Clear Eyes, Messy House.....Organizing Time

When I got home last week from my trip to my mom's, I came home with clear eyes about my house.  After living in someone elses house for a few weeks you REALLY see what a mess your own house is.

I generally keep a TO DO list.

As you can see, it's pretty tiny, and generally gets hidden underneath bills, papers, magazines, etc....so I forget about stuff and then the list doesn't get completed as fast as I would like.

So....we found some dry erase boards at Office Depot for $2-$3 before Christmas and bought a few.  I hung one up in the kitchen under the meal planning board as more of a visual reminder of my TO DO list.

It doesn't go with the theme of my kitchen, but it serves a purpose for now.

I am hoping that this will reduce my "nagging" of the kids to find something to do other than watch t.v. or play video games during downtime. (And remind me to get stuff done)

Back to my original thought.....the messy disorganized, almost to the point of hoarding house that I call home...the best method I can see to attack this disorganization is 1 day/20-30 minutes at a time cleaning.  My first area?  The hidden areas of the living room and kitchen. 

1. Clean/organize the entertainment center.

2. Sort the mitten/hat/scarf tote and get rid of any holey/unwanted items.

3. Organize/purge items in the kitchen cabinets and pantry and label where items belong for a better system.

4. Try to find cheap/free/remade items to organize this mess.

Here is a current look at the messy cabinets/pantry that I will be working on this week:

This is my cookbook/lightbulb/random cabinet.  (I'm so embarrased)

Spice/Tea/Pasta/Baking cabinet.  I have seen many different kinds of spice organizers, but with my little space, I'm not sure which one will work best for me.  Any suggestions?

And lastly, the dreaded pantry.  It's not very large, so I try to keep it fairly organized, but it falls to the wayside quickly after we all have a part in putting groceries away. 

I'm hoping to remove the trash can (recycling bin) at the bottom and make this wonderful piece from Ana White for my recycling bin to free up more room at the bottom.

I would love any advice that you might have to free up/organize my spaces.  (I personally love a more empty looking room, so anything I can hide behind cabinet doors is best!)

Once I get this cleaned, I will repost the "organized and purged" finished product!