Pick One Spot

I love to organize things, but recently my to-do list at home has been overwhelming me a bit. My trip to Europe kept me from getting my regular summer cleaning done (oh, darn) and having my sister move in with us has made everything a little more smooshed than normal. She's totally worth it, but it's an adjustment. =)

I've probably got a dozen little projects I'd like to take care of, but as the list grows longer, my motivation seems to get less and less.

I'd prefer to just snap my fingers and wish that I was Mary Poppins, but instead, I've decided to follow the advice of the ladies that write a blog I read called Girl Talk. A couple of years ago, they suggested that we "Pick One Spot" to clean or reorganize, instead of thinking of the big, overwhelming list of things that you need to do at home. They also had a contest to see which reader could turn in the most impressive before and after pictures of mini-projects and I loved seeing the results. Make-overs of all shapes and sizes make me happy, so I'm hoping that documenting my own befores and afters will be inspiring!

I started with my laundry room, but I forgot to take pictures since the idea of blogging about it hadn't occurred to me yet. Sorry. But, you can come over any time and check it out. It looks great, mostly because I tamed all the Trader Joe's bags that were out of control in there.

I just had to get outside in the beautiful weather today, so my front porch seemed like a good option for my second "Pick One Spot". It gets direct sun all morning and I'm not the greatest at remembering to water, so it's sadly a place where plants come to die. I've tried to change this tragic occurrence, but I'm just not quite there yet. Things really went downhill when I was gone for a month in the summertime, so we've been displaying excellent examples of plant carcasses for about two months now. Here are some before shots:



A couple little friends were still showing some green and putting up a fight, but they were still a hot mess.



And then here are the after shots! I really like how it turned out- newly potted plants, a swept porch, a delightful pumpkin. My favorite thing is the little pot covered in chalkboard paint that I made a while back and am finally using.





And thanks to a 40% off coupon from Michael's and fall ribbon that's already on sale to make room for Christmas, we have a new door decoration. Lovely.



Three cheers for setting attainable goals! =) Send me pictures if you decide to pick one spot!