You Down With O-R-G? Yeah You Know Me.
Yes, that’s a Naughty By Nature reference. But why O-R-G? That’s $herdog’s shorthand for organizing. I’ll be honest: our house hasn’t looked this messy or chaotic since we moved in 16 months ago. This isn’t a little dust around the baseboards or streaks on the windows — we’re talking about real disorder, like not being able to find anything in our absurdly stuffed sink drawer.
Although we’ve historically shared plenty of cleaning and organizing posts on our Projects page, there hasn’t been much of that lately. The downhill slide began back in January and February during three weeks of book shoots at our house. With a crew in and out, lots of moving, painting, and nonstop styling, the place got turned upside down.
When you’re juggling secret book work, regular blog projects, toddler care, and a production team photographing more than 150 book shots you’re styling and DIYing yourself, you simply don’t have a minute to breathe. After the baby goes to sleep and the crew leaves, the temptation is to fix everything at night — but with more work waiting the next morning, it feels like two full shifts. At that point you aren’t sure what day it is, let alone where you put the deodorant.
We’ve been buried in proofreading page stacks, finishing the resources section, and finalizing our cover — but we realized we can’t live like this. So we declared a week-long bootcamp to reclaim our home’s order. We’re doing it — and we’d love for you to join the spring-cleaning train. We started with a small head-start over the weekend so we’d have a Monday post to kick things off.
First up: the cabinets under our dining room built-ins. I literally whispered, “Say my name,” to them and got to work. I cleared things out (well, cleared a few things, then hit play on some music and got into the groove). I emptied every last book, magazine, and random object that had ended up there — many magazines and slim books live in those built-ins because the shelves aren’t deep enough for taller volumes.
I made piles — each magazine in its own stack (Domino, Cottage Living, House Beautiful, Blueprint, and various Meredith mags) and books grouped by subject (pregnancy and health, chick lit, design and decor, teen fiction, etc.). That simple sorting immediately felt like a small victory.
Some old shelves we’d removed from the built-ins had been shoved into that cabinet and collected dust for more than a year. They were unnecessary, so they were hauled off to John’s scrap wood pile. Then I wiped the shelves down with white vinegar — it took less than a song, and it removed the stale storage-room smell.
I put things back thoughtfully, grouping like with like and stacking items so I could see and access everything without causing a domino effect when pulling something out. Small, visible stacks trumped lining everything upright so I wouldn’t send the whole shelf tumbling.
About 10% of the books and magazines were destined for a yard sale pile. Admitting I won’t read something again and letting it go felt good. Many of the hardcover decorating books live elsewhere — on the console, built-in shelves, and the office file cabinet — and two ottomans in the hallway hold more. Luckily, they’re not overflowing, so no decorating-book crisis yet.
My brain was tired from deciding what to keep, what to toss, and where to put random decor items (there had been faux gourds, vases, and candlesticks shoved in there too). So I moved to the cabinet under the built-ins on the opposite side, the one that stores candlesticks, vases, and miscellaneous decorative pieces. That area had also reached chaos.
I found I’d even been stashing overflow decor in the book cabinet — a sign it was time to pare down and reorganize. I also cleared out the new corner cabinet in the kitchen; about half of its contents belonged there because they’re serving or food-related. I decided to reserve that corner cabinet strictly for kitchen and serving items and consolidate decor into the single cabinet under the dining-room built-ins.
Once again, everything came out. I sorted items into like piles (all vases together, all candlesticks together), pulled anything for the yard sale pile, wiped the cabinet with vinegar, and put back only what belonged. The kitchen corner cabinet ended up neatly dedicated to serving pieces: cake stand, bowls, trays, and similar items. It fits comfortably, with room to spare.
What about the candle collection? Many candles used to sit in our old fireplace, but with a curious toddler in the house, I kept only a few nice ones and created a small candle drawer in a compact cabinet that works like a nightstand. I lined the drawer with plastic placemats to protect it from wax and moved the rest of the candles to the yard sale pile.
Hooray — the kitchen corner now holds only kitchen-related items, and the dining-room cabinets are reorganized. I still have lots to do this week, and we’d love for you to join our bootcamp. Here’s our tentative schedule:
- Monday: Tackle one or two cabinets, like books and decorative accessories.
- Tuesday: Tame kid clutter — or any general clutter if you don’t have kids.
- Wednesday: Pare down grooming and cleaning products.
- Thursday: Organize paper and tech — from desktop cleanup to filing receipts or streamlining blog systems.
- Friday: We might show our basement — consider a garage or basement cleanup on your end.
- Bonus: We hope to work on clothes (dresser and closet tweaks) and the cluttered night tables at some point.
We’re blogging in real time, so the plan is flexible. Have you already started spring cleaning or streamlining your house? Will you join our challenge? And what audio keeps you sane while you clean — music, podcasts, audiobooks, or TV? Share what gets you through the messy parts — we’d love to hear it.