Organization: Before and After

There's this little corner counter space right inside our kitchen. And it's one of the messiest spots in the house. It houses mail, bills, kids' art projects, items that need new batteries, toys that need to be fixed, office supplies like paper, pens, and scissors, and any other item we don't feel like putting away.
It quickly becomes a mass of chaos, as you can see in the pictures below.

Last night, it was time to tackle the mountain of who-knows-what.
Here's how I did it:

• I moved everything out of the space onto a big table in the living room.
• I made a pile of bills/mail, a pile of trash, and a pile to "deal with."
• The trash pile was large. I threw away old pencils and pens, old magazine clippings, old receipts, etc.
• I went through the mail, sorting bills from credit card offers to be shredded. I found a baby shower invitation that I would have completely missed. I paid the bills, rsvped {late} for the shower, and shredded the junk.
• Finally, I sorted through the last pile of "what-do-I-do-with-this-stuff?" You know that pile? I despise that pile. I put new batteries in the camera, put the hammer in the utility drawer, put the cookbook on the bookshelf, stuck the warning sticker on the water heater, etc.
  

The whole project took about an hour. I love the re-organization. But I fear it will get messy again too quickly. It would be so much easier if I just spent 5 minutes a day sprucing up this little area. We'll see!