Organizing My Kitchen On a Small Budget

Organizing my brand new kitchen with some items on hand and a few items purchased at the Dollar Tree.  I love using the Dollar Tree for organizing bins.  They have a large variety of sizes and colors to fit any style.

I started with contact paper.  I lined the bottoms of all the drawers and inside of the cabinet doors and the bottom of the sink cabinet (leaks from cleaners are always easier to clean up this way).

I used small bins I had on hand and used Velcro to keep them in place. 

 I fit everything first before the Velcro is attached to make sure it functions well.

 

 I have since found a lid rack and added it for more functionality.

Under my kitchen sink.  Again the Dollar Tree is amazing for most of your organizing needs.

A basket attached to the cabinet door holds the wet sponge.  Another basket holds the sink stoppers.

 Here I used baskets to organize and hold my kitchen cleaners.  And being frugal I always use the box the garbage bags come in for organizing them. Why waste money when you're provided with a perfectly good organizing tool?

Found a file divider at Goodwill and used it for my baking pans. 

 

Here I used shelf racks found at Walmart to make more usable space in the uppers.

Dollar store adhesive hooks work great for adding  measuring spoons to the inside of a cabinet door.

My temporary pantry.  Did I tell you that I love using things I already have?  Notice the ice cream containers turned storage containers??

Labeling helps other members of the house find needed items quickly.

Organizing is a great way to help you stay "sane" and help you live a little more frugal.  You are able to see what you have and know what you need.  I hope you were able to get a little bit of inspiration today. 


Hope you have a wonderful day!  And Remember all things great take time, so start small and you will get there. :)

A Tiny Bathroom Transformation

In 2013 my Hubs and I decided it was time to renovate our tiny ugly bathroom.  We knew our budget was tight, so we made the decision early on that we would keep the original cast iron tub and toilet, the toilet was a recent upgrade before we moved in and the tub just needed some TLC (and lots of it).

We tore out everything else, down to the exterior walls.  We installed all new wiring, insulation, sheetrock, flooring, and plumbing.  

 We did all of the demo ourselves and most of the installation.  Electric is not on our list of expertise, so we called in a friend to help with that. We laid tile, tiled the shower surround, hung insulation and sheetrock, installed the window, resurfaced the tub, installed the toilet, hug the medicine cabinet and installed the new vanity cabinet all without any assistance.  We did eventually call in another friend to help with the crown molding, those corners just aren't very friendly to me.

 Resurfacing the old tub was as easy as going to Lowe's and purchasing the resurface kit.  Taping off all the tile surround and venting the bathroom.

 We found this little gem at a local thrift shop on clearance for $80 (that is real granite) and it came with all the hardware.  AWESOME DEAL!!

 The subway tile surround gave the bathroom a classic and clean look.  While brightening the place up.

 So I'll admit, this was my second choice flooring, basket weave marble was my first choice, but once I priced it, I realized even as small as my bathroom is, I do not have a champagne budget...so I opted for the ceramic tile version of marble.  Much lighter on the budget.

Cement board and waterproofing are a must when doing a shower surround.

And our lovely new bathroom is complete.

We saved a lot of money doing most of the work ourselves and not being afraid of the thrift stores.  A little imagination, wiggle room on design and a lot of patience helped us get this eye sore the new shining gem it was meant to be.

Hope you enjoyed!
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Tiny Outdated Kitchen Transformation

My Hubs and I remodeled our tiny outdated kitchen this year.  If you've never tackled a kitchen remodel, let me just say...STRESSFUL!  Especially when you have kids living at home.  Luckily for us ours are teenagers.

We went from this....

To this...

We added about 300sqft of kitchen space to add a laundry room

Still working on it, but it's getting closer.  Still have to add the door into the room, paint the dryer, add permanent shelving and baseboard, but we will have to save up some more to get that project finished.

In the meantime, I am loving the new kitchen and having an inside laundry room (we may live in Florida, but it still gets cold here).

Next on my to do list...my dining room/livingroom combination.

Remember how I said a kitchen remodel/renovation is stressful, can you see where my refrigerator is? And we had no stove during the renovation, just a hotplate.  And my absolute favorite kitchen appliance, the Power Cooker, but we'll discuss that another time.

Hope you have enjoyed.  Have a wonderful day!!!!

Making it ours....

 Scary isn't it?  This is how our house looked when we moved in 5 years ago....

And this is our house 2 years ago.... Getting better!

This year we have painted the exterior, the brick flower boxes and added some much needed curb appeal by way of flowers and adding white rocking chairs to the porch.

 Got to love Pinterest...I found these cuties and had to try my hand at it...turned out pretty good if I do say so myself.

 The painted flower boxes...Goes much better with that blue metal roof.  That's a major expense we just aren't able to tackle just yet.

 My little girl decided to help me add some pops of color by painting some old terracotta pots we had laying around.  Great job babygirl!

Looking even better...it's still a work in progress, but it's getting there.  At least now we can see the house from the road. (yes, I said road, we live on a dirt road)

Oh and did you see the meter box? Another idea snagged from that wonderful world of Pinterest..

That's our little house...it's not much but it's ours and we LOVE IT!!!

Hope you have a wonderful day!

A Little About Sweetpea

Starting today with a small hello from my home to yours.

I'm a 38 year old WAHM with 3 wonderful teenagers, a divorcee that has been remarried for 9 years now.  My blog is my diary of sorts, I will share the pain and happiness I have experienced in my life, my marriages and with my children.  I've been poor (like no food in the house poor) and I've been well off (never rich...though I dream of the Caribbean daily). Living through an abusive marriage and how it's made me a stronger person today.

Please forgive me if my blog isn't like others, or is just random, but for me, it's more about finally getting all of it out of my head.  Hopefully somewhere along the way my story will help someone dealing with a similar circumstance.