Boxes and Bags

I have always loved boxes- 

pretty boxes, useful boxes, little boxes, big boxes-

just try to pry them out of my hands.

And bags, oh the pretty ones from nice stores are my undoing.

But things are changing.  

Boxes are being emptied.  Bags are being filled with clothes to give away.

Boxes and bags are leaving this house.

Can you hear Gustavo cheering?

It feels good to let go.

It feels a little hard to let go.  

I send pretty old perfume boxes and shoe boxes to recycling.  

Organizing boxes can organize someone else's stuff.

I bet you didn't know I was a box and bag hoarder.

Here's a confession, as if the previous wasn't bad enough.

I keep makeup box packaging until I use them up.

I know.  

Weirdo.

What's your confession?  Do you keep strange things around your house?

xo-Jennifer

P.S.  Just for fun…Carolina's new car!

Decluttering for a Cause

I'm always looking for incentives to pry more things out of my closets.  Why is it so hard to decide to let go of things that you know you don't wear?

Well...

I might need them later,

they could come back in style,

and I like having options.

Just to name a few little reasons.

When I pulled out my winter clothes, I discovered some dress pants that I used to wear to church but I know I won't be wearing this year.  They have a wide leg and I've fully transitioned to skinny jeans. (I never thought it would happen!)  I showed them to Gustavo and he agreed that they are nice pants so I put them back in the chest.

But later I got to thinking about it and then I read Janet's post.  It was just the motivation I needed to get those pants back out.  And then I had an idea since these could be work pants for someone.  I don't know anyone to give them to but I quickly googled Dress for Success and saw that Houston has a donation center.  They have a very strict list of acceptable donations.  Without too much analysis paralysis, I went through my clothes with a different mindset.

Now, I am helping someone less fortunate dress for their new job.  I can get on board with this!  It was just the motivation I needed.  I was able to dig deeper in my wardrobe and let go of things that I wasn't even going to part with, but I knew that I rarely wore those items.

I reasoned that if I held on these clothes too long eventually they won't be current at all and then no good to anyone.  Do I want to wish that fate on them?  No, they should be of use to someone if not me.  The waste would be in not giving them away and letting someone else use them.

When I came to a moment of indecision, I would text my Aunt Karen to help me decide.

If you need an honest opinion, I'll give you her cell phone number.

xo-Jennifer

Un-storing

So I mentioned that I have been doing a lot of cleaning in the last month.  Almost every day I'm thinking about it again.  I have a little tip that might help you too.  Since when we put things in containers, organizers, boxes, etc, we call it storing, I like to call this un-storing.

Sometimes we put things away or "organize" them as we like to call it but it's really just a way of not having to deal with something at the time.  I've noticed that as I pull out bags and boxes of things that have been stored away to use later, they are really not getting used and may never get used.  These organizers, boxes and bins are taking up my space!

I've been pulling them out and seeing what's really inside.  It's not that it's all junk but much of it needs to be in a place that I will use it or let it go.  

My goal is empty boxes and bags and bins.

And then my goal is space.

Empty space

The first thing to do is begin decluttering your spaces that are obvious, that are in plain view.  After you have done that, don't think you are finished.  Look around and see if there are containers and drawers that you can begin decluttering too.  If you aren't sure about something pull it out and look at it for a couple of days.  Maybe you'll decide you don't need it.

Did you need it when it was in the container?

How long ago did you put it in there?

Hmmmmmmm.

Some things are better contained however.  You know what those things are!  Containers can be great for concealing things and making them look neat on a shelf.  I'm all for that.

But maybe there's a couple containers that can be combined, or cleaned out?

Care to join me in the process?  It's a journey so don't worry if you don't do it all in an hour, a day or even a month.  It's a mindset that you might always be looking for things that you don't need anymore.

This is how Carolina likes to clean, I mean un-clean her room

xoxo-

Jennifer

Cleaning Out Old Things

There has been a lot of cleaning out going on around here for the last few weeks.  I don't know what finally broke the camels back but I just got fed up with holding on to old things.

Maybe you would like to be inspired to have a fall clean out as well?

These are a couple of books I've been reading that are delightful for getting one into gear. I have Unstuff Your Life on audiobook and I just listen to it while I'm decluttering or sometimes just puttering I should say.  I also like to listen to A Spring Affair on audiobook which is unashamedly a girlie girl book in which the main character spring cleans her life.  The Joy of Less comes from a minimalist approach which I always appreciate.

The Joy of Less

Unstuff Your Life

A Spring Affair

Yesterday, I looked at my Timehop account on my phone.  It had pictures of things I was going through 2 years ago that I had just picked up again yesterday.  They were some of the exact same things!  It was an epiphany for me.  Obviously two years ago I wasn't ready to let go of some of the sentimental items.

Now feels different though.  I felt like I have had enough of wasting my time, my space and my energy picking through the same old things again and again.

This is a picture of what happens when I open up my hope chest which had all kinds of old things in there.  I'm happy to say it is now empty and living in the guest bedroom instead of the office.  Many of those items have already been donated and some relocated, but all in all greatly reduced.  

Even though I feel as though I am always decluttering here and there, there were a significant amount of sentimental items that I have decided to clear out.  It wasn't easy.  It's hard in a way that I can't describe but I made that decision for my self now and for my future self.  It's doubly hard when your husband doubts every thing you want to throw out!

I want to be current in the things I own.  I'm pretty sure that the influx of toys and clothes from having a child is having a huge impact on my willingness to let go of things from the past.  There are so many new things coming in that I have to keep up somehow.

Letting go of these things is helping me clear my mind so much.  It is like a threshold has been crossed and now I am able to be comfortable without so much from my past in my present.  Maybe it's because I can now relive a childhood through my daughter and I don't need things from my childhood.  Calling Freud, Line 1!

Now where are those Holly Hobby sheets?

31 Days {Day 31} Cleaning the Garage & The End

On this beautiful Halloween night, we cleaned the garage.  It was getting dark when we finished and straight into trick-or-treater time, but alas it is done.  And not only that, but this 31 Days is done!

This is going to be one of those before and afters where you have to use your imagination.  G started pulling everything out in the driveway before I got a chance to take a photo so this is a before that looks better than it should.

Everything lining the driveway

G in action, he did most of the work on this project.  Also, that dirty floor is shameful.

Keegan dressed up as a pumpkin patiently waiting for trick-or-treaters.

This is the after picture.  It was already dark.  Maybe I should have taken a picture of the pile of trash out for tomorrow.

We threw away tons of stuff and reorganized the rest.  I think the main problem with the garage was not putting things back in their proper places.  You set this here for now, and then that and before long it's just one long shelf of clutter.  

I don't know that I ever like how garages look but I'm happy with the progress we made.  In general, our house is feeling much lighter after these 31 days.  It's my car that is still overloaded with stuff waiting to distribute here and there.  

I hope you joined along with me cleaning out some things in the last month.  If you ever feel time is going by too fast, just commit to blogging every day for a month and it will feel like you are back in school again waiting for Christmas vacation.  

We will be back to regular blogging and Project 333 updates soon!  If there is anything in particular you liked hearing about, let me know.  Thanks so much to those of you who followed along.  It really made this month so much more fun.

xoxo--Jennifer

31 Days {Day 24} A Cluttered Closet

*This is my 201st Post Ever!  Yay!

Today I decided to clean out our laundry room closet.  Cleaning out miscellaneous closets are infinitely more annoying because it's as if none of the stuff really belongs there.  It was full of my party supplies, papers, wedding china, stuff to donate and recycling.  The coats live there too but I left them alone since it is called a coat closet.

Main Objective:  Make Room for Bike in Closet

The reason I needed to clean this closet is because I actually need the space in there to make room  for G's road bike, which has taken up residence in our entryway since June.  Since it was so expensive, he didn't want to put it in the garage, AKA the place where our expensive trimmer got stolen.  The closet was full and what I didn't want to do was redistribute this crap to other parts of the house.  This is not a before picture, more like a middle picture.

The two Ikea tables stacked on top of each other is my makeshift shelving system.  They used to be our nightstands so I repurposed them here.  The top shelf holds our party supplies, the middle shelf drinks for parties, and the floor holds paper towels, bleach and vinegar.  Without further ado, this was how it went down today.

1. I went through all the files and weeded out appliance manuals that I really don't need.  I can google almost anything that I have to find.  Some of those things are taking up a lot of space, like a recipe book that came with the Kitchen-Aid mixer that I will never use, among other instruction manuals.

2.  I had a box of china from our wedding that I don't usually need since we don't usually serve more than 6 people. I decided to wash it all and find a place in the cabinets for it.  That led to another little project which involved rearranging the cabinets better so all the dishes fit.

3.  Decide what to do with the other files that I have to keep.  This led me to our bedroom file box to clean out the files there, which was quite the chore.  I reorganized all the files and relabeled them.  I sorted the papers into recycling and shredding.  My shredder conks out quickly so I have to stop often and wait for it to recover.  If I took a picture you would see a big pile of papers.

A side note:  I recently canceled a disability policy I had since I was working as a mortgage broker.  When I stopped working a few years ago I asked them if it would still pay with me being unemployed and they told me yes, so I kept it.  Fast forward 4 years later and $65 a month, I called them again to check.  This time they actually checked and verified that if there is no income to replace, then there would be no payment.  Don't make a costly mistake like me.  Revisit all your financial decisions periodically.  Shredding all those policies made me cringe but also happy that I finally wised up and canceled them.

4.  I put the glass recycling in the car so I can take it next time I go that way.  Our recycling doesn't do glass and I can't throw them away.

5.  The bag of things that we are going to donate have some value which is why I've held off for so long.  I didn't know what to do with them.  I'm going to run everything I cleaned out today by a bunch of girls coming over tomorrow.  After that, I have to get them out of my house once and for all.  I need my closet back.

I don't have an after picture for you because I'm not totally done yet.  I'm still shredding papers as I type and there are still loads of things on our stairs.  Hopefully tomorrow this project will be complete.  The good news is that the bike is in the closet.

Mission Complete:  Road Bike has a Happy New Home

What big cleaning projects are you working on this month?  How often do you shred your files?  Have you made a costly mistake with insurance like I did?  Tell me how your month of October has been going.  Have you been inspired to clean out anything along the way?  

31 Days {Day 15} Decluttering the Desk

Oh the shame of my desk.  I did not make this look worse so that my after could look better.  It really looked this bad.

This is the multitude of un-filed papers and other junk I didn't know where to put.

I don't have the most convenient system for filing which is why I delay doing it.  There is a file box in one of those holes.  I have to pull it out and it's awkward because I have a big laser printer under the desk.  I also have a color printer crammed in there.

This is my office space so I don't want to move it anywhere else.  If I hadn't paid $600 for the laser printer, I would like to scale down.  As long as it still works though, I'll use it.

This project took a couple of hours.  G was on the floor by the bed cleaning out his nightstand which was an equally big task.  He doesn't like to clean out papers but he said that he got a "high" from throwing all that stuff away.

Here is the desk after.  The pictures are terrible but you get the idea.  It feels so much better.  Happy feng shui'd desk here-

The two printers and the shredder trying to hide under the desk.  The power surge plug is full.

The top basket has all my stationery and address book in it.  The basket with the cord sticking out has electronics things in it.  The cord goes to my backup.  I hate cords.

I found a check that I thought I lost and $60!  It was a profitable day.

It was hard for me to start this because it felt so insurmountable.  When you have an active desk that isn't just there to be pretty, it's hard to keep it clean.  There are always papers coming in and pending things to do.  I'm the kind of person that doesn't like to put things away because I'll forget about it.  It has to be out in the open to remind me.

This desk is from Ikea and all the baskets and file boxes too.

So this is just me keeping it real.  I'm not an interior designer and this blog isn't meant to be that.  I want to write to encourage you to let go of more things than you think you can.  I have a pile in the dining room of things I didn't think I wanted to give away.  I think I'm going to have some girls over and just let them take whatever they want.  Some girls are just starting in their household and would like some of these picture frames and other odds and ends.  

Our bedroom feels so much lighter now.  It had felt it very cluttered lately but I couldn't put my finger on exactly why it felt that way.  When we started this, I thought it was just the desk, but it was the nightstands and an extra storage basket that we moved.  It feels good.  We could have only accomplished that by getting rid of some things.

Why don't you take some items out of your space and see how it makes you and the room feel?  Just do it for a trial period and see if you can breathe better.  Let me know how it goes.

31 Days {Day 14} Beautiful Vanity

Sometime during the fourth incarnation of Project 10 Pan, I decided that I was tired of having all the bottles out on my vanity area.  Although I had a good reason to keep things out on the counter as they encouraged me to use them up, it just looked ugly.  I was so inspired looking at vanities in magazines or online and wanted mine to be neat and pretty too. 


So I decided to do something about it.  Getting rid of tons of bottles during that time really helped the clutter issue, but sparse isn't always pretty.  I didn't want it to be fussy though and it had to be very functional.  


This is my vanity in the bathroom and I've had this set up for a little while so I know that it works for me. I still have to be diligent about putting things away so it doesn't look messy.  Most of my toiletries are in the little baskets below the shelves.  I also have an area in my closet for perfume and jewelry but this suits me to achieve that look I wanted, simple but also special.

 I can put odds and ends in my little elephant tray.  The drawers hold my makeup, hairbrushes, wash cloths and toothbrushes.  I love looking at beautiful perfume bottles and my Chanel lipstick.  The plant is from Ikea and the tray from the Pottery Barn outlet.

Since this whole concept seemed idealistic and too perfect for me at first, I wanted to share some ideas of how you can do this to your own space.  There are so many creative ways to make the practical look beautiful. Enjoy the dreamy pictures and get some ideas you can use in your own space.

So sentimental with the b/w photo and it looks like all the essentials are out to be used.

Source: 3.bp.blogspot.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

I love the little tray to hold things.

Source: flickr.com via Sandy on Pinterest

A collection of perfume bottles gets me every time.

Source: theardentsparrow.blogspot.com via Sandy on Pinterest

Another tray and perfume

Source: thehandmadehome.net via Danielle on Pinterest

For jewelry storage too

Source: theglitterguide.tumblr.com via Tara on Pinterest

Isn't the bust great for holding necklaces?

Source: ilovehoneylace.tumblr.com via Rachel Jane on Pinterest

A multitasking space.  It has it all and it's fab!

Source: browneyedbellejulie.blogspot.com via Kelly on Pinterest

What inspires you in your bathroom or vanity area?  Do you dream of having a beautiful little space like these or does it matter at all?  Do you like all your stuff on the counter or hidden away?  

31 Days {Day 11} Secret Weapon of Decluttering

Sometimes I need a kick in the pants to get myself going with decluttering.  This is my secret weapon and it works every time.  I love this book so much and have listened to it many times.  The trick for me is that I have it on my iphone and can carry it around the house with me while I'm cleaning.

via

I won't ruin the book for you, but the main character goes through her own decluttering process in her home.  The situations she finds herself in are completely relevant to a lot of things you will also face.  I get so inspired when she chooses to move on from certain items.  Her life changes for the better too, which can totally happen with us as well!

What about you?  Do you have any secret weapon for motivation?  Maybe it's Flylady or the show Hoarders.  That show gets me going every time.  I am just itching to clean after seeing it.  Share your ideas with me.  I can always use inspiration.

31 Days {Day 8} Tales from the Crypt

Creeaaaaak!  That's the sound of my hope chest opening.

Hello Parents.  This is going to be difficult.

Hi Ella.  You sit right there.

Awww.  This used to be on my car.

My favorite purple suede boots that at one time I lived in.

Thank goodness I kept them because now I don't have to buy these from Target.  Oh yeah, who's jealous now because they are out of stock.

via

I bought these in France for baby gifts, but I never found the right person to receive them.  The person would have to be a francophile and understand how special they are.  Oh, what are they?  They hold first teeth lost.  France has this mouse instead of the tooth fairy.

Speaking of teeth.  Don't let this creep you out.  Those are my teeth and no I couldn't throw it away.

Nesting dolls have to have some purpose in my future.  I got these in Hungary.  Did I never tell you I traveled in Europe twice in college?  I did two study abroad programs, one in Spain and one in Wales.  Both times I went backpacking around Europe for a month.  I'm only lucky I only had a backpack and could only carry so many souvenirs.  Can't believe this made the cut.

I was born in Germany and apparently I wore this ratty old t-shirt a lot.  It doesn't look like I wore anything else it's so beat up.  I always look like a little orphan in my childhood pictures.  Maybe one day I'll post one.

Troll doll from the 90's

RIP Michael

And I don't want to brag, but you should know that I used to be smart.   

This is my Mom's little box that had her tiara and first Bible in it.  She won some kind of beauty contest and got this.  I wore it in our wedding.  I really am sentimental.

This project wasn't easy, but I was able to let go of two bags of goodwill stuff and one bag of trash. Somehow though it doesn't look that much different when you open it.  Here are just a few things that went.

Wedding shoes

Wedding purse

Many wedding cards-some were cut to decorate wedding scrapbook

Old letters

Graduation paraphernalia-high school and college

Stuffed animal named P.J.

Blank postcards from Europe

Baby clothes for dolls

Childhood clothes

And much more!

The Cabbage Patch kids stayed.  Don't judge me.  Lots of other stuff stayed too.  My previous rule of the hope chest was that every time I opened it I had to get rid of one thing.  It's something that I try to keep under control.  When I got a lot of my Mom's things after she passed away I had to find a place for them too.  

For me the nature of sentimental things is that as time goes by, your need to keep certain things changes.  There was a time when I had a lot of my school notebooks in there.  I have long thrown those out.  When we have kids, it may be a place to hold their sentimental things.  The goal for me is to keep it contained in that space.  I may have some other things hiding out in the house and I am going to transfer them to the hope chest now that I've created some room.  

I feel that the word here is flow and not stagnation.  Keep the things in perspective.  If you have too much of anything, it all loses importance.  I'm working on this.  Maybe one day I'll be able to let go of those teeth.  Aren't they cool though?  I like to click them together.

What about you all?  Where do you hide all your sentimental garbage treasures?  What is the weirdest thing you won't throw away?  Isn't it funny how you think that someone is strange for their packrat items, but when you look at your own it's perfectly acceptable?  

31 Days {Day 7}: Cutting the Cable

This post is about something that we decided to do and did a couple of months ago.  Much to my dismay at the time, we decided to cancel all cable and DVR services.  We only had it for two years, but I was totally addicted.

This is not our TV but we do have Rabbit Ears.  They're lovely.
via

I don't have to tell you that endless hours can be wasted watching television programs that aren't worth the time.  Don't stop reading now and think that I'm so noble though.  I found out if all the tv shows I watched were available online before I would take the plunge.  After I realized that they were, and free to boot, I figured we'd be crazy to keep paying $80 a month for that service.

The first letter that the company wrote asking us to come back with a special offer I really wanted to cave.  The internet only plan that we replaced it with is crap and it's been hard to take a step back.  But I stood firm and knew that we decided to do this for reasons bigger than money.

TV was becoming too big a part of our lives.  We weren't talking to each other enough and sitting on the couch wasn't getting anything else done either.  The queue of TV shows became like more clutter that I had to clear.  It sounds weird but if it was recorded I felt like I needed to watch it.

We are giving it a year of rest from the cable.  G really misses having Monday night football but I say it's just an opportunity to go visit some friends' houses.  We can have little parties every Monday night.  Even I can watch football if there are snacks and occasional girl talk thrown in.  Also, in the month of October, for breast cancer awareness, the players are wearing lots of pink which I was pleasantly surprised to see.

I can tell you that my life has changed for the better.  I am not held hostage by tv.  Who knows if I would have even done this challenge if I had better things to do, like watch reruns of Rachel Zoe Project.  I don't need to be in front of the TV where "all the action is".  I watch my shows when I want to and then it's over.  There is no flipping to find something else.  I use Hulu and they email me when something is updated into my favorite shows.

Does this mean I am against cable?  No way!  We may get it again next year, but I am against tv taking too much time out of my life.  I don't want it to be my only option for entertainment.  I want to get out, go to the movies, go for a bike ride or something that is going to make a memory.  I don't have any good memories from watching TV.  Do you?

What about you all?  Are you on the fence for canceling cable?  Are you convinced it will never happen because it's a necessity?  What are your favorite shows and you are loving Pan-Am as much as I am?  Do you have to endure football too?  Oy. 

P.S.  You want to know what my fave shows are, don't you?  I am so over the top girly when it comes to my selection but I will happily share, or overshare if you will.

Young and the Restless

Gossip Girl

Pan Am-Newest FAVORITE

Mad Men-Not on right now

Rachel Zoe Project

Desperate Housewives

The Office

31 Days {Day 6}: Yellow Curtains

I want to tell you about my yellow curtains.  I used to have these curtains hanging in our living and dining room.  They were from Ikea.  I liked them and used them for a couple of years until I decided to just have all white curtains because they were more breezy and beach-like.

So I did what anyone does and I put them in a rubbermaid bin in the closet, and then the garage.  I forgot about them until I was in a decluttering mood one day and pulled them out of the garage, back into the dining room.  I also had two leopard print rugs in the same bin that used to be in our living room.

I decided to sell them on Craig's List and had to re-list them both a couple of times.  The rugs and curtains sat in the bin for a month or two in the dining room waiting to sell.  The leopard rugs sold but the curtains never did.  I finally gave up and decided all this wasn't worth it for $15.  I really don't know how long it was that I walked past that bin that was in the way.

So one Wednesday I took them with me to the Bhutanese/Nepalese apartments.  I usually have my trunk full of donations from us and other people, so I don't know why I had such a mental block against just donating these curtains and rugs in the first place.  I guess I thought they wouldn't appreciate the West Elm look.

That day we were walking around visiting families, and the lady who started this ministry suggested we go to a certain lady's house.  She had just had a miscarriage and she wanted me to pray with her.  We had a little bag of various junk from my house as well as the curtains.

The lady I was with proceeded to gift her all these little things that I had decluttered, and she loved them, I think.  Maybe she decluttered them later too!  I forget what they were.  We left the curtains with her and I headed home.

Later that night, the other lady emailed me and wrote that as she was leaving the apartments that the Nepalese woman's husband was going out to get curtain rods for my yellow curtains. I had given her three sets which were enough to go on every window in their apartment.

It gave me chills to think what my curtains may have meant to them.  Sometimes I hold on to things for so long.  Maybe I want to sell them and get a little money.  In this case,  it feels meant to be.  I love that this beautiful woman got my curtains at a time when she needed to be cheered up.  And I love that I learned this lesson.

31 Days {Day 5}: Revamping the Spice Jars

Wednesday is my day that I volunteer co-teach ESL to Bhutanese refugees.  So what does that have to do with spice jars?  It means that I was in the neighborhood of Ikea.  Last night I had unfruitful shopping trips to Home Goods and Target looking for nice spice jars. Then I came home and googled all around until I decided that Ikea was my best bet.  Since I have a credit there anyway I was figured it was meant to be.

These are the spice jars I chose and they really are cool looking.  The only problem I have with them is that the lid doesn't fit super tight.  I'm used to a screw on lid. I'm not 100% convinced that these are the best ones ever but I think they are good enough.  Here is an Apartment Therapy Review of them.

When I got home I washed them all up, got my funnel out and got busy.  I even threw out more spices that definitely were I thought might be a little old.  In my organization stupor I decided that replacing spices once a year is totally what I'm going to do, so we'll see how that goes. I replaced four of my spices at the store today for $2.40.  The others I had already.

My list of essentials:

Cumin

Paprika

Thyme

Chili Powder

Oregano

Herbes de Provence

Curry Powder
Cayenne Pepper

I bought 8 small spice jars and three larger ones.  I decided to only use them for the spices that I replace the most often.  Already I'm a skeptic and don't like the idea of buying more jars when they were already in jars.  However, this is an esthetic and not a practical project so I told myself to keep my eye on the prize, a pretty pantry.  I used tape to temporarily write the spice names so I wouldn't lose track of what they are.  They fit beautifully into one of the shelves on the spice rack, perfectly, in fact.

But I just wasn't feeling it.

Then I decided to see what they look like in the drawer after I saw this on the Ikea website.

Hmmmm. I think I like it, which is too bad because it kind of  defeats the purpose of changing the spice jars in the first place.  There went the whole esthetic goal and all the pretty pantry talk.  

I think I'm ok with it though because it gives more room for canned goods in the spice rack.  When it comes winter, I need a lot of stuff for making soups.

These are the baskets that I added to snazz it up a little.  These were being used by G for his stuff in the closet.  His stuff may have been dumped out so I could use them here.  Sorry sweetie!

The basket on the bottom doesn't look totally cohesive but those are my baking supplies and they don't need to be on the higher shelves.

Overall I'm happy with the purging part of my project and the finished result.  I didn't invest much money, only $21.20 for 8 spice jars and 3 bigger jars.  I'm going to call it done, except for the spice jar labels.  

If you happen to have some of these glass apothecary jars in your pantry, I just adore these labels.  If my next house's pantry is bigger, I will definitely be doing this style of container with these labels.

And if you think a normal person can't have a decked out, drool-worthy pantry, look at my friend Elizabeth's.  She has a one year old and is pregnant with twins, so if she can do it...

What about you all?  Do you place a lot of importance on esthetics, or are you all about practicality?  Are those labels above like eye candy to you too?  What are your list of essential spices?