Imagine the Impossibilities Challenge ~ Take 2

This project may turn me into an over-caffeinated, chocolate crazed, DIY disaster. 

via http://chicagogirlgonemild.blogspot.com/2011/01/stress-and-chocolate.html via http://www.etsy.com/listing/63973889/11x14-poster-stress-out-and-eat?ref=sr_list_8&ga_search_query=stress%2Bprint&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=2

Don't worry about me though...Scott is here keeping me sane.  Right now he is working at making the laundry room an eclectic mix of frugality, functionality and organization.  He is straining his brain trying to make this work without spending any money.  And just to be fair, he is very encouraging each time I throw another item into our "purge" pile.   Positive reinforcement.  That's right, Baby!

*SIGH* 

Here's what We've done:

Removed all pantry items from the laundry room and put them on the dining table.  WOW.  This is just one small portion!

Scott moved all the other items that were hanging out in the laundry room to various surfaces in our home.

Discussed space planning, purging, and organization plans.  (That didn't go so well.)

I took a chocolate, wine and hot tub break, while Scott did his homework and watched sci-fi.

Started putting pantry items into the new pantry area under the stairs... 
Realized we were already running out of space.  Yikes...that's no good.

Created a WELL STOCKED PANTRY LIST, in order to make sure that we are allowing enough space for all of the items we would like to keep on hand regularly.  Click here if you want to check it out...maybe create your own.

Determined that the shelving that Scott originally built under the stairs would not be sufficient for all of our pantry storage needs.  You can see his original built in shelves here.  Scott jumped in and added a couple more shelves to the closet.

Gathered up all of our canisters, bins, baskets and other storage items that we might utelize in our spaces.

Overwhelmed with the magnitude of this project, I went on "strike" for a day. 

Unable to sit for long, I went back to other projects:  We did some finishing details on a chalkboard.  I painted my little blue shelf a pale green color.  I made a HUGE chocolate kiss.  I baked a triple-chocolate loaf cake.  More about these later!  Scott did more homework and watched more sci-fi.

Finally, back to the project at hand, I mixed up some chalkboard paint with my hand mixer and applied it to the walls behind the pantry shelving. 

(We've discovered that mixing our own chalkboard paint is pretty easy, but it tends to be lumpy - no matter how much you stir.  Using the hand mixer works great!  I may need a new mixer though.  Maybe one of those big KitchenAid stand mixers?  That would be very nice...I think I will plan a spot for it.)

Here's the closet with the chalkboard paint:

While I worked on painting and organizing the pantry space, Scott was busy planning and building the laundry room storage:

Just a peak!  More on this later...

That purple-blue color has got to go.  We will get to that.  Hopefully before the challenge deadline, but it's low on the list.  It isn't really going to break us if we don't get the painting done.  It's the purging and organizing that are the priority! 

Things are coming along.  We still have tons of work to do.  Don't ask about the garage.  I'm kind of wishing I'd left it off the list.  I'm confident that I can get it purged.  Not so confident that it will look real pretty.  We'll just have to see how it goes...

 xoxo,
Sherry