Amateur Hour

I was not much of a nester during my last pregnancy, but this week I’ve been on a roll….

The silverware drawer, before and after.  Not the most dramatic transformation, but trust me, its better:

My spice cabinet was a total mess and not user-friendly at all.  Here it is, before and after:

The little stair-step thing I had was useless for storing spices.  Every time I reached for a bottle in the back, I’d knock over 2 or 3 in the front.  Plus, I couldn’t see the labels on the ones in the back.  It was ugly.

These magnetic canisters are much better:

I screwed the metal backing onto the inside of the cabinet door, and put the spices I use most frequently there.  The rest went into a plastic bin, which I can take down and look through pretty easily, without knocking everything over like dominos.  Bonus: there’s room for a bottle of olive oil, which I also use frequently. 

One more before and after shot of the pantry:

The next target of my hormone-induced neat-freakiness: the linen closet!  Stay tuned, its a thrill a minute here in the amateur household… 

I broke my stove last month.  It was completely stupid.  I dropped a bottle of soy sauce, and the glass top shattered.  The bottle survived.  I had no idea that glass top stoves were so delicate!  When I called GE to find out how much the replacement part would be, they quoted me an absolutely astronomical number.  It was almost as expensive as a brand new stove.  A friend sent me to this website, and I was amazed!  Not only did they have the part I needed for over $100 cheaper than it would cost to order it from GE, but they emailed us detailed instructions on how to install it, with color photos - I was really impressed!

Best $8.00 I’ve spent in a long time.  My house looks better, and I feel more accomplished.  Amateur housekeepers like me need all the help we can get. 

Do they make carpet that is the color of crushed Cheerios?  The next time we buy carpet, I’m going to bring a handful of Cheerio crumbs with me to the store and say, “This is what we want.” 

Charlie has developed a fear of the vacuum cleaner.  He doesn’t like the noise, and whenever I turn it on, he immediately starts to cry and wants to be held.  He is over 26 pounds, and I am not strong enough or coordinated enough to vacuum and hold him at the same time.  I’m thinking that I may have better luck trying to camoflage the mess on the carpet rather than cleaning it up.

but something tells me that its time to mop the kitchen floor…

Somewhere, my mother is wondering where she went wrong.