I Choose My Buffet! - Challenge #21 - 21 Days to Get Organized

It's the final challenge!

She has a new button, but I haven't finished them yet, so I'll use this one.

Well...

It's the final challenge Toni's giving us to do.  It's definitely not the last one I have to do. I've still not done the Master Closet, Keepsakes, or Photos. I think I finally have a plan for keepsakes and I need photo boxes, but both of those will require a trip to the store and I can't spend anymore money til after payday and/or receiving the tax refund and even then it's limited.  The closet I'm still pondering.

But today is the 21st challenge day, and Toni told us to choose our own organization project. I thought about my desk drawer, but I want to get those great little containers to sort things. Then I thought about my sideboard:

 Aja is such a nosy cat.

While it can use some help, and I do need to move the EasyBake oven out of there, I'm not ready to do that yet. The EB oven will be going to Zoe's room, but not til I get the bookcase for her new cubby containers. The rest of it is fairly organized in that I know what's in there and which side to look for it.  The far left section I didn't take a pic of, but it has awesome drawers and I keep the lunch bags in the bottom drawer and snacks for lunches in the top one. I LURVE IT.

But then I realized what I reallly needed to organize! My buffet!

But not the top of it... thought it needs help. I haven't actually touched it since the Christmas display came down. I need to do something for Valentines Day.

 And the linen drawer is stuffed full, but it works for now. That one drawer will be a challenge all to itself someday...later.

The right hand compartment (above) held all of this! (below)

I actually said to my husband on New Year's Eve, "I wonder what ever happened to the punch bowl we got at our wedding." I honestly thought we'd lost it sometime over the years, and didn't even remember I'd moved with it 2 years ago or that I put it in there. It also held all the Christmas dishes I thought were lost. Also, that's a LOT of stuff.

Then there was the left hand compartment:

Left Side

This one held the Christmas stuff I remembered putting in there... and I forgot to use at Christmas time (but now I know where ALL the Christmas stuff is!)  Those gifts were for the white elephant gift exchange at my sister's place that we never had due to weather. So, it's now been over a year since I've seen most of my extended family.  I have plans for these gifts though.

The drawer was packed too. It holds my china that I LOVE. I found it at an antique store for just $35 for all of it, and I think it's just beautiful!

It also held some extra pieces of my Mom's china that she left me when she passed away 5 years ago. Most of it is in the china cabinet. That's pretty stuffed too.

The doors and that big drawer were hiding a LOT of stuff!

AFTER a little pondering and getting a wire shelf I wasn't using for anything else, I started with the Christmas dishes. I put them in the far left side since I don't need to get to them often. The smaller stuff on the bottom with the shelf straddling them and I put the plates on top (dinner plates in back and salad plates in front - these compartments are HUGE) and the cookie trays on those.  

Then on the other side I decided to put the stuff from Mom in the back since I won't need it unless I redo the china cabinet or something (hmm might use them for a Valentines day display, but I wasn't thinking of that at the time hehe)...  then the punch bowl fit easily in front of them.

The glass platter worked as a lid on top of it so I could stack the glass dessert plates (I got them for 2/$1 at Dollar Tree a long time ago and use them all the time.)and the star shaped patriotic bowls and candles (great for Memorial day and 4th of July obviously.) Other summertime things fit right in there on the side. And since the punch bowl is in there, I figured why not roll up the Happy Birthday crepe paper banner and put the birthday candles in there with it. Now I just have to remember that's where I put them LOL.

The middle drawer is just for my china and things I use with it, so I put the gold chargers ($1 a piece at Big Lots years ago) in first.

Then like magic, the platter fit perfectly on one side of the chargers, and the saucers and fruit bowls fit right down in the other corner. It was like a jigsaw puzzle. Then there was room to sit the tea cups in without stacking them.
The vintage tablecloth and napkins got laid on top.

That left some stuff I didn't put back in:

 The autumn platter I put with the seasonal stuff going to storage. The goblet went with it's brothers and the box is back to holding the retro(vintage actually) coasters I got from my husband's great grandmother. The little goblets are from her too.  She was in an orange phase when she passed away. Before that I hear that everything was purple. That must have been a sight haha.

I like orange, it's warm, and I have a great orange chair (that sadly has been stained beyond repair I think)

 The gifts have been put into in the bottom of the china cabinet for now, but I'll be dealing with them this weekend. The vase went under the sink with the other vases. The tea set was my Mom's that she kept at her house for my girls to play with when they went to visit. It'll be going into Zoe's room when I get her bookself and find a small table and chairs for her. All the table/chair sets you can get at Big Lots or where ever are too small for her.  For now it's gone back into the drawer with my china, but it's just temporary.

These items went on top of the buffet to be used to fix the display all nice and pretty again.

So, now I can easily access my good china so I'm sure to use it more often.  I like using it for birthdays and other special occasions. I might even start using it for FDN (Family Dinner Night - when we have family over, like my MIL and Corina and Tyler).

I love knowing where my Christmas dishes are and that they're all there and within easy reach. Maybe this year I'll plan a big feast for Christmas and invite a bunch of people we don't normally invite.

I also now know I DO have a punch bowl! YAY!  Since Faelyn's birthday is on Valentines Day (she'll be 13!  EEK!), maybe I'll make a bowl of pink punch and some cutesy finger  sandwiches and let her invite a couple girl friends over and let them have a pizza party, watch movies and rent a couple of games for the Wii. We've never let her have friends over before because the house has always been a disaster.

My house is so organized now that it's actually clean and easy to keep clean. These challenges have been fantastic! I got so many great ideas and learned so much from looking at Toni's site and all the other people participating.