Happy New Year! Can you believe we're already 17 days into 2017? Looking back at 2016, I'm bummed the projects I had planned to complete, didn't even get touched. My goal was to tackle the following areas: Master Bedroom & Bathroom, Hallway, Linen closet and laundry room. Even though I didn't come close to getting those projects completed, I'm so proud of what I have accomplished. One of my major victories of was moving my blog from Blogspot to SqaureSpace was a huge learning curve, (read more about Why I love SquareSpace) but I did it and even designed my blog myself. I still have a few pages to update, but LOVE how far my blog has come in a year, its honestly thrilling!

I've decided to put aside the whole notion of New Year resolutions and instead focus on my intentions. I intend to step in to the New Year focusing my intention on designing a life I love, letting go of self doubt. Reminding myself to be grateful everyday with a happy heart. I intend for 2017 to be launching pad for all my wants & desire's I've long talking and thought about.

Intentions

Entertain More this year & plan Spring Ladies Brunch, I love having friends over and the past year I totally failed at this. Since we moved back into our home after re-building I've wanted to have a brunch with a girlfriends. It's so on this year!
Focus Energy on completing one project at a time, often I feel like a jump form project to project getting nothing really done.
Grow Chic Little House. I plan on growing my blog both in readership, working with brands I love, while discovering new ones. My favorite new blog addition of 2016 was the Small Home Style series, I intend to expand the series showcasing more ideas for small home dwellers.
Top Three Home Projects By focusing on three home projects that will make the biggest impact in our day to day life: Linen Closet, Master Bathroom & Laundry room
Breaking the Process Down when working on projects for 2017 I intend to share the my design and thought process along the way instead of before and afters, because in real life there's no 'HGTV Team' getting that quick 'after'
Blogging Tips I'm a natural born sharer and plan on more behind the scenes blogging tips next year

Are you a firm believer on making new years resolutions? What are some of your intentions to make 2017 your best year yet?

The heart of my home is my kitchen, I love my kitchen most when its organized. In fact getting my kitchen organized has been at the top of my list for 2017. I've spent the first two weekends of 2017, emptying my cabinets and whipping my kitchen cabinets & drawers into shape. I teamed up with 9 other creative bloggers to share 10 Days of Organizing ideas for the home to help kickoff 2017. Yesterday, Whitney from Whitney J Decor shared organizing tips on keeping your home office clean.

My kitchen is on the small side, and trust me when I say every single inch in my kitchen counts. So its essential to make sure I'm utilizing the storage I do have in a smart way. Today, I'm sharing 3 Tips for a Clutter Free Kitchen.

1. Donate / Purge / De-clutter

The easiest way to start tackling the clutter in your kitchen is emptying your cabinets and creating three piles: Keep, Toss and Donate. Remember the golden rule when it comes to clothing to donate what you havn't worn in a year? This same idea can be applied to your kitchen items. Take a good look at your small kitchen appliances and decide what you should keep & what needs to be donated. Are you really using that deep fryer, or crock pot? Keep kitchen items you'll actually use and need.

2. Organize Drawers & Cabinets

In my kitchen I have a row of long drawers; overtime the top drawer became a junk drawer. My junk drawer was filled with useless crap and such a waste of a good drawer. I used two clear drawer organizers from The Container Store to transform my 'junk' drawer. Half of my drawer holds misc. kitchen tools and the other half is my 'junk drawer.' I filled the 'junk' portion of my drawer is filled with household items I regularly use. The organizer holds batteries, scissors, candles, matches and much more.

3. Thoughtfully Arrange Everyday Items

Style your kitchen, in a way that your everyday items are close at hand. Place utensils in a container near your stove. Display your cutting boards for purpose and style. Place flour and sugar in large glass containers and store on your counters for easy access. Decorate your counters with your cookbooks, I love grouping my baking cookbooks together and displaying on my counters. Having my cook books where I can see them is a good reminder to try something new for dinner.