Pet Care Organization Part 2: Dog stuff

Last week, in part 1 of the Pet Care Organization series, I talked about the best place to start with any big organization project is with an inventory and clearly defined goals. I photoed all our pet care storage and outlined my five main goals, along with the project goal of not spending any money to complete the organization. This week I tackled the first two goals:

• eliminate and donate excess
• put everything away so that it’s easily accessible

As you saw in the first post, it was a TON of stuff spread out all over the house. Since many of you commented here and on Facebook that you’re tackling similar projects, I wanted to share my simple steps to get all this clutter eliminated and organized!

It’s a 3 step plan:

1. Pull everything out of its hiding storage space and lay it all out in one place.
2. Sort it into piles of like items. One pile (hopefully the biggest!) should be “donate” items.
3. Put it all away!

It sounds simple – and it is – but don’t underestimate the amount of time it takes! Let me break it down for you a little bit more.

Step 1: Pull everything out of storage and spread it all out!

I brought down the box we had in our storage room, pulled their apparel out of the closet, and emptied all the plastic drawers that held dog stuff. I also got the items out of the cabinet that held their medications and bowls.

This step is so important because if you try to go room-by-room or box-by-box, you won’t get everything assembled and you won’t have a clear picture of what you really have.

Once I had everything in front of me, clear categories emerged, and I was able to move onto step 2.

Step 2: Sort it all into piles of like items.

My piles ended up being: treats, toys, grooming/medication, travel, seasonal, leashes/harnesses, apparel, and DONATE! You’ll note there’s not a “trash” pile – I think it’s incredibly important to throw away as you go so that you eliminate clutter from your visual space. Each time I encountered junk (expired medication, for instance), it went straight in the trash.

I also ended up stowing two other groups items in super accessible places. Poop bags were corralled into a vase by the back door, which is where we already kept our flashlights and paw sanitizing wipes. (And, yep, our house has a built-in telephone ledge!)

Then, I put their crunchy treats in a jar on the counter. The small jar is Newt’s. (And, yep, the house has a speckled laminate backsplash… Oh, the things I would do if we bought this house.)

Step 3: Put everything away!

Since everything is grouped together, it’s super simple to put it all away so that like items live with like items. I reused the plastic storage drawers (but no more storage tub since I got rid of so much!!) but I wanted it to look prettier. These bins live in our kitchen, which is the most used entrance of the house. So I pulled out some scrap paper and tape, and got to work! I also pulled out my trusty label maker to identify the contents of each drawer, which helps keep us motivated to put things back where they belong.

So here’s the top view of the finished drawers, decorated with scrapbook paper and labels added to the lip of the handles.

 

And from the front – You’d never guess that these drawers are full of brushes, flea medication, leashes, and collapsible travel bowls!

I’m super happy with the results. Everything is clean, organized, sorted, and accessible! And, I eliminated a ton of excess, which – if you’re following along on Facebook – you know I’m giving it all away to anyone who wants it later today! Stay tuned…

Next week I’m going to work through my third goal:

• finalize our preparedness plans (first aid kit, hurricane kit, and so on)

Some of you mentioned tackling pet care organization projects. Did you accomplish anything this week? Anything in store for the weekend?