the spices used to be freeing up some space.

This is the little, narrow cabinet beside the stove. It used to be filled with a jumbled mess of pan lids & odds and ends.

Here are the cabinets underneath. They sit between the stove & the frig. What a mess! I hated it b/c every time I opened the door something would jump out & attack me.

Now look at it! What a difference!

I put the appliances we use only occasionally in the way back. This uses the space efficiently & also frees up some room on our laundry room/pantry shelves.

Now for those storage containers we spent all that time sorting, matching & washing.

Now all nice & neat! I was even able to fit in my casserole dishes!

Another 'Before' picture.

Dave worked in the laundry room/pantry tonight. Boo went in there first to organize the food shelves. A big job! Then Dave went in and organized some of the other shelves & the cabinets after I sorted things out into containers. I'm thrilled this job was tackled too! I'll get an 'After' picture tomorrow.

The kitchen is almost done. We did the white pantry but I still need to get 'After' pictures. I was able to use a lot of containers I already had on hand saving $. Some were store bought & others were creative. The dish cabniets are going to be worked on tomorrow & then some more scrubbing. I will feel so good once it is all finished!