fun drawer liners
5th March 2024
Toy Organization Favorites
20th February 2024
Pantry Organization Favorite Products
14th February 2024
Lenten Declutter Challenge 2024
7th February 2024
Lent begins Ash Wednesday which happens to be Valentines Day this year! Join me daily as we declutter around our homes and donate the things we don’t need to others who do. Follow my instagram @caseypawelek where I will post daily the spaces I am tackling and sharing my tips and favorite organizing products. Happy almsgiving!
Screenshot the challenge to keep on your phone or download the PDF below
Give up clutter for Lent
1st March 2022
Making Room for Peace
The past three seasons of Lent I have done a 30 day declutter challenge and loved it. The idea is to tackle a small area of our lives each day of lent and go through our items with a spirit of almsgiving. The items we don’t use/love could be given to someone else who could really use/enjoy them. Having this in the back of my mind helps me to see my clutter clearer and motivates me to give more away.
I was recently reading (on Sunday) from I Heard God Laugh, by Matthew Kelly and he says, “We need so little. We need so much less than we think we do. And every unnecessary thing we burden ourselves with creates an obstacle between us and God.” I can relate to this and I always feel lighter, freer, more peaceful when the areas I live in are neat and basic. Maybe you feel this way too! Or maybe you want to feel this way. So if you are looking for a new challenge this Lent, follow along and make more room for peace.
Download the Declutter Schedule
Cousins Club
26th August 2021
Cousins Club–A grandparent’s solution to toys and mess when the grandkids come to stay.
Joe’s side of the family is growing at rapid speed and when we all get together the house can feel a little chaotic. The adults want to visit and the kids want to play, and I’m sure you can imagine the mess that unfolds as 12 little ones play with mild supervision.
My in-laws wanted a solution that would contain the chaos while still allowing the grandkids freedom to play. We decided to turn a spare bedroom on the main floor into a “cousin’s club.”
The Name
I can’t take credit for the name. Madeleine, Joseph and my nieces came up with it at one of our beach trips years ago. We were staying at a beach house in Port Aransas that had TWO bunk beds. A dream come true for our little crew. They held secret meetings on the top bunk all weekend long and coined the term ‘cousin club’ for these sweet huddles. The name stuck and anytime the family got together, the club would resume.
What We Did
So back to the ‘official’ cousins club. We began by taking everything out of the room and gathering all the toys from the different play areas around the house. We sorted the toys into categories; dolls, vehicles, dinosaurs, instruments, play kitchen, and dress up. We had a variety of coordinating bins to store items so we chose large bins for our large categories and small bins for the small categories.
We added an additional shelf in the closet (thanks Joe) so that bins and toys would be accessible for little kids and would also encourage clean up after playtime.
We brought in an old shelving unit from the garage and turned it into a storage/entertainment center for a new tv. Perfect for cartoons and movie night sleepovers. The play kitchen fit perfectly in the open space by the window. The tall striped trunk keeps all the play food and kitchen accessories hidden.
We wanted to keep the bed but didn’t want the space to feel like just another bedroom so we added large colorful pillows and placed them along both sides to give the feel of a day bed/oversized couch. This adorable little futon is a favorite for playing ‘house’ and provides more seats for watching shows.
Link to purchase
The built in desk was perfect for storing art supplies, paper, and stickers.
My favorite area is the old wardrobe we repurposed into dress up central by installing screw in hooks along the back wall and doors. These are more functional than hangers when it comes to little kids hanging things back up. We used two baskets, one on top for accessories like crowns and wands, and a larger one on the bottom for dress up shoes.
Once everything had a place, the room was complete. The cousins love how their club turned out and it is a favorite play space in the house when we get together.
Trading Spaces
12th February 2021
LINK TO PURCHASE LARGE CANVAS BINS
Organizing brother’s room to make space for little brother on the way.
This was a special project I did for one of my good friends who was expecting her second baby just a few months after we got together. The challenge was to take all the items in the photos above and make space for them in her oldest son’s bedroom, that way, the ‘play room’ could be nested into her new nursery.
Floorplan
We started by looking at the layout of the ‘destination room’ so we could make space for larger toys. We nudged the bed closer to the wall which created more floor space for the large train table. We were able to tuck an art easel, tool bench and car track in the little nooks by the dresser and night stand.
Closet
Next we tackled the closet by purging clothes and toys. I like to use large canvas bins for storing items high on the top shelf because they are easy to pull down and put back up without playing the stack and balance game. In this closet, the large bins hold stuffed animals and extra blankets. For the remaining shelves, we used stylish striped bins to sort and store toys by categories so they would be easy to pull out for play time and simple enough to clean up. We used the remaining shelf space to stage larger toys and books. The biggest items earned a spot on the floor tucked neatly under the shelves.
For art supplies, we used stackable clear bins and kraft labels so items can be easily seen. These are stored on a higher shelf so ink or paint cannot be used without mom and dad’s permission.
Clothes
For hanging clothes, we divided items based on weather; short sleeved shirts, long sleeved shirts, and jackets. We purchased a hanging shoe organizer for one of the low hanging rods and staged cowboy boots on the open shelf. On one side of the closet, we repurposed a shelving unit and hanging bins from the playroom to store more toys and puzzles underneath.
By the end of this project, we had transitioned everything that needed to move from the nursery but it didn’t feel overstuffed or crowded. There was plenty of play space in the main room and everything else was neat and functional in the closet. This little boys room was ready to welcome a new baby brother!
barn beauty organized
14th October 2020
One of my clients recently built a beautiful farmhouse and what’s a farmhouse without a barn? This barn wasn’t like the ones I was used to that looked run down with animals and farm equipment inside. This one was beautifully white with black trim that matched the main house and it stored a collection of gorgeous antiques, woodworking tools and outdoor toys for grandkids. They called me in to organize and clean up the space so it could be used to it’s potential and not just become a second attic.
This was a large barn so we broke it up into themed areas: stackable storage totes in the loft, antique furniture tucked in between support beams, a large shelving unit for kids toys, and a nice workshop area for tools.
The loft
These weather proof totes from The Container Store help keep the items inside free from dust and bugs. These bins are also stackable, so we organized this space with three rows of totes across. I personally love clear boxes so you can see the contents and we labeled each tote for extra function.
The workshop
This area was so fun and a bit challenging due to installing the workshop unit around a breaker box (thanks Joe!), but the transformation was so worth it! My favorite part- the work table can be pulled out to the open floor to create a workable island.
The toy area
Toy storage is a constant challenge in my own home with three kids and an ever shrinking floor plan. But since my client’s grandkids live out of town, these items aren’t used on a daily basis. We purchased this sturdy shelving unit and the large buckets to tidy up and store high. They can be pulled down and out for a visit and then put away again.
The transformation of organizing this barn was fun to watch. We utilized the vertical space in all areas with stacking, shelving, and wall cabinets that freed up floor space. Now there’s room for more playing, more building, and maybe a few more antique finds:)
Life in my 4 runner
21st July 2020
Now that we have three kids, we have officially outgrown my 4Runner… the very same 4Runner my parents surprised me with for my first car back in high school. As we are looking to upgrade in order to accommodate our growing family, I was surprised, and a little embarrassed, at the emotions that came to light. I mean, it’s just a car right? But looking back, there has been a lot of life in my 4Runner.
Surprise!
My parents surprised me a few months after my 16th birthday by taking me to ‘pretend’ shop for a car they had already bought without me knowing. When they finally let me in on their surprise, I was literally speechless. Besides being grateful, I felt a little guilty knowing how expensive new cars were, but mom and dad insisted that ‘new’ meant ‘safe’ and ‘long lasting.’ After 16 years and over 235,000 miles… I think they were right.
School
This 4Runner skipped out on a lot of driving in high school in order to save hard earned gas money. This 4Runner was a concert venue for Destiny’s Child and my best friends on our way to all our high school games. This 4Runner failed at transporting a homemade Spanish project and leaked melted chocolate all over its backseat.
This 4Runner took me to college and only got one parking ticket at Texas A&M and one big Aggie going away present when it got towed on Northgate graduation night. This 4Runner has made countless Sonic runs with my roommates, and was a favorite study spot for me with my moon roof open. This 4Runner spent a lot of time at Baylor University too… where it attracted a homeless man to its driver’s seat, who was rummaging through its console! My now husband, Joe, and his roommates didn’t catch him, and this 4Runner has been without its User’s Manual ever since.
Family Life
This 4Runner has been a big part of mine and Joe’s relationship, taking us all the way back to high school. This 4Runner witnessed our first kiss. This 4Runner knew the 13 minute route down Stahl Lane between our houses all too well, and how to get back just in time for curfew. This 4Runner defines long distance relationship, knowing its own way back and forth on Highway 6 between College Station and Waco.
This 4Runner was my limo to church on our wedding day. This 4Runner navigated itself through the NFL, bringing us, and all our stuff, all the way from Seattle to Jacksonville, and back to San Antonio again. Literally, across the country.
This 4Runner escorted our first two babies home from the hospital and has learned to like fruit snacks and french fries over the past few years. This 4Runner has hosted picnics in the back, lugged around strollers and bicycles, and even played driving simulator in the driveway for our toddlers.
You can see how this 4Runner is so hard to part with, because it has become part of our family. I can’t imagine my mom and dad giving my 16 year old self such a gift, such an important gift: a safe, reliable vehicle for an unsafe and uncertain life. My 4Runner has lived a lot of life, and now you can bet we will be investing in another Toyota, another vehicle to last us the next part of our lifetime.
blank slate garage organization
23rd October 2019
I loved this garage organization project! It was a fabulous blank slate with fresh clean walls that, at times, I was afraid of scuffing:) The solution to bringing order to this space was to think vertically. We hung Rubbermaid Fast Track systems on one side of the garage to create floor to ceiling, front to back hanging space. This track system is so functional and easy to use because the accessory hooks can clip anywhere along the track so essentially your wall storage can change and adapt through the years and as your needs change.
On the other side of the garage there was a inset of the wall with symmetrical space on each side of a window. We found a workbench that fit perfectly and we added a black metal peg board for extra wall storage. On the right side of the window we found a coordinating floor cabinet. To organize the inside we used stackable bins to maximize the deep shelves and keep items categorized.
In the extra space between the garage doors we added a tall industrial shelving unit to hold larger miscellaneous items like pet gear, lightbulbs, gardening supplies etc. This is also a great space for transitioning boxes that are going home with older kids or return/donation boxes. In this area, we used weather tight storage boxes so dirt and bugs will stay out.
I know it’s a little strange to say a garage looks beautiful, but with all the coordinating materials and finishes, this project is functional and looks great too.